The 2015 Saratoga Speedway season opener was marked by a sellout crowd, fireworks and more than 50 cars in the pits for a double points session Saturday evening.
Ten rookie drivers rounded out the field of 32 Hornet cars and 15-year-old Brayden Weiler claimed the A dash in his first appearance on the track. Michael White, 14, took the B dash.
The evening was highlighted by new track record was set in Hornet qualifying, with Daryl Cahill beating his own previous track record with a lap of 17.891 seconds.
Four heats were contested in the Hornets class. Cahill snared the A victory, Taylor Pheaton won the B, Diana Ackerman outdueled Ashley White in a bumper-to-bumper duel for the C, and 13-year-old Chris Hleck claimed the D.
In the B Main, Rowland Westra held off another charge by White to take the checkered flag. Kevin Lawrenuk just edged Cahill to win the 25-lap A Main.
In the Roadrunner class, Dennis Leavitt dominated the early going with wins in the dash and the 10-lap heat race. But Ryan Guest claimed the main event.
The Bomber class was awarded two trophy dashes. Justin Beaulieu recovered from being spun out to take control on the restart and win the first dash, and Darren Larson won the second. Beaulieu carried his success into a wire-to-wire victory in the 12-lap heat race, but Gilles Cyr, returning to Saratoga after a two-year absence, held off a hard-charging field to claim the first main event of the season.
Only four cars lined up to start the Crash to Pass, but the big cars entertained as always. Sheldon Hopp seemed to get the best of the banging, but managed to spin himself out of contention with one hit in the heat race as Troy Ordano ran away to the win. Hopp bounced back to take the main event while holding off Ordano on the final lap.
Racing returns this weekend with the first round of the Drifting and Drag racing competitions. The following weekend the Monster Trucks return to Saratoga. California Kid and Rockstar will return once again return this year to put on a show for the fans on a two-day race weekend.
