Saratoga Speedway racing returned Saturday, bringing out a sell-out crowd, with over 50 cars filling the pits. The Crash to Pass cars, Hornets, Roadrunners and Bombers were all on the card, which was capped off by an amazing fireworks show.
Of the 32 Hornet cars, 10 had rookie drivers. A track record was set in qualifying as #02 Daryl Cahill beat his old mark with a time of 17.891. Eight rookie drivers competed in the Hornets' two dashes; 14-year-old #61 Michael White won the B dash, with the A going to 15-year-old #15 Brayden Weiler.
Four heats were awarded to the Hornets with the D going to 13 year old #69 Chris Hleck, the C to #59 Diana Ackerman, B to 14-year-old #76 Taylor Pheaton and the A to Cahill.
The 25-lap B main featured a tight battle for the top three throughout the race, with #53 Rowland Westra holding off a hard-charging #16 Ashley White to take the win.
The 25-lap A main saw rookie #76 Taylor Pheaton lead for the first 10 laps before #03 Jennifer Lawrenuk took the lead for 10 laps, until her brother #01 Kevin Lawrenuk passed her on lap 20 en route to the win.
Six Roadrunners hit the track. #99 Dennis Leavitt won the dash and 10-lap heat. The 15-lap main saw #88 Ryan Guest take over, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back.
The Bomber car B dash went to #11 Justin Beaulieu, and the A to #5 Darren “Bam Bam” Larson. Beaulieu continued his success in the 12-lap heat, leading every lap to win his second straight race.
The 25-lap main event was a heated battle until lap seven when #98 Gilles Cyr pulled away from the pack and took the checkers.
The Crash to Pass field saw #9 Troy Ordano and #73 Sheldon Hopp battle all night: Ordano took the eight- lap heat with the main event going to Hopp.
EXTRA LAPS This weekend marks the first round of the drifting and drag racing … the following weekend the monster trucks return to Saratoga …
– Saratoga Speedway