The weather forecast was the hot topic of conversation last Saturday at Speedway 660’s Pre-Tech and Practise session. Race team members, fans and officials were all happy to be back in the Geary Woods, but were concerned about the weather for Sunday’s Riverview Ford Season Opener.
Season Opener Take Two!
As it turned out that concern was justified, because early Sunday morning the rain started coming down. As a result the season opener was cancelled, but we’ll try again next Sunday. Weather is always a factor when it comes to racing and baseball. So we’ll cross our fingers and hope for the best this coming Sunday.
But Saturday was a great day. It was really nice to see many folks I hadn’t seen since the end of last season. From the office to the tower and the grand stands to the tech shed and pits, it was a day to renew old friendships and meet some new folks.
Most of us hadn’t been back to Speedway 660 since the day Travis Benjamin picked up the big cheque for winning the Re/Max 250.
For the race teams it was a day to hurry up and wait! They were hurrying to get their cars ready for competition and then had to wait in line to go through the Tech Shed for a serious inspection by Donnie Greer and his capable team. Each car had to undergo a thorough inspection before being allowed to go out on the track for practice.
I must say I am always impressed with the sight of the cars at the beginning of a new season. It is really apparent how much work these race teams put in during the long New Brunswick winter. Some are brand new cars and others have new paint schemes and the drivers and team members are proud of the hard work they did to get their machines ready to race.
We’re used to seeing Rob Raynes in his blue number 41 machine. In 2015 he’ll unveil a new colour scheme and perhaps finally win that elusive DMR Sales Street Stock championship.
A couple of cars really stood out. Lonnie Sommerville’s number 23 Pro Stock car has an incredible paint job. If I had to pick one word to describe Lonnie’s 2015 ride it would be dazzling! If it races as good as it looks the competition had better beware!
The other machine that really caught my eye was Ryan Messer’s number 1. Ryan, a rookie in the Martin’s Home Heating Division, has his patented orange paint job, featuring a Dana’s Collision Center logo on a white hood. It is obvious that the Messer’s take a lot of pride in their racing program and we look for Ryan to be the next young gun to light up our Sportsman division.
I was going to take pictures of Ryan and Lonnie’s cars to post in this article, but on second thought I figured it would be better if you came out to the Riverview Ford Season Opener this Sunday to see them for yourself!
There were a few other cars that stood out last Saturday. Rob Raynes is running the Dale Earnhardt Wrangler colours from back in the 80’s. Perhaps the yellow and blue paint scheme from Rob’s racin hero will help him claim that elusive street stock title. Rob missed the DMR Auto Sales Street Stock Championship by three points in each of the last two years!
With Cole Tanner moving on to Legend cars, after winning the 2014 championship, and Courtney O’Blenis moving up to Street Stock, the West Wood Estate Apartments Bandolero division is wide open this year!
Another car that I took a second look at belongs to Destiny Enkel. The “Port City Princess” has a Ford Mustang to run in Street Stock this year. Or is it? Initially I was drawn in by the nice blue paint job and the snazzy Mustang decals. But it didn’t quite look like a Mustang to me…somehow it looked a little larger than the Ford PonyCar. When I questioned Destiny she just smiled and pointed at the Mustang wordmark on the car.
Then, I got on my investigative hat and went to visit our resident Ford experts. When I strolled into the Christie pro stock pits, Derek and his Dad Leon told me the car Destiny is driving this year is the same one that Derek used to drive when he was in Street Stock. So, if my memory serves me correct, that car is a Crown Victoria! And that old car has seen a few drivers since Derek Christie drove it. Peter Gaddess and Benji Ruff both drove the car and now Destiny has reinvented the Crown Vic as a Mustang!
Street stock racing always is a competitive affair. The cars are usually tightly bunched and provide fans with loads of excitement.
Saturday was a great day, but we were all disappointed that the Riverview Ford Season Opener was a wash-out on Sunday. But that will give a few other drivers an extra week to get ready. And it will help the 2014 Sportsman rookie of the year too.
In practice on Saturday, Drew Greenlaw blew-up the transmission in his car. Last I saw, the Greenlaw clan was slidin out of Speedway 660 in a cloud of dust headed to good friend Ryan Messer’s to change up the lame tranny! Had we raced last Sunday I’d have bet that they would have had Drew’s race car ready to go.
Drew Greenlaw, who is just finishing up Grade 11 down in Eastport, Maine, is a second year Sportsman driver who has room on his shelf for a few more big trophies from Richard Martin!
So make plans to head on down to the Geary Woods this Sunday. It’s a 2PM start and it’s the Riverview Ford Season Opener. And come back to www.speedway660.com later this week for a Conversation with our new Race Director Brent Dunphy.
We’ll see you at the races!
