Redemption For Lewis At South Buxton

His fellow racers thought Mike Lewis had the fastest car on Opening Night at South Buxton Raceway.

The Wallaceburg driver did have the fastest car that night – for three-quarters of a lap before he hit a rut in turn four and turned the left rear tire inside out.

Lewis had the fastest car again in the Westside Performance Plus UMP Late Models this Saturday night.
This time, he proved it for 20 laps.

Lewis took the lead at the drop of the green and led all 20 laps for his third career feature win and first since the 2010 season.

“It’s been a long time coming,” he said after taking a victory lap to celebrate his drought-ending victory.

The 40-year-old Lewis said he learned a lesson by watching Leamington’s Joel Dick win his second straight Schinkels Gourmet Meats UMP Modified feature earlier in the night.

“I saw Joel run around up there (at the top of the track) in the mods and that seemed to be the place to be,” Lewis said.

“The car was fast, it hugged the high side and that seemed the way to go.”

Chatham’s Jim Jones, who won the heat and pursuit races earlier in the night, ran second from lap four to the end but couldn’t mount a serious run on Lewis.

“I just tried to run my line and get through (traffic) as fast as possible and hopefully hold up the second place car,” Lewis said.

“My guys told me after that Jimmy was right on my back end through the traffic.”

Chatham’s Gregg Haskell and Erick Walker were the only other cars to finish on the lead lap.

Last week’s feature winner Dale Glassford, of Ridgetown, left the race on lap five after colliding with Haskell and finished eighth. Glassford was one spot ahead of Chatham’s Brad Authier, who was second last week but finished ninth this week after hitting the wall on lap three after his brakes failed.

Dick outlasted Merlin’s Joe Brosseau in a series of restarts just past the halfway mark of the Modified feature to win for a second week in a row.

“That was fun racing with Joe,” Dick said of their 21-lap duel.

“We both had really fast cars. I ran the high line, Joey was good on the bottom, so we both had the lines we wanted.

“It came down to whoever got a good restart and got through (turns) one and two,” he said.

Dick was able to maintain a steady lead for five laps once they were able to get in some green flag racing, only to see the caution come out with four to go, creating a single-file restart.

He was able to run on his line from the single-file restart to hold off Brosseau to win his second straight feature.

“All in all, it’s a great start to the season … I’m looking forward to next weekend,” Dick looked ahead.

Shrewsbury’s Jim Dale Jr., Belle River’s Mario Toniolo and Chatham’s Brian Speelman rounded out the top five.

Grande Pointe’s Tyler Lozon took the lead on lap seven and was never seriously challenged en route to the Tirecraft Sport Stocks feature win.

Merlin’s Steve Shaw and Eren Vanderiviere rebounded from early accidents to finish second and fourth, respectively, with Windsor’s West Bertozzi in between the two rivals in third.

Harrow’s Patrick Lajeunesse walked away uninjured from a rollover accident when he was an innocent victim when LaSalle’s Bob Visnjic and Vanderiviere hooked together on lap seven.

Blenheim’s Trevor Jones won a shortened Tirecraft Mini-Mods feature for a second straight week, as he was running third until the leaders John Pinsonneault Jr. and Blenheim’s Brett Hope tangled on lap four.

Six laps and six more caution flags brought the race to an end, 10 laps shy of its scheduled length due to a time limit.

“I wish we could have completed all of the laps and actually won the whole race,” Jones said of winning two shortened features, “even if I would have lost at the end, as long as we got to finish.”

Blenheim’s Kyle Hope was elevated to a second-place finish after Dresden’s Matt Sorrell was disqualified in post-race tech inspection. Chatham’s Rick Balasin was third and Merlin’s Jody Mason fourth.

Blenheim’s Jeff Schives won his second straight Autotech Bomber feature, going from 10th to fourth in just two laps and taking the lead on lap six of the 15-lapper.

Chatham’s Brandon Ardis and Ryan O’Hearn finished second and third.

Pit Notes

• Prior to the race night, South Buxton inducted 11 members to its new Alumni Hall of Fame, including track funders Joe Atkinson and Dennis Pook, along with former drivers Larry Atkinson, Fred Chambers, Brent Gibbons, Al McCully, Jim Morlog and John Reynolds, and posthumously Gord DeWael, Gord Gotelaer and Don Hendricks.
• The Best Appearing Car Awards were presented to Goderich’s Mark Glassford in the Modifieds, Cottam’s Tiffany Ellis in the Sport Stocks, Port Lambton’s Caleb O’Leary in the Bombers along with Haskell and Sorrell. Fans voted for the award on opening night a week earlier.
• This coming Saturday will be Cheap Night, with half-price grandstand admission, free popcorn and $1 hotdogs.