Terry Guest
Special to The Record
Eve of Destruction at Saratoga Speedway fully lived up to expectations on Saturday, leaving fans fully satisfied after seeing one of the most destructive nights of the 2016 season.
Josh Beckel and his team from The Crusher Stunts Group put on one of the best car jump shows ever seen at Saratoga, putting on not only one but two amazing stunts. First, Josh drove his Ford Taurus through a minivan going full speed, landing hard on his roof, but Josh would be just fine as he moved on to his feature jump.
This one saw Josh fly through a stack of four cars going 85 miles per hour. Josh once again emerged unscathed and will be returning Sept. 3 to put on an even bigger show. The Galaxy Motors Mad Max Extreme racers, Hornet cars and Crash to Pass cars were also on Saturday’s card, with Courtenay Kia sponsoring the night of carnage.
The Galaxy Motors Mad Max Extreme racers set a new high for car count, this time bringing out a field of 12 cars to accompany the 43 Hornet cars and six Crash to Pass cars. Heat race wins went to #31 Clancey Beamish, #91 James Laidlaw, #19 Don Clark, #95 Carter Hintz, #36 Ryan Jensen, and #9 Troy Ordano.
An exciting Galaxy Motors Mad Max heat race featured all 12 cars in one of the craziest heat races ever at Saratoga. First, #21 Toryn Davies rolled his Scooby Doo machine in turn one. He then grabbed another car from the pits, only to have it go head on into the wall, ending the night for both cars.
#53 Rowland Westra and #79 Danielle Antonik found themselves in a pile of tires in turn four, ending their heat races as well. After 25 minutes and four laps completed, the win went to #90 Damon Dunn, who somehow managed to get through the carnage.
Twenty-four Hornet B cars entered the 25-lap main event where points leader Westra and #61 Michael White jumped from the back to the front in less than five laps, pulled away from the pack, then battled bumper to bumper until Westra took the checkers.
A record 19 Hornet A cars entered into an exciting 25-lap main event which saw a very tight pack early before Jensen found the fast line and grabbed the lead on lap six en route to victory. The real battle was for second and third as #01 Kevin Lawrenuk, #7 Brian Sallis and #10 Blair Mangles constantly swapped spots. Lawrenuk had the last laugh as he moved into second on lap 22 then held off the pack to take second ahead of Sallis.
Nine Galaxy Motor Mad Max cars survived to take to their 15-lap main event. Just like their heat race, a ton of hitting took place throughout the race, knocking out a few cars early, opening the door for Dunn and #80 Craig Gagne to pull away from the pack, with Gagne taking home his first main event win of the year.
The final main event of the evening saw even more carnage as the Crash to Pass cars put on a show of their own. #72 Jason Beaulieu and #73 Cam Edwards emerged early as the clear favourites and battled for all 15 laps. The final blow belonged to Edwards as he absolutely rocked Beaulieu, taking him out of contention and taking home his second main event win of the year.
EXTRA LAPS This weekend Saratoga welcomes all of the open-wheel classes on the Island to the Black Creek oval …. the Wilroc Lites, who were here just two weeks ago, will be back to put on some of the best racing you will see at Saratoga … after being rained out two races in a row, the Dwarf cars will once again try to make their 2016 season debut … the I.M.C.A Modifieds, Bomber cars and Roadrunners will round out the evening’s action …