Terry Guest
Contributor
Six champions were crowned Saturday at Saratoga Speedway after an action-packed night of racing which saw 74 cars fill the pits on an extremely foggy evening – all capped off by an amazing, season-ending fireworks show.
The Roadrunner championship was already decided going into Saturday as #17 Dan Kemp held an insurmountable 387-point lead over #66 Nick Leavitt. In a six-lap heat #99 Dennis Leavitt took the win, with the 15-lap main going to #8 Ryan Guest, who finally got his car running on all cylinders after weeks of hard luck.
In the Bomber class, #72 Stewart Lee was looking to win his second straight championship and held a 239-point lead over #97 Mike Dionne. #5 Darren Larson won the 10-lap heat, but Lee's lead would turn into an insurmountable one.
With the title tucked away, Lee still drove hard for an exciting 25-lap main that saw Larson drive his best race of the year, taking the lead on lap one and holding off Lee to win his first Bomber main of the year.
#44 Tim Openshaw was looking to win his first I.M.C.A Modified championship at Saratoga, holding a 152-point lead over #89 Gregg Sagmoen. Unfortunately after two laps of practise, Openshaw's motor blew, opening the door for Sagmoen and #88 Troy Tarbuck to take the championship.
Sagmoen won the only heat race, closing the gap on Openshaw to 42 points going into the decisive 15-lap main. #91 Chris Beaulieu once again dominated the event, taking the lead early en route to winning his second straight main event. After all the points were added up, Sagmoen edged Tarbuck by four points to take the championship.
#01 “The General” Jeff May was looking to win his third straight Crash to Pass championship, holding a 142-point lead over #73 Sheldon Hopp. Hopp won the 12-lap heat to close the gap on May to 88 points going into the main.
Th 20-lap main saw Hopp jump out to an early lead and dominate from there, taking home the win. May's fifth-place finish was enough to secure him his third straight Crash to Pass title, holding off Hopp by only 28 points.
The closest point races were in the Hornet divisions; #01 Kevin Lawrenuk held a 43-point lead over #14 Kyle Fallowfield in the A class, and #81 Jeremy Stormo held a slim 27-point lead over #12 Raymond Fortier in the B class.
Three B class heats saw #76 Blaire Mark take the C, #53 Chris Klassen take the B, and #14 Kyle Fallowfield take the A. In the 25-lap B main, points leader Stormo battled his way to the front on lap 15 and captured his fifth main event of the year, taking the championship by 83 points over Fortier.
Twenty-five laps were also given to the A main that saw points leader #01 Kevin Lawrenuk jump out to the lead early before fast time setter #02 Daryl Cahill caught him on lap 14 and won the last A main of the year. Lawrenuk won the A championship, holding off Fallowfield by 65 points.
The Dwarf cars were added to the racing card for a "play date" which saw Bomber champion Lee win the heat race and the 12-lap main event. #17 Brad Dimitrov had his best night of the year in the Figure 8 class, winning the six-lap heat and the 10-lap main.
EXTRA LAPS Saratoga Speedway thanks the many sponsors, fans, and race car drivers who have supported the speedway over this and many years …"Without all of you none of this would be possible, and we look forward to seeing everyone back for the 2014 season," a track spokesperson said …
– Saratoga Speedway