By Brent Otchere
OHSWEKEN, Ont. (September 16, 2023) – Nitro 54 Variety, Arrow Express, Riverside Bait & Tackle, and Otts Shack presented the 19th running of the Northern Sprint Car Nationals at Ohsweken Speedway on Saturday; Mike Bowman took the highest payday in track history with a $30,000 prize for winning the Northern Sprint Car Nationals A-Main win, while Matt Billings won the Action Sprint Tour Pinty’s National Series A-Main.
Northern Sprint Car Nationals 360 Sprint Cars
The lineup for the 19th Running of the Northern Sprint Car Nationals featured Sam Hafertepe Jr on pole with Nick Sheridan alongside him to start the 35 lap 360 Sprint Car A-Main. A red flag was thrown before the first lap was completed due to Jason Barney flipping on the back stretch. Barney climbed out of the wreck unharmed, receiving applause from the thankful crowd.
Jordan Poirier made a bold move to take the lead after a complete restart, while Mike Bowman and Hafertepe could be found battling for the second position with Liam Martin close at hand. Dylan Westbrook was also mounting a charge into the top ten from row 12. Poirier encountered traffic by lap five which slowed him down and allowed Hafertepe to claim the lead. Sheridan brought out the second stoppage of the race as he came to a stop with significant damage from bouncing off the front stretch wall. Hafertepe restarted well, but Bowman was close behind and found a new line that was much faster, overtaking Hafertepe for the lead a few laps later.
There was no stopping Bowman once he gained the lead, although Hafertepe did begin to gain on the leader in the last few laps. Bowman led the final 15 laps to pick up the Northern Sprint Car Nationals championship – and the $30,000 grand prize – in his first outing of this prestigious event. The rest of the top five were Hafertepe in second, Martin third, Westbrook fourth, and Poirier fifth.
Jordan Thomas earned the $300 Dip-A-Chip Fastest Qualifier Award, while Eric Gledhill took $300 as the Fastest Canadian Qualifier. The $350 Bill Peer Memorial Best Appearing Car Award from Corr/Pak Merchandising went to Alex Hill, and the Travis Rutz Longest Tow Award went to Alex Therrien from Victoriaville, Quebec. Bowman also claimed the $250 Rookie of the Nationals Award from Slack Lumber, and a new firesuit from EPIC Racewear with his A-Main win. Dylan Westbrook won the $300 Hard Charger Award from Nitro 54 Variety, while Logan Crisafulli won the $200 Larry Gartly Memorial Last Chance Hard Charger from Doddey Creek Agri Services.
Action Sprint Tour Fueled By Pinty’s National Tour
Tom Pellezari and Steve Murdock brought the field to the green flag for the 25 lap Crate Sprint Car A-Main. Murdock enjoyed a healthy lead in opening laps until a yellow flew due an incident between John Verney and Pellezari. Murdock could only hold off Matt Billings for two laps after the restart before Billings assumed the lead with just a little over half of the race to go. Mike Bowman started 15th on grid and could be found charging through the field, eventually battling Murdock for the second position.
Billings was out of the reach of Bowman with only two laps left and victory in sight, however Cameron Thomson made hard contact with the frontstretch wall and brought out the yellow flag. This caution gave Bowman the chance he needed to win the race, as the restart would be a green-white-checkered finish. Billings was not to be denied though, and defended against Bowman brilliantly by driving a very fast defensive line which choked off any advances of Bowman. Billings secured the victory with his heads-up driving while Bowman settled for second place. Rounding out the top five were Murdock in third, Mack DeMan fourth, and Andrew Hennessy fifth.
PHOTOS: Photo Credit: Dale Calnan (www.imagefactormedia.com)
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Ohsweken Speedway Statistical Report
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada
19th Annual Northern Sprint Car Nationals
Total Entries: 98
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Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars (49 Entries)
A-Main [Started] 35 laps – NT
1. 71-Mike Bowman[4]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 3. 9-Liam Martin[3]; 4. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[23]; 5. 28-Jordan Poirier[5]; 6. 79-Jordan Thomas[6]; 7. 7NY-Matt Farnham[13]; 8. 5-DJ Christie[11]; 9. 45H-Chuck Hebing[10]; 10. 17X-Cory Turner[7]; 11. 15-Ryan Turner[9]; 12. 98-Joe Trenca[29]; 13. 87X-Shone Evans[15]; 14. 10-Mitch Brown[17]; 15. 49L-Lucas Smith[27]; 16. 88H-Josh Hansen[18]; 17. 52-Scott Kreutter[12]; 18. 10C-Jeff Cook[8]; 19. 70-Baily Heard[28]; 20. 7-Eric Gledhill[14]; 21. 14H-Jim Huppunen[26]; 22. 12DD-Darren Dryden[19]; 23. 0-Glenn Styres[16]; 24. 21K-Kyle Phillips[24]; 25. (DNF) 15GG-Garrett Green[30]; 26. (DNF) 22-Jonathan Preston[20]; 27. (DNF) 45-Nick Sheridan[2]; 28. (DNF) 0J-Lynton Jeffrey[22]; 29. (DNF) 90-Travis Cunningham[25]; 30. (DNF) 87-Jason Barney[21]
Awards:
-A-Main Winner Bonus: Mike Bowman (Free Fire Suit – EPIC Racewear)
-Bill Peer Memorial Best Appearing Car: Alex Hill ($350 – Corr/Pak Merchandising)
-Travis Rutz Long Tow: Alex Therrien ($250 – Best Western Cairn Croft Hotel)
-Fastest Qualifier: Jordan Thomas 13.914 seconds ($300 – Dip-A-Chip)
-Fastest Canadian Qualifier: Eric Gledhill 13.923 seconds ($300 – Ohsweken Speedway)
-Rookie of the Nationals: Mike Bowman ($250 – Slack Lumber)
-Hard Charger: Dylan Westbrook ($300 – Nitro 54 Variety)
-Larry Gartly Memorial Last Chance Hard Charger: Logan Crisafulli ($200 – Doddey Creek Agri Services)
Heat Race 1 [Started] 10 laps – 2:36.292
1. 45H-Chuck Hebing[1]; 2. 79-Jordan Thomas[4]; 3. 10C-Jeff Cook[7]; 4. 0J-Lynton Jeffrey[3]; 5. 70-Baily Heard[6]; 6. 1-Holly Porter[5]; 7. 77X-Alex Hill[2]; 8. 36-Logan Crisafulli[8]; 9. 81-Derek Jonathan[9]
Heat Race 2 [Started] 10 laps – 2:39.383
1. 17X-Cory Turner[2]; 2. 52-Scott Kreutter[1]; 3. 7-Eric Gledhill[4]; 4. 0-Glenn Styres[6]; 5. 14H-Jim Huppunen[5]; 6. 15GG-Garrett Green[7]; 7. 68-Aaron Turkey[3]; 8. 84-Tyler Rand[8]
Heat Race 3 [Started] 10 laps – 2:32.992
1. 9-Liam Martin[4]; 2. 5-DJ Christie[2]; 3. 88H-Josh Hansen[3]; 4. 87-Jason Barney[5]; 5. 52X-Jesse Costa[1]; 6. 21-Alex Therrien[7]; 7. 70MM-Dale Curran[6]; 8. 98R-Evan Reynolds[8]
Heat Race 4 [Started] 10 laps – 2:34.678
1. 45-Nick Sheridan[3]; 2. 28-Jordan Poirier[4]; 3. 12DD-Darren Dryden[2]; 4. 21K-Kyle Phillips[1]; 5. 49L-Lucas Smith[5]; 6. 19D-Allan Downey[6]; 7. 21J-John Burbridge Jr[7]
Heat Race 5 [Started] 10 laps – 2:35.840
1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]; 2. 7NY-Matt Farnham[1]; 3. 22-Jonathan Preston[2]; 4. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[3]; 5. 90-Travis Cunningham[6]; 6. 77T-Tyeller Powless[8]; 7. 94-Todd Hoddick[5]; 8. 2-Dave Axton[7]
Heat Race 6 [Started] 10 laps – 2:35.159
1. 71-Mike Bowman[3]; 2. 15-Ryan Turner[2]; 3. 87X-Shone Evans[4]; 4. 10-Mitch Brown[6]; 5. 98-Joe Trenca[5]; 6. 46C-Ryan Coniam[1]; 7. 11-Jamie Turner[7]; 8. 46-Kevin Pauls[8]
Pole Dash [Started] 5 laps – 1:15.753
1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 2. 45-Nick Sheridan[3]; 3. 9-Liam Martin[2]; 4. 71-Mike Bowman[4]; 5. 28-Jordan Poirier[8]; 6. 79-Jordan Thomas[7]; 7. 17X-Cory Turner[6]; 8. 10C-Jeff Cook[5]
C-Main [Started] 10 laps – 2:45.927
1. 36-Logan Crisafulli[1]; 2. 98R-Evan Reynolds[3]; 3. 81-Derek Jonathan[6]; 4. 46-Kevin Pauls[4]; 5. (DNS) 2-Dave Axton; 6. (DNS) 84-Tyler Rand
B-Main [Started] 12 laps – 3:22.579
1. 90-Travis Cunningham[2]; 2. 14H-Jim Huppunen[4]; 3. 49L-Lucas Smith[5]; 4. 70-Baily Heard[1]; 5. 98-Joe Trenca[6]; 6. 15GG-Garrett Green[7]; 7. 1-Holly Porter[11]; 8. 52X-Jesse Costa[9]; 9. 19D-Allan Downey[10]; 10. 21-Alex Therrien[8]; 11. 21J-John Burbridge Jr[12]; 12. 36-Logan Crisafulli[19]; 13. 68-Aaron Turkey[17]; 14. 98R-Evan Reynolds[20]; 15. 77X-Alex Hill[18]; 16. 94-Todd Hoddick[16]; 17. 11-Jamie Turner[13]; 18. 46C-Ryan Coniam[14]; 19. 70MM-Dale Curran[15]; 20. (DNF) 77T-Tyeller Powless[3]
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Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars (49 Entries)
A-Main [Started] 25 laps – NT
1. 52RHR-Matt Billings[5]; 2. 71-Mike Bowman[15]; 3. 2M-Steve Murdock[2]; 4. 4-Mack DeMan[7]; 5. 87-Andrew Hennessy[3]; 6. 3S-Austin Roes[11]; 7. BS39-Brett Stratford[8]; 8. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[9]; 9. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[22]; 10. 19-Mathieu Bardier[10]; 11. 2S-Al Sleight[6]; 12. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[21]; 13. 9-Adam Turner[23]; 14. 88-Lance Erskine[17]; 15. 94-Ryan Fraser[12]; 16. 74-Rob Neely[20]; 17. 16X-Keegan Baker[19]; 18. 97-Sheldon Bender[16]; 19. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[14]; 20. 5-Tom Pellezari[1]; 21. (DNF) 28T-Cameron Thomson[18]; 22. (DNF) 85C-Cam MacKinnon[4]; 23. (DNF) 20-Johnny Miller[24]; 24. (DNF) 26-John Verney[13]
Hard Charger – Mike Bowman +13
Heat Race 1 [Started] 8 laps – 2:06.696
1. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[2]; 2. BS39-Brett Stratford[5]; 3. 71-Mike Bowman[3]; 4. 74-Rob Neely[7]; 5. 2-Travis Hofstetter[6]; 6. 51-Trevor Young[1]; 7. 14-Larry Gledhill[4]; 8. 11W-Connor Ross[9]; 9. (DNF) 14B-Broden Weiler[8]
Heat Race 2 [Started] 8 laps – 2:16.246
1. 5-Tom Pellezari[2]; 2. 2S-Al Sleight[8]; 3. 26-John Verney[4]; 4. 45-Curtis Gartly[5]; 5. 3B-Blaine Barrow[6]; 6. 50LS-Adrian Stahle[7]; 7. (DNF) 19M-Will Marche[3]; 8. (DQ) 7A-Tyler Willard[1]
Heat Race 3 [Started] 8 laps – 2:06.407
1. 4-Mack DeMan[2]; 2. 19-Mathieu Bardier[4]; 3. 88-Lance Erskine[1]; 4. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[3]; 5. 20-Johnny Miller[6]; 6. 5C-Conor Mahoney[5]; 7. 72-Tanner Podwinski[8]; 8. (DNF) 99-Joshua Hill[7]
Heat Race 4 [Started] 8 laps – 2:10.248
1. 87-Andrew Hennessy[2]; 2. 3S-Austin Roes[4]; 3. 28T-Cameron Thomson[1]; 4. 00-Greg Smulders[5]; 5. 9-Adam Turner[8]; 6. 29W-Tyler Ward[7]; 7. MK8-Matt Hill[3]; 8. 4K-Jamie Kay[6]
Heat Race 5 [Started] 8 laps – 2:06.235
1. 52RHR-Matt Billings[3]; 2. 2M-Steve Murdock[7]; 3. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[4]; 4. 16X-Keegan Baker[8]; 5. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[6]; 6. 52M-Marc Surprenant[2]; 7. 14W-Greg Wilson[1]; 8. 69K-Ken Hamilton[5]
Heat Race 6 [Started] 8 laps – 2:07.612
1. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[2]; 2. 94-Ryan Fraser[1]; 3. 97-Sheldon Bender[3]; 4. 20L-Treyten Lapcevich[7]; 5. 24A-AJ Lewis[8]; 6. 71C-John Cadman[5]; 7. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[6]; 8. 38-Derek Miller[4]
C-Main [Started] 12 laps – 2:51.267
1. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[2]; 2. 72-Tanner Podwinski[1]; 3. 14-Larry Gledhill[4]; 4. 14W-Greg Wilson[8]; 5. 7A-Tyler Willard[13]; 6. 11W-Connor Ross[3]; 7. 69K-Ken Hamilton[10]; 8. 38-Derek Miller[11]; 9. 14B-Broden Weiler[12]; 10. 99-Joshua Hill[7]; 11. 4K-Jamie Kay[9]; 12. 19M-Will Marche[5]; 13. (DNS) MK8-Matt Hill
B-Main [Started] 12 laps – NT
1. 16X-Keegan Baker[1]; 2. 74-Rob Neely[2]; 3. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[12]; 4. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[8]; 5. 9-Adam Turner[4]; 6. 20-Johnny Miller[11]; 7. 45-Curtis Gartly[6]; 8. 71C-John Cadman[16]; 9. 72-Tanner Podwinski[20]; 10. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[19]; 11. 2-Travis Hofstetter[9]; 12. 29W-Tyler Ward[14]; 13. 00-Greg Smulders[7]; 14. 51-Trevor Young[18]; 15. 5C-Conor Mahoney[15]; 16. 3B-Blaine Barrow[10]; 17. 52M-Marc Surprenant[17]; 18. 50LS-Adrian Stahle[13]; 19. (DNF) 24A-AJ Lewis[5]; 20. (DQ) 20L-Treyten Lapcevich[3]
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About Ohsweken Speedway: Opened in 1996, Ohsweken Speedway is a motorsports complex and event centre featuring a 3/8 mile clay oval auto racing track and 1/6 mile clay oval Micro Sprint and Karting track. The facility is owned by the Styres family, and located in the village of Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada. Ohsweken’s weekly Friday Night Excitement racing program runs from May to September each year, featuring 360 Sprint Cars, Crate Sprint Cars, Thunder Stocks, and Mini Stocks, while the facility also hosts weekly Micro Sprint and Kart racing on Thursday nights.