Issue 246

Racing Towards the Crossed Flags - Irving Oil 150 Preview @ Petty

After Saturday’s Irving Oil 150, half of the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour season will have been complete. Hard to believe, right?

Through all the bad weather we’ve encountered, the sixth of 12 races on the season is this Saturday evening. With last weekend’s Canada Day 150 at Oyster Bed Speedway, we have now been to each of our four host venues at least once. Over the next three races, we will visit Petty Raceway, Riverside Speedway and Oyster Bed Speedway, taking us to the eighth race of the year and having us at two visits at each venue by the time we get to the August long weekend.

Needless to say, especially with the IWK 250 next weekend, this portion of the season has flown by even with the weather. We’re getting ahead of ourselves though, so let’s step back and take a look at last weekend’s event.

Jonathan Hicken was quick off the trailer and wasted little time getting to the front of the field at Oyster Bed Speedway. Dylan Gosbee also had a quick race car and the two found each other at the front and put on a show for the fans that waited an extra week to see the Pro Stock Tour on the Island. The two were the class of the field over the 150-laps and at the end, it was Hicken able to edge out Gosbee, who kept the No. 5 honest up front.

As we’ve seen before at Oyster Bed, track position was key and once again the third place position was up for grabs between a handful of drivers. Greg Proude, Darren MacKinnon, Shawn Turple, Waylon Farrell and Jarrett Butcher all mixed it up for a top five spot at some point in the race, but it was Robbie MacEwen and Dylan Blenkhorn taking home those two spots. MacEwen pitted early and the team worked on getting their car right with Robbie racing back to a fourth place finish. Blenkhorn and MacKinnon had a little meeting with 30 laps to go in the race, placing both at the back with the no fault caution. The pair was able to race back to fifth and sixth place, respectively.

All told, the first trip to the Island on the season was pretty good, minus the moisture on Saturday afternoon. It was a good opening round to a stretch of three races in a row and sets the stage nicely for the return to Oyster Bed Speedway on August 3rd.

In a round about way, last weekend’s Canada Day 150 also sets the stage quite nicely for Saturday’s Irving Oil 150.

Historically, the top three drivers that finished on the podium at Oyster Bed Speedway have run well at Petty International Raceway. I know, call me crazy considering of those top three, the best finish of the trio was ninth by Craig Slaunwhite in the season opening Lucas Oil 150 with Hicken 12th and Gosbee 19th. A lot has changed since May, new cars can take time to dial in and now that each have laps under the belt of their current pieces, it is sure to put them a bit closer to the front. Mark my words, all three will be factors before the checkered flag falls in the Irving Oil 150.

Ashton Tucker returns to compete with the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour at a track where he finished second in his Tour debut back in May. Tucker was also on the podium in an open race last weekend at Speedway 660 with the Brad Silliker Motorsports team. This team is clicking, Tucker is one of the brightest up and coming stock car stars in the province of New Brunswick. It has been a couple years since we’ve seen a first time winner in this Series (apart from Kenny Wallace’s IWK 250 win) and if all the chips fall into line this weekend, we could see that streak snapped with Ashton Tucker.

I also think you could see that streak broken this weekend with Jarrett Butcher or Nicholas Naugle. Naugle has had speed all season but doesn’t have some of the finishes indicative of that speed. Butcher, on the other hand, sits in third in the standings, was a factor in the first race we had at Petty Raceway back in May, and while he had a small stumble at a tough Oyster Bed Speedway, a podium finish at statistically one of his better tracks would help put that behind him. The No. 54 also enters third in the point standings after five races. With a good run here, he could put himself a little closer to Hicken and point leader Blenkhorn.

We’ll leave the preview for the Irving Oil 150 with Blenkhorn. Blenkhorn’s point lead is 22 and while Oyster Bed isn’t Blenkhorn’s strongest track on the schedule, he was still able to end with a fifth place finish last weekend. Blenkhorn has had his share of wins at Petty International Raceway and finished third here in May after having to come from the rear of the pack early in the Lucas Oil 150.

Here’s the great thing about the point battle up front. You have two drivers who are really, really good at Petty International Raceway. They are both good at Riverside, though Blenkhorn might have a slight edge there. Both have wins at Scotia Speedworld and Oyster Bed Speedway, with Blenkhorn owning the last three wins at Scotia Speedworld and Hicken having the statistical advantage over Blenkhorn at Oyster Bed. Then add in Jarrett Butcher to the battle as the “young gun,” a driver who we haven’t really considered a title contender yet in his career but is putting himself into the conversation with his run in the first five races. We certainly have us an intriguing early season point battle.

What was done in one half of the season can be undone, for the most part, in the second half of the year when it comes to the standings. With the IWK 250 next weekend, we could be talking about a whole new landscape after these next two races when it comes to the championship. I think we have three championship contenders here that are going to be tough to beat down the stretch drive, as long as they don’t let Slaunwhite or Gosbee, or the rest of the field, into the fight.

This Irving 150 will be an excellent show. If you are around the Moncton area, we hope to see you make the trek to Petty Raceway on Saturday to join us!

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