More Cars and a Slippery Track Made for some Excitement on Thursday July 10th

Recap for Thursday July 10, 2024

Thursday July 10th was the second racenight of the Laird Raceway 2025 season. At the beginning of the racenight the weather was a bit warm with intermittent clouds and a slight breeze. The track would be hot and slippery for the night. Later on, once the sun dropped, the temperature dropped down to a comfortable 20 degrees. We had another outstanding car and fan count; there were approximately 70 cars in the pits out to race for the night, up about 10 cars from week one; and the grandstands were busy with fans (with room for more!)

Announcers for the evening were Greg Brazeau accompanied by Ron Caruso. Opening ceremonies included national anthems sung by Annette Bouchard on the front stretch, and a moment of silence for three members of our race community that passed away over the past few months; Ray Miron was a local racer in the 1970's - he lost a battle with cancer on July 5th; Kevin Oicle - nicknamed Blackjack after winning 21 straight features in a row - also lost a battle with cancer over the off season; the third to be recognized was Bart Jarrett, also leaving us over the off season. Bart's son Kyle Jarrett was out racing during the evening in the #66 factory stock of Alex Rankin but wasn't being officially scored.

Racing got started right after opening ceremonies with one heat in the Super Late Model division, and two heat races in the other divisions, first out were the Service Rentals and Sales Super Late Models. There were lots of spins, a few crashes, and at least one blown engine during the night's action.

Service Rentals and Sales Super Late Models:

Eight Super Late Models were in the pits for the evening but only 6 were out to qualify. The #21K of Kevin Errington was out earlier and turned a couple of hot laps but must have had problems preventing him from running. #47 Jordan Sims also had some difficulty with his car and only showed on track for the feature. The division ran a single 10 lap heat and what was scheduled to be a 30 lap feature.

During the heat, 6 cars started and caution flew 3 times during the race, with only 4 of the six finishing all 10 laps. On the third caution which came out on lap 6 for a two car spin in corner 2, #51 Jeremy Van Hoek who was running second went up against the guardrail on the backstretch, possibly trying to avoid Jordan Rocchetta who was slowing for the caution. Van Hoek must have sustained some damage and wasn't back out for the feature. Jake Irwin also left on the same caution.

The feature was shortened to 20 laps with just three cars remaining running of six starters after 3 caution flags in the first 10 laps. The three finishers were Jordan Sims, Jordan Rocchetta, and #56 Mike Heinonen.

Results:

Qualifying: 1. 33-Jordan Rocchetta, 00:14.525[1]; 2. 51-Jeremy Van Hoek, 00:14.606[3]; 3. 826-Jordan Parniak, 00:14.765[5]; 4. 79-Roddy Bolduc, 00:14.933[2]; 5. 56-Mike Heinonen, 00:15.182[6]; 6. 15-Jake Irwin, 00:16.304[4];

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 33-Jordan Rocchetta[5]; 2. 826-Jordan Parniak[2]; 3. 79-Roddy Bolduc[1]; 4. 56-Mike Heinonen[6]; 5. 51-Jeremy Van Hoek[3]; 6. 15-Jake Irwin[4]

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 47-Jordan Sims[4]; 2. 33-Jordan Rocchetta[3]; 3. 56-Mike Heinonen[6]; 4. 15-Jake Irwin[2]; 5. 826-Jordan Parniak[1]; 6. 79-Roddy Bolduc[5]

Highland Ford Factory Stock Division:

Fourteen Highland Ford Factory Stocks were out to qualify at the beginning of the night. The division ran two heats and a feature during the night.

The first heat had 13 cars taking part, and no cautions flew. Two cars left early with problems, and 11 cars saw the checkers. #4 Dale Tucker took the win, with #66 Kyle Jarret 2nd (not scored).

Heat two didn't go as smooth. Ten cars started and on the third lap, Brian Jobst in the #74 went high on corner 4 then went sideways at the beginning of the front stretch, and came down and t-boned the #05 of Tyler Praysner. Both were done for the night. Owen Brown in the #12 took the win.

The Factory Stock feature was a 25 lap event with 10 cars taking part. Caution flew three times and of the 10 starters only 5 managed to complete the full race. Owen Brown snagged his 2nd checkered flag for the night.

Results:

Qualifying: 1. 05-Tyler Praysner, 00:16.140[7]; 2. 12-Owen Brown, 00:16.207[4]; 3. 77-Ed Lapish, 00:16.345[3]; 4. 29-Xavier Carter, 00:16.388[5]; 5. 74-BRIAN JOBST, 00:16.482[2]; 6. 711-Shanna Harten, 00:16.517[1]; 7. 4-Dale Tucker, 00:16.620[6]; 8. 51-Jamie Fox, 00:16.635[8]; 9. 88-Rob Wagner, 00:16.635[9]; 10. 15G-Andrew Givens, 00:16.660[10]; 11. 72-Teagan Lapish, 00:16.994[11]; 12. 04-Ethan Dewar, 00:19.466[12]; 13. 4A-AL ALEXANDER, 00:40.605

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 4-Dale Tucker[3]; 2. 12-Owen Brown[10]; 3. 13-Dave King[12]; 4. 711-Shanna Harten[4]; 5. 74-BRIAN JOBST[5]; 6. 29-Xavier Carter[6]; 7. 05-Tyler Praysner[8]; 8. 72-Teagan Lapish[9]; 9. 77-Ed Lapish[7]; 10. 88-Rob Wagner[1]; 11. 51-Jamie Fox[2]; 12. (DNF) 71-SCHYLER MCCOY[11]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 13-Dave King[9]; 2. 4-Dale Tucker[2]; 3. 12-Owen Brown[6]; 4. 711-Shanna Harten[3]; 5. 77-Ed Lapish[5]; 6. 88-Rob Wagner[1]; 7. 72-Teagan Lapish[8]; 8. (DNF) 74-BRIAN JOBST[4]; 9. (DNF) 05-Tyler Praysner[7]

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 12-Owen Brown[6]; 2. 29-Xavier Carter[3]; 3. 4-Dale Tucker[5]; 4. 77-Ed Lapish[4]; 5. 72-Teagan Lapish[7]; 6. (BF) 13-Dave King[8]; 7. (DNF) 711-Shanna Harten[2]; 8. (DNF) 88-Rob Wagner[1]; 9. (DNF) 71-SCHYLER MCCOY[9]

NAPA Reyco Automotive Modified Division:

Only 6 NAPA Reyco Automotive Modified were out during the qualifying session. Three more joined the group for the first heat. Caution flew once in the first heat, on lap 3. Seven of nine starters completed the race with #61 Dustin Jackson taking the win.

In heat two there were 8 cars out. Caution flew once at the very beginning before a lap was complete, causing #84 Mark Laakso and #01 Jerry Ross to sustain damage and leave. The six remaining completed the race, with Jackson taking a second win.

Just prior to the feature it was getting pretty dark. We had a problem with a bank of track lights on the front stretch caused by a blown circuit breaker. A replacement breaker was not available and track officials were forced to postpone the Modified feature, and the Factory Four feature until next race night. Let's blame the full moon for this one!

Results:

Qualifying: 1. 61-Dustin Jackson, 00:15.270[6]; 2. 20-Matt Lewis, 00:15.629[3]; 3. 84-Mark Laakso, 00:15.639[1]; 4. 01-Jerry Ross, 00:15.689[4]; 5. 02-John Ross, 00:15.816[5]; 6. 78-Jason Herrington, 00:15.922[2]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 61-Dustin Jackson[5]; 2. 78-Jason Herrington[1]; 3. 20-Matt Lewis[6]; 4. 84-Mark Laakso[4]; 5. 02-John Ross[2]; 6. 01-Jerry Ross[3]; 7. 86-Dylan Connolly[8]; 8. (DNF) 71-Jay McCoy[7]; 9. (DNF) 22X-Adam Lapensee

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 61-Dustin Jackson[6]; 2. 78-Jason Herrington[1]; 3. 02-John Ross[2]; 4. 20-Matt Lewis[5]; 5. 86-Dylan Connolly[7]; 6. 22X-Adam Lapensee[8]; 7. 84-Mark Laakso[4]; 8. (BF) 01-Jerry Ross[3]

Feature: Postponed until next race night due to track lighting safety issue.

Equipment World Factory Four Division:

Turnout in the Equipment World Factory Four Division was excellent with 17 cars out for qualifying.

Heat 1 included 16 cars, and it ran caution free. Logan Lavoy left early with car issues, Cody Herrington had a problem and ended up parked on the infield on the front stretch but neither brought out a caution. Eleven cars finished with Chase Wilson driving the 31W taking the win.

Heat 2 had 14 cars up on track. A caution on lap 3 saw rookie #51 Neil Brockelbank and #22x Lucas Crosato get together on the front stretch up into the guardrail near corner 1. Both left the track unable to finish. Cleanup took about 10 minutes. Chase Wilson took over the lead on lap 9, headed for a second win of the night, then came to the white flag and slowed; it looked like Chase mistook the white for a checkered flag; that can be an easy mistake to make when the sun is getting low behind the flagman. Eleven of the 14 got to the checkered flag with #3 Chris Viotto taking the win.

Results:

Qualifying: 1. 3-Christopher Viotto, 00:17.234[1]; 2. 14-Chris Pinder, 00:17.428[3]; 3. 31W-Chase Wilson, 00:17.496[12]; 4. 4-Kayleigh Tucker, 00:17.700[2]; 5. 16-Dyllen Sherrard, 00:17.715[10]; 6. 38F-JOHN MACMILLAN, 00:17.897[16]; 7. 22X-Lucas Crosato, 00:17.947[4]; 8. 13-Logan Lavoy, 00:18.047[11]; 9. 08-Alex Lapensee, 00:19.029[13]; 10. 96-Brandon Williams, 00:19.047[15]; 11. 70-KAYDEN LAPISH, 00:19.059[9]; 12. 27-Kohle Kennedy, 00:19.130[8]; 13. 71-Taryn McCoy, 00:19.542[17]; 14. 76-Tim Pascall, 00:19.653[7]; 15. 79-Cody Herrington, 00:20.463[6]; 16. 86X-Tyler Mortimore, 00:21.291[5]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 31W-Chase Wilson[10]; 2. 08-Alex Lapensee[2]; 3. 16-Dyllen Sherrard[7]; 4. 22X-Lucas Crosato[5]; 5. 51-Neil Brockelbank[3]; 6. 38F-JOHN MACMILLAN[6]; 7. 14-Chris Pinder[9]; 8. 3-Christopher Viotto[12]; 9. 4-Kayleigh Tucker[8]; 10. 96-Brandon Williams[1]; 11. 71-Taryn McCoy[13]; 12. 27-Kohle Kennedy[14]; 13. 70-KAYDEN LAPISH[11]; 14. (DNF) 76-Tim Pascall[16]; 15. (DNF) 79-Cody Herrington[15]; 16. (DNF) 13-Logan Lavoy[4]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 3-Christopher Viotto[9]; 2. 16-Dyllen Sherrard[5]; 3. 08-Alex Lapensee[2]; 4. 14-Chris Pinder[8]; 5. 4-Kayleigh Tucker[6]; 6. 31W-Chase Wilson[7]; 7. 71-Taryn McCoy[11]; 8. 70-KAYDEN LAPISH[12]; 9. 38F-JOHN MACMILLAN[4]; 10. 96-Brandon Williams[1]; 11. 76-Tim Pascall[14]; 12. (DNF) 27-Kohle Kennedy[13]; 13. (DNF) 51-Neil Brockelbank[3]; 14. (DNF) 22X-Lucas Crosato[10]

Feature: Postponed until next race night.

AIM Recycling Enduro Division:

The AIM Recycling Enduros always run at the end of the night because after running the group it can take a while to clean the track of damaged cars and debris. The Enduros were unable to run due to the track lighting issue mentioned above.

Intermission:

Lawnmower Racing courtesy of the Algoma Lawnmower Racing Association (ALMRA) was once again unable to be run. The group is struggling with water drainage from the infield track and were unable to complete some upgrades due to rain earlier in the week. With some luck the group will be back out next race night.

A 6 lap School bus race with 5 participants was held during intermission. There were some wheels in the air, and one bus went off the backstretch into the swampy area off corner 2. All that could be seen from the grandstands afterwards was the roof of the bus! Note to bus drivers... if you wish to go frog hunting, please leave the bus on the side of the track, not in the swamp!

Three lucky kids got to go home with new bicycles that were given away during the night.

Photos from the night can be found on our website under the “media” menu item - https://www.lairdraceway.com/gallery/ You will find there driver photos, and photos from our racenight.

Fans are also invited to view the Laird Raceway Facebook page to get current news and updates including weather cancellations, announcements, and more at https://www.facebook.com/lairdraceway

General track information is available here on our website at https://www.lairdraceway.com. Here you will find post-race writeups, photos, results, point standings and more.

More news articles and videos relating to Laird Raceway and other local sports events can be found on Jay Houslander's SaultSports.com website

There will be no racing at Laird on Thursday July 17th. Instead you may wish to enjoy Rotary Fest happening downtown Sault Ste. Marie that weekend! Our next race night is scheduled for Thursday July 24th. There will be double features in the Modified and Factory Four divisions during that race night, to accommodate the missed features this week.

Article Credit: Tom Stephenson