Fan Appreciation Photo Album

(Aug. 13, 2017) Fans were treated to a great night of entertainment at Speedway 660 this past Saturday. The weather was overcast, but the rain held off and from the pre-race autograph session through an exciting finish in the RE/MAX Group Four Realty Pro Stock feature fans enjoyed themselves. We invite you to check out this week’s photo album.   The O’Blenis sisters take a break after practice. Alexandra and Courtney are pretty amazing. These two young ladies are an inspiration to all of the young girls who come to the races every week.Hey Michelle,  aren’t you the one who is supposed to take the photos? That’s what happens when you set your camera down for a minute!Kyle MacKinnon fills up his little Sharp Shooter with some high octane “rocket-fuel”. Time to start the pre-race autograph session. Alexandra and Courtney park their Irving Blending & Packaging – Burger King sponsored Sportsman rides side-by-each on the front stretch.Lots of fans come out early to get a chance to meet their favourite drivers, get autographed “hero cards” and a few treats.Brent Roy stays busy signing autographs. BTW Brent, that’s a pretty snazzy new race suit you’ve got there. Kevin Moore greets the kids and hands out some treats. All of our drivers love Fan Appreciation Night and this opportunity to say hello to our fans.Glyn Nott came to 660 to hang out with the fans and race teams on Saturday night. Glyn, who retired from racing after the 2016 season,  is one of the most popular drivers in the history of Speedway 660. Everybody smiles on Fan Appreciation Night. And why not – there’s lots of candy for our youngest fans and everybody loves a night out at 660! Matt & Andrew, the Rodgers brothers, are pretty happy to spend their Saturday nights in the Geary Woods.Justin Cole used to be one of the kids who looked forward to Fan Appreciation Night every year. He stills looks forward to it, only now he’s one of our drivers who signs autographs and hands out treats. Say Hello to Daddy’s Girl! Racing is a family sport at Speedway 660 and everyone loves bringing their kids out to the track for some awesome entertainment.Fan Night is for kids of all ages. These veteran fans enjoy a moment with Ashton Tucker, one of the bright young stars in the RE/MAX Group Four Realty Pro Stock Division. It’s time to go racing and first up we roll out the Fredericton Gun Shop Sharp Shooters.Tim Elliott waves the checkered flag for our first winner of the night. That “rocket-fuel” works out pretty good for Kyle MacKinnon. Kyle brings his Sharp Shooter to the Riverview Ford Victory Lane after winning his heat race.The DMR Auto Sales Street Stock heat races are next and “Mister Maritime Hustle” drives his double zero to the low side to pass Rick Cashol (#54) and Riley Goodwin (#77). The very next lap Goodwin and Cashol go for a slide on the wild side! These two street stockers just keep slip sliding away.The long slide finally ends without much damage to either slider.Meanwhile Matt Crocker pulled away from the field and slid right into victory lane. We get more of the same in the second heat. Destiny Enkel and Shawn Hyslop pull off the very difficult synchronized slide right in front of Roger Slocum.No real damage on this spin cycle either. Our Fan Appreciation Night crowd loved all the excitement these street stock drivers served up for them.Chris Hanley wins the second Street Stock heat race. Chris is a part-timer who looks up to fellow Charlotte Countonians Greg Fahey and Shawn Hyslop.The Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman drivers roll out next and right away Drew Greenlaw goes three-wide right in front of our crowd to pass Clark Moore (#54) and Ryan Raynes (#94).Drew’s masterful move pays off and he wins the  first Sportsman heat race. Points are important for Greenlaw who is in a close battle with his friend John Rankin for the Sportsman championship.The action really heats up in the second Sportsman heat as Richard Atkinson (#40), Jacob Logan (#37) and Curtis Collins (#27) come roaring out of turn four.Its a drag-race down the front straight away. Maybe someone should tell them there’s a sharp left turn up ahead! Yikes – turn one is coming up quickly and these guys have still got the pedal to the metal.Atkinson ends up going for a wild spin and slide, while Collins and Logan continue to battle for the lead. Andrew Rodgers goes to the high side, driving through smoke and dust missing the sliding Atkinson.What a finish! This is why we get so excited about short-track racing at Speedway 660.Jacob goes to victory lane after that close race to the stripe. Logan is getting more confident every week and has quickly become one of the best up and coming Sportsman drivers in Atlantic Canada. The RE/MAX Group Four Realty Pro Stocks come out for their first heat race and right away Andrew McKay slides off the track.That first Pro Stock heat is a good one and we see some more great action on this very special night for our fans.Rookie Ryan Messer goes to victory lane. The youngster, from Harvey, is one of the biggest stories of the 2017 racing season. The second Pro Stock heat race gives us a very good battle up front. Brent Roy (#26), Ashton Tucker (#32) and Dave O’Blenis (#48) race each other hard for the win. There can only be one winner and this time it’s “The Camry Kid”. Brent Roy leads the points and this heat win is going to help his cause.The Fredericton Gun Shop Sharp Shooter feature runs off quickly without a hitch and point leader Kyle Boudreau goes to the Riverview Ford Victory Lane. This win moves Boudreau another step closer to becoming the first two-time Sharp Shooter champ.The other Kyle drives home in second place. MacKinnon is second in the points with just one more point race remaining. Bryan Suttie and his family celebrate a third place run in the Sharp Shooter feature.The Street Stock roll out next for their 30 lap feature. Part way through the race, we had a ten minute delay while a little drizzle came down.Chris Hanley follows up his heat victory with an impressive win in the DMR Auto Sales Street Stock feature. It was the first-ever win for Chris and if he keeps up on the wheel like he was on Saturday night it will be just the first of many victories.  Luc McLaughlin drove to a second place finish. In terms of the Big Picture, Luc has tightened his grip on the Street Stock championship point standings.Shawn Hyslop was third in the feature and is second in the Street Stock points. But more important than that, you can see just how happy Shawn is to be back on the Speedway 660 driver’s roster after a couple of years out of the seat! Chris Hanley was pretty quiet in his post-race interview, but on his way back to the pits he gave the fans a special Charlotte County burn-out! Chris got everyone’s attention with this little smoke-show and has served noticed that he is a man to be reckoned with when it comes Street Stock racing in the Geary Woods! The Sportsman drivers are on the track next and for their second straight feature they go 40 caution free laps. Rookie Curtis Collins goes around Clark Moore early in the race. Curtis is another big story this year at Speedway 660. This kid jumped out of a Sharp Shooter into a Sportsman and has wowed fans with his skills. Alexandra O’Blenis goes side-by-side with Jacob Logan. These two kids are pretty amazing.  Both have famous fathers, but both are earning their own reputations as stars in our sport.This battle for the final podium spot goes back and forth a few times with both drivers giving it their best effort.In the end Alex gets the upper hand, but runs out of laps in her attempt to catch the leaders.Drew Greenlaw and his Dad Gerald earned this victory. Drew’s win puts him back on top the point standings in the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman Division. But the Kid from Eastport, Maine only has a two point advantage over John Rankin heading into the Night of Champions! A flock of young fans come out to “high-five” our race winner.   Curtis Collins continues his impressive rookie season with an incredible second place feature finish. The way this kid has been wheelin a race car, don’t be surprised if he rolls into victory lane sometime soon.Alexandra O’Blenis has been wicked fast in recent weeks. She rattles off a third place finish in Saturday night’s feature. Alexandra is an amazing student athlete and a great role model for our youngest race fans.Speaking of student athletes, Drew is also an inspiration to the young girls and boys at Speedway 660. The Pro Stocks are up next for their 50 lap feature and right off the bat, Ryan Messer and Brent Roy get after it for the lead.Eventually Ryan prevails and drives away with the lead, which he would hold for much of this race. We had a scary incident down in turn one when Braxton Stafford climbed the bank and hit the fence.  Fortunately everyone, including Braxton and the fans down there, were OK.Soon after the race resumed a couple of veterans began to make some noise. Dave O’Blenis (#48) began picking up the pace in pursuit of the leaders.  And Greg Fahey began to gain ground on his teammate Ryan Messer.A couple of laps later the four-time Pro Stock champ was there and made his move on the inside.Dave hustled up on the back bumper of Fahey and before you could say “forty-eight” Messer had dropped to third. That set up an amazing finish between two of the most decorated champions in the history of Speedway 660. In the end Greg emerged from his car in victory lane to celebrate the win. You had to be there to see just how close Fahey and O’Blenis were when they crossed the stripe. It was an entertaining race and finish to say the least! If there was an award for the most second place finishes in the RE/MAX Group Four Realty Pro Stock Division, Dave O’Blenis would own it! This year Dave has been runner-up more often than not.Ryan Messer ends up third, but what a race he ran and how about the experience he gained racing against two of the very best Pro Stock drivers in eastern Canada!Greg and the rest of the McLaughlin Roof Trusses team celebrate their big win. Fahey wants to have another great run next weekend, at the Night of Champions, to help him prepare for SpeedWeekend.  Congrats to all of the feature winners last Saturday. But the real winners were all of the folks who came out for Fan Appreciation Night. You got to experience grass-roots racing at its very best!

Thanks for checking out the Fan Appreciation Night photo album and thanks for being a fan of Speedway 660. We look forward to entertaining you and your family next Saturday when we present the Night of Champions. Michelle Roy captured the awesome images for this week’s photo album.