Terry Guest
Special to the Record
Four high-flying monster trucks tore up the track over the B.C Day long weekend at Saratoga Speedway.
Rockstar, California Kid, Iron Man and the Reverse Racer put on yet another amazing show, hitting some crazy air and some of the best wheelies we have ever seen.
A season-high 33 Hornet cars filled the pits. In Saturday's heats, #41 Brian Lippy took home his first ever win at Saratoga, taking the C heat. #53 Rowland Westra took the B heat, with the A heat going to #03 Jennifer Lawrenuk.
In the 25-lap B main #16 Ashley White led the first 13 laps, but #87 Boston Larson wove his way through to grab the lead and then held off #10 Blair Mangles.
Seven cars took to the track for the 20-lap A main. #08 Daryn Cahill jumped out to the lead on lap three and held off an aggressive pack to win his second main event of the year.
The Hornets ran six heats Sunday. #76 Taylor Pheaton took her first ever win in the C heat, with the B heat going to #18 Darren Monk and the A heat to #08 Daryn Cahill. The reverse heat winners were #54 Allen Pheaton in the C, #87 Boston Larson in the B and #12 Raymond Fortier in the A.
In the 25-lap B main Monk led for the first 22 laps before Larson caught him and collected his second main event win in as many nights. In the 25-lap, 11-car A main the battle was between the Cahill brothers, Daryn and Daryl, and #01 Kevin Lawrenuk. After some incredible bumper-to-bumper racing, Daryl beat his brother on the very last lap by less than an inch at the start/finish line.
Eight Roadrunners qualified over the weekend. #66 Nick Leavitt started off hot on Saturday, setting fast time in qualifying and winning the 10-lap heat. In the 20-lap main, Leavitt jumped out to an early lead and pulled away to win his first main event of the year.
On Sunday Leavitt started where he left off on Saturday, taking home the first 10-lap heat and finishing third in the reverse heat, with the win going to #37 Bill Gallagher Jr.
In the 20-lap main event, Gallagher Jr. had a strong hold on the lead until he ran into mechanical issues, opening the door for #77 Trace Stevenson to win his third main event of the year.
A full field of Crash to Pass cars were in action. #40 Cam Edward won the 10-lap heat on Saturday. In the 20-lap main event, points leader #73 Sheldon Hopp once again dominated the field, taking the lead on lap four en route to his fourth main event win in a row.
Twelve Crash to Pass cars joined the action on Sunday. Hopp continued his dominance, taking the 10-lap heat and the 12-lap reverse heat. In the 20-lap main event Hopp burst a tire early, putting him a few laps down and opening the door for #40 Cam Edward to win his first main event of the year.
EXTRA LAPS This weekend marks the last appearance of the Wilroc Lites at Saratoga this year … these cars were at Saratoga two weeks ago, bringing out 14 cars and putting on one of the best main events of the year … accompanying these speed demons will be the Bomber cars, I.M.C.A Modifieds and the Motorcycles …
– Saratoga Speedway