Issue 37

The Notebook - Lockhart Truck Center 100

With the way the last fifteen laps or so went of the Lockhart Truck Center 100, you’d swear we were racing under a full moon!

That wasn’t the case though but I’m sure nobody could predict what we saw in the last few laps of the event. In the furious late race jockeying for positions we saw the likes of Flemming, Smith and Proude relegated to the back of the field following altercations. Craig Slaunwhite was in the pits after completing eighty-seven laps of competition. Many restarts occurred in the last handful of laps to get us to the advertised distance of 100-laps but when the dust was settled it was Shawn Turple out front of the calamity all night long, leading flag to flag to become the first driver to win the Lockhart Truck Center 100 as a Pro Stock driver and as a Sportsman driver at his home track.

Turple, who was golden on each of the late race restarts held off two-time Tour champ Shawn Tucker in the waning laps. Tucker, the defending champion of the July Pro Stock Tour event at the track quietly worked his way up into contention in the event and found himself on the back bumper of Turple at races end. The two most spirited runs to the front came from third and fourth place cars Mike MacKenzie and Donald Chisholm. MacKenzie was the final of the dozen cars on the lead lap on a restart inside fifteen laps to go in the #75 R&R Kinsman Auto Salvage/Chebucto Ford Fusion and ended up on the podium when the smoke cleared. The Chevy guy from Montague Mines, Nova Scotia was ecstatic to put the Alexander Racing team on the podium. “And I did it in a Ford!” exclaimed MacKenzie before climbing on the podium to accept third place awards.

Chisholm started on the point of the main feature after winning the Dartmouth Dodge Dash for Cash and ran in the top three most of the night, swapping positions with Turple and Wayne Smith early in the race. Chisholm would find himself in trouble though as he was involved in an incident off turn two, but the driver from Antigonish then got up on the wheel of his Keltic Ford Fusion. We’ll never know but I believe if the race had been the Lockhart Truck Center 110 that Chisholm would have been right there with Turple and Tucker at the end as he was working on MacKenzie as the checkers fell.

It was great to see Daryl Mahar top Atlantic Tiltload Time Trials. The #66 K. Hubley Woodworking and Contracting/Inglis Jewelers Chevrolet has been fast at our first three events but hasn’t had the finishes to reflect said speed. After Scotia, Daryl finds himself in a tight pack of drivers in the point standings as he sits smack dab in the middle of a battle between the eleventh and nineteenth place drivers – all separated by just eighteen markers. With a six race stretch coming up after this off-week you should keep an eye on the Hubley driver as I’m sure he’ll be on the move during this summer!

Speaking of points, Shawn Turple now has a thirty point advantage on the rest of the field. “It’s too early to think about points,” Shawn keeps telling us but when you are racking up an average of 205 points a race you must be doing something right. Bonus points contribute to this effort as the #0 Dexter Construction/Municipal Group Impala has been up front for at least a lap in the first three races and led the most at Scotia and Riverside. At five points for leading a lap in each race and five points for leading the most laps in the race, Shawn has banked twenty-five extra points. When you take away those points, Turple would still have a ten point advantage over his nearest competitor Greg Proude.

Proude is leading a tight pack of competitors from second to tenth with forty-one points being the deficit between the Springvale, PEI driver and Chris Hughes in tenth. Eleventh place pilot Shawn Pierce leads a pack of nine drivers separated by eighteen points. The EIT Race Radio Rookie of the Year Points are close as well as Jerome Kehoe of Sydney and Leonard Boutilier of Dutch Settlement are locked together with 510 points. Brad Brown from Halifax is just thirty-eight points back and within striking distance of the two if they should slip up,

Why do I talk points now? It’s simple, there is a six race stretch of races ahead of us. At the end of this six week run there will be two events left of the season. Perform well in the races ahead you may find yourself out of the “pack” of drivers you find yourself racing with in the standings now. Stumble in this stretch and you will find yourself staring at the Peterbilt 250 and the Parts for Trucks 200 with a huge mountain to climb.

Next week, we’ll take a look at the IWK 250 Presented by Steve Lewis Auto Body. Marcos Ambrose will be in the field along with all of your favorite pro stock drivers. If you do not have your tickets yet – RiversideSpeedway.ca is the place to get them.

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