A beautiful Thursday night in June with the sun setting over the main grandstand set the stage for some high powered kart racing on the little oval as Thursday Night Thunder resumed this past week. 50 eager racers rolled through the back gate and teams prepped for a night of high speed action. Hotlaps and qualifiers were run off in good time and feature lineups were set for 7 weekly divisions.
Box Stock 1 fired up and rolled off of the grid for 10 laps of green flag racing with the Simply Ecletic ride of Hudson VanDyk and Seamless Exteriors racing Abel Kiltz up front. Holeshot start and 7 engines roared to life – quickly making some moves and threading the needle, last weeks winner #22 Jackson Gregory and #44 Nora Grant found their way to the front in short order, pulling to an advantage over the rest of the group. The Gregory lead was short lived as slick track conditions played a major factor on the night with both the #22 and the #44 ending up facing the wrong direction drawing out the yellow flag a few times. One last restart and the outside pole sitter #10 Abel Kiltz was ready – smooth and steady 10 laps and ended up in victory lane, chasing Abel across the line Picton’s #7 Reese Kerr cruised to 2nd place, #44 Nora Grant battled back to 3rd, Hudson VanDyk, #17 Keaton Chatten, Jackson Gregory and #100 Bauer Cochrane finished the running order.
#13 Vayda Dayton and #11 Bentley Fulton on the point for Rookie 1 feature action – the outside line had the run off of corner 4 as Fulton pulled to the top spot on the scoring tower. A few laps in and 4th place starter #07 Connor Vancott caught the back bumper of Fulton as he searched for a lane to pass with Fulton holding a hard inside line – choice was made as Vancott drove it high into corner 1, through 2 and took the lead while picking daisies down the backstretch. Vancott with sole possession of the lead dropped back to the fast inside line and let the kart do the rest of the work. #07 Vancott with the win, Fulton 2nd, #88 Jase Fargey made some moves to climb to 3rd, #13 Vayda Dayton and #37 Ella Wannamaker in the top 5.
5 Junior Sportsman 1 drivers hard off of corner 4 for 10 laps – Grafton’s #29 Lily Walters and Carrying Place’s #77 Max VanDyk ran down into corner 1. Walter’s had the grip and showed speed early gaining a comfortable 3 kart length advantage as they charged down the backstretch. Racing action from 2nd to 5th saw many changes on the scoring tower, with the slick racing surface challenging the group. As the dust settled after 10 laps, Noble Roots Landscaping #29 Lily Walters at the top of the podium, #2 Liam McPeak with a solid 2nd place run, #18 Stirling Bent climbed back to 3rd after an early race altercation with a tire, Max VanDyk and #15 Charlotte DeWal rounded the top 5.
Box Stock 2 had 7 karts make the grid for racing action – #29 Deegan Sudsbury and #797 Luke Cuthbertson winding them up. Sudsbury with a clean run off the bottom put the #29 Central Ontario Spray Foam ride in the lead, with stiff competition in the wake – Cuthbertson and last weeks winner #92 Race Turner in chase. A caution riddled event slowed the action until one last restart when they were able to turn up the heat on race leader Sudsbury, Omemee native Cuthbertson was on the hammer early as he set sail high around our race leader and took over the 1 spot for the final lap. Checkers in the air – Luke Cuthbertson, Deegan Sudsbury, Race Turner, #39 Lucas Wannamaker and #68 Gunner Ellis in the top 5 – #05 Liam Baldwin and #41 Peyton Lambert finished the running order.
Colton White in the #47 and Knoxin Wells #48 up front of 6 Rookie 2 contenders – flip the switch and let em go! Wells beat White into corner 1 as he tucked it down low, White not giving up that eazy – layed it all down with a big crossover and regained the lead down the backstraight, with brother #14 Chase White in tow moving to the 2nd spot. A very entertaining race with great passing throughout the field saw last weeks winner #08 Lilly Ray work up from the 4th starting position one spot at a time to the top of the tower – a fast kart and fresh air – #08 Ray with the W after 10 laps. Honorable mentions to 2 hard chargers #10 Hanna Merry from 6th to 2nd and #87 Weston Mitts from 5th to 3rd. Colton White, Knoxin Wells and Chase White rolled across the line 4th to 6th.
Junior Sportsman 2 with JB Painting #7 Tate Black and BMW Kingston #31 Brody Davidson on point – Tate Black ran it hard down into corner 1 on the inside with Davidson in tow and the rest of the field shake’n an bake’n for space. #19 Bentley Davidson worked up from the 4 spot to 2nd as he set his eyes on the back bumper of the Black #7, laps clicked off as the #19 reeled in hard. With only a handful of laps left – the #19 kart dove deep to the catfish lane, sliding up out of corner 2 and drag racing Black to corner 3 and then to the lead holding a hard inside line for the remaining round-d-rounds. Knock on Wood no issues for the #19 as Bentley picked up the win, #99 Bryce Massey hard charger from 7th to 2nd, #31 Brody Davidson 3rd, #01 Blake Gregory 4th, #54 Rae-Lynn Branscombe 5th, #9 Rhys Massey 6th and a tough finish for Tate Black doing some off roading before crossing the line 7th.
#629 Thomas McGale and #20 AJ Peeters on the loud pedal off corner 4 to the green flag – McGale 1st to corner 1 and then a quick crossover by Peeters put the #20 atop the score sheet. Peeters gained some breathing room as the 7 kart pack thundered behind him 2 by 2, last weeks winner #91 Jack Veenstra slid through and shuffled his way up to the 2nd spot with only 5 laps to go as he planned his move on the Peeters machine. Peeters trying to hold a good speed and keep composure after multiple cautions slowed the action – left the door open for a split second and Veenstra jumped at the chance down the backstraight #91 to the lead with 2 to go. 2nd win in 2 weeks for the 13 year old from Brighton – Jack Veenstra, Peeters settled for 2nd, #18 Elliot Stacey had a eventful run ending up 3rd, McGale 4th, #70 Finley Mahoney 5th, and 2 10’s Chris Lough and Ryder Waterworth finished 6th and 7th to end the night.
Thursday Night Thunder is back June 27th – come out and see the stars of tomorrow battle it out on the little track – check out www.brightonspeedway.com
