It sure was a busy weekend in the eastern North American short-track racing world. While Jesse Madore was winning the ENDURO 200 here at Speedway 660, there was exciting action down in Maine and Nova Scotia.

 

Congratulations to John Flemming, who we recently featured here at www.speedway660.com in one of our Conversations. John won the IWK 250 down at Riverside International Speedway on Saturday night. It was the second IWK victory for John, who really wants to win our Pro Stock 250, coming up on SpeedWeekend. Flemming has never won our big race and says it’s at the top of his “bucket list”.On Saturday night John Flemming (center) became the first two-time winner of the IWK 250. Donald Chisholm (right) was second while Cole Butcher (left) drove to a third place finish.

Other notables in the IWK 250 were Shawn Tucker (4th); Shawn Turple, who won the Irving Oil Blending & Packaging MPST race here recently (11th); Brad Mann (14th) and; Sarah McKay (16th).

On Sunday, in southern Maine, Travis Benjamin won the Oxford 250. Congratulations to Travis who is no stranger to Speedway 660 fans. Other notables include Ben Rowe (8th); Joey Doiron (11th); D.J. Shaw (12th) and; Johnny Clark (13th).Travis Benjamin (center) won the Oxford 250  last weekend. Austin Theriault (right) ended up second while Richie Dearborn (left) came home third.

I know a lot of fans, drivers and race team members from Speedway 660 were on the road this weekend. I’ll bet you enjoyed the races in Nova Scotia or Maine and hope you got back home safe and sound. We look forward to seeing you this weekend back at your home track in the Geary Woods.

I never know if very many people actually read Wade’s Weekly, until I write something a little bit on the edge. The last two blogs titled: Rivalries & Controversies and Extreme Youth Movement resulted in a fair amount of feedback. I got several e-mails, a couple of phone calls and a lot of unsolicited conversations down at the track!

Race fans sure are passionate about their favourite sport. My goal in this blog is to write about the racing scene at Speedway 660. It’s difficult to ignore the controversial stuff. I try to be fair and balanced in my comments and although it’s always nice to get positive feed-back, I don’t mind listening to any criticism that comes along.We’ve got great race fans at Speedway 660. They love to cheer for their favourite drivers and love the excitement of our brand of short-track racing.

Having said that, I always find it interesting how race fans are quick to point the finger at another driver, but think their favourite driver can do no wrong. Never mind the local  racing scene, just look at NASCAR. A lot of fans will defend their favourite driver no matter what, but are quick to accuse another driver of some premeditated dastardly deed! Emotions run high from the NASCAR’s highest level of racing down to  local short-tracks all over North America.

Shifting gears, we had a great ENDURO 200 on Saturday night. The car count was down a little bit, but the show was really good. In an effort to bolster the number of ENDURO cars, Speedway 660 has opened these races up to drivers from our other divisions. The ban on station wagons has also been lifted for ENDURO races.

Roger Slocum teamed up with “Rocket Rodney” Ness to enter last weekend’s race. The 2013 DMR Auto Sales & Service Street Stock champ and “Rocket Rodney” finished third. Roger had a blast and can’t wait to jump into an ENDURO car again on SpeedWeekend.Roger Slocum (#29) gets spun-out by Courtney Barton on Saturday night. Roger, a regular Street Stocker, and Courtney, a regular Sharp Shooter, both enjoy getting behind the wheel of ENDURO cars and mixing it up a little!

I asked veteran ENDURO driver Pat Sharpe how he felt about racing against our weekly divisional drivers and he said: “Bring em on.” Can you imagine Dave O’Blenis, Ricky Cashol, George Jamieson, Glyn Nott, Brian Gillespie and other established weekly racers in ENDURO cars?

It would be nice to see ENDURO racing not only survive, but grow at Speedway 660. It’s a unique brand of racing and brings a lot of enjoyment to fans and drivers alike. The mid 1980’s rear-wheel drive cars used in ENDURO racing are getting harder to come by. One option is to transition this division into newer four cylinder, front-wheel drive cars. But that would likely present an entire different set of challenges.Everyone loves ENDURO racing. Let’s hope this brand of action continues in the Geary Woods for many years to come.

Speedway 660 officials are talking with ENDURO drivers about the future of this division. Together, lets hope they can find ways to increase the ENDURO car count and continue this wild and crazy brand of racing! But one thing is for certain, these drivers continue to put on an amazing show, even when the car count dips a little bit.

This Saturday night the Re/Max Group Four Realty Best of the Best Pro Stock 150 and the DMR Auto Sales & Service Street Stock 50 are on the agenda down in the Geary Woods. The Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman division will also be on the card.The Best of the Best 150 is always a great event which attracts lots of fans and lots of cars. The winner earns a spot in our biggest race of the season on SpeedWeekend.

As much as I like the Bando and Sharp Shooter divisions it’s nice once in awhile to go with our original three divisions. And with extended lap features in Street Stock and Pro Stock we’re in for a great show. By the way, championship points are on the line in all three divisions this weekend. And those point races are pretty tight!

Remember this is the last racing event before our traditional in-season break, when we are off for the upcoming long weekend in August.
We’ll see you at the races!