South Buxton Raceway June 14 Report

Mike Bennett  // South Buxton Raceway Public Relations

 

SOUTH BUXTON – It was a ‘three-peat’ night on Saturday at South Buxton Raceway.

Three drivers – Joe Field and Todd Wellman, both of Chatham, and Leamington’s Paul DeGoey ­– all returned to Victory Lane for the second straight week and for the third time this season.

Field took the lead at the drop of the green and led all 25 laps in the Castrol UMP Late Model class, extending his perfect start to the 2008 season.

The veteran driver has started three feature races and won all three. He scratched from the feature in the second week of the season because of a blown motor, which forced him to sit out the following week.

 “It’s all due to these guys here,” said Field, pointing to his dedicated pit crew.

“They work their butts off. They were changing everything on the car because they had to guess what the track was going to be like for the feature. And they hit it on the nail … again.”

Field started on the outside pole and took the lead from Jim Dale Jr. as the cars hit the straightaway for the first time.

Thamesville’s Dale Glassford put up a strong challenge in the early laps until Field pulled away.

Glassford settled for the runner-up position behind Field for the second straight week. Jim Jones of Chatham, Mark Glassford of Goderich and Justin Coulter of Leamington rounded out the top five.

While he is ecstatic over his three-for-three start, Field knows the field will be stronger for this Saturday’s Country 92.9 FM Late Model special feature.

“Drew (Andrew Reaume) and Hook (Kirk Hooker) haven’t run in all three of these (features),  so it should be a great battle if we’re all running (this) Saturday,” said Field.

Wellman was as surprised as anyone to be back in Victory Lane for the second straight week in the Lube Tech Sport Stocks.

“This car was terrible in the heat and pursuit, a top five was all I was aiming at (in the feature),” Wellman said.

He started from the 12^th position in the sixth row but thanks to some aggressive driving, moved into second on the fourth lap and took the lead on lap eight.

Once in front, Wellman said he battled the track more than the competition.

“It was like the track was playing mind games tonight,” Wellman said. “It would be tacky in one spot and then dry and hard in the next spot. It took me awhile to figure out where to go. I almost looped it out in (turn) four.”

Wallaceburg’s Gary Vyse finished second to Wellman for the second straight week. Gerald Martin of Essex, Rob Young of Kingsville and Louis Clements of Chatham rounded out the top five.

Wellman padded his lead atop the points standings, but just the mention of leading the points brings a scowl to his face.

“I’ve been in the lead six years in a row in the points, but it seems like I have a black cloud hanging over my head when it comes to points,” he said.

“I’m not even thinking about points. All I want to do is come and try to win every week.”

DeGoey won all three of the Schinkel’s Gourmet Meats UMP Modified division races. He has five wins and a second-place finish in six races over the last two weeks.

DeGoey started at the back of the nine-car Modified feature but moved into second on the second lap. He went door-to-door for several laps with Chris Van De Wiele of Rutherford before making the pass on the eighth lap.

“I was working the inside on him but couldn’t make the pass, so I was happy to just to follow him and wait for him to make a mistake,” DeGoey said.

An incentive for DeGoey was the large number of Leamington area fans in attendance at South Buxton on Saturday. He was swarmed by well-wishers at intermission when fans were allowed on the track for the Kids’ Night promotion.

“I couldn’t believe all of the people from home here tonight,” DeGoey said.

“I’m glad I could win it in front of so many people (from Leamington).”

Brian Speelman of Wyoming finished third, followed by Aaron Wiebe of Wheatley and Curtis Coulter of Leamington, who finished a lap down in fifth.

Rob Quick of Cottam also won all three of his races, including his second feature of the season in the Garage Restaurant Comp 4 class. 

Quick started outside in the third row and took the lead on the seventh lap of the 15-lap Comp 4 feature. The defending series points champion was involved in a three-car battle with Leamington’s Dan Tiessen and Cottam’s Denis DeSerrano for three laps before he was able to take the lead. Quick went virtually unchallenged over the final eight laps to win his first feature since May 24.

“The track had a lot of moisture in it tonight so we were really hooked up,” Quick said. “We could run anywhere we wanted. We could run high or low, wherever we needed to go, it stuck.”

DeSerrano retained his points lead as he came home with his fourth second-place finish of the season. He was third in last week’s feature.  

Nate McNally of Charing Cross was third, followed by Tiessen and Leamington’s Brandon Windsor. Last week’s feature winner, 15-year-old Clinton Van Dyk of Blenheim was sixth, one spot ahead of 16-year-old Shawn Jones, also of Blenheim.

 

PICTURES: (credit James MacDonald Apex One Photo)

 

Joe Field (4) makes a move on the outside of pole sitter Jim Dale Jr. (00) early in the Castrol UMP Late Model feature

 

Paul DeGoey (1D) in Victory Lane with flag girl Michelle McEllistrum after his Schinkel’s Gourmet Meats UMP Modified feature win

 

Todd Wellman (25) waves checkered flag after his Lube Tech Sport Stock feature win

 

Rob Quick (18) in Victory Lane after his Garage Restaurant Comp 4 feature win