ISSUE 236

Race Preview: Toromont Cat 250 @ Scotia Speedworld

I think we need to race in “hurry up mode” more often if it produces races like the Lucas Oil 150.

For those that don’t know, when weather is in the area, most times race officials will begin a “hurry up mode” in an attempt to get fans what they came to see and that’s the feature event. Even eventual winner Cole Butcher had said their team was monitoring weather for the first half of the race waiting for it to come.

Now, I don’t know if it created a sense of urgency by some teams to get to the front but it produced two substantial green flag runs of around 60 laps each. For a race with rain in the area and in “hurry up mode” we saw a fair amount of patience for a race at Oyster Bed Speedway. Here’s the thing though, we saw intense racing throughout those runs. Whether it was up front or in the middle of the pack, it was hard to keep your eye on one battle with a number of them going on.

During the final 14 laps though, it was the battle up front that all the eyes were on.

For all intents and purposes, the two big names on our Tour over the last couple years have been Cole Butcher and Dylan Blenkhorn. These two have found themselves up front more often than not and have put on some incredible shows for our fans. Saturday night was no exception. You had two drivers who were hungry for a win and did everything but destroy two race cars to do it. Yes, they leaned into each other. Yes, Dylan spun coming to the checkers. Think about it though, they swapped the lead eight times in the final 14 laps. They both wanted the win bad. This round went to Butcher but it could have gone either way.

Before we talk about this Saturday night, let’s give a tip of the cap to both Chris Hughes and Braden Langille. Langille started on the pole for the Lucas Oil 150 via his heat win and Hughes started up front with his heat victory. Two drivers with completely different racing backgrounds and history and the two put on quite the show. Sure, they may not have gotten the finishes they may have wanted after running up front for so many laps but everyone knew they were there.

When you look at drivers who were strong last week, you should see a number of them back up front this week. Besides Braden, Kent Vincent had an absolute rocket ship and has for the past few races. While Kent still searches for that breakthrough win in Halifax, I would have him on your radar if you’re making selections for Saturday.

I’ve got a feeling about Dylan Gosbee and the No. 91 team on Saturday. These longer races are usually in Gosbee’s wheelhouse and they have the Hynes Racing car dialed in as could be seen last Saturday night. If they hit the setup right on Saturday, watch out for the Greenfield Enterprises Ford when the bets are on the table at Scotia Speedworld.

Craig Slaunwhite and Shawn Turple should be on your favorites list for the weekend. When it comes to the standings, they sit second and third but are over a race behind point leader Butcher considering the amount of points you can make up is greater than the current gap between first and second. If they are going to make up any points, their home track would be a great place to start. Slaunwhite is a former Toromont Cat 250 champion while Turple is still looking for his first 250 win. Turple will have a teammate for the weekend in Pete Shepherd, who has had his share of short track success in his career.

Nicholas Naugle celebrated his birthday this week and would like nothing more than to finish the week in victory lane in the Toromont Cat 250. He and Jonathan Hicken had quite the spirited battle during the first extended green flag run at Oyster Bed Speedway and I’m sure if they find each other in Halifax they’ll race each other hard again.

If you add in drivers like Jarrett Butcher, Darren MacKinnon, Marty Prevost, Stevie Lively, Greg Proude, Terry Dougay, Shawn Pierce, John Flemming, Nevin Scott, Donald Chisholm, Waylon Farrell, Russell Smith Jr, Andrew Rodgers, Allison MacKinnon, Sarah McKay and more, you have a talented field shaping up for an exciting Toromont Cat 250.

The entry list shows two entries from King Racing, including Cassius Clark and Cory Hall. Obviously, Cassius Clark will be a favorite to win this thing on Saturday night and Hall is chomping at the bit to be back behind the wheel. Clark has won this race three times, while he shares that mark with Ben Rowe, nobody has won this event four times. Clark will be there at the end on Saturday and it wouldn’t shock me to see Hall there either.

We’ll finish this where we started - with Blenkhorn and Butcher. Butcher has won the last two Toromont Cat 250s, four races this season on the Tour (including the last two) and six of the last 13 Tour races at Scotia Speedworld. Don’t forget though, Blenkhorn was the most recent Series winner at Scotia Speedworld with the victory in the Nova Truck Centres Make A Wish 150 in June and is the 2014 winner of the Toromont Cat 250. We’ve seen these two go back and forth at Scotia Speedworld on numerous occasions and I think the Lucas Oil 150 sets the stage perfectly for a clash at the ‘Cat 250.

When you set your picks down for the Pick the Winner Challenge, I think the safest bets would have to be Cole Butcher and Dylan Blenkhorn, with Butcher having the slightest of edges. I also like Dylan Gosbee, Shawn Turple, Craig Slaunwhite, Kent Vincent was strong on PEI, you get the point.

If you are coming to Scotia Speedworld for the weekend, be sure to stop out Friday for the Affordable Fuels 100. The Sportsman should put on an excellent show and I’ll have Harry Ross White on the call of the race with me. The undercard action Friday, along with the Farrell’s Excavating 50 for the Maritime League of Legends Tour on Saturday, will provide some great excitement to compliment the headline shows for the Toromont Cat 250 weekend.

Until then, keep the hammer down and we’ll see you at the track.