Issue 241

Race Preview: Cummins 150 @ Scotia Speedworld

It took us an extra week, but we got the Lucas Oil 150 at Petty Raceway in and it was a great afternoon of racing.

The Lucas Oil 150 was an excellent opening round for our 2019 season. We saw some fantastic racing front to back and action that gave us a couple more cautions than a typical event, but hey, it is the first race of the season and first race for most since last September, those things happen.

Results wise, we saw some new names mixing it up in the top five. Sure, Cole Butcher and Dylan Blenkhorn are names we are accustomed to seeing up front and we expect to be there at the end of the night.

Coming into Saturday night, Ashton Tucker, Cory Hall and Jarrett Butcher had a combined three top five finishes on the Tour with all of them belonging to Jarrett. Tucker won his heat race, led laps and finished second in what was technically his Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour debut because it was the first time he’s started a feature with us. Hall started mid-pack and methodically started working his way through the pack in order to come home fourth when the checkered flag fell. Jarrett Butcher was well on his way to joining his brother on the podium but came home fifth when it all shuffled out.

We’ve mentioned the youth movement in this Series before, but here’s some food for thought. The top five drivers got their stock car careers started in Bandolero cars, and I could be wrong but I think this is the first time that has happened. All five of those drivers have won track championships in this region between the Bandolero divisions held at Scotia Speedworld, Speedway 660 and Petty International Raceway. In total, they have a combined eight of those. Four of those drivers, with the exception of Tucker, went on to compete full time in Legend cars in their career with another nine championships between Scotia Speedworld and the Maritime League of Legends Tour. Those that know me, know I am a big fan of the USLCI and INEX program, but it once again goes to show how much these cars have helped shape the landscape of our sport in the last two decades.

When you add in Nicholas Naugle and Waylon Farrell, who also took the same Bandolero and Legend step up to our Series, and Ryan Messer who began his racing career in Bandoleros, you had eight of the 25 starters who began in that class. Not to mention the younger talent like Andrew Rodgers and Sarah McKay, the youth movement on this Series is evident if it wasn’t already.

As is the case with the deep field we have on this Series, you have some drivers who will get a bad draw for their heat race and find themselves mired deeper in the pack than they probably want to be at the start of the race. Greg Proude, Shawn Turple and Darren MacKinnon stood out as three huge names in our Series that did not have great draws and started in the second half of the field last Saturday. Proude was the only one of the three to finish all 150 laps, finishing 15th, while Turple and MacKinnon were swept up in accidents and did not see the finish.

Several drivers showed a ton of speed but did not have the finishes indicative of that pace in the early or middle stages of the race. Craig Slaunwhite and his new Port City Racecars and Gary Crooks ride battled up front early but faded at the end to ninth. Dylan Gosbee had a top ten car but got caught up in a wreck late and finished 18th. We mentioned MacKinnon already but Darren had a ton of speed as well before his troubles in Turn Three.

Give a tip of the cap to the 32C team of Chris Hughes before we transition into the next race. That team has really stepped up their game in the last 12 months, especially at the high banked tracks. Remember back to last year at Oyster Bed Speedway where he led a bunch of laps in the Lucas Oil 150? He opened up the 2019 season by winning his heat and having to dig deep from the back after an early spin to finish the feature in seventh place. Keep an eye on that Subaru this weekend at Scotia Speedworld to see if any of that high bank magic can cash in at the flatter 3/10-mile oval.

We now head to Scotia Speedworld and the Cummins 150, which is now sandwiched as the middle race of a back-to-back-to-back stretch thanks to Mother Nature. It is the first of four races at Scotia Speedworld and first of four races in a busy month of June. A good run here should give you a good base for when we come back for the Nova Truck Centres 150 on June 22nd and a bit of momentum heading forward in this month.

Three familiar names were on the podium the last time we visited Scotia Speedworld in Blenkhorn, Turple and Butcher. Each own six Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour victories at Scotia Speedworld, or 28% of the MPST races ran here since 2001. The only other driver that will be in the field Saturday with more Tour wins in Halifax is John Flemming, who leads all drivers with nine. Other former winners at Scotia Speedworld on the expected entry list for Saturday include four time winner Craig Slaunwhite, two time winner Jonathan Hicken, Marty Prevost, Greg Proude and former Toromont Cat 250 champion Lonnie Sommerville.

It is great to see Lonnie returning to our series. We mentioned the depth and strength of the field on the Tour and a driver of Lonnie’s caliber just continues to prove that point. He’ll be joined by fellow New Brunswickers Craig Ward, Ryan Messer and Sarah McKay making the trip down. This is “THE THRILLMAKER’s” first ever time to Scotia Speedworld, Ryan Messer only has one start here and it was in a Bandolero about a decade ago and McKay has shown vast improvements in Halifax, especially in the last two races in 2018.

Statistics wise, there are five drivers entered in Saturday’s field that have podium finishes but no wins at Scotia Speedworld. Donald Chisholm, Kent Vincent, Darren MacKinnon, Russell Smith Jr and Dylan Gosbee have all stood on the podium after a race in Halifax, but haven’t cracked off a feature win yet. Could Saturday be the time one of them knocks the door down to Scotia Speedworld victory lane? We’ll find out soon.

I’ll close with this. We haven’t had a “local” first time winner in the Series since Greg Fahey took home his only career Tour win at Speedway 660 in July 2017. Yes, I know, Kenny Wallace technically won his first Tour race last season in the IWK 250, but I want to put a focus on our Pro Stock drivers that are here on a weekly or semi-weekly basis trying to crack victory lane. Ashton Tucker darn near won his first race in his first feature start. Cory Hall showed a ton of promise in the Reid Racing car, and he’ll be back in that car on Saturday. I think Jarrett Butcher is likely the closest to crack victory lane when it comes to drivers that haven’t already. Nicholas Naugle could be thrown in that same conversation. Once Ryan Messer gets some seat time, he’ll likely be in that same conversation too.

Where am I going with this? Dylan Blenkhorn and Cole Butcher each scored their first Maritime Pro Stock Tour victories at Scotia Speedworld, a year apart, in the Nova Truck Centres 150. That race is a few weeks away, but back around to my first point, where a good run here can give you a good base for that race on June 22nd. I’ve got my eye on Jarrett Butcher and Nicholas Naugle, if not to win Saturday, to learn things that they can put forward in a few weeks.

With 27 cars pre-entered and a deep field of talent, we are in for an excellent Cummins 150 at Scotia Speedworld. Hopefully you can join us at the track and take it in for yourself, it will be a great time!

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