Issue 251

Race Preview: Atlantic Oliver Tire 200 at Scotia Speedworld

I don’t think we’ve had a season finale in years with this much going on leading into the final race.

Storylines are plentiful heading into the Atlantic Oliver Tire 200. I was not around as a fan in 1992 when the Cup Series finished off their season at Atlanta but with everything they had going on in that race between a tight championship point battle, a seven time champion retiring and a young upstart making his first appearance in the Series, you had a race where so much happened that they still talk about it! While we don’t have those stakes on the line and that pressure of being the Series they are, we have some pretty big things happening and lots of moving parts on Saturday for the over two dozen teams that will haul to Scotia Speedworld for the finale race of 2019.

The obvious elephant in the room is that on Saturday night the Series will crown a new champion. That driver, whether it is Dylan Blenkhorn or Jonathan Hicken, will become the eighth different Series champion in the 19 year history of the Tour dating back to 2001. They’ll join a list that has some legendary names on it, including Wayne Smith, Shawn Tucker, John Flemming, Rollie MacDonald, Donald Chisholm, Shawn Turple and Cole Butcher.

Both drivers have paid their dues to get to this point. Dylan Blenkhorn is one of the winningest drivers in the Series since he scored his first Tour victory in 2014. Jonathan Hicken is always a threat to win wherever we go on this Series. Both drivers have finished second in the Tour standings, Blenkhorn in 2018 and Hicken in 2014.
Simply put, whoever wins this title will deserve their celebration and spotlight on Saturday evening at Scotia Speedworld.

The mathematical number is 192 points, that is what Dylan Blenkhorn needs to score in order to win the championship. With a 22 point cushion and 213 points being the most a driver can score on the day through heats and feature bonus points, Blenkhorn needs 192 to win the championship by one to avoid a tiebreaker. That 192 point total is what a driver receives for a fifth place feature finish on our Series. So, the object is simple, finish in the top five and Dylan Blenkhorn is the 2019 champion.

With our Series and the talent we have, that may be easier said than done, but think about this. I’ll spit a stat line back at you I did during the preview for the Nova Truck Centres 150 - Blenkhorn hasn’t finished worse than sixth at Scotia Speedworld since the first race of 2014. If the No. 67 team does their thing on Saturday, the title is theirs. This is stock car racing though, so don’t engrave that trophy quite yet!

Hicken is coming off a Mike Stevens Memorial weekend at Petty Raceway where he scored around $24,000 in a convincing win in his off-weekend. He’s been decent at Scotia Speedworld this year, scoring two thirds and a fourth place finish in three races. With momentum on his side, he could be hard to beat if the Hicken/White Racing team hit on something early in the afternoon in Halifax.

But there is so much more than the championship battle.

Shawn Turple announced on Wednesday that after 15 seasons on the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour, he is hanging up the helmet to spend more time with his family.

Now, I get it. You can give me the “racecar drivers never really retire around here,” line. But when drivers say they are retiring from full time competition with no plans to return, they typically stick to their guns. Wayne Smith retired from full time competition on the front straight at Scotia Speedworld after he won his sixth touring title. Shawn Tucker quietly announced after the 2014 season that he was going to scale back, only to climb back into the car part time this year, sharing driving duties with his son Dustin. John Flemming scaled back to part time competition in 2016 after lighting it up for five Tour titles. This is the first time I can remember a championship driver announcing their plans to scale back prior to the season finale and not after it. Now, with Turple living down the road from Scotia Speedworld and Thomas almost old enough to race a Bandolero, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Shawn with us on Friday nights but that is something to think about down the road.

This is a big deal for our series. Regardless if you are a Turple fan or not, you have to respect the numbers Shawn has put up and what he has done in his Tour career. He has won three Tour championships. Ask Dylan or Jonathan how hard it has been to win one, let alone three. Shawn has 14 feature wins, 87 top five finishes and 132 top tens. Those last two are Series leading statistics with the only active driver relatively close to those numbers being Kent Vincent. The numbers speak for themselves. Not to mention what he put up prior in Sportsman and Hobby Stock before coming to the Tour. Needless to say, Turple has had a Hall of Fame career and he hopes to put a cap on it Saturday.

To put things into perspective, only eight drivers that competed in the season finale in 2005 will be competing in this race on Saturday. Eleven who competed at Scotia Speedworld in September of ’05 are still actively racing, ten of which raced with us this year. Among those that are entered Saturday for the Atlantic Oliver Tire 200 include John Flemming, Donald Chisholm, Turple, Kent Vincent, Greg Proude, Chris Hughes, Marty Prevost and Shawn Pierce. Shawn Tucker, who won that race, competed in this year’s IWK 250 while Kris Fournier ran a Pro Stock event at Oyster Bed Speedway earlier this month.

In his 20th year of racing, “THE THRILLMAKER” Craig Ward will come home with the Exide Batteries Rookie of the Year title on the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour. With his finish at the Lucas Oil 150, Ward officially clinched the title and will be able to celebrate Saturday at Scotia Speedworld. Craig has a 249 point advantage on Russell Smith Jr in the freshman chase and enters the finale 13th in points - only eight points behind Nicholas Naugle in 11th. For an underdog team like Ward’s, this is a huge accomplishment. Congratulations guys!

Ryan VanOirschot will make his Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour debut on Saturday driving for Tom Sim and the Ace in the Hole Septic team. VanOirschot is a regular in the NAPA Sportsman Series and has one start at Scotia Speedworld in a Sportsman car to his credit. He’s no stranger to the track, helping out the likes of Shawn Pierce and Taylor McLean. Good luck on Saturday Ryan!

While the biggest battle in the standings is for the lead, the tightest battle is for third in the standings where Dylan Gosbee and Jarrett Butcher find themselves deadlocked. What was once a four horse race for third has essentially become a two as fifth place Craig Slaunwhite is now 30 points back after Riverside Speedway. Sure, if the two in front of his stumble, he’ll be there, but Butcher and Gosbee will hope to battle this out for themselves. Both have seen successes at Scotia Speedworld but the pair are each looking for their first Halifax win. In the case of Butcher, he is looking for his first PST victory.

Every team that competes in 80% of the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour gets a piece of the $50,000 Parts for Trucks Point Fund and a trophy at the banquet, so these battles through the field to 16th mean something. Other battles to keep an eye on besides the three we already mentioned include fifth place (Slaunwhite v Turple - 15 points), eighth place (Hughes v Proude - six points) and 14th place (MacKinnon v Dougay - 21 points). Even the drivers that we did not mention within the top 16, including Waylon Farrell in seventh, Kent Vincent in 10th and Russell Smith Jr in 16th, could move a bit if either they have a spectacular night or the opposite. Most of the gaps in front of and/or behind are 40 points or more, so while mathematically possible, those three may need some help from others to advance or lose their point spots.

As a friendly reminder, Donald Chisholm enters Scotia Speedworld still looking for that breakthrough win on the 3/10-mile oval. Not that he needs to be reminded, because I’m sure he has been a few times this year, his daughter Emily did pretty darn good this year at the track in her Bandolero. Emily scored five feature wins and wrapped up the Beginner Bandolero title at the track on September 13th. No pressure, Donald!

Not to mention, we have a new sponsor for this event. Welcome to Atlantic Oliver Tire into the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour family and our motorsports community. You’ve got a great event on your hands and we look forward to seeing you at the track on Saturday!

This one is going to be great and this just scratches the surface of the storylines throughout the 25-car field we have pre-entered. If you do not have plans to be at Scotia Speedworld this weekend, you should be there! Who will take the checkered flag for the final time in 2019 and who will hoist their first championship trophy? Best be at the Speedworld to find out for yourself! Besides, it’s a long time until we get to do this again in May!

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

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