issue 245

Race Preview: Canada Day 150 @ Oyster Bed Speedway

Island Bound for Oyster Bed Battle

After the Nova Truck Centres 150, a lot of teams I’m sure are “making a wish” to have that race back or to have more time in between races to turn around their cars for Oyster Bed Speedway.

Joe Chisholm mentioned on Race Time Radio - and I’ll echo the statement - that it has been a long time since we’ve seen that much attrition at Scotia Speedworld during a race. Sure, we’ve had races with a pile of caution flags, the Toromont Cat 250 from 2018 comes to mind, but we haven’t seen that many hard hits in a while. One of our tech officials told me at the end of the 150-lap feature that there may be up to four or five clips that would need replacing on race cars. That’s a lot of damage.

But, at the end of the day, that’s racing. You have some really good races that go without a lot of yellows and then you have some races where the yellows rack up some fast cars. It is like the tale of two races. Take a look at the last two we’ve had. The Ceilidh Honda Triple 50s were very clean so maybe we used up our good karma when we left Riverside. Who knows?

We have plenty of positives to talk about, so let’s start at the top.

The top three drivers in the Nova Truck Centres Make A Wish 150 were the same podium finishers as our first race at Scotia Speedworld. While the race played out a little different than the Cummins 150, it was still Dylan Blenkhorn taking away the win, Jarrett Butcher in second and Jonathan Hicken in third. Jarrett had a little more breathing room at the finish over Jonathan this time and it appeared that the No. 54 was probably the best car, especially on the long run. As Dylan said in his post race interview though, while he said to his crew that Jarrett had the better car, all you need is one opportunity to pounce and he did so on the final restart, edging out Jarrett to get that track position. We head into a race track Saturday that track position might be more key at than any other track we visit, but we’ll circle back to that.

Marty Prevost unveiled a brand new Fury Race Car on Sunday and ran in the top ten all night long before racing to eighth when the checkered flag flew. The King Racing team put together a really solid piece for Marty and considering that the first laps he had in the car were during Sunday morning practice and it was top five out of the box, that says a lot for car and driver. Wait until we get to the Toromont Cat 250, I think Marty will have something for the win!

Greg Proude and team grinded out a ninth place finish on Sunday and I want to give them a tip of the cap. Greg’s spotter Blake Collicutt told me before introductions that they threw the kitchen sink at that race car prior to the green flag, hoping the sink wouldn’t fall out on the track over 150-laps. Without a spin on the last green run to the checkers, he may have had a couple more spots at the end. With us heading to Oyster Bed Speedway on Saturday, keep an eye on Proude and the Red Rocket to do big things at his home track.

“The Thrillmaker” Craig Ward picked up his first Exide Batteries Rookie of the Race Award on Sunday. For a team that’s usually just comprised of him, Shelley and a hand from one of his daughters, Ward enters this season in a position he’s told me he’s been in before over his 20 year race career and that is an underdog. Craig told me they had some right side tire issues in the late stages of the Nova Truck Centres 150 at Scotia Speedworld but they are looking to head to PEI and gain some more seat time and experience on the Series. With Russell Smith Jr not on the entry list as of press time, Craig may also inherit the point lead in the Exide Batteries Rookie of the Year chase.

I saved Nicholas Naugle’s fourth place run from Sunday as a pivot point between last week and this upcoming week at Oyster Bed Speedway. Naugle has had some great speed over our first four races and on Sunday he had luck finally go his way a bit. A couple of late race spins may have set him back but he was able to recover nicely to a fourth place run. The fourth place run equals the finish he had in the first race at Oyster Bed Speedway last year where he was able to race up front all night on a track where it can be pretty difficult to pass on. With the speed he has had, Naugle’s first Tour win is just around the corner. We’ve seen first time winners at Oyster Bed Speedway in the past. If Naugle can find some good track position on Saturday, I would not be surprised in the slightest to see him on the podium at the end of 150-laps on PEI.

We keep saying Oyster Bed is a place that is hard to pass on and track position is key but our drivers love it because it is a driver’s race track and is a true short track. Remember back to last August? That was probably the best Tour race I’ve ever seen at Oyster Bed Speedway. You had so many storylines. Braden Langille and Chris Hughes led laps early but by the halfway point, Cole Butcher was at the front after starting dead last after trouble in his heat race. The final dozen or so laps saw Butcher exchange the lead with Blenkhorn. Butcher ended up winning, being the only off-Island driver in the top seven finishing positions, I might add, with Blenkhorn spinning off Turn Four coming to the flag. Not to mention the best finish we’ve seen there in years, the race in August had so much to follow.

So now, it is time for the encore. I don’t know how the Tour drivers will top that but I’m sure they’ll try.

Cole Butcher will not be in the field on Saturday and it will be the first time since the 2013 season opener that the No. 53 car will not be present on the starting grid. Butcher said at the start of the season he’d be going on a part-time schedule this year and it looks like this is the first race he’ll miss. Now, we’re sure we’ll see him on Saturday in the pit helping out his brother Jarrett and with Cole winning the two races there last year, his expertise might help the No. 54 car.

Beside Butcher, Dylan Gosbee and Greg Proude have two top five finishes at Oyster Bed from 2018. I know we can sit here and play “what ifs” all day, but if Gosbee’s car didn’t shut off during the Nova Truck Centres 150, I think we’d be talking about the No. 91 car with at least a top five finish from last week instead of the 18th he was credited with and 12th place in points he is. My point? That team is way better than the finishes (and the luck) have shown and I believe we’ll see Gosbee fighting for the win on Saturday evening.

Jonathan Hicken battled with Cole Butcher in this race one year ago. With the way Jonathan has run this year, he should also be considered a heavy favourite on Saturday. Then you add in the likes of Robbie MacEwen, Kent Vincent, Chris Hughes and Darren MacKinnon, combined with off-PEI cars like Shawn Turple, Craig Slaunwhite, Waylon Farrell and more, this race will be a doozie.

I know weather is an issue this weekend as I type this and Dylan Blenkhorn brought up a good point this week, so we’ll leave it at this. Blenkhorn has “rain date” wins at Riverside Speedway and at Scotia Speedworld. He has one win in PEI, so if something happens that Saturday’s race gets moved, he’d love nothing more to add to that rained out trophy collection. Though, as we mentioned, it will be incredibly tough to win as is any race on PEI.

With the Maritime League of Legends sanctioning INEX National Qualifiers for Legend and Bandoleros on Saturday, the undercard will feature several future Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour stars. Combine that with a 50-lap Mini Stock race, the card on Saturday is one you will not want to miss.

Until Saturday, keep the hammer down and we’ll see you at the track!