(August 1, 2016) The August long holiday weekend is over and we’re into the second half of summer. This Saturday night race teams at Speedway 660 enter the busiest and most important month of the season. It all begins with a weekly championship point racing event and ends with SpeedWeekend 2016. Between now and Labour Day we’ll see the best racing of the season!
We’ve got championship points on the line for four straight weeks and all four weekly divisions will be running every week. Weekly championship point racing this weekend, the Sharp Shooter 40 on August 13th, Fan Appreciation Night on the 20th and; the Night of Champions on August 27th will keep everyone busy and provide fans with lots of excitement.
The Re/Max Group Four Realty Pro Stock Championship is more than a little interesting this year. Kevin Moore, John Rankin and Matt Harris are all in the running and hope to grab their first championship in our top division. However, Greg Fahey is also in the mix and he’s got his sights set on a fourth pro stock title to go with two street stock and one sportsman championship. If Fahey can get it done that would tie him with Brian Gillespie who has seven Speedway 660 titles! 
In 2011 Greg Fahey won his third pro stock championship in four years. He won a sportsman title in 2013 before returning to our highest division. Greg is a strong contender for the Re/Max Group Four Realty Pro Stock crown this season, but will need a strong push in August to make that happen.
Brent Roy is the leading pro stock rookie of the year candidate, but Ashton Tucker has been consistent all season long and has still got a shot. Roy is also hoping to crack the top five and is currently in a pretty good battle with Dustin Tucker for that spot.
Ryan Messer and Drew Greenlaw are good buddies. They pit beside each other and their families are friends too. These two youngsters are in an incredible battle to win their first Martins Home Heating Sportsman championship. It will either be one or the other or neither of the two, because veteran George Jamieson is in the mix and he’s gunning for his first title too. Richard Atkinson has also got a shot, but he’s gonna have to pick up the pace in August to get it done. Jacob Logan has really come on strong and is leading the rookie of the year race.
Ryan Messer has been on a roll in 2016. After capturing rookie of the year honours last season, Ryan has three feature wins this year and is in a tight championship battle with his friend Drew Greenlaw.
The DMR Auto Sales Street Stock Championship will more than likely go to either Robert Raynes or Courtney O’Blenis. These two have waged war all season long and don’t be surprised if this title doesn’t get determined until Tim Elliot throws the checkered flag on the last 30 lap street stock point race on the last Saturday of August. Riley Goodwin, Noah Gillespie, Ryan Richard and Courtney Barton are all in contention for street stock rookie of the year and that will be something to watch closely this month.
Rob Raynes won the DMR Street Stock title a year ago and hasn’t missed a beat in 2016. He’s been on the podium every week and is in a big time battle with Courtney O’Blenis for this year’s championship.
It looks like Kyle will likely win the Fredericton Gun Shop Sharp Shooter championship. The only question may be which Kyle? Kyle MacKinnon and Kyle Boudreau are hooked up in a tight little battle for the sharp shooter crown. BJ Gillespie is looking for the rookie of the year award, but he’ll have to have a good month to make that happen.
Kyle MacKinnon is having a dream season at 660. He’s won some races and been pretty consistent, but Kyle Boudreau, our 2015 champion is doing his best to win back-to-back titles.
There are plenty of story lines heading into the stretch run. We’ve mentioned a few, but lots of race teams are going to go all out to climb a notch or two in the standings between now and the end of the month. Cracking the top ten or top five in any of our four divisions is pretty important and we’ll see some great racing as teams try to make that happen.
We all really look forward to racing in the Geary Woods every August, but it’s also just a little sad too because we know this is our last month of the season. And time flies and it’ll all be over quickly, so make sure to take it all in and enjoy all of the sights, sounds and sensational action that short-track racing has to offer.
Things could get a little tense as determined drivers chase those championships during an awesome August down in the Geary Woods. Make sure to come out every Saturday night this month to see how it all shakes out!
And then there is SpeedWeekend 2016. Lots of work has been done, there’s still plenty of work to do, but you can be sure when September 2nd rolls around we’ll be ready to host Atlantic Canada’s biggest and best racing weekend of the year! A big infield party on Friday night, an awesome 150 lap sportsman race on Saturday and an incredible pro stock 250 on Sunday. We’ll see street stocks and sharp shooters too. The legend cars will be back for the first time in a few years and I believe we are also going to see the bandoleros on SpeedWeekend!
SpeedWeekend 2016 is just a month away. Everyone is looking forward to the biggest weekend of racing in our region and fans know they’ll see the best drivers go all out to drive into the Riverview Ford Victory Lane.
We’ve got a lot to look forward to in the next month at Speedway 660 and it all begins this Saturday night with an important weekly championship point racing event. So rally the troops and take to the woods, the Geary Woods that is. You’ll be glad you did.
We’ll see you at the races!
