Rouse Nips McPherson in Wild Ending at New Humberstone
By: Dave Sully
PORT COLBORNE, ONTARIO (June 17, 2018) Brad Rouse, from St. Catharines, scored the win in the 25 lap Sportsman Feature by the thinnest of margins at Humberstone Speedway on Sunday, June 17th on Stoneridge Specialty Insurance Night, but many fans were not happy with the way it played out. After Cody McPherson took the lead from Justin Sharp on a lap seven restart, Rouse worked his way into second on lap 10. From there, McPherson set the pace while Rouse tried to close. The first time was on lap 15 when he drew within three car lengths, and then on lap 20, he got within two car lengths, as his car was clearly better in the turns.
Rouse finally got under McPherson low in turn three on lap 23 to take the lead, but McPherson wasn’t finished, and he drew alongside on lap 24. As the two headed for the stripe on the final lap, McPherson and Rouse were close to dead even. There was contact just before the line, which sent McPherson careening hard into the outside wall, with Rouse declared the winner over McPherson by .015 seconds. They were followed by Sharp, Adam Leslie, and Jordan Cosco to complete the top five.
When Rouse emerged from his car, he was met with a chorus of boos from the crowd, who felt that Rouse pinched McPherson to get the win. For his part, Rouse declared, “You know, it was close racing. I wouldn’t have done that. I didn’t mean to do that. We all bumped together, but you know what? They can think what they want. You know what? It is what it is.”
The Action Sprint Tour, the highly competitive Crate Sprint Car class headquartered at Ohsweken Speedway, was on hand this night, nineteen strong. After a couple of jingles at the start, the group got over their jitters and pole sitter Aaron Turkey, from Ohsweken, took command, streaking to a good lead before the caution flew again on lap eight. He jumped ahead of his teammate, defending champion Holly Porter, who went off second, once again and was never headed in the entertaining 20 lap event. Porter finished second, while local product, rookie Jacob Dykstra finished a strong third.
Turkey offered, “I didn’t expect to be on the bottom. I like to cruise around the high side, but I’m just glad to get it done.”
In other racing, Pete Reid, from Stevensville, made it two for two in Thunder Stock starts at Humberstone, coming from tenth to seize the lead from polesitter Jason Fontaine on lap 14 of the 20 lapper, after going off eighth. Fontaine settled for second, followed by defending champion Dave Bailey. Also, Craig Vlasic, from Welland came from 12th to win an unusually rugged 15 lap Mini Stock race over defending track champion Cole Hardy, while Mitch Dumont, from Welland, took the Pro 4 Truck event.
Brad Webb was the winner of the Eve of Destruction Enduro qualifier #1. Webb is now qualified for the Eve of Destruction, Canada’s Wildest Motorsports event in September.
The Sportsman will run double features next Sunday night, June 24, as Zanchin Truck and Trailer will present the racing action. The Late Models will return with home race number two of the Northeast Late Model Alliance. Gates will open at 4:30 pm with racing getting underway at 6:30 pm. Kids are encouraged to join the Humbee’s Kids Club for their activities starting at 5:00 pm on race nights.
RACE RESULTS – STONERIDGE SPECIALTY INSURANCE NIGHTHarvey’s Swiss Chalet DIRTcar Sportsman: BRAD ROUSE, Cody McPherson, James Michael Friesen, Justin Sharp, Adam Leslie, Jordan Cosco, Luke Carleton, Chad Chevalier, Tyler Puchalski, Dylan Davidson, Jay Mallory, Emily Puchalski, Chris Storm, Darrell Farraway
Qualifying Heats: Luke Carleton, Brad Rouse
Action Sprint Tour: AARON TURKEY, Holly Porter, Jacob Dykstra, Brad Herron, Liam Martin, Derek Lemyre, Jesse Costa, Steven Beckett, Ryan Hunsinger, Paul Klager, Hannah Ferrell, Rob Neely, Josh Hansen, Allen Gilleta, Brian Nanticoke, Blaine Barrow, Trevor Young, Shone Evans, Jerry Hill
Qualifying Heats: Holly Porter, Liam Martin, Aaron Turkey
JC Auto Thunder Stocks: PETE REID, Jason Fontaine, Dave Bailey, Barry Beck Jr, Barry Blanchard, Teeple, Don Lampman, Car #11, Bryce Richardson, Jim Lampman
Qualifying Heats: Dave Bailey, Jim Lampman
Cosco Haulage Mini Stocks: CRAIG VLASIC, Cole Hardy, Leroy Buscumb, Gillian Hils, Jeremy Cooper, Mike Sarantakos, Kyle Rothwell, David Hoyle, John Lubeck, Dan McKay, Sam Iftody, Fabio Oliveri, Sean Iftody, Brandon Iudiciani, Blake Wadham, Clinton Nicholls, Tim Jamieson, Evan Curtis, Rob Sauder
Qualifying Heats: Gillian Hils, Rob Sauder, Leroy Buscumb
Mike Knapp Ford Pro 4 Trucks: MITCH DUMONT, Craig Vlasic, John Cote, Stephanie Ayers, Jay Dupuis, Dylan Llord, Justin Towers, Danny Wurster
Qualifying Heat: Dylan Llord
About Humberstone Speedway: Humberstone Speedway is located just two miles East of Port Colborne on Highway 3, just 17 miles west of the US/Canadian Border at the Peace Bridge (Buffalo/Fort Erie). For more information, please visit us on the World Wide Web at www.humberstonespeedway.com as well as follow us on Twitter @NewHumberstone and like us on Facebook. Don’t forget to bring your portable FM radios and listen to all the action on 90.3FM. You can also call the speedway at (905) 834-4002 or the speedway office at Cosco Haulage (905) 935-2886
Rouse Nips McPherson in Wild Ending at New Humberstone
