(June 25, 2017) One hundred and fifty years is something to be proud of! This Saturday night we’ll celebrate Canada’s birthday with the Cummins 150. The Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour makes it’s only trip of the year to Speedway 660 for a great night of racing. We’ll have more about the tour and the big Canada Day race later in the week, but in this edition of the weekly we’ll look at what we’ve seen so far in 2017.

Four races and three rain-outs! The weather hasn’t been friendly to race fans at all so far this season. But better days are coming, they’ve got to. You can’t do much about the weather, but you can hope we get a string of nice Saturday nights from here on out.

Speedway 660 officials are concerned about the rash of rain-outs this season and want to see if it’s possible to reschedule some of those dates. Between now and SpeedWeekend there are three off weekends on our schedule. In the past, we have not held weekly races on the same weekend the IWK 250 runs at Riverside Speedway. We used to have a Saturday night ENDURO on that date. This year’s IWK 250 is on July 15^th. In recent years we have also taken the long weekend in August off and this year we are also not scheduled to race on August 26^th, the Oxford 250 weekend.After a first week rain-out, we had a really good car count, a great crowd and awesome racing for the Riverview Ford Season Opener & Kids’s Day on Sunday, May 21st. But two more rain-outs and unsettled weather on days we were able to race have caused a slow start to the 2017 racing season.   

One or more of those dates are the logical times to reschedule races. It’s tough because when the schedule comes out in January, race teams as well as Speedway 660 staff and volunteers often make plans to do “other things” on the off weekends. I know Speedway 660 officials will consult with folks and try to come up with a plan that works best for the majority of people. I am sure an announcement will come fairly soon.

The four races dates we’ve had so far this year have given us some awesome action. I know it’s early but the points battles are really starting to take shape and we’re in for some fierce competition between now and the Night of Champions in August.

The RE/Max Group Four Realty Pro Stock Division is a real battle. Brent Roy leads Ashton Tucker by just a single point. You might be surprised to see the two guys who raced each other so hard for the 2016 Rookie of the Year crown to be seriously chasing a championship this year. Kevin Moore, Ryan Messer and Dustin Tucker round out the top five, but only 24 points separate fifth from first.The RE/MAX Group Four Realty Pro Stock Division is full of surprises in 2017. Ashton Tucker (#32) and Brent Roy have been running side by side a lot with Brent currently holding a one point advantage over Ashton. 

Sarah McKay is sixth in Pro Stock points, followed by Greg Fahey, Dave O’Blenis, Ian Rasmussen and Andrew McKay. There is only a 60 point gap between tenth and first. It surprises many people that Fahey and  O’Blenis are on the back end of the top ten, but it won’t surprise me if those two begin to hit their stride and move up the standings as the season progresses.

We’ve got another tight battle in the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman division. John Rankin leads Drew Greenlaw by the smallest of margins. Jacob Logan, Richard Atkinson and Alexandra O’Blenis are also in the top five and only 24 points separate Alex from John.

Andrew Rodgers, Justin Cole, Ryan Raynes, Chris Collins and Courtney O’Blenis are running sixth through tenth. A total of 63 points separate tenth from first.John Rankin (#28) and Drew Greenlaw (#23) are pretty even so far in 2017.  The two incredible Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman drivers are separated by only one point in the standings.

The DMR Auto Sales Street Stock Division is the only place where we’ve seen one driver dominate in the early going. Luc McLaughlin has won two features, has been on the podium for all four races and has opened up a 26 point advantage over second place Shawn Hyslop. Destiny Enkle, Riley Goodwin and Rick Cashol are the other drivers in the top five. A total of 48 points separate 5^th from first. Noah Gillespie, Roger Slocum, Chris Hanley, Courtney Barton and Matt Crocker round out the top ten and there is a 70 point gap between 1^st and tenth.It’s been all about the “Flying Frenchman” so far this year in the DMR Auto Sales Street Stock Division. Luc McLaughlin has four straight podiums, including two feature wins so far. 

The Fredericton Gun Shop Sharp Shooter division is pretty tight up top with Brody Levesque leading Kyle Boudreau by just three points. Kyle MacKinnon, Allison Hall and Scott Kennie round out the top five with only 31 points separating 5^th from first. Grey Owl, Jesse Gerard, BJ Gillespie, Danny Bourque and Bryan Suttie run 6^th through 10^th with a 65 point gap between 10^th and first.Brody Levesque hasn’t won a feature yet, but he’s been the most consistent Fredericton Gun Shop Sharp Shooter in the Geary Woods so far this season. Brody leads the points by a slim margin, four weeks in.

We’ve got some interesting point battles shaping up and we’re going to see some great racing and jockeying of positions between now and the end of the season.

So that’s another edition of the weekly. Make sure to come spend Canada Day with us. Our weekly Sportsman and Pro Stock divisions have the weekend off, but we’ve got the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour, the Street Stocks and Sharp Shooters on the schedule.

We’ll see you at the races.