Terry Guest
Contributor
United Rentals sponsored a heated night of races at Saratoga Speedway on Saturday. The Sprint cars and Bomber cars both had two great main events that ended in very close finishes.
In The I.M.C.A Modifieds division, #98 Pat Brown destroyed his fellow competitors, winning the dash, heat and 15-lap main event, even though he started the race a lap down on #55 John Baker. #44 Tim Openshaw finished second to Brown all night.
Bike #57 Ryan Middleton also destroyed his fellow competitors, winning the dash, heat and taking the lead on the last lap of the 12-lap feature race to win every race on the night in his class.
The Bombers had two new cars out on Saturday; #17 Weston Lane and #77 Travis Stevenson were both sporting new cars. Stevenson won the B dash, with the A dash going to #11 Mike Dionne. Dionne found the winners circle two more times, taking the reverse heat and leading all but 10 laps to capture the 35-lap feature.
#72 Stewart Lee came into the night as the points leader and increased his lead over #29 Gilles Cyr to 158 points to win the Mid-Season Championship in the Bomber car class.
Thirteen Sprint cars took to the track. #08 Shane Woolcock won the B dash with the A going to #7 Mark Gall. #11 Duane Zeinstra dominated to win the B heat, with the A heat going to #15 Rob Scott.
Track conditions were great for the 30-lap feature. #25 Chris Root started on the pole and led for 11 laps until Zeinstra briefly took over. #55 Jeff Bird soon wrested the lead from Zeinstra and held it for 16 laps until mechanical issues caused him to withdraw, also bringing out a caution. Zeinstra held the lead going into the restart, but Root passed him on lap 28, creating a fantastic finish between them.
Root and Zeinstra were side by side going down the backstretch on the final lap until an altercation caused Zeinstra to spin out, giving Root the win in what was one of the best races of the season. #34 Matt Verhagen finished second with #3 Jim Giles third.
EXTRA LAPS This Saturday marks the only 150-lap race of the season, the Thrifty Foods 150 with 15-25 cars from the B.C. Late Model Tour expected to show ... these drivers are regarded as some of the best in British Columbia, in what is considered the closest series to NASCAR in British Columbia ... this is perennially the best race at Saratoga Speedway ... the Bomber cars, I.M.C.A Modifieds and Dwarf cars will also be racing in what will be one of the best nights at the Black Creek oval all season ...