Kruchka, Smith, Bailey, & Lafantaisie Win on Strickland’s Bike Night at Ohsweken

Dale Calnan Photo

Kruchka, Smith, Bailey, & Lafantaisie Win on Strickland’s Bike Night at Ohsweken

By Brent Otchere

OHSWEKEN, Ont. (July 8, 2022) – Strickland’s brought another round of Friday Night Excitement to Ohsweken Speedway on July 8; Mikey Kruchka, Lucas Smith, Dave Bailey, and Tyler Lafantaisie won A-Mains while bikes and lacrosse gear were given away to young fans.

Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars
Mikey Kruchka and Mack DeMan led the 23 drivers to the green flag to start the 20 lap 360 Sprint Car A-Main. Kruchka lost first place to DeMan until he was able to retake the lead once more on lap seven. The Turner brothers were the ones to watch as they battled their way through the top ten; Cory had started 23rd after problems in his heat race and went on to finish sixth. A caution for debris on the track caused the field to reset for an exciting finish with six laps to go. Kruchka had a textbook restart, driving himself to his first victory of the season. Ryan Turner finished second after gaining eight positions from his start. Mack DeMan finished third, D.J. Christie fourth, and Liam Martin fifth. Ryan Turner remains the division points leader, ahead by 20 points over Cory Turner.

Strickland’s GMC Crate Sprint Cars
Allan Downey and A.J. Lewis made up the front row to start the 20 lap Crate Sprint Car A-Main. Lucas Smith bided his time for six laps before making his move to gain the lead. Eric Gledhill closed the gap, however traffic proved too difficult to navigate through, nullifying his efforts for a second win on the season. Smith crossed the finish line first, giving him his first victory of the year and fourth top five. Gledhill had an amazing drive finishing second after nursing a flat left front tire to the finish line. Third place was a tie on a dead heat between A.J. Lewis and Brett Stratford down to the thousandth of a second, however Lewis was later disqualified for a technical infraction. Rounding out the top five were Jesse Costa and Downey. Smith now leads Gledhill by eight points in the championship standings.

Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks
Melissa Miller and Tim Phalen led the grid in getting the 20 lap Thunder Stock A-Main underway. Within two laps Ron Loggie was already in first place after starting fifth. Championship contenders Ryan Beagle and Dave Bailey battled their way to the front after starting deep into the field due to the handicap system. Loggie had the victory in his sights until a late caution put it all in jeopardy. Bailey capitalized on the final restart and drove to his fourth victory of the year. Loggie settled for second, Mike Thorne third, Ryan Beagle fourth, and Christopher Hale fifth. Bailey now leads over Hale by 32 points in the division points standings.

HRW Automotive Mini Stocks
The front row of the grid featured Mike Evers and Mike Giberson to begin the 15 lap Mini Stock A-Main. Wade Thorne took an early lead until a red flag came out due to a collision between Evers and Tim Nuell which left both drivers unharmed but frustrated. Tyler Lafantaisie and Fabio Oliveri battled each other for the last nine laps and Lafantaisie was able to earn his fourth victory of the season and fifth straight top five. Oliveri finished second and picked up precious points, while Dusty DeBoer rounded out the podium. The top five finished with Matt Nuell and Kyle Rothwell respectively. Lafantaisie left the night with a comfortable 64 point lead over Jason Tolton.

Up Next at Ohsweken Speedway
Slack Lumber presents Friday Night Excitement on July 15 featuring the Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars, Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars, Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks, and HRW Automotive Mini Stocks. Visit www.ohswekenspeedway.com for more information.
________________________

Ohsweken Speedway Statistical Report
Friday, July 8, 2022
Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada
Drive Safe, Ride Safe, Race Safe Bicycle Night!
presented by Strickland’s
Total Entries: 107

________________________

Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars (23 entries)

A-Main [Started] 20 laps – NT
1. 01K-Mikey Kruchka[1]; 2. 91-Ryan Turner[10]; 3. 17X-Mack DeMan[2]; 4. 5-DJ Christie[4]; 5. 9-Liam Martin[8]; 6. 13-Cory Turner[23]; 7. 10-Mitch Brown[6]; 8. 45-Nick Sheridan[5]; 9. 0-Glenn Styres[7]; 10. 1-Holly Porter[20]; 11. 20-Brayden Cooley[17]; 12. 88H-Josh Hansen[12]; 13. 68-Aaron Turkey[3]; 14. 5D-Jacob Dykstra[22]; 15. 87X-Shone Evans[9]; 16. 70-Baily Heard[15]; 17. 11-Jamie Turner[13]; 18. 1 10-Jake Brown[11]; 19. 9B-Scott Burk[14]; 20. 46-Kevin Pauls[19]; 21. (DNF) 70MM-Dave McKnight Jr[21]; 22. (DNF) 21-John Burbridge Jr[18]; 23. (DNF) 90-Travis Cunningham[16]
Hard Charger – Cory Turner + 17

Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – 2:01.267
1. 17X-Mack DeMan[2]; 2. 45-Nick Sheridan[5]; 3. 91-Ryan Turner[3]; 4. 01K-Mikey Kruchka[7]; 5. 90-Travis Cunningham[1]; 6. 20-Brayden Cooley[6]; 7. 21-John Burbridge Jr[8]; 8. 70MM-Dave McKnight Jr[4]

Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – 2:05.280
1. 68-Aaron Turkey[2]; 2. 10-Mitch Brown[5]; 3. 1 10-Jake Brown[1]; 4. 88H-Josh Hansen[4]; 5. 11-Jamie Turner[6]; 6. 70-Baily Heard[7]; 7. (DQ) 5D-Jacob Dykstra[3]; 8. (DQ) 13-Cory Turner[8]

Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 0-Glenn Styres[1]; 2. 5-DJ Christie[3]; 3. 87X-Shone Evans[4]; 4. 9-Liam Martin[7]; 5. 9B-Scott Burk[6]; 6. 46-Kevin Pauls[2]; 7. (DNF) 1-Holly Porter[5]
________________________

Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars (31 Entries)

A-Main [Started] 20 laps – 6:00.467
1. 49L-Lucas Smith[8]; 2. 7-Eric Gledhill[4]; 3. BS39-Brett Stratford[3]; 4. 4-Jesse Costa[7]; 5. 19D-Allan Downey[1]; 6. 12DD-Darren Dryden[9]; 7. 16R-Seth Roy[18]; 8. 45-Curtis Gartly[10]; 9. 2M-Steve Murdock[15]; 10. 74-Rob Neely[6]; 11. 14-Larry Gledhill[14]; 12. 77T-Tyeller Powless[13]; 13. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[23]; 14. 3S-Austin Roes[11]; 15. 50LS-Adrian Stahle[5]; 16. MK8-Matthew Hill[24]; 17. 94-Ryan Fraser[19]; 18. 99-Joshua Hill[22]; 19. 26X-Terry Baker[12]; 20. 14T-Noelle Teal[20]; 21. 20-Johnny Miller[25]; 22. 88-Lance Erskine[17]; 23. 2-Travis Hofstetter[26]; 24. 51-Trevor Young[16]; 25. 08-Steven Beckett[21]; 26. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[27]; 27. 97-Sheldon Bender[28]; 28. (DQ) 24A-AJ Lewis[2]
Hard Charger – Seth Roy + 11

Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – 02:00.815
1. 49L-Lucas Smith[2]; 2. 50LS-Adrian Stahle[4]; 3. 19D-Allan Downey[5]; 4. 14-Larry Gledhill[1]; 5. 3S-Austin Roes[7]; 6. 14T-Noelle Teal[3]; 7. 2M-Steve Murdock[10]; 8. MK8-Matthew Hill[6]; 9. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[8]; 10. 29W-Tyler Ward[9]

Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – 2:09.788
1. BS39-Brett Stratford[4]; 2. 74-Rob Neely[1]; 3. 45-Curtis Gartly[3]; 4. 7-Eric Gledhill[9]; 5. 26X-Terry Baker[6]; 6. 16R-Seth Roy[5]; 7. 94-Ryan Fraser[8]; 8. 20-Johnny Miller[2]; 9. 2-Travis Hofstetter[7]; 10. 69K-Chris Ralph[10]

Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – 2:09.071
1. 4-Jesse Costa[3]; 2. 24A-AJ Lewis[5]; 3. 12DD-Darren Dryden[4]; 4. 77T-Tyeller Powless[2]; 5. 88-Lance Erskine[1]; 6. 51-Trevor Young[7]; 7. 08-Steven Beckett[6]; 8. 99-Joshua Hill[9]; 9. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[8]; 10. 16X-Keegan Baker[11]; 11. 97-Sheldon Bender[10]

B-Main [Started] 12 laps – NT
1. 99-Joshua Hill[1]; 2. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[3]; 3. MK8-Matthew Hill[2]; 4. 20-Johnny Miller[5]; 5. 2-Travis Hofstetter[6]; 6. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[4]; 7. 97-Sheldon Bender[10]; 8. 69K-Chris Ralph[9]; 9. (DNF) 16X-Keegan Baker[8]; 10. (DNF) 29W-Tyler Ward[7]
________________________

Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks (25 Entries)

A-Main [Started] 20 laps – NT
1. 49-Dave Bailey[21]; 2. 97-Ron Loggie[5]; 3. 55-Mike Thorne[9]; 4. 84RK-Ryan Beagle[18]; 5. 79-Christopher Hale[20]; 6. 25-Ken Sargent[8]; 7. 93-Melissa Miller[1]; 8. 19-Kyle Wert[17]; 9. 427-Tim Phalen[2]; 10. 93K-Mike Klazinga[10]; 11. 32-Mark Fawcett[11]; 12. 23-Trevor DeBoer[19]; 13. 53-Logan Shwedyk[16]; 14. 37-Robert Hoskins[6]; 15. 75-Ryan Berry[7]; 16. 28-Jim Lampman[24]; 17. 28D-Donny Lampman[15]; 18. 07-Scott McPhail[13]; 19. 2M-Mark MacDonald[14]; 20. 3-Devon Bacher[23]; 21. 13-Kacey Huffman[12]; 22. 24X-Al King[25]; 23. (DNF) 43-Kyle Andress[3]; 24. (DNF) 76-Jamie Goudge[4]; 25. (DNS) 11-Gofast Teeple
Hard Charger – Dave Bailey + 20

Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 97-Ron Loggie[8]; 2. 37-Robert Hoskins[7]; 3. 427-Tim Phalen[2]; 4. 93-Melissa Miller[1]; 5. 75-Ryan Berry[9]; 6. 76-Jamie Goudge[5]; 7. (DNF) 43-Kyle Andress[4]; 8. (DNF) 11-Gofast Teeple[3]; 9. (DNF) 3-Devon Bacher[6]

Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – NT
1. 25-Ken Sargent[1]; 2. 55-Mike Thorne[2]; 3. 93K-Mike Klazinga[3]; 4. 07-Scott McPhail[7]; 5. 13-Kacey Huffman[5]; 6. 32-Mark Fawcett[4]; 7. (DNF) 2M-Mark MacDonald[8]; 8. (DNF) 28-Jim Lampman[6]

Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – 2:45.953
1. 84RK-Ryan Beagle[5]; 2. 49-Dave Bailey[8]; 3. 19-Kyle Wert[4]; 4. 28D-Donny Lampman[1]; 5. 79-Christopher Hale[7]; 6. 23-Trevor DeBoer[6]; 7. 53-Logan Shwedyk[3]; 8. 24X-Al King[2]
________________________

HRW Automotive Mini Stocks (28 Entries)

A-Main [Started] 15 laps – NT
1. 96-Tyler Lafantaisie[19]; 2. 16-Fabio Olivieri[15]; 3. 23-Dusty DeBoer[16]; 4. 2-Matt Nuell[9]; 5. 114-Kyle Rothwell[21]; 6. 9-Tim DeBoer[13]; 7. 51-Eric Yorke[26]; 8. 64-Nick Erskine[18]; 9. 6X-Mike Sarantakos[12]; 10. 10J-Jeremy Hughes[25]; 11. 1-Jason Tolton[27]; 12. 11E-Jeff Elsliger[8]; 13. 21H-Ryan Hillar[11]; 14. 10X-Chris Armstrong[28]; 15. 79-Steve Miller[4]; 16. 11-Mike Giberson[2]; 17. 12-Don Deagle[10]; 18. 54-Christopher French[23]; 19. 09-Clinton Barrick[20]; 20. 1A-Ashton Dickie[6]; 21. (DNF) 14L-John Lubeck[14]; 22. (DNF) 4-Wayde Thorne[7]; 23. (DNF) 69-Rob Twitchett[3]; 24. (DNF) 01-Tristan DaSilva[17]; 25. (DNF) 81D-Crystal Soules[24]; 26. (DNF) 265-Mike Evers[1]; 27. (DNF) 188-Paul Longboat[5]; 28. (DNF) 26-Tim Nuell[22]
Hard Charger – Eric Yorke + 19

Heat Race 1 [Started] 6 laps – 2:14.121
1. 4-Wayde Thorne[9]; 2. 265-Mike Evers[1]; 3. 69-Rob Twitchett[2]; 4. 79-Steve Miller[4]; 5. 188-Paul Longboat[5]; 6. 1A-Ashton Dickie[7]; 7. 11-Mike Giberson[10]; 8. 26-Tim Nuell[6]; 9. 54-Christopher French[3]; 10. 81D-Crystal Soules[8]

Heat Race 2 [Started] 6 laps – 2:16.066
1. 6X-Mike Sarantakos[4]; 2. 9-Tim DeBoer[5]; 3. 14L-John Lubeck[8]; 4. 2-Matt Nuell[9]; 5. 21H-Ryan Hillar[3]; 6. 12-Don Deagle[2]; 7. 11E-Jeff Elsliger[1]; 8. 10J-Jeremy Hughes[7]; 9. (DNF) 51-Eric Yorke[6]

Heat Race 3 [Started] 6 laps – 2:09.817
1. 16-Fabio Olivieri[1]; 2. 96-Tyler Lafantaisie[6]; 3. 64-Nick Erskine[4]; 4. 23-Dusty DeBoer[3]; 5. 09-Clinton Barrick[8]; 6. 114-Kyle Rothwell[9]; 7. 01-Tristan DaSilva[2]; 8. 1-Jason Tolton[5]; 9. 10X-Chris Armstrong[7]