Coming from the back of the pack, Shawn Thompson scored an emotional win at Delaware Speedway.
Shawn Thompson (#72) of Ailsa Craig took home a stunning and emotional victory in the Canada Day APC Six-Pack 100 on Friday evening at Delaware Speedway. In the lead up to the event Thompson experienced the loss of two good friends and loved ones. He dedicated his event to these friends and what a dedication it was: he started nearly dead last in the 20-car field, 19th spot after missing time trials for a mechanical issue.
Time trials would be won by Mark Watson (#3) of St. Thomas with his lap time of 18.786 seconds. The dice inversion of eleven would set the field for the 100-lap APC-Six Pack Series main event.
Doug Stewart (#2) of London would lead the opening twelve laps of the event before Cole Powell (#25) of Mt. Brydges would get around him on lap thirteen in a high side pass off turn two. Caution would fly on lap seventeen for an incident between Adam Quarrie (#6) of Dorchester and Dan Prudhomme (#96) of Thamesford. Racing resumed with the running order settling out to being Powell, Jamie Cox (#22) of Dorchester followed by Jay Doerr (#43) of London. The second caution came out on lap twenty-four for a spin involving Prudhomme and Jake Ott (#23). A strong green-flag run followed that caution which saw Thompson continue to pick off positions as well as allowing Mark Watson (#3) of St. Thomas to make his way up to third. As the run wore on, Jamie Cox began to mount a charge on Powell who continued to lead when caution came out on lap 64 for a spinning Doug Stewart.
Powell got a strong restart but contact was made between him and Jamie Cox. Mark Watson would vault around them to take the lead. With the top running order reshuffled caution would fly again when Jay Doerr made contact with Cox sending him spinning as Shawn Thompson (#72) and Matt Pritiko (#21) narrowly avoided the incident with Steve March #52 of London taking a hit. When the race resumed Shawn Thompson was up into the top three and charging hard making his way to second. It quickly became evident that Powell was falling off the pace. Ultimately, Powell pulled out of line and stopped in turn two triggering the caution for his flat tire. After a pit stop he would be penalized for delay of race, setting the stage for what was to come.
Back underway, race leader Mark Watson spun on the inside of Shawn Thompson triggering a caution. When the race got back underway a pitched battle took place between a pair of Great Canadian Race winners, Jesse Kennedy (#10) of Oneida and Matt Pritiko (#21) of London for third. Pritiko would manage to wrestle the spot away from Kennedy for the moment. Thompson continued to lead and although he was a lap down for his penalty, Cole Powell was cutting aggressively through the field,
even passing the third place car of Pritiko. When caution came out for a spun Jeff Showler (#5) of Mt. Elgin on lap 82, Powell would be the recipient of the free pass and restart on the lead lap.
After an initial jump start, Thompson would now restart alongside Flamboro Speedway's Shawn Chenoweth (#89) of Plattsville. Chenoweth would race hard but quickly fall into line. Powell, meanwhile was a man on a mission. With a fresh set of right side tires from his pit stop he was picking off groups of cars and scraping along top runners like Kennedy and Pritiko as he charged to the front with laps running down. When caution flew with four laps to go for a hard crash involving Steve March, Powell was up to third.
In the four-lap sprint to the finish, Cole Powell quickly sent Chenoweth back to 3rd place, setting his sights clearly on Thompson. On the final lap in turn two Powell got his nose to the inside of Thompson giving him a bump. Thompson, with his heart heavy, would not be denied on this night. He hung onto the car to take the checkers in memory of his friends as the Canada Day fireworks launched on the back
stretch. Powell would finish second, third was Shawn Chenoweth.
"We lost two good friends this week and there's another one fighting in the hospital," explained Thompson in victory lane. "This one is for them up there, I know they were riding with me tonight. I wanted this win so bad."
Steve Arrand (#37) of Ailsa Craig took home the win in the 25-lap V8 Stock Muscle Car event. Arrand had a flawless evening also winning both heat races earlier in the night. Arrand led all 25 laps of the event. A late-race caution gave other drivers a quick shot but Arrand responded by pulling away with confidence. Derek McCullough (#38) of Glencoe finished second, third was Calvin Verheyen (#76) of
Kerwood.
In the Ladies Bone Stock special Kim Schindel (#22) of Delaware would take home the checkers. Anastasia Taback would lead the opening lap before being passed by Kim Schindel (#22) and Tiffany Hoffman (#72) of Stratford. The battle continued as Schindel nearly lost control allowing Hoffman to keep up the pressure. Lapped traffic played a factor and allowed Hoffman to take the lead before being quickly passed back by Schindel on lap four. With two laps to go Schindel again got caught by lapped traffic but was able to maintain the lead to take the win.
Coming up next at Delaware Speedway is a fantastic two-day weekend of competition. Friday night (July 4) at 7:30 pm will be the GAW Recycling Super Stocks, V8 Stocks, Demar Aggregates Trucks, and a King of the Hill Spectator's race sponsored by KALTIRE. Saturday night action will continue at 7:00 pm with the crazy Bone Stock Chaos Cars and Transmission Direct Enduro.
PRO LATE MODEL APC CANADA DAY 100
POS # NAME HOMETOWN
1. 72 Shawn Thompson Ailsa Craig
2. 25 Cole Powell Mt. Brydges
3. 89 Shawn Chenoweth Plattsville
4. 10 Jesse Kennedy Oneida
5. 3 Mark Watson St. Thomas
6. 6 Adam Quarrie Dorchester
7. 2 Doug Stewart London
8. 21 Matt Pritiko London
9. 69 Lloyd Rawlings Windsor
10. 23 Jake Ott Ayr
11. 2F Rick Burbridge Flamboro Speedway
12. 5 Jay Christie Beachville
13. 17 Nick Roth Flamboro Speedway
14. 51 Philip Nyssen Burford
15. 83 Dale Shaw Flamboro Speedway
16. 39 Brady Smith Coldstream
17. 52 Steve March London
18. 22 Jamie Cox Dorchester
19. 43 Jay Doerr London
20. 96 Dan Prudhomme Thamesford
V8 STOCK MUSCLE CARS
POS # NAME HOMETOWN
1. 37 Steve Arrand Ailsa Craig
2. 38 Derek McCullough Glencoe
3. 76 Calvin Verheyen Strathroy
4. 33 Paul Fothergill London
5. 93 Gary Zwygers Cambridge
6. 156 Darren Thirkettle Strathroy
7. 182 Mannie DeMelo London
8. 11 Jeremy Taggart Belmont
9. 01 Jaden Chapman Sarnia
LADIES BONE STOCK SPECIAL
1. 22 Kim Schindel
2. 72 Tiffany Hoffman
3. 64 Anastasia Taback
4. 12 Stacy Stunden
5. 28 Angela Catrell