THREE MORE CHAMPIONS CROWNED

Submitted by Ken Keating

Langford B.C., September 25th, 2010

The weather forecast was for rain for Victoria but blue skies and sunshine was the order for the day.The forecast for Western Speedway was for close racing with three new Champions crowned for 2010 in the I.M.S. 4 Mini Stock Series, the Late Model Series, and the Stock Car Series. The program included Trophy Dashes, Heat races, and Feature events for all three classes with good hard racing in a couple of Heat events. 


Jeremy Waksell and Alex Mouner won the Mini Stock Dashes while Doug Richens and Wade Bland were victorious in the Late Model Series Dashes, Gray Abbott and Daryl Crocker showed the way in the Stock Car Dash races. The A Heat for Mini Stocks produced one of the best races for 2010 as Matt Szauer, Mike Derepentigny, Alex Mouner, and Glen Percival diced and danced around the Langford oval. Szauer led early but saw Derepentigny take over the lead on lap four. Szauer moved back into the lead on lap seven but by a very narrow edge as he and Derepentigny ran virtually side by side. Behind them Mouner and Percival were also running side by side trying to find an opening to get into the lead. When the chequered flag flew it was Szauer hanging on by a whisker taking the win over Derepentigny who got the second spot by a whisker over Mouner with Percival coming in fourth. The Stock Car B Heat also saw great racing as Dave Reside, Daryl Crocker, and Kevin Knight ran three wide in the middle of the race for close to a full lap before Reside got a good run and then passed Chris McInerny for the lead on the last lap for the win. 

  
Matt Szauer and Jeremy Waksel shared the front row for the start of a thirty lap Feature event in the I.M.S. 4 Mini Stock Series. Szauer got out to the early lead with Waksel running in second and Glen Percival in third for the first five laps. Justin Woodske moved into the third spot on lap six and on lap eight Waksel tapped Szauer spinning the leader around and getting a stop and go penalty for that infraction and bringing out the caution flag. On the double file restart, Woodske quickly jumped to the lead followed by Derepentigny and Alex Mouner who waisted little time moving up to run in second. On lap eleven, Mouner passed Woodske for the lead with Derepentigny taking the second spot two laps later. On lap nineteen, Ryan Medynski moved up to run fourth but no one had anything to stop Mouner from taking the win and his first Championship in the I.M.S. 4 Mini Stock Series. Derepentigny, Woodske, Medynski, and Ryan Patterson rounded out the top five positions. 

 
Glen Swedburg and Doug Richens shared the front row for the start of the Late Model Feature event with Swedburg leading the first lap and then being passed by Richens on lap two. Richens earlier won his Trophy Dash and Heat race and was looking for the clean sweep. Behind them both Rory Smith and Brent Morris were trying to get through the pack with Smith moving into third two laps down and then to second one lap later. Morris followed Smith through dropping Swedburg back to fourth. Going through turn one, Swedburg tapped Brent just enough to spin the #29 car around leaving no room for Troy Tarbuck as he checked up and Geoff Morris also getting involved with no where to go either resulting in a yellow flag on lap four. On the double file restart, Smith grabbed the lead followed by Wade Bland as these two drivers started to check out on the rest of the field. Bart Smith moved up to run third on lap six with Richens dropping back to fourth but on lap fifteen Smith spun around on turn four bringing out the yellow. On the double file restart, Smith got away clean again and on lap eighteen, Jason Tarasenko, running his first race at Western this season, moved into the second spot dropping Bland back to third. On lap thirty-five, Brandon Carlson passed Bland for the third spot. On this night no one had anything for Smith who took his first Feature event and the local Late Model Championship for 2010. Tarasenko finished second followed by Carlson, Bland, and Swedburg rounding out the top five spots.

 
Brandon Hutchinson and Jeremy Gardener led the field of sixteen cars to the green flag and sixty laps of racing for the Stock Car Championship. Ryan Wade had just a twenty point lead over Aaron Wilkie as they entered this race and started well back in eleventh and twelveth starting spots. Hutchinson grabbed the lead early and stayed in front for the first five laps until he was passed by Billy Stidston on lap six. Dave Reside and Chris McInerny followed him through to run second and third respectively. On lap nine, Wade moved up to run fourth behind Kyle Cottam who had also moved up to run third. Meanwhile up front Reside and Stidston took turns leading over the next couple of laps. On lap thirteen, Wade moved up and took over the second spot with Wilkie close behind taking over third while Reside finally got the clear lead away from Stidston who got freight trained all the way back to fourth. On lap twenty-one, Wade passed Reside and took over the lead with Wilkie still glued to the back bumper of the #95 car. Reside's good run came to an end two laps later leaving Stidston and now Steve Copp running fourth and fifth. On lap twenty-six, Copp took over the fourth spot sending Stidston back to fifth. 


On lap thirty-one the yellow came out as Tyler Woods spun around coming out of turn four. On the double file restart, Wade got away again while Wilkie entered the pits with a flat tire. On lap thirty-four, Copp got by Cottam and ran second behind Wade who began to open a pretty good lead over the rest of the field. By lap thirty-six, Wilkie pushed his way from the back all the way up to fourth to run behind Cottam. On lap forty-two Wilkie passed Cottam and took over the third spot with the laps and time running out. No one could prevent Wade from taking the Feature event and winning his fourth consecutive Stock Car Championship as he took the chequered flag with Copp, Wilkie, Cottam, and Stidston rounding out the top five positions. Wade was very quick to go congratulate Wilkie on a great run and making the run for the Championship so close all year. The voice of Rocky Horne had hardly finished interviews when the heavens opened up and drenched the track but to late to dampen Championship night for the I.M.S. 4 Mini Stocks, the local Late Model Series, and the always competitive Stock Cars bringing an end to the 2010 season for these drivers. Congratulations to Alex Mouner and Rory Smith for winning their first Championships and Wade for his fourth title.
 
The next event, at Western Speedway, is on October 2nd with the Demo Cars, Demo Trucks, Mini Figure 8s, the Mini Vans, and the Bomber Series. They will also visit Western Speedway again on October 9th to round out the 2010 season and one of these events will determine Champions in these classes. One of the closest battles will see Brad Smith holding a one point advantage over Marc Parkinson in Demo Car competition while Giles Cyr and Brandon Steen go head to head in the Bomber Series. These two have waged a battle all year and Steen has a thirteen point advantage going into the last two events and will give it all to keep that advantage.