Brighton Speedway Kart Klub and Thursday Night Thunder back in action this past week, as we hit the last week in June, Cue the Fireworks – the action on the track is heating up along with the weather. 36 karts signed in the back gate as drivers and crews prepped their machines to get ready for battle.
Box Stock 1 division was first to roll on the speedway for their feature event with #17 Keaton Chatten and #22 Jackson Gregory starting up front of the fast 5 kart field. Hard on the go pedal Chatten wasted no time to secure the 1 spot, followed through by Gregory and #41 Hudson VanDyk – the field shuffled for position as Reese Kerr moved her Jameshill Farms #7 up to the 3rd spot. Gregory found the quick line around the midway point of the race as he moved himself within striking distance and set his sights on the Chatten bumper. Double sticks in the air with 2 to go – Gregory saw the light and pounced on the opportunity, drove it hard off corner 4 to the inside of the #17, threaded the needle around a couple lapped karts and parked it in victory lane. 1st Jackson Gregory, 2nd Keaton Chatten, 3rd Reese Kerr, 4th Hudson VanDyk, #44 Nora Grant finished the running order.
Hailing out of Consecon, Ontario #07 Connor Vancott and Brighton’s #37 Ella Wannamaker paired up for 10 laps of Rookie 1 class racing – Vancott using the inside line and pulling to the lead early searched the track for speed as Wannamaker tried to keep pace. Fastest race of the night, the Vancott crew nailed the setup and Conner made it look easy – Checkers out for the Brad’s Float Service #07 followed across by the Wannamaker #37.
Junior Sportsman 1 started their 10 lap feature with #77 Max VanDyk and #18 Stirling Bent on the point – green flag waving VanDyk used the moisture on the low line and a few extra R’s to grab the top spot, with a hard charging #29 Lily Walters shuffling to 2nd and looking for back to back feature wins. An entertaining race rivaled rush hour on the DVP for number of tire rubs and bumper tags recorded for the 5 kart pack but only 1 yellow flag slowed the action momentarily. A good restart for the #77 of VanDyk as he kept it smooth and steady – first feature win of the season for MVD, #2 Liam McPeak settled for the runner up spot for the 2nd week in a row with a solid run, Lily Walters drove the #29 machine back to 3rd after an early race altercation, Stirling Bent and #15 Charlotte DeWal crossed 4th and 5th respectively.
A group of 7 Box Stock 2 competitors fired up and hit the little oval – #05 Liam Baldwin and #68 Gunner Ellis controlled the pace as they rolled out of corner 4 and punched the loud pedal. Baldwin charged off the bottom and put the #05 atop the scoring tower with 5th place starter #797 Luke Cuthbertson sliding through some action and up to the 2nd spot. The pair up front distanced themselves as the pack behind made use of every inch of track space trying to search for grip and a way to catch the top 2 karts. A caution riddled event with 2 red flags sprinkled in, had a breaking point – one last caution was it, the race was officially called and reverted to last running order as they crossed. #05 Liam Baldwin on the top of the podium, #29 Deegan Sudsbury, #92 Race Turner, #68 Gunner Ellis, #797 Cuthbertson, #41 Peyton Lambert and #39 Lucas Wannamaker.
Rookie 2 lit the fire in their methanol burning engines as they pulled off of the grid with #14 Chase White and #48 Knoxin Wells at the top of the lineup. White with a great start had the advantage as they blasted down the frontstretch and into corner 1 followed through closely by the APC sponsored machine of Wells. White had the kart to beat on the night as he kept that engine singing a fine tune and using up the clean air, the action was a little tougher behind the leader with Wells leading the #11 kart, Weston Mitts putting in some good laps trying to gain spots and Colton White using the extreme low and high lines to chase the pack ahead. White flag out for White as they rounded corner 4 one more time as he put it on cruise and drove the #14 to victory lane – #11 kart won the battle to 2nd place, #87 Weston Mitts in 3rd, heartbreak for Knoxin Wells – a heavy right foot may have been the factor as the #48 jumped the cushion and fell to 4th from a strong 2nd, #47 Colton White crossed 5th.
As the racetrack lights brightened up the fading sunlight, the Junior Sportsman 2 division ran down the backstraight and through corner 3 and 4. #9 Rhys Massey and #01 Blake Gregory were on point – Massey made it 1st into corner 1 as everyone battled hard for the fast inside line with #31 Brody Davidson on his bumper looking for daylight inside. A slight misstep by Massey gave Davidson the chance to dive to the catfish lane – drag race down the backstretch and put the #31 at the top of the scoring tower as the 6 karts behind fought for space. Belleville native Brody Davidson found the line and used it up – put the GO pedal on lock and throw away the key – nice and smooth for the remaining laps, Brody Davidson with the win, #99 Bryce Massey made the trip from Port Hope worth it – hard charger from 6th to 2nd, #19 Bentley Davidson 3rd, #9 Rhys Massey, #01 Blake Gregory and #54 Rae-Lynn Branscombe 4th through 6th.
Junior Restricted under the lights for their 20 laps of action – Colbourne’s own #18 Elliot Stacey and Warkworth resident #70 Finley Mahoney lining up a fast 6 kart main event. Mahoney stuck it down low and pulled hard with a freight train of karts behind him, Stacey hung out to dry, filed into 5th by the time they had rounded onto the backstretch with #20 AJ Peeters moving to the 2nd spot. Throw a blanket over the group of 5 some very tight racing with no room for error, Peeters positioned himself up front after a midrace yellow as the #18 Stacey Racing ride came to life and climb the ladder back up the scoring tower picking off 2nd place from last weeks winner #91 Jackson Veenstra. White flag in the air – 20 – 18 – 91 – whos it gonna be…. Peeters runnin block as Stacey tried to gather momentum, a peek inside then outside, one last chance off corner 4 with no success. AJ Peeters with the win, Elliot Stacey 2nd, Jackson Veenstra settled for 3rd, Finley Mahoney 4th, Thomas McGale 5th and #01 Reagan Grimmon ended up behind the wall early in the event.
The heat will be on – Thursday July 11th as kart racing resumes on the little oval. Please keep up to date on points, results and info at www.brightonspeedway.com.
StoryTime – By Zeke McKeown Media
