STYRES NOTCHES SECOND CONSECUTIVE SOS VICTORY BEFORE HOMETOWN FANS AT HIS OHSWEKEN TRACK
SOUTHERN ONTARIO SPRINTS
By Dave Cook, Media Officer

Grand Island names in bold

   Ohsweken Ontario, July 11, 2003: Winning your first sprint car race is sweet, but taking a second win the next time out and at a track you own, must be one of the greatest feelings a driver can have.

Ohsweken Speedway owner Glenn Styres was overwhelmed Friday night following his second consecutive Southern Ontario Sprint (SOS) victory and wasted no time giving credit to his crew chief.

"I couldn’t have done it without Kevin Loveleys. He has been fantastic. I tell him what the car is doing and he gives me a chassis set up that works. He makes it happen," said Styres.

Styres, who won his first ever race Sunday at Gasport Speedway in Port Colborne, Ontario, started the Ohsweken race from the inside of the fourth row, alongside Alain Bergeron of St-Pie, Quebec, and he almost didn’t make it past the second lap. He tangled with Alain Bergeron on the second lap of the 20-lap feature forcing the visiting Quebec driver to come to a stop on the back straight resulting in a caution being called.

"I had a car cross in front of me and I had to slam on my brakes, Alain had nowhere to go and we tangled," said Styres. Unfortunately for Bergeron, the front bar and shock broke from the mountings, ending his night.

Alain Bergeron, a regular competitor on the Empire Super Sprint Series (ESS), was hoping for a little more than a heat race and a couple of laps in a feature.

"I decided to run here tonight as its on my way to an ESS race at Stateline Speedway in N.Y. and because the ESS will be at Ohsweken later this season, I thought we might be able to gain some valuable set up information," he said.

However, the 13 year racing veteran only got a few minutes in warm-ups, an eight lap race and two in the feature. However, he did say he loved the track. "It’s fast and I am looking forward to coming back."

Newmarket, Ontario racer Dick Mahoney led the first three laps driving a car he purchased just days ago to replace the one he wrecked at Gasport. Mahoney was passed by a hard-charging Keith Dempster, who started sixth, and then on lap five he slipped behind a fast moving Glenn Styres.

Running fourth was Warren Mahoney of Lefroy, Ontario, followed by Kyle Patrick of Tilbury, Ontario, Tim Phillips of Grand Island, N.Y. and Vinnie Christiano Jr. of Tonawanda, N.Y.

Styres took the lead on lap seven when he went high on the outside through turns three and four to blast past Dempster. Styres then started to open a big lead over Dempster and the rest of the field. Dempster said after the race that his car was way too loose and he couldn’t keep up with Styres.

"I just couldn’t run high and I was forced to stay in the low groove. Even on the straight my back end would break loose and I would go a little sideways," he said.

At the half distance Styres had lapped all but the six front runners and was pulling away from them. The running order had not changed since lap six and the field had pretty much settled into that running order.

The second caution came on lap 16 when Patrick slowed on the front straight. This resulted in the field bunching up for a restart and a four-lap shootout to the finish. However, Styres once again just pulled away from the field.

Styres flashed across the finish line to win with Dempster, Dick Mahoney, Warren Mahoney, Christinao Jr. and Phillips finishing in that order. Rounding out the top 10 were John Riegling of Chatham, Ontario, Phil Armishaw of Mount Hope, Ontario, Bob Crawford of Sutton, Ontario and Paul Ballantyne of Brantford, Ontario.

Results:

Heat One: 1. Warren Mahoney, Lefroy, Ontario; 2. Kyle Patrick, Tilbury, Ontario; 3. Phil Armishaw, Mount Hope, Ontario; 4. Glenn Styres, Ohsweken, Ontario; 5. Paul Ballantyne, Brantford, Ontario; 6. Daryl Turford, Stratford, Ontario; 7. Al Gaukel, Brantford, Ontario.

Heat Two: 1. Keith Dempster, Alton, Ontario; 2. Dick Mahoney, Newmarket, Ontario, 3. Alain Bergeron, St-Pie, Quebec; 4. Tim Phillips, Grand Island, N.Y.; 5. John Riegling, Chatham, Ontario; 6. Vinnie Christiano Jr., Tonawanda, N.Y.; 7. Frank Baranowski, Hamilton, Ontario; 8. Bob Crawford, Sutton, Ontario

Feature: 1. Styres; 2. Dempster; 3. Dick Mahoney; 4, Warren Mahoney; 5. Christiano Jr; 6. Phillips; 7. Riegling; 8. Armishaw; 9. Crawford; 10. Ballantyne; 11. Baranowski; 12. Patrick; 13. Turford; 14. Bergeron; 15. Gaukel.

Next Race: Saturday, July 12-Brighton Speedway.