Terry Guest
Contributor
The biggest monster truck show to ever grace Saratoga Speedway was held over the August long weekend. Reverse Racer, California Kid, Rockstar, American Graffiti and Bucked Up hit some huge jumps.
A record 19-car field of Crash to Pass cars timed in. Two heats on Saturday saw truck #86 Jake Matthews and #40 Cam Edward take home wins. Twenty laps were given to an 18-car field for their main event. After three restarts and lots of hitting, #73 Sheldon Hopp emerged as the leader on lap eight and he wouldn't look back from there, holding off a hard-charging field to take the win.
Sunday saw #69 Mike Whitehead and Hopp take heat race wins. Twenty laps were once again given to an 18-car field; six lead changes occurred within the first 12 laps, with Hopp taking the final lead on lap 14 and winning his second straight main event.
Mechanical issues diminished the Roadrunner field to only four on Saturday. #66 Nick Leavitt won the only heat, with the 10-lap main event going to #17 Dan Kemp. Five Roadrunners arrived on Sunday; Leavitt once again won the heat race, with the main event going to #53 Steve Cashan, which was his second main event win of the year.
Twenty-seven Hornet cars took to the track on Saturday. #88 McKenzie Collins won the C heat, #81 Jeremy Stormo took the B heat, and #03 Jennifer Lawrenuk took home the A heat.
Twenty-five laps were given to both main events. In the B main, #87 Boston Larson led for the first 16 laps, but some debris on the track popped his tire, opening the door for #81 Jeremy Stormo to take the lead and motor to his fifth main event of the year.
In the A main, #55 Trevor Dicus also held the lead for the first 16 laps, but #01 Kevin Lawrenuk got around him in turn four and he wouldn’t look back from there, taking home the win and closing the gap between him and points leader #14 Kyle Fallowfield, who finished second.
The same lineup was scheduled for Sunday as well for the Hornets. #05 BJ Veld took the C heat, #81 Jeremy Stormo once again won the B heat, and #08 Daryn Cahill took the A heat. Twenty-five laps were given to the B main; Fortier and Stormo once again battled each other, with Stormo taking the lead on lap 17 and winning his second main in as many nights.
Some amazing racing took place in the 20-lap A main; #09 Cameron Phillips held the lead for the first 19 laps, holding off five hard-charging cars, but #14 Kyle Fallowfield found his way around Phillips on the last lap to take the win in one of the best A mains of the year.
Lawrenuk carried his winning ways into the Figure 8 class, winning his fourth straight race in the division, their 10-lap heat. Lawrenuk had his streak snapped in the main event, with the win going to 14-year-old #16 Brad Kennedy. Sunday night saw the mother and son team of Brad and Cindy Kennedy dominate the Figure 8 field, with Brad winning the heat and Cindy taking the main.
EXTRA LAPS The fourth round of drifting will take place Saturday … these drivers have shown some amazing skill with their cars, drifting around each turn, just barely missing the wall each time ... the I.M.C.A Modifieds, Bomber cars and the Dwarf cars will accompany the drifters …
– Saratoga Speedway