Jones Takes South Buxton Bounty

by Tommy Goudge – Merlin, Ontario – The third round of the 2015 Southern Ontario Sprints season was contested on Saturday night at the South Buxton Raceway near Chatham, Ontario. 2013 SOS champion Chris Jones took the lead from Cory Turner late in the 25 lap feature to claim his first win of the season.

“(The win) will make the ride home sweet,” Jones said in victory lane. “We’ll have something to talk about! When you lay in the hospital for a week or two, it sure makes getting back in a race car very sweet…getting to victory lane is even better. I’ve got to thank my dad – he slaves on the car all night.”

Jamie Turner and his son Cory drew front row starting positions for the feature race, and Cory used the high side of the track to take an early lead. The red flag came out twice on the first lap – first for a tip-over by Curtis Gartly in turn two, and again for a hard flip for Lee Winger entering turn one. Gartly’s incident also collected Frank Baranowski and John Burbridge, Jr., who both restarted the race but later retired, while Winger’s crash also collected Kris Root. Adam West’s wing supports broke before the green flag came back out, while Justin Martin also made a trip in and out of the pit area.

Cory Turner again held court with Jamie Turner giving chase when the race restarted, while Chris Jones, Mitch Brown, and Glenn Styres were making moves behind them. Jones was up to second as he and Cory Turner raced through traffic with Jamie Turner, Brown, and Styres close behind when a yellow flag came out on lap 14 for a collision between Alex Hill and Warren Mahoney.

The second half of the race ran stoppage free, with the top four drivers racing close together through traffic. Jones tried several different manoeuvres to wrestle the lead away from Turner, and eventually made an inside move stick in turns three and four on lap 23. Jones pulled away over the final two laps to claim the feature win, while Cory Turner settled for the runner-up spot, followed by Brown, Styres, and Jamie Turner.

Jones’ second career South Buxton feature win moved him into a tie with Adam West, John Riegling, Joel Lehman, and Kyle Patrick for third on the all-time South Buxton SOS feature win list. The win was Jones’ 7th career SOS triumph, moving him up to 7th on the all-time SOS feature win list.

Saturday’s event was the 33rd SOS-sanctioned event at South Buxton Raceway. The first event in SOS club history was held at South Buxton on May 18, 1996.

The SOS tour will return to South Buxton on Saturday, July 4, with preceding stops at Brighton Speedway on June 20, and Ohsweken Speedway on July 3.