Abreu Wins First Night of Northern Summer Nationals at Ohsweken; Sopaz, Lunger, and DeBoer Also Score Wins

Abreu Wins First Night of Northern Summer Nationals at Ohsweken; Sopaz, Lunger, and DeBoer Also Score Wins

Story By: Tommy Goudge/Ohsweken Speedway

Photos By: Dale Calnan

OHSWEKEN, Ont. (July 22, 2019) – The first night of action at Ohsweken Speedway’s Northern Summer Nationals presented by Burger Barn, Arrow Express, Nitro 54 Variety and Bradshaw Brothers did not disappoint. 143 drivers signed in for action across four divisions, including a star-studded Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Car roster which featured Tony Stewart, Christopher Bell, Rico Abreu, and a host of regional racing standouts.

Rico Abreu took the $5,000 USD win in the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars feature, while Kyle Sopaz took the checkered flag in a thrilling finish to the Late Model Open. The UMP/Canadian Modified Challenge saw Dennis Lunger earn a trip to Mister Transmission Victory Lane, while Dusty DeBoer triumphed in the HRW Automotive Mini Stock main event.

Mack DeMan and Dylan Westbrook started on the front row for the 30-lap Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Car A-Feature, but Christopher Bell stole the lead exiting turn two after the green flag dropped. Bell’s move was negated, however, when Josh Hansen flipped hard in turn three; Hansen was uninjured, but his car was heavily damaged.

Westbrook took the lead when the race restarted but the sideboard on his top wing began to come apart, which drastically affected the handling on his car. Both DeMan and Bell took advantage and were followed by Rico Abreu, Mark Smith, and Jason Barney, while Westbrook fought valiantly but eventually brought out a yellow flag on lap six. Mark Smith then flipped in turn three to bring out a red flag before the next lap was completed; Smith was uninjured but done for the night.

DeMan held the lead when the race restarted again with Bell following closely behind, while Steve Poirier worked his way into the top five. As DeMan and Bell approached traffic on lap 12, DeMan dove to the bottom groove in turn one in search of racing room. Bell seized the opportunity and drove around the outside to take the lead, and immediately opened a gap on the rest of the field. Bell’s lead was short-lived, however, as he brought out a yellow flag with a flat right rear tire on lap 18. Abreu had just passed Mack DeMan before the yellow flag and inherited the lead for the restart, while Bell restarted at the rear of the field with a new tire and eventually charged back to finish 11th.

Abreu opened a lead when the race restarted, while Poirier got past DeMan and into second. Poirier began to close in on Abreu as the race wound down, but Abreu made a daring three wide move in traffic which essentially sealed the victory. Abreu took the feature win and the guaranteed starting spot in September’s Canadian Sprint Car Nationals A-Feature which went with it. Poirier settled for the runner-up spot followed by DeMan in third, while Tony Stewart made a late charge to finish fourth, and Mitch Brown rounded out the top five.

Holly Porter, Christopher Bell, Mark Smith, Mack DeMan, and Mitch Brown won qualifying heat races for the 50 car field, while Davie Franek, Scott Kreutter, and Denny Peebles won B-Features.

Brad Rayner and Brad Authier paced the field to the green flag for the Late Model Open A-Feature, and Rayner took the early lead before Tyler Lozon spun to bring out an early yellow flag. Sam Pennacchio slipped past Rayner after the restart, followed by Craig Graham and Gregg Haskell.

Several incidents slowed the race but did not slow the progress of eighth row starter Kyle Sopaz, who was into the top five just past the halfway point. Lozon was also putting on a show as he restarted 22nd and charged back into the top five as the race wound down.

Pennacchio led until all but two laps were left to run, but Sopaz charged around the outside and stole the win by 0.15 seconds. Pennacchio settled for the runner-up spot, followed by Lozon, Craig Graham, and Rob Pietz.

Gregg Haskell, Charlie Sandercock, Tyler Lozon, and Sam Pennacchio won their qualifying heats, while Brad Simpson won the B-Feature.

Andrew Hennessy and Jim Dale Jr. brought the Canadian/UMP Modified Challenge Feature to the green flag, and each took a brief turn leading before Dennis Lunger took over and opened a gap on the field. Hennessy found himself fending off challenges from Al Brewer and Tim Richardson in an entertaining race for the second position until Darryl Hoekstra spun to bring out a yellow flag on lap 13.

 Lunger continued to lead after the restart, while Brewer finally got clear of Hennessy and Richardson and gave chase. Lunger could not be caught, however, and took the win followed by Brewer, Hennessy, Richardson, and Jim Dale Jr.

Al Brewer, Jim Dale Jr., and Dennis Lunger scored victories in the qualifying heat races for the 24 car field.

Cole Hardy and Steve Miller were on the front row for the HRW Automotive Mini Stock 15-lap Feature, and Hardy took the early lead with Miller close behind. Kyle Wert quickly made a beeline to the front of the field, while Dusty DeBoer and Wayde Thorne were also moving forward. Wert took the lead as the race reached the halfway point but had problems and got off track in turn two.

Hardy inherited the lead again after Wert’s incident, but DeBoer soon made the winning move, while Thorne moved around Hardy a few laps later. DeBoer cruised to the win, followed by Thorne, Hardy, Tim Deboer, and Rob Goulding.

Mike Evers was the fastest driver in qualifying with a lap of 20.892 seconds, while Ryan Hillar and Rob Twitchett scored checkered flags in a pair of B-Features.
UP NEXT AT OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY
Ohsweken Speedway returns to action for a second straight night on Tuesday, July 23 as Tony Stewart, Christopher Bell and Rico Abreu return to battle the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars in another $5,000 USD-to-win event. The Race of Champions Sportsman Modified Tour, Action Sprint Tour Crate Sprint Cars, and Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks will also hit the track. Race time is 7:30 p.m. and adult admission is $30. Advanced reserved tickets and additional schedule information are available at www.ohswekenspeedway.ca.
OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY STATISTICAL REPORT
July 22, 2019
Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada
Northern Summer Nationals Night 1
Presented by Burger Barn and Bradshaw Bros.
Total Entries – 143

Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars (50 Entries)

A-Feature (30 laps – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 24-Rico Abreu, [6]; 2. 28FM-Steve Poirier, [7]; 3. 17X-Mack DeMan, [1]; 4. 14-Tony Stewart, [13]; 5. 10-Mitch Brown, [11]; 6. 87-Jason Barney, [8]; 7. 0-Jim Huppunen, [9]; 8. 17M-Max Stambaugh, [26]; 9. 49-Scott Kreutter, [22]; 10. 28F-Davie Franek, [21]; 11. 67X-Christopher Bell, [3]; 12. 35-Jared Zimbardi, [14]; 13. 5JD-Jacob Dykstra, [19]; 14. 1-Holly Porter, [10]; 15. 5D-Shane Ross, [24]; 16. 98-Joe Trenca, [25]; 17. 1-10-Jake Brown, [20]; 18. 77X-Alex Hill, [4]; 19. 3-Denny Peebles, [23]; 20. 0J-Lynton Jeffrey, [17]; 21. 55M-Mark Smith, [5]; 22. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [2]; 23. 27H-Tom Huppunen, [15]; 24. 79-Jordan Thomas, [12]; 25. 88H-Josh Hansen, [16]; 26. 91-Ryan Turner, [18]
   A-Feature Lap Leaders – Mack DeMan (3-11), Christopher Bell (12-17), Rico Abreu (18-30)
   Hard Charger – Max Stambaugh +18

Heat Race 1 (8 laps – 4 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 1-Holly Porter, [1]; 2. 77X-Alex Hill, [10]; 3. 27H-Tom Huppunen, [2]; 4. 88H-Josh Hansen, [5]; 5. 121-Steve Glover, [8]; 6. 3-Denny Peebles, [7]; 7. 46C-Ryan Coniam, [6]; 8. 8-Hannah Ferrell, [3]; 9. 84-Tyler Rand, [9]; 10. 9B-Scott Burk, [4]

Heat Race 2 (8 laps – 4 Transfer – 1:48.604)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 67X-Christopher Bell, [2]; 2. 28FM-Steve Poirier, [6]; 3. 0J-Lynton Jeffrey, [1]; 4. 5JD-Jacob Dykstra, [3]; 5. 49-Scott Kreutter, [9]; 6. 28F-Davie Franek, [8]; 7. 11-Jamie Turner, [4]; 8. 87X-Shone Evans, [5]; 9. 18-Josh Shantz, [7]; 10. 46-Kevin Pauls, [10]

Heat Race 3 (8 laps – 4 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 55M-Mark Smith, [3]; 2. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [5]; 3. 91-Ryan Turner, [1]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu, [10]; 5. 17M-Max Stambaugh, [2]; 6. 15-Dan Nanticoke, [7]; 7. 9-Steve Lyons, [8]; 8. 01-Kyle Fraser, [6]; 9. 28-Jordan Poirier, [4]; 10. 13-Cory Turner, [9]

Heat Race 4 (8 laps – 4 Transfer – 1:49.254)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 17X-Mack DeMan, [2]; 2. 0-Jim Huppunen, [4]; 3. 35-Jared Zimbardi, [3]; 4. 14-Tony Stewart, [6]; 5. 55-Mike Thorne, [5]; 6. 98-Joe Trenca, [7]; 7. 16L-Roger Levesque, [8]; 8. 68-Aaron Turkey, [1]; 9. 0C-Cole MacDonald, [9]; (DNS) 45-Curtis Gartly

Heat Race 5 (8 laps – 4 Transfer – Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 10-Mitch Brown, [1]; 2. 79-Jordan Thomas, [2]; 3. 87-Jason Barney, [9]; 4. 1-10-Jake Brown, [3]; 5. 5D-Shane Ross, [10]; 6. 18S-Micheal Summers, [5]; 7. 3G-Dale Gosselin, [6]; 8. 67-Pete Richardson, [8]; 9. 79K-Clyde Knipp, [4]; 10. 7-Caleb Wood, [7]

B-Feature 1 (10 laps – 2 Transfer – 2:22.880)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 28F-Davie Franek, [2]; 2. 5D-Shane Ross, [1]; 3. 79K-Clyde Knipp, [9]; 4. 15-Dan Nanticoke, [3]; 5. 18S-Micheal Summers, [4]; 6. 46C-Ryan Coniam, [5]; 7. 68-Aaron Turkey, [8]; 8. 67-Pete Richardson, [6]; 9. 84-Tyler Rand, [7]; 10. 9B-Scott Burk, [10]

B-Feature 2 (10 laps – 2 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 49-Scott Kreutter, [1]; 2. 98-Joe Trenca, [3]; 3. 55-Mike Thorne, [2]; 4. 9-Steve Lyons, [4]; 5. 46-Kevin Pauls, [8]; 6. 8-Hannah Ferrell, [7]; 7. 01-Kyle Fraser, [6]; 8. 3G-Dale Gosselin, [5]; 9. 13-Cory Turner, [9]; 10. 45-Curtis Gartly, [10]

B-Feature 3 (10 laps – 2 Transfer – 2:26.833)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 3-Denny Peebles, [2]; 2. 17M-Max Stambaugh, [3]; 3. 18-Josh Shantz, [7]; 4. 11-Jamie Turner, [5]; 5. 87X-Shone Evans, [6]; 6. 16L-Roger Levesque, [4]; 7. 121-Steve Glover, [1]; 8. 7-Caleb Wood, [9]; 9. 28-Jordan Poirier, [8]; 10. 0C-Cole MacDonald, [10]

Ackland Insurance Top Gun: Alex Hill

Late Model Open (31 Entries)

A-Feature (20 laps – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 12 Kyle Sopaz [16], 2. 311 Sam Pennacchio [6], 3. 66 Tyler Lozon [4], 4. 98 Craig Graham [3], 5. 69 Rob Pietz [8], 6. 19J Rob Ledingham [13], 7. 05 Mike Lewis [14], 8. 27Z Stan Zanchin [22], 9. 11B Brad Bloomfield [9], 10. 55 Brad Rayner [1], 11. 38 Jake Hooker [7], 12. 0 John Pinsonneault [12], 13. 82 Ken Winfield [11], 14. 00D Jim Dale Jr. [15], 15. 44 Brad Simpson [21], 16. 911 Jay Liverance [17], 17. 38D Doris Lajeunesse [23], 18. 7 Brent Colby [24], 19. 1A Brad Authier [2], 20. 4 CJ Field [18], 21. RH21 Gregg Haskell [5], 22. 94 Jason Haskell [19], 23. 3M Matt Sorrell [20], 24. 57 Charlie Sandercock [10]
   A-Feature Lap Leaders – Brad Rayner (1-2), Sam Pennacchio (3-18), Kyle Sopaz (19-20)
   Hard Charger – Kyle Sopaz +15

Heat Race 1 (8 laps – 5 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. RH21 Gregg Haskell [2], 2. 1A Brad Authier [6], 3. 55 Brad Rayner [1], 4. 05 Mike Lewis [3], 5. 4 CJ Field [4], 6. 44 Brad Simpson [8], 7. 27Z Stan Zanchin [5], 8. 20 Dwayne Mallott [7]

Heat Race 2 (8 laps – 5 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 57 Charlie Sandercock [6], 2. 11B Brad Bloomfield [1], 3. 38 Jake Hooker [4], 4. 19J Rob Ledingham [3], 5. 911 Jay Liverance [2], 6. 7 Brent Colby [7], 7. 34 Jim Jones [5], 8. 15 Tim Gillespie [8]

Heat Race 3 (8 laps – 5 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 66 Tyler Lozon [4], 2. 82 Ken Winfield [2], 3. 0 John Pinsonneault [7], 4. 00D Jim Dale Jr. [8], 5. 94 Jason Haskell [6], 6. 00 Mike Dale [5], 7. 9 Brian Sudsbury [3], 8. 38D Doris Lajeunesse [1]

Heat Race 4 (8 laps – 5 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 311 Sam Pennacchio [2], 2. 98 Craig Graham [6], 3. 69 Rob Pietz [4], 4. 12 Kyle Sopaz [7], 5. 3M Matt Sorrell [3], 6. 03M Tim MacKenzie [1], 7. 52 Rick Cedar [5]

B-Feature (10 laps – 4 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 44 Brad Simpson [1], 2. 27Z Stan Zanchin [5], 3. 38D Doris Lajeunesse [11], 4. 7 Brent Colby [2], 5. 34 Jim Jones [6], 6. 52 Rick Cedar [8], 7. 15 Tim Gillespie [10], 8. 20 Dwayne Mallott [9], 9. 00 Mike Dale [3], 10. 03M Tim MacKenzie [4], 11. 9 Brian Sudsbury [7]

Canadian/UMP Modified Challenge (24 entries)

A-Feature (20 laps – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 71L Dennis Lunger [8], 2. 71 Al Brewer [4], 3. 87 Andrew Hennessy [1], 4. 5X Tim Richardson [5], 5. 00 Jim Dale Jr. [2], 6. 91 Kraig Handley [3], 7. 14 Brandt Graham [11], 8. 99 Linc Brown [10], 9. 32 Doug O’Blenis [7], 10. 12 Adam Whaley [20], 11. 3 Nathan Rinaldi [6], 12. 98P Patrick Lajeunesse [12], 13. 39 Jonah Martin [15], 14. 07 Curtis King [9], 15. 1 Shawn Gregory [17], 16. 29 Rich Sanders [18], 17. 5 Gerry Martin [16], 18. 36 Darryl Hoekstra [11], 19. 69 Dennis Deserrano [21], 20. 49 Brett Hope [19], 21. 22S Brian Speelman [14], 22. 26 JJ Beaulieu [22], 23. 47B Joe Brosseau [13], 24. 4F Jim Fletcher [24]
   A-Feature Lap Leaders – Jim Dale Jr. (1), Andrew Hennessy (2-3), Dennis Lunger (4-20)
   Hard Charger – Adam Whaley +10

Heat Race 1 (8 laps – 2:26.145)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 71 Al Brewer [6], 2. 91 Kraig Handley [1], 3. 32 Doug O’Blenis [5], 4. 99 Linc Brown [2], 5. 47b Joe Brosseau [7], 6. 5 Gerry Martin [8], 7. 49 Brett Hope [9], 8. 26 JJ Beaulieu [3], 9. 4F Jim Fletcher [4]

Heat Race 2 (8 laps – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 00 Jim Dale Jr. [3], 2. 87 Andrew Hennessy [5], 3. 3 Nathan Rinaldi [1], 4. 14 Brandt Graham [2], 5. 22S Brian Speelman [6], 6. 1 Shawn Gregory [8], 7. 12 Adam Whaley [7], 8. 36 Darryl Hoekstra [4]

Heat Race 3 (8 laps – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 71L Dennis Lunger [2], 2. 5X Tim Richardson [7], 3. 07 Curtis King [1], 4. 98P Patrick Lajeunesse [3], 5. 39 Jonah Martin [5], 6. 29 Rich Sanders [6], 7. 69 Denis Deserrano [4]

———————————————————–
HRW Automotive Mini Stocks (38 Entries)

A-Feature (15 laps – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 23-Dusty DeBoer, [11]; 2. 46-Wayde Thorne, [9]; 3. 7C-Cole Hardy, [1]; 4. 9-Tim DeBoer, [3]; 5. 1R-Rob Goulding, [5]; 6. 21H-Ryan Hillar, [21]; 7. 6X-Mike Sarantakos, [4]; 8. 19-Kyle Wert, [7]; 9. 37-Robert Hoskins, [6]; 10. 01-Tristan DaSilva, [23]; 11. 88-Aidan Nigh, [16]; 12. 19T-Trevor Want, [25]; 13. 26-Tim Nuell, [20]; 14. 177-Tim Jamieson, [17]; 15. 188-Paul Longboat, [12]; 16. 360-Kevin Thorne, [18]; 17. 69-Rob Twitchett, [22]; 18. 96-Brian Crosgrove, [29]; 19. 21-Jonathan Ayrton, [27]; 20. 265-Mike Evers, [8]; 21. 16-Fabio Olivieri, [19]; 22. 1-Jason Tolton, [10]; 23. 38C-John Cote, [28]; 24. 16J-Jeremy May, [24]; 25. 79-Steve Miller, [2]; 26. 11E-Jeff Elsliger, [26]; 27. 10-Zach Buchwald, [14]; 28. 93-Chris Ryckman, [13]; 29. 6-Jason Dixon, [15]; 30. 54-Christopher French, [30]
   A-Feature Lap Leaders – Cole Hardy (1-7, 9), Kyle Wert (8), Dusty DeBoer (10-15)
   Hard Charger – Ryan Hillar +15

B-Feature 1 (8 laps – 4 Transfer – No Time)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 21H-Ryan Hillar, [1]; 2. 01-Tristan DaSilva, [6]; 3. 19T-Trevor Want, [2]; 4. 21-Jonathan Ayrton, [4]; 5. 14M-Matthew Moore, [3]; 6. 517-Cody Sommerville, [9]; 7. 3K-Craig Vlasic, [7]; 8. 54-Christopher French, [5]; 9. 24C-Cameron Lane, [8]

B-Feature 2 (8 laps – 4 Transfer – 2:59.209)
Finish. #-Name, [Starting Position]

1. 69-Rob Twitchett, [6]; 2. 16J-Jeremy May, [4]; 3. 11E-Jeff Elsliger, [3]; 4. 38C-John Cote, [1]; 5. 96-Brian Crosgrove, [5]; 6. 13M-Daniel McKay, [2]; 7. 63-Dave Crumbie, [7]; 8. 11-Mike Giberson, [8]; 9. 17-Mike Taylor, [9]

Provisional A-Feature Starters: Brian Crosgrove, Christopher French

Fast Qualifier: Mike Evers 20.892 seconds