Jim Jones Wins Gord DeWael Memorial Race
WRITTEN BY MIKE BENNETT
South Buxton Raceway’s late model drivers really don’t need any extra motivation when it comes to memorial races.
But Jim Jones has a little more incentive than most on Saturday night.
“I’m probably one of the only guys out here who’s raced against all of those guys,” the Chatham native said after winning the third annual Gord DeWael memorial for the Westside Performance Plus UMP Late Models on Saturday night.
Jones started racing as a 15-year-old in the late model class when the track was known as Raleigh Raceway, competing against hall of fame drivers Don Hendricks, Gord Gotelaer and DeWael, all of whom have memorial races in their honour.
Ridgetown’s Dale Glassford won the Hendricks memorial on June 20 while the Gotelaer memorial was rained out in June and has been rescheduled for Sept. 5.
Blenheim’s Andrew Reaume won the first two memorials for DeWael, who died in 2013 at the age of 62.
“All of these memorial races are huge and you want to win,” said Jones, who won the first Hendricks memorial at the former Ridge Raceway in 1995.
“This really means a lot, I’ve wanted to win this since the first very one,” he said of winning the third DeWael memorial.
Jones took the lead on a restart on lap nine, taking advantage of good traction at the bottom of the track to get by Shrewsbury’s Jim Dale Jr.
The 54-year-old Jones built a good-size lead over Dale Jr. and Chatham’s Brad Authier – the only two other drivers in the field who raced against DeWael in the 1980s and early 90s.
A caution with five laps to go did not deter Jones as he quickly regained control, leaving Authier to fend off Dale Jr. for the runner-up spot. Wallaceburg’s Mike Lewis and Ridgetown’s Jason Haskell rounded out the top five.
“I had no idea how big of leads I had until they told me after the race was over,” Jones said.
“I was just trying to hit my lines, but there were times when I messed up.
“I was pushing going into (turns) one and two, I was thinking one of these times, there’s going to be somebody on the inside of me,” Jones said.
It was Jones’ first feature win since his 2013 season championship race victory.
“This win is big for my team,” he said of his crew of Doug Buchanan, Dave King, Brad Wonnacott along with his wife Brenda and her daughter Shawna Barr.
“We don’t have what most of these guys have in their cars, but I’m proud of the old girl,” he said, tapping the hood of his No. 34 machine.
“She had more than enough tonight.”
Jones’ win ended the seven-feature win streak of Ridgetown’s Dale Glassford, who was knocked out of the race on lap seven while running second with a leak in the radiator hose.
“A win’s a win, but it would mean more to win with him still out there,” Jones said of Glassford’s misfortune.
Meanwhile, Leamington’s Joel Dick extended his feature win streak to seven by winning the Brian Outhouse memorial in the Schinkels Gourmet Meats UMP Modifieds.
Dale Jr., who runs both classes, finished second, followed by Merlin’s Brad McLeod, Clayton Smith of Taylor, Mich. And Blenheim’s Brian Speelman.
Blenheim’s Kyle Hope collected his first career feature win, taking the checkered flag in the Cory Schives memorial in the Tirecraft Mini-Mods.
“It feels great to finally win my first … it’s pretty emotional,” said Hope, who was long-time friend of Schives, who died at the age of 17 from cancer in 2009.
“I’ve known Cory for a long time, so that makes this win even more special.”
Shawn Jones, who was Schives’ best friend growing up in Blenheim, finished second with Chatham’s Tim Mackenzie third.
Chatham’s Jake Hooker extended his win streak to three by taking the Len Bryden memorial in the Tirecraft Sport Stocks
The 14-year-old Hooker led every lap for the third straight week, collecting his fourth feature checkered of the season.
Merlin’s Steve Shaw finished second, followed by points leader Rob Young of Kingsville, Wallaceburg’s Willy Vyse and Chatham’s Eren Vanderiviere.
Ridgetown’s Nick Glassford won his third Autotech Bomber feature of the season, holding off Chatham’s Chris Ellerbeck after taking the lead with six laps to go.
Merlin’s Cale Johns, Blenheim’s Austin Pickering and Merlin’s Bill Featherstone rounded out the top five.