by Tommy Goudge (May 22, 2010) - The Southern Ontario Sprints fifteenth
anniversary tour kicked off Saturday night at Brighton Speedway, and
when the dust settled a familiar face was in victory lane. Keith
Dempster claimed his fifteenth career SOS feature in spectacular
fashion, holding off hard-charging Tyler Rand by less than two feet at
the finish line.
Glenn Styres and Keith Dempster made up the front row for the first SOS
feature of 2010, and the two teammates swapped the lead twice between a
rash of early cautions in the first three laps. Back under green flag
conditions for a longer period, Styres opened his lead while Dempster
and Rick Wilson fought over the runner-up spot until Wilson clipped one
of the infield tire markers and broke his left front suspension and went
pitside.
Styres opened his lead once again when the race restarted, but disaster
struck for the three time SOS champion when the spud gear on his fuel
pump broke with just a handful of laps remaining. The misfortune for
Styres handed the lead back to Dempster again, but all eyes were on
eighth starter Tyler Rand who had sliced his way through the field using
the bottom groove. Rand, the 2009 SOS Rookie of the Year, made his way
past Adam West in turns three and four and set his sights on Dempster,
who was dealing with heavy traffic.
Rand drew alongside of Dempster as the two headed for the checkered
flag, but came up just a few feet short of his first career Sprint Car
feature win.
"This is a tough place for lapped traffic," said Dempster from Victory
Lane. "We like to come up here and support Brighton Speedway and the
fans here. I have to thank the crew - there's about eight of them over
there, and they make it easy for us to drive these race cars. These wins
are for them."
NOTES
- Rookie driver Brad Lodge made his first career SOS start on Saturday
night. Lodge, Doug Banks, Erin Joyce, and Jim Munsie are all eligible
for the Rookie of the Year award this season. Munsie scored a career
best fifth place finish, and was also the hard charger on the night
after gaining nine positions in the feature.
- Tyler Rand arrived at the track late and started the night at the tail
of his heat race. Rand blew his engine on test and tune night at
Brighton earlier in the month and had just gotten his car back together
at 5:30 on Saturday afternoon. The hard work of his team paid off with a
career-best second place finish.
- The SOS tour gets back to action for round two on Saturday, June 19
back at Brighton Speedway.
RACE REPORT – SATURDAY, MAY 22, 2010
SOUTHERN ONTARIO SPRINTS
2010 SEASON EVENT #1
Brighton Speedway - Brighton, Ontario
ENTRIES
(Number Name - Hometown)
0 Glenn Styres - Ohsweken
01 Kyle Fraser - White Lake
2 Brad Lodge - Stouffville
5 Keith Dempster - Alton
9 Jim Munsie - Newmarket
10 Bob Crawford - Sutton
11j Chris Jones - Demorestville
15aw April Wilson - Joyceville
30 Adam West - Ridgetown
33j Erin Joyce - Alcove, QC
42w Rick Wilson - Joyceville
45x Doug Banks - Kingston
66 Frank Baranowski - Mount Hope
79 Dick Mahoney - Newmarket
84 Tyler Rand - Consecon
98 Paul Pekkonen - Brockville
HEAT RACES
(top 3 finishers redraw for feature starting positions)
HEAT RACE #1
(8 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 0 Glenn Styres (3)
2. 5 Keith Dempster (2)
3. 42w Rick Wilson (1)
4. 30 Adam West (4)
5. 79 Dick Mahoney (5)
6. 45x Doug Banks (7)
7. 01 Kyle Fraser (6)
8. 2 Brad Lodge (8)
HEAT RACE #2
(8 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 11j Chris Jones (2)
2. 10 Bob Crawford (3)
3. 15aw April Wilson (4)
4. 84 Tyler Rand (8)
5. 98 Paul Pekkonen (5)
6. 66 Frank Baranowski (6)
7. 9 Jim Munsie (7)
8. 33j Erin Joyce (8)
'A' FEATURE
(20 laps)
Finish. Number Name (Starting Position)
1. 5 Keith Dempster (2)
2. 84 Tyler Rand (8)
3. 30 Adam West (7)
4. 10 Bob Crawford (5)
5. 9 Jim Munsie (14)
6. 79 Dick Mahoney (9)
7. 45x Doug Banks (13)
8. 66 Frank Baranowski (11)
9. 2 Brad Lodge (15)
10. 15aw April Wilson (4)
11. 0 Glenn Styres (1)
12. 42w Rick Wilson (3)
13. 98 Paul Pekkonen (10)
14. 01 Kyle Fraser (12)
15. 11j Chris Jones (6)
16. 33j Erin Joyce (16)
Stealth Racewear "Under the Radar" Award - 9 Jim Munsie
UNOFFICIAL TOP 5 IN POINTS AFTER ROUND #1
Rank. Number Name Total
1. 5 Keith Dempster - 171
2. 84 Tyler Rand - 164
3. 30 Adam West - 159
4. 10 Bob Crawford - 156
5. 9 Jim Munsie - 146
NEXT SOS EVENT:
Saturday, June 19, 2010
@ Brighton Speedway
Brighton, Ontario
www.BrightonSpeedway.com
www.SouthernOntarioSprints.com
