Wild Opening Night For Agassiz Speedway

By Kris McKenzie, CWR Contributor

On a chilly Saturday night in Agassiz the rubber was  burning and the metal was flying. The most exciting race for the night belonged to the hornets where the race had controversial issues right down to the finish. The 40 lap main event was full of bumping and banging that ended with several damaged cars. Jordan Riersma took the early lead and held off all challengers until late in the race, but behind him the field was fighting for every inch. The #47 of Rick Sellers found himself looking the wrong way early off the nose of another car, as did the #41 of Curtis Williams.

Leslie McKellar Photo

On lap 26 the race had to be red flagged when sophomore driver Kim Globe collided with the turn 2 wall head on ending her night. On the restart the #6 of Dean Bridge who had been steadily moving through the field took over the 2nd spot. Coming out of four Bridge made a move on Riersma which ended with Riersma in the wall and Bridge in the pits. As the race came to a close a new leader the #85 of John Marsden got a bump from the #58 of Dalton Kuhn and went for a spin. This ended the race under yellow with the unofficial win going to the #17 of rookie Cameron Jones. (Results of the main and A heat are under review, for full results go the agassizspeedway.com later this week.)

 

Leslie McKellar Photo

In the mini stocks Aaron Willison in his #41 Nissan 240 swept the night though not in any easy manner. The main saw Ben Denis and Tyler Thomas battle for the lead early until lap 9 when hard charging Willison took the point following him through was Nick Hastie, Wayne Goodwin and Norm Hillert . The #15 of Brent Roher had been making a steady push forward as well until on lap 10 when his engine expired ending his night. Goodwin would later fall out on lap 22 leaving Hastie to battle with Willison, but was unable to find a way around in the end. 

Leslie McKellar Photo

The midgets saw Steve Hora and Troy Globe jump out in front on the start. The field split into two packs with Globe battle Hora and Billy Bell trying to hold off a hard charge from Kris McKenzie. McKenzie would finish the pass on lap 10, two laps later Hora pushed up coming out of turn 2 collided with the outside wall and went for a slide back across the track coming to a rest in the infield, he would be out for the night. On the restart Mckenzie mounted a charge on Globe, but would be unable to get under the eventual race winner

Dave Hemrich was victorious in the sportsman main event. Larry Sproule lead the race in the beginning, but on lap 10 Hemrich and Roy Jones would make their moves around Sproule. Bob Kuhn would later make his move on the #2 of John Ross and on Jones, but would be unable to catch Hemrich.

The tightest race of the night was the stocks ending with John Chatwin taking the lead street early and never looking back. Tom Jones held the early charge but after the first yellow of the race found himself at the back of the pack. The race would stay tight though almost all 40 laps, the one fault was on lap 35 when John Ashley stopped on the front stretch with the front tires pointing in opposite directions. During this yellow last years class champion Keith Tourand would make a quick move to the pits after an oil line burst sending flames flying from under the hood. The race would end with Chatwin holding of Cameron Graham.

Hornets

Time Trials: Randy Doerksen
Heat C: Abney, Striker, Globe, Mosher, Wright, Envick, Bell
Heat B: Riersma, Madsen, Jones, Thorley, Sellers, Stratford, Barrett

Minis
Time Trials: Aaron Willison
Heat: Willison, Rohrer. Hastie, Hillert, Goodwin, Thomas, Denis
Main: Willison, Hastie, Hillert, Denis, Thomas, Goodwin, Rohrer

Midgets
Time Trials: Troy Globe
Heat: Hora, Globe, McKenzie, Bell, Franklin
Main: Globe, McKenzie, Bell, Franklin, Hora

Sportsman
Time Trials: Dave Hemrich
Heat: Hemrich, Sproule, Ross, Kuhn, Jones, Glenn
Main: Hemrich, Kuhn, Ross, Jones, Glenn, Sproule

Street Stocks
Time Trials: Murray Jones
Heat B: Tom Jones, Webb, Coates, Moore, Chatwin, Bridge
Heat A: Graham, Ashley, Keith Tourand, Murray Jones, McArthur, Paul Tourand, Kury
Main: Chatwin, Graham, Kury, Paul Tourand, Murray Jones, Webb, Tom Jones, Keith Tourand, Ashley, Coates, Moore, McArthur

Next race May 14.