Submitted by Andy Guest
A mixed up bag of weather Saturday night around Saratoga Speedway saw almost a full night of racing on a somewhat dry track before the skies opened up for the last race, causing rivers of water to run across the track.
The rain made for a wet track at the beginning of the night, but quickly dried up leaving for great track conditions in the third last race of the 2018 season.
In Hornet A racing, Raymond Fortier increased his lead to 97 points over Nigel Neufeld after winning the 25 lap main event. Darren Monk won the heat race.
In Hornet B action, Kyle Lenzio came away with the 22-car, 25-lap main event win ahead of point leader James Laidlaw and Kiana Westra. Heat race’s wins went to Issac Davis, Taylor Pheaton and Lenzio. Laidlaw increased his point lead to 160 points over Ayden Sandirson, who finished 22nd after colliding with the wall on lap six, knocking him from the race and any chances of a championship season.
In the Road Runners, Josh Taks, a third generation race car driver behind his dad and grandfather, clinched the 2018 points championship after winning the 15 lap main event. Taks’ championship snaps Ryan Guest’s three-year hold on the championship. In heat race action, Chad Taks took home the win.
In Crash to Pass racing, Chris Campbell River moved to within 54 points of point leader Troy Ordano after winning the main event while Corey Sandirson took home the heat race win.
In Mad Max racing, point leader and defending champion Dannielle Dunn put the nail in the coffin for the 2018 championship after winning the heat race and main evet.
This Saturday night, the Modifides and Bomber cars finish their season with their championship night with just the Bomber championship undecided. The Bomber point race has three drivers separated by 63 points, with Boston Larsen leading the way ahead of Taks and Charlie Akerman. The Modifide point race has Chris Beaulieu with an uncatchable 238 point advantage over Peter Mulion. Beaulieu won his first championship in 2002 by winning the Bomber car championship in his rookie season.
This Saturday is the second last race of the season and will not run rain or shine. If it does get rained out, it will not be rescheduled. The season’s last race Sept. 29 will run rain or shine. The season will end with another speedway traditional fireworks display.