Williamson, Kirkland, Sandercock and the Gregory family dominate Applefest Shootout
By: Tim Baltz and Nicole Kleinsteuber
The annual Applefest Shootout was an adrenaline-fueled weekend of non-stop action at Brighton Speedway.
Hosted by Cool 100 and Bellevue Fabricating Ltd., the event brought together over 300 cars and racers from Ontario and Upper New York State for two days of heart-pounding dirt track racing.
The track’s biggest racing event of the year featured DIRTcar 358 Modifieds, ROC Sportsman, Northeast Late Model Alliance, Canadian Modifieds, Thunder Stocks, Mini Stocks, and 4-Cylinders.
Williamson Wins 3rd Applefest Shootout
Brad Rouse and Lucas Fuller brought the field of 22 DIRTcar 358 Modifieds to green for the 75-lap Applefest Shootout. Fuller and Rouse battled side by side in the opening 8 laps before Rouse took over the top spot, leaving Fuller to battle with former Applefest champions Gary Lindberg and Mat Williamson. Rouse started to stretch the lead out and had a great car, but Mat Williamson was on the move. The defending race winner made his way to second and put the pressure on Rouse for the lead. On lap 16, Williamson took control with Lindberg charging to second, leading to a spirited battle for the top spot for the rest of the night. Several mid-race restarts allowed Lindberg to pull even with Williamson several times, with Lucas Fuller in the mix all night long. Several late race cautions for minor spins brought several other contenders into the mix. 2005 Applefest winner Kyle Dingwall made his way to the top 5 with Tristan Draper closing quickly. As the laps clicked off, Gary Lindberg put the pressure on Williamson as the field entered lapped traffic, eventually getting to within 3 car lengths of the leader. However, it was not meant to be as Mat Williamson would march on to his 3rd Applefest Shootout win and his 2nd in a row. Gary Lindberg’s run at a second Applefest crown resulted in a runner-up finish. Lucas Fuller’s event debut saw him finish third, ahead of Kyle Dingwall and Tristan Draper.
In a special 15-lap dash for cash on Apples Eve the night before, Lindberg was victorious over Brian McDonald, Kalen Draper, Johnathan Ferguson and Kyle Dingwall.
Kirkland Captures 1st Applefest Victory
The 35-lap ROC DIRT Sportsman Series title was on the line. Points leader and Friday night’s Apple’s Eve winner Cody McPherson would have to come from the 9th starting spot. In the early laps, it was Akwesasne, New York’s Fire Swamp showing the way with Cornwall’s Justin Desrosiers and Dylan Kirkland right there with him. These three drivers put on a great show for the fans as they battled for the top spot, with Swamp staying in control. Behind the leaders, some of the heavy favourites were on the move as Cody McPherson, Bobby Herrington and Brennan Moore made their way towards the top 5, with McPherson moving to 4th by lap 20, but still had work to do to catch the top 3. On lap 24, the lead battle was intense as Kirkland finally found the way by Swamp with McPherson moving into third. Kirkland started to pull away as McPherson and Herrington tried to keep pace. On lap 32, Dylan Kirkland had his hands full with the 9-time Applefest winner, McPherson, but the yellow would wave for an infield tire that had found its way to the middle of the track. This led to a total of three more restarts and each time McPherson had a look at the lead, even getting by Kirkland on one occasion. However, with no laps complete in any restart, Kirkland reassumed the lead. On the final restart, Dylan Kirkland timed it perfectly, getting away from McPherson and Herrington by three car lengths. On the final lap, Kirkland went to the bottom as McPherson let it all hang out on the top side. Coming to the checkered flag, it was Dylan Kirkland grabbing an emotional win, his first Applefest Shootout victory. McPherson’s runner-up finish locked up the 2025 ROC DIRT Sportsman title. Bobby Herrington, Fire Swamp and Brennan Moore rounded out the top 5.
Sandercock Scores 4th Consecutive Crate Race, 4th overall NLMA Title
No. 3 Nathan Rinaldi and No. 92 Adam Turner led 19 Northeast Late Model Alliance drivers to green in the 40-lap Great Crate race. With $4,000 on the line, Rinaldi took off as Turner tried to reel him in. The pair were no match for point leader No. 57 Charlie Sandercock. Hunting down his fourth NLMA crown, Sandercock would slingshot around Turner on the outside in pursuit of Rinaldi. The 2024 NLMA champ had his work cut out for him as he tried to hold Sandercock off. Glued to the high side, Sandercock snatched the lead on lap 15. The titleholders went back and forth in an exhilarating chase for checkers. On lap 24, Sandercock took back the point, sailing to Empey Tire victory lane for his eight overall Applefest win and fourth NLMA championship. No. 11 Kyle Sopaz crossed the line next, followed by No. 151 Brian McDonald. No. 13TWO charged from 18th to finish fourth and No. 41 Ryan Lambert fifth.
Shawn Gregory Grabs 4-Straight
No. 40 Ron Wadforth and No. 1 Shawn Gregory took 16 cars to green in the Canadian Modified/UMP Challenge. Gregory was quick to move into first on the lead lap on the outside of turn 2. Riding a hot win streak, Gregory was hooked up on the high side, determined to go for four straight. He was unstoppable with over a three-second lead on the rest of the field. A caution with seven laps to go slowed the pace. On the restart, No. 32 Doug O’Blenis shot into second and set his sights on the fierce leader. Gregory put the hammer down and crossed the line first with O’Blenis in second. Wadforth finished third, No. 20 Adam Whaley fourth and No. 41 Corey Halbert fifth.
Brock Gregory Sweeps Applefest Weekend
No. 10 Carter Rhodes wasted no time taking the lead from his second starting position in the 40-lap Thunder Stock Duel on the Dirt feature. Rhodes dominated 26 cars for 22 laps as No. 26 Brock Gregory and No. 0 Tyler French intimated him in the rearview. The three waged an epic and tight battle for victory. Coming off an impressive win the night before, Gregory scooped up the lead on the top on lap 23. Gregory powered to victory lane for his first-ever Applefest weekend sweep. The win allowed Gregory to close the gap to Duel on the Dirt standings leader No. 49 Dave Bailey by 13 points before the series finishes up in Merrittville this Friday. French finished runner-up with Rhodes in third. No. 72 Doug Anderson placed fourth and No. 03 Justin Ramsay hustled from 13th to fifth.
On Friday night, No. 108 Zach Bleich finished second to Gregory in the 20-lap affair. No. 74 Mike Lucas was third, No. 47X Kyle Pelrine fourth and Rhodes fifth.
Brandon Gregory Wins Comp 4/Mini Stock Open
No. 42 Aidan Fletcher led 24 cars to green in the 20-lap Comp 4/Mini Stock open race. The 2025 division champion was flawless as he went door to door with No. 10 Brandon Gregory in a thrilling chase for all the apples. Following a single-file restart, Gregory manoeuvred around Fletcher for the lead. The pair battled back and forth, with Fletcher regaining the point again. The 42 held Gregory off for another 14 laps. With three laps to go, Gregory pushed to the inside of Fletcher to take the checkered flag. Fletcher earned a hard-fought second place. No. 67 Maxx Steele was third, No. 22 Travis “The Hammer” Mclean fourth and No. 46H Hayden Brown fifth.
On Friday night, Mini Stock Duel on the Dirt point leader No. 24R Wade Thorne picked up the win in the 25-lap feature after No. 46 Peter Moore was disqualified. No. 32L Grayden Lyons was second, No. 19 Hana Rothwell third, No. 4 Mason Anderson fourth and No. 5K Ken Hair fifth.
Up Next
The final event of the season is this Saturday, October 4th with the Brighton Recycling Eve of Destruction. The full day event hosts the Hotch’a AutoParts Enduro Races, the Northshore RV Park Trailer Race, the Gord’s Water Vantastics, the Trailer Race and of course the Brighton Recycling School Bus Races and Demolition Derby! A sold-out event, the Eve of Destruction begins at 1:00 am. Be sure to arrive early and secure parking.
Photos by Rod Henderson, CanadianRacer.com
- 6 “Money” Mat Williamson led a high-spirited battle for the top spot during the 75 lap Cool 100 Applefest Shootout on Saturday night at Brighton Speedway.
- Charlie Sandercock, No. 57 wins his 8th overall Great Crate Race on night two of the Applefest Shootout at Brighton Speedway.
Media Results for Saturday, September 27th, 2025
DIRTcar 358 Modifieds
A Feature 1 (75 Laps): 1. 6-Mat Williamson[4]; 2. 37S-Gary Lindberg[6]; 3. 74-Lucas Fuller[2]; 4. 66-Kyle Dingwall[11]; 5. 17-Tristan Draper[8]; 6. 18R-Brad Rouse[1]; 7. 151KB-Brian McDonald[5]; 8. 18-Kalen Draper[10]; 9. 74X-David Flannigan[12]; 10. 53-Darrell Farraway[19]; 11. 88J-Justin Cyr[9]; 12. 73-Dylan Davidson[18]; 13. M75-Melcolm Banks[15]; 14. 2COOL-Derek VanMil[20]; 15. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[3]; 16. 49-Bill Gill[21]; 17. 22S-Shane Stearns[16]; 18. 15B-Brianna Ladouceur[13]; 19. 82-Ken Winfield[22]; 20. 72X-Tommy Flannigan[14]; 21. 2*-Cedric Gauvreau[7]; 22. 08-Chris Ferguson[17]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Mat Williamson[1]; 2. 37S-Gary Lindberg[2]; 3. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[3]; 4. 18-Kalen Draper[4]; 5. 15B-Brianna Ladouceur[5]; 6. 22S-Shane Stearns[7]; 7. 53-Darrell Farraway[6]; 8. 82-Ken Winfield[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2*-Cedric Gauvreau[4]; 2. 18R-Brad Rouse[1]; 3. 17-Tristan Draper[2]; 4. 66-Kyle Dingwall[5]; 5. 72X-Tommy Flannigan[3]; 6. 08-Chris Ferguson[6]; 7. 2COOL-Derek VanMil[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 151KB-Brian McDonald[2]; 2. 74-Lucas Fuller[1]; 3. 88J-Justin Cyr[4]; 4. 74X-David Flannigan[5]; 5. M75-Melcolm Banks[6]; 6. 73-Dylan Davidson[3]; 7. 49-Bill Gill[7]
Qualifying 1 (3 Laps): 1. 6-Mat Williamson, 00:13.996[6]; 2. 37S-Gary Lindberg, 00:14.016[1]; 3. 44-Johnathon Ferguson, 00:14.245[7]; 4. 18-Kalen Draper, 00:14.282[3]; 5. 15B-Brianna Ladouceur, 00:14.292[2]; 6. 53-Darrell Farraway, 00:14.296[4]; 7. 22S-Shane Stearns, 00:14.349[5]; 8. 82-Ken Winfield, 00:14.839[8]
Qualifying 2 (3 Laps): 1. 18R-Brad Rouse, 00:14.320[2]; 2. 17-Tristan Draper, 00:14.342[5]; 3. 72X-Tommy Flannigan, 00:14.349[3]; 4. 2*-Cedric Gauvreau, 00:14.458[7]; 5. 66-Kyle Dingwall, 00:14.573[1]; 6. 08-Chris Ferguson, 00:14.808[4]; 7. 2COOL-Derek VanMil, 00:14.886[6]
Qualifying 3 (3 Laps): 1. 74-Lucas Fuller, 00:14.406[7]; 2. 151KB-Brian McDonald, 00:14.436[3]; 3. 73-Dylan Davidson, 00:14.564[2]; 4. 88J-Justin Cyr, 00:14.580[4]; 5. 74X-David Flannigan, 00:14.803[6]; 6. M75-Melcolm Banks, 00:14.983[1]; 7. 49-Bill Gill, 00:15.088[5]
DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds
Applefest Shootout 35 (35 Laps): 1. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[2]; 2. 7-Cody McPherson[9]; 3. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[6]; 4. 88-Fire Swamp[1]; 5. 35B-Brennan Moore[10]; 6. 91-Kraig Handley[7]; 7. 16-Matt Barbour[12]; 8. 29D-Justin Desrosiers[3]; 9. 78JR-Nigel Pendykoski[18]; 10. 11-Dan Ferguson[8]; 11. 185-Tyler Puchalski[4]; 12. 35D-Dylan Moore[23]; 13. 66P-Jeff Panunte[26]; 14. 4B-Brad Overbeeke[15]; 15. 99PJR-Matteo Panunte[22]; 16. 98-David Andre[21]; 17. 23-Michael Dillon[20]; 18. 37-Marc Olivier McCarthy[17]; 19. 18R-Brad Rouse[5]; 20. 79-Chris Hale[16]; 21. 98H-Domonick Merkley[14]; 22. 48D-Sylvain Dupuis[13]; 23. 707-Greg Brinklow[11]; 24. 3D-Noah Mamo[19]; 25. 68-Curtis Friesen[25]; 26. 17-Madie Wallace[24]
B-Main 1 (8 Laps): 1. 98-David Andre[1]; 2. 35D-Dylan Moore[4]; 3. 68-Curtis Friesen[8]; 4. 24-Doug Walsh[2]; 5. 18B-Blake Smith[5]; 6. 58J-Shaun Lafave[7]; 7. 12K-Kyle Kudrinko[6]; 8. 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[9]; 9. 20-Nathan Lambert[3]
B-Main 2 (8 Laps): 1. 99PJR-Matteo Panunte[4]; 2. 17-Madie Wallace[1]; 3. 66P-Jeff Panunte[5]; 4. 12C-Jacob Chevalier[2]; 5. 13M-Dan Mckay[6]; 6. 28-Matt Mould[3]; 7. 80D-Damien King[9]; 8. 39-Cory Lambert[8]; 9. (DNS) 07T-Tessa Riemersma
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Cody McPherson[1]; 2. 88-Fire Swamp[3]; 3. 707-Greg Brinklow[6]; 4. 79-Chris Hale[2]; 5. 98-David Andre[5]; 6. 28-Matt Mould[8]; 7. 12K-Kyle Kudrinko[4]; 8. 39-Cory Lambert[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 185-Tyler Puchalski[1]; 2. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[2]; 3. 16-Matt Barbour[3]; 4. 37-Marc Olivier McCarthy[7]; 5. 17-Madie Wallace[4]; 6. 35D-Dylan Moore[6]; 7. 13M-Dan Mckay[5]; 8. 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 91-Kraig Handley[2]; 2. 29D-Justin Desrosiers[3]; 3. 48D-Sylvain Dupuis[5]; 4. 78JR-Nigel Pendykoski[4]; 5. 24-Doug Walsh[1]; 6. 99PJR-Matteo Panunte[6]; 7. 58J-Shaun Lafave[7]; 8. 80D-Damien King[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Dan Ferguson[1]; 2. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[3]; 3. 98H-Domonick Merkley[2]; 4. 3D-Noah Mamo[4]; 5. 12C-Jacob Chevalier[5]; 6. 18B-Blake Smith[6]; 7. 07T-Tessa Riemersma[7]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 18R-Brad Rouse[1]; 2. 35B-Brennan Moore[2]; 3. 4B-Brad Overbeeke[3]; 4. 23-Michael Dillon[5]; 5. 20-Nathan Lambert[4]; 6. 66P-Jeff Panunte[6]; 7. (DNS) 68-Curtis Friesen
Timed Hot Laps 1 (2 Laps): 1. 7-Cody McPherson, 00:14.623[7]; 2. 79-Chris Hale, 00:14.692[5]; 3. 88-Fire Swamp, 00:14.693[8]; 4. 12K-Kyle Kudrinko, 00:14.696[4]; 5. 98-David Andre, 00:14.879[6]; 6. 707-Greg Brinklow, 00:14.935[2]; 7. 39-Cory Lambert, 00:14.979[1]; 8. 28-Matt Mould, 00:15.106[3]
Timed Hot Laps 2 (2 Laps): 1. 185-Tyler Puchalski, 00:14.603[1]; 2. 88Z-Bobby Herrington, 00:14.713[3]; 3. 16-Matt Barbour, 00:14.847[4]; 4. 17-Madie Wallace, 00:14.866[2]; 5. 13M-Dan Mckay, 00:15.004[5]; 6. 35D-Dylan Moore, 00:15.140[7]; 7. (DNS) 37-Marc Olivier McCarthy; 8. (DNS) 35P-Patrick Kudrinko
Timed Hot Laps 3 (2 Laps): 1. 24-Doug Walsh, 00:14.633[5]; 2. 91-Kraig Handley, 00:14.851[8]; 3. 29D-Justin Desrosiers, 00:14.934[7]; 4. 78JR-Nigel Pendykoski, 00:14.958[1]; 5. 48D-Sylvain Dupuis, 00:14.991[4]; 6. 99PJR-Matteo Panunte, 00:15.227[6]; 7. 58J-Shaun Lafave, 00:15.531[2]; 8. (DNS) 80D-Damien King
Timed Hot Laps 4 (2 Laps): 1. 11-Dan Ferguson, 00:14.807[6]; 2. 98H-Domonick Merkley, 00:14.855[4]; 3. 88K-Dylan Kirkland, 00:14.941[5]; 4. 3D-Noah Mamo, 00:15.072[3]; 5. 12C-Jacob Chevalier, 00:15.130[1]; 6. 18B-Blake Smith, 00:15.631[2]; 7. 07T-Tessa Riemersma, 00:16.151[7]
Timed Hot Laps 5 (2 Laps): 1. 18R-Brad Rouse, 00:14.725[4]; 2. 35B-Brennan Moore, 00:14.938[1]; 3. 4B-Brad Overbeeke, 00:15.002[6]; 4. 20-Nathan Lambert, 00:15.055[2]; 5. 23-Michael Dillon, 00:15.079[5]; 6. 66P-Jeff Panunte, 00:15.091[7]; 7. 68-Curtis Friesen, 00:15.315[3]
