Fan Appreciation night at Delaware Speedway featured some of the best racing so far this season and one of the biggest crowds of the season so far. Nearly 2,000 fans packed the track for a discounted admission Fan Appreciation in hopes of also breaking the 2,000 fan barrier at which point the grandstand was to receive free hotdogs. Although fans didn’t quite hit 2,000, track owner Justin DeMelo opened the floodgates just after intermission for the free hotdogs. Darrell Lake (#77) of London won his fourth feature race of the season in the Ground Masters Super Stocks, Rick Verberne (#88) of Otterville took the win in the Demar Aggregates Trucks, and Ken Farquar won the king of the hill spectators race.

The Ground Masters Super Stocks ended their evening with an exciting finish and surprising turn of events after contact between Shae Gemmell (#3) of Dorchester and Branden Verhoeven(#7) of Kerwood, who had led almost the entire race up until the contact on lap 30. The race started with Trevor Collver (#1) of Lucan leading the field to the green but his lead was short lived after losing it on the second lap to Verhoeven. The race would go caution free until lap 24 when debris brought the field back together. On the restart a few cars would tangle in turn one but all would be able to drive away and rejoin the race. Lap 28 saw the only major accident of the race as contact between Jerry Broom (#93) of Dashwood and Devin Jarvis (#88) of London tangled in turn 4. Both drivers suffered significant damage and would not be able to continue. The restart after the cleanup was the final of the night and saw Gemmell get to the inside of Verhoeven, which led to the contact that saw both drivers slip and open the door wide for Lake to take the lead and the win. Darrell Lake emerges as the new points leader after winning a heat race earlier in the night and the 35-lap feature race.

“Knowing the way the three car races I knew that was coming two restarts ahead,” said Lake in victory lane. “This is just incredible. The team came together, this is incredible.”

Shae Gemmell, for his part was apologetic in post race interview apologizing to Verhoeven after the checkers.

“It was completely my fault, I blew turn three.” said Gemmell. “I totally screwed up and that was my fault. I didn’t want that for Branden.”

The Demar Aggregates Truck Series treated the large crowd to a thrilling finish between Mickey Brydges (#55) of Guelph and Rick Verberne, who was in a borrowed vehicle after breaking a transmission during the first heat race. Devon Bloemendal (#92) of Delaware started the race from the first position and led the opening 19 laps before contact between him and Kevin Lay (#5) Windsor sent them both to the rear of the field after a spirited battle. Defending series champion Tom Zagorodny (#77) of London was also caught up in the incident and was not able to recover, finishing the event in the 9th spot. After starting the race from the rear of the field, Rick Verberne was able to take the lead on lap 24 from Mickey Brydges but the two would never leave eachothers sights and did battle for the remainder of the 35-lap event, even swapping the lead.. Brydges was able to take the lead heading into the final lap but a slip up the track in turn two allowed Verberne to make the pass and collect his second feature race victory of the season. Bill Sherwood (#29) of London finished in third, Kevin Lay finished in fourth and David Bacon (#43) rounded out the top five.

The King of the Hill Spectator’s was won by Ken Farquar in his black Ford Mustang. The event saw spectators take their street-legal street-driven vehicles into one-on-one fun competition in support of Jesse’s Journey. The event even featured a “grandma” in competition who, although may not have won the race, certainly won the hearts of the fans in the stands.

The next event is Saturday August 8th with the Bone Stock Enduro and V8 Stock Muscle Cars. Racing begins at 7:00pm.

Race Results:

Super Stock 35-Lap Feature
Feature Race
1. 77 Darrell Lake              London
2. 3 Shae Gemmell            Dorchester
3. 55 Gary Adriaensen       Belmont
4. 51 Matt Robblee            Woodstock
5. 8 Calvin Verheyen (R)   Strathroy
6. 1 Trevor Collver Lucan
7. 17 Kenny McNicol Jr.     Exeter
8. 39 David McCullough     Glencoe
9. 7 Branden Verhoeven   Kerwood
10. 39 David McCullough   Glencoe
11. 16 Kathleen Hosang    London
12. 5 D.J. Christie (R)        Beachville
13. 14 Brittany Beatty       Woodstock
14. 88 Devin Jarvis           London
15. 93 Jerry Broom          Dashwood
16. 9 Andrew Ferriah

Truck 35-Lap Feature
Feature Race
1. 88 Rick Verberne        Otterville
2. 55 Mickey Brydges     Guelph
3. 29 Bill Sherwood         London
4. 5 Kevin Lay (R)          Windsor
5. 43 David Bacon          Woodslee
6. 22 Jeff Denboer          London
7. 92 Kyle Neumeister (R) Stratford
8. 52 Dave Webster        Appin
9. 77 Tom Zagorodny     London
10. 27 Chris Payne         London
11. 78 Cameron McQueen London
12. 23 Ryan Agar (R)      Iona Station
13. 26 Randy McKinlay (R) Chatham
14. 66 Lucas Manning     Komoka
15. 65 Joe Windis           Catchcart