By: Nicole Kleinsteuber

After a long off-season, fans eagerly packed the stands at Brighton Speedway for an action-packed 58th season opener on Saturday night presented by Deerhaven Powersports.

Following days of rain, Mother Nature cooperated and provided perfect weather for 99 race cars to dial in for the Vanderlaan Building Products Northeast Late Model Alliance Lid Lifter, the Bainer’s OilGARD Anti Rust Canadian Modifieds, the Brighton Automotive Thunder Stocks, and the Bill’s Johns 4-cylinders.

The event also graciously supported the Canadian National Autism Foundation and Brighton Care and Share Food Bank.

Pangrazio Parks It
Reigning Late Model division champion No. 5 Steve Baldwin led a full field of 20 cars to green in the 40-lap $2,025.00 to win Vanderlaan Building Products Northeast Late Model Alliance Lid Lifter.

At the drop of the green, Baldwin shot off like a rocket and looked like he was well on his way to securing the first win of the season. He led the first 14 laps as No. 136 David Pangrazio, No. 05 James Seymour, No. 41 Ryan Lambert and No. 57 Charlie Sandercock hunted him down.  No. 4 Anthony Barrett lost control near the flag stand, jumped the berm and came to rest in the fence on turn 1, drawing the first red flag of the wild night.  Barrett emerged from his vehicle to much relief and applause from fans.  On the restart, Pangrazio pounced on the lead. Glued to the inside, the driver from Elba, New York, put the hammer down and rode to victory lane, leaving Baldwin to settle for second. Sandercock placed third, NLMA champ No. 3 Nathan Rinaldi fourth and No. 46 Brandon Mowat fifth.

Wadworth Wins Season Opener
The first Bainer’s OilGARD AntiRust Canadian Modified main event of the year featured 17 cars and five leaders through the thrilling 25-lap affair.  On the lead lap, No. 29 Phil Potts snapped up the lead from polesitter No. 26 Bob Green.  Potts would only hold the position for one lap as No. 50 Dylan Boyle challenged hard from the inside on a successful bid for first.  Once out front, Boyle had his work cut out for him holding off No. 40 Ron Wadforth at every turn.  On lap 7 Wadforth secured the lead and a three-way chase for checkers with No. 1 Shawn Gregory ensued.  Lapped traffic proved problematic for the trio.  Gregory went high into turn 1 and sailed into the lead. But his lead would be short-lived as he went to the pits and Wadforth went to the front of the pack and never relinquished the point.   The two-time champ cruised to checkers with No. 32 Doug O’Blenis in runner-up.  No. 51 Mike Freeman was third, Boyle fourth and No. 85 Brittany Moon fifth.

Gregory Guns It To Victory Lane
No. 26 Brock Gregory took the Brighton Automotive Thunder Stocks to green in the 20-lap main event.  Gregory was uncatchable for his 20 competitors for over half of the race.  No. 0 Tyler French and No. 17 Ethan Humphry waged an exhilarating war for second with No. 72 Doug Anderson and No. 03 Justin Ramsay wheel to wheel just outside the top three.  As the laps ticked down, French proved to be Gregory’s biggest contender.  Hooked to Gregory’s bumper, French muscled his way into the lead for two laps.   Gregory snapped it back and rode like the wind to victory lane with French placing a well-earned second. Ramsay finished third, Anderson fourth and No. 10 Carter Rhodes fifth.

Lammle Waives Checkered Flag
No. 12 Shane Vale led a pack of 15 Quinte Septic Stingers to green in the 12-lap feature.  No. 95c Chris Lammle was relentless in his mission for victory.  On lap 3 Lammle pushed to the top on the outside coming down the back stretch and never looked back.  He drove to victory lane with No. 31 Billy O’Hara in second.  No. 93 Jorden Pickell placed third, No. 18 Brian Cross fourth and No.  03 Dillion Barker fifth.

The last event of the night, featuring the Bills John’s 4-cylinders, had to be postponed until next week after a wild wreck involving No. 17E Evan Minnie.  He took a hard hit coming into turn 2 and rolled bringing out the second and final red flag of the night. Fortunately, he emerged okay; however, Brighton management opted to postpone the race to this upcoming Saturday night.

Racing Legend Ken Schrader is Back 
Belleville Tirecraft presents Dirt Racing Legend Ken Schrader in the UMP vs Canadian Modified Challenge the Victoria Long Weekend.  Saturday, May 17th will also see the Vanderlaan Building Products Late Models, the Brighton Automotive Thunder Stocks and Bill’s Johns 4 Cylinders on the race card.  Front Gates will open at 5:00 PM, Hot Laps at 6:00 pm and Racing begins at 7:00 PM.  

Racing at Brighton Speedway begins this weekend and continues every Saturday until October.  Race fans can find a complete schedule and more information by visiting our website at brightonspeedway.ca or by following us on our socials.  A 1/3rd mile clay oval, Brighton Speedway is in the municipality of Brighton on the shores of Lake Ontario.  Opened in 1967, the Speedway hosts five divisions on a weekly basis, beginning on the first weekend in May and ending on the first weekend in October. With two travelling series, the Lawns We 360 Sprint Cars and the Vanderlaan Building Products Northeast Late Model Division calling Brighton home, other series visit the track each season to impress the fans and challenge the tight turns on the dirt track. 

Photos by Rod Henderson, CanadianRacer.com

Media Results for 5/10/2025 at Brighton Speedway – Brighton, ON

Vanderlaan Building Products Late Models 20 Entries
A Feature 1 40 Laps | 00:18:55.059
1. 136-David Pangrazio[3]; 2. 5-Steve Baldwin[1]; 3. 57-Charlie Sandercock[10]; 4. 3-Nathan Rinaldi[13]; 5. 46-Brandon Mowat[9]; 6. 41-Ryan Lambert[4]; 7. 05-James Seymour[2]; 8. 89-Austin King[11]; 9. 25-Greg Belyea[7]; 10. 151-Brian McDonald[17]; 11. 11-Kyle Sopaz[5]; 12. 77-Caley Weese[8]; 13. 7-Anthony Rinaldi[6]; 14. 21-Rich Sanders[12]; 15. 60-Norm Mayhew[19]; 16. 33-David Vandertoorn[14]; 17. 9-Joshua Black[16]; 18. 4J-Josh Overdulve[20]; 19. 4-Anthony Barrett[15]; 20. 39-Jonah Mutton[18]

Bainer’s OilGARD Anti Rust Canadian Modified 17 Entries
A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:12:05.722
1. 40-Ron Wadforth[5]; 2. 32-Doug O’Blenis[4]; 3. 51-Mike Freeman[9]; 4. 50-Dylan Boyle[3]; 5. 85-Brittany Golden[12]; 6.29-Phil Potts[2]; 7. 09-Dan Price[13]; 8. 2-Leslie Turcotte Mowat[7]; 9. 10-Elmer Stevenson[14]; 10. 7-Rick Phillips[6]; 11.41-Corey Halbert[10]; 12. 26-Bob Green[1]; 13. 12-Caleb Severin[16]; 14. 14-Matthew Moore[11]; 15. 08-Angie Kirby[15];16. 91-Jaiden Miller[17]; 17. 1-Shawn Gregory[8]

Brighton Automotive Thunder Stocks 23 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:12:32.245
1. 26-Brock Gregory[1]; 2. 0-Tyler French[4]; 3. 03-Justin Ramsay[10]; 4. 72-Doug Anderson[7]; 5. 10-Carter Rhodes[6]; 6.17-Ethan Humphry[3]; 7. 18-Kyle Anderson[14]; 8. 74-Mike Lucas[8]; 9. 97-Dave Barrett[12]; 10. 82-Brad Brooking[5]; 11.76-Cody Driscoll[20]; 12. 5-Jake Hadley[2]; 13. 06-Chris Hackett[19]; 14. 54-Tim Moore[17]; 15. 16-Kaitlyn O’Blenis[9]; 16.89-Kolby Ellis[21]; 17. 09T-Garren Taylor[16]; 18. 44-Tommy Bailey[13]; 19. 73-Jason Preece[18]; 20. 23-Doug May[11];21. 11-Cole McKeown[15]; 22. (DNS) 41-Landon Mutch

Bill’s Johns 4 Cylinder 24 Entries
Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:02:32.000
1. 22-Tyson Gregory[5]; 2. 41-Landon Mutch[7]; 3. 3-Shawn Knowlton[2]; 4. 61-Ryan Branscombe[1]; 5. 37-AJ Peters[8]; 6.75-Owen Chilvers[3]; 7. 21-Keith Dunk[4]; 8. 27-Mike Fletcher[6] 

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:44.000
1. 42JR-Aidan Fletcher[1]; 2. 24-Travis Fox Connor[2]; 3. 2-Trevyn McCrillis[6]; 4. 20-Cody Sager[5]; 5. 5-Eric Conlin[4]; 6. 18K-Matt Knowlton[8]; 7. 04-Owen Chamberlain[7]; 8. 23X-Paul Read[3]

Heat 3 8 Laps
1. 10X-Brandon Gregory[2]; 2. 1-Coleson Gregory[5]; 3. 77T-Travis Chamberlain[1]; 4. 17E-Evan Minnie[3]; 5. 71-Alesha Gerrard[6]; 6. 54-Josh Hillier[8]; 7. 77-Matthew Welch[7]; 8. (DNS) 8-Devon O’Brien

Quinte Septic Stingers 15 Entries
A Feature 1 12 Laps
1. 95C-Chris Lammle[2]; 2. 31-Billy O’Hara[4]; 3. 93-Jorden Pickell[5]; 4. 18-Brian Cross[6]; 5. 03-Dillon Barker[10]; 6. 9- Cooper McKeown[8]; 7. 17-Ryder Punchard[7]; 8. 66-Ray Davies[11]; 9. 35-Ethan Lord[9]; 10. 07-Megan Golden[12]; 11. 47-Josh Sparks[3]; 12. 74-RJ Punchard[13]; 13. 6-Tom Cole[14]; 14. 12-Shane Vale[1]; 15. (DNS) 45-Matt Schonauer