(May 23, 2016) Sunday was some day down at Speedway 660! The weather was perfect, the races were exciting and the opening day crowd was tremendous. After an off-season that lasted over eight months, everyone was more than a little happy to be back in the Geary Woods. We invite you to check out Michelle Roy’s photo album from the Riverview Ford Season Opener. 

Sunday Smiles!

 

Sunday was a large day at Speedway 660. Lots of fans came early for the pre-race visit to the pits to meet the drivers and check out the race cars. “Hey girls whats up with the shopping bags?”Lots of fans were happy to meet Brent Roy and see his new Re/Max Group Four Realty pro stock ride.Matt Harris pauses for a photo-op with this young fan before signing an autograph and handing out a treat.Glyn Nott, one of our most popular drivers, always enjoys spending time with the fans and signing autographs. Derek Christie has a new fan. We want to thank Derek and all the other Speedway 660 drivers for participating in Kid’s Day and making our fans happy.Roger Slocum, the 2013 DMR Auto Sales Street Stock champ, shows this little fella his new race car. Roger and the other drivers also had a few treats for the kids.Fredericton Gun Shop Sharp Shooter driver Curtis Collins offers these fans some chippies and a little shade before he gets into the car to go racin.Martins Home Heating Sportsman driver Richard Atkinson and these two kids must think Halloween is in May. With all the treats being handed out, it was kinda like Halloween in the Geary Woods on Sunday! Courtney O’Blenis and her sister Alexandra always attract a lot of young fans. The O’Blenis sisters are awesome drivers and great ambassadors for our sport.Perhaps this little one will be a future 660 driver. She looks pretty comfortable and happy behind the wheel of this race car. “Hey give me a chance to get in the 12 car, I’ve got my racin goggles on and am ready to see how fast this thing goes.”Its almost time to go racin, but first the folks from Riverview Ford have got some great vehicles to show our fans including this incredible F250 work truck.The yellow Mustang and white Taurus were also part of the Riverview Ford fleet that was on display on opening day.Lets go racin boys & girls! Bryan Suttie and Neil Miousse have a nice little battle going on in the Sharp Shooter heat race.Bryan ended up holdin off Neil for the win and had the honour of being the first visitor to the Riverview Ford Victory Lane in 2016. Five-time DMR Auto Sales Street Stock champion Rick Cashol brings his new race car home first in the heat race. Robert Raynes won his first street stock championship last season and in his first heat race of 2016 proved he is ready to give it his best shot to defend that title. “Whoops, excuse me, sorry bout that.” Jacob Logan (#37) gets a little too close for comfort to Drew Greenlaw in the first Martins Home Heating Sportsman heat race.Ryan Messer, our 2015 Sportsman Rookie of the Year, crossed the stripe first in the opening sportsman heat.Veteran Richard Atkinson got off to great start this season by winning the second sportsman heat race. Lonnie Sommerville wins the first Re/Max Group Four Realty Pro Stock heat race. That’s a great start for the 2015 pro stock champ.John Rankin wins the 2nd pro stock heat race. “Racin Rankin” had a great season in 2015 finishing 5th in points.Neil Miousse wins the sharp shooter feature. Neil and April have moved to Kentville, Nova Scotia for great employment opportunities. But Speedway 660 will always be their home track and they’ll try to get up to run a few races with us this year.Kyle Boudreau was 2nd in the sharp shooter feature. Kyle, who won the championship in 2015, thanked his sponsors and his wife for making it possible for him to go racing every week. Curtis Collins had a nice little run in the sharp shooter feature. He came home in third place. All three Fredericton Gun Shop Sharp Shooter podium finishers went out into the crowd and gave their trophies to young race fans!Now its time for intermission and on Kids Day that means its time for the Speedway 660 candy scramble.It took these kids no time at all to pick up all of the candy. Older fans, who don’t get to participate in the annual candy scramble, always get a kick out of watching these youngsters get after the candy. Here is the move of the day. Just when it looked like Courtney O’Blenis (#48) was going to get trapped behind a lapped car, she muscled her way up the track, traded a little paint with racing legend Rick Cashol and emerged ahead of the five-time champ!Roger Slocum goes for a wild ride on the front stretch, much to the delight of our young fans on Kids Day! When the smoke finally cleared it was Robert Raynes who made his way to the Riverview Ford Victory Lane for the 2nd time of the day.That great move by Courtney O’Blenis propelled her to a 2nd place finish in the DMR Auto Sales Street Stock feature. Courtney celebrates with her Dad, Dave who had a race of his own to run a little later.Rick Cashol had a strong run on opening day, finishing 3rd in the street stock feature. Nice hat Rick. Can we call you “Cowboy Ricky Cashol”?Our fans love their sportsman racing! They saw a great race on opening day with lots of side-by-side action.Ryan Messer makes it a perfect day by going to victory lane twice in a row. After grabbing the heat win, Ryan finishes his day by winning the Martins Home Heating Sportsman feature. BTW that’s Ryan’s happy Grandmother (3rd from the right) behind the car. Drew Greenlaw comes home 2nd in the sportsman feature. That’s Lisa MacIntosh from Re/Max Group Four Realty (behind the car in purple). Lisa sponsors Drew and is one of his biggest supporters!It was a pretty good day for Richard Atkinson. After winning his heat race, Richard drove to a 3rd place finish in the Sportsman feature. Tom Gilmore drives out onto Speedway 660 in our new Ford F150 pace truck to pick up the field for the 50 lap pro stock feature.Rookie Jonathan Gahan took a wild ride when the wheel came off the race car.There was lot of great racing and several lead changes before all was said and done.Dave O’Blenis wins the Re/Max Group Four Realty Pro Stock feature. The five-time pro stock champion has a big smile because he knows he had a little luck on his side on opening day!Matt Harris, who won the opening day pro stock feature last year, finished in 2nd place on Sunday. Matt was impressed with the large field of pro stock drivers and in his post race interview gave a lot of encouragement to all of the rookies who have moved up to this division in 2016. Big Kevin Moore unveiled a new race car on Sunday. Kevin was pretty happy to bring the 88 home in 3rd place in the first 50 lap feature of the season.Kids Day and the Riverview Ford Season Opener was a resounding success at Speedway 660. We had lots of cars and fans, the racing was great and everyone had loads of fun in their first visit of the season to the Geary Woods. We’ll be back in action next Saturday at 6:30PM.

A big thank-you to Michelle Roy for her awesome photos!