Cayuga Labour Day Event Round-Up

Two of Eastern Canada’s most popular drag racing Sportsman level circuits – the Can-Am Stock Super Stock Association and the DSE Sportsman Series were at centre stage over this past Labour Day Weekend…

 With over 225 of the best Sportsman racers converging on the facility for a fantastic two days of racing, crowning multiple first time DSE Sportsman Series Winners as well as an Inaugural Abruzzi Transmissions All-Star Race Champion.

The Corriveau Concrete forming Supplies Jr Dragster competitors had one last shot an NHRA Jr Wally on Saturday to make up for the rained out Jr Wally event from Saturday August 16th. Twenty-two Jr pilots would take to the track vying for the NHRA hardware, and after four tough rounds of competition, the final would see 2013 Points Champion and former NHRA Jr Wally Winner Emily Ramundo looking to take on Kyle Mccallum who was in search of his first NHRA Jr Wally Trophy.

Kyle would take a .025 advantage at the tree, and hold that lead right through to the finish line where both competitors would run just .010 off their Dial wins, with Kyle coming out on top for the Win and the NHRA Jr Dragster Wally Trophy.

The Highlight race of the weekend would come in the form of the first Annual Abruzzi Transmissions All-Stars event, which took the top sixteen box and no box racers from the Series and put them into a free specialty race that boasted a Purse of $1200 to the Finalists. The first three rounds of the four round race were run Saturday, however with an impending midnight curfew the final would be put off until Sunday morning.
However, the wait for the final round would be well worth it as No Box ladder winner Bob Richards and his Black 64 corvette, would look to take on Top Quick 16 seed Tom Bene and his 6 second Nitrous assisted Dragster. Richards had fought his way through three tough rounds defeating a strong run from Ryan Boniferro, than beating Street Eliminator Points Leader Darrel Fraser, before running into Top No Box Seed Andrew Stirk. The No Box Final produced a set of great lights; however, it would Richards who would nail the dial in running a 10.09 on a 10.09 to send Stirk packing.

Tom Bene’s trek to the Abruzzi All-Star final would by racing the last competitor to finalize a spot in the race, K.C Kovac. After a tight battle against Kovac, Bene would eliminate the Legendary “Ribet” entry of Claude Losier before defeating Jay Snell in the “Caledonia Kid” Anglia entry in close match-up.

The Sunday morning match-up would see both racers need to dial their cars carefully with Richards dialing his 130 MPH Corvette in at a 10.08 while Bene dialed his 195 MPH Dragster in at a 7.00. With a 60 MPH spread at the top end, both drivers would be looking to gain any advantage they could at the tree. The Corvette would leave first with a .034 while Bene’s Dragster followed with a slightly better .021. However it would be the Dial in’s that would hold the key to victory for Richards as his 10.095 ET would put him ahead of Bene’s 7.029 by a mere .0018 of a second (two inches) and carry him to the Inaugural Abruzzi All-Star Victory.

The final event in the DSE Sportsman Racing Series for the 2014 season will be the 3rd Annual DSE Championship Finals on September 13-14th at Toronto Motorsports which will feature the NHRA National Dragster Challenge race on Saturday where Main event winners in Super Pro, Super Bike/Sled, Street Eliminator, Modified, Quick 16 and Super Gas will all be taking home authentic NHRA Wally Trophy’s for the win. In-addition one of the winners will also be taking home a certificate for a set of Goodyear Racing Slicks courtesy of Competition Tire in Niagara Falls Ontario.

More information on the DSE Sportsman Racing Series can be found at www.sportsmanracingseries.ca

The Can-Am Stock/SS Series had a two day affair with separate eliminators held both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday:

45 Can-Am race cars attended ready to race first round. After some track delays and a little weather thrown in,
at nearly midnight, the finals pitted Rob Becker’s GT/DA Camaro against the H/SA Nova of New York native John Cera
with Rob Becker taking the win light.

Saturday also included our traditional Can-Am dinner under the Drumbo tent and graciously sponsored by Ron and Debbie Gallagher
and JR and Monica Taylor and arranged by Betsy Smith and Amanda Becker. The dinner is always a great time to socialize as well as
hand out the many draw prizes generously donated by our many sponsors.

Saturday’s special prize winners:
Geoblaster – member’s entry ($100) – Brian Clayton
Rick Hill – 1st round looser gas money ($50) – Chuck Nagy
ERD – 1st round closest to the dial ($100) – Doug Box (10.351 on a 10.35 dial)
Race Car Services – best reaction time first round winner ($100) – Bob Andrews (.000)
Belmont Automotive – take out the points leader ($100) – John Cera
WC Enterprises – 1st round looser best reaction time – Mike Vanni (.017)

Sunday:

Sunday morning dawned with the threat of rain but soon turned into a pleasant sunny day for racing.
40 Can-Am racers were ready to do battle. And again after some of the toughest racing the Can-Am series is known for, Steve McGrath’s G/SA Dodge Dart emerged victorious over the wheelstanding crate motored Camaro of Tony Valerio.

It is interesting to note that this was a repeat match from 4 years ago at this race.
Also, winner of the Vince Vanni Memorial trophy – Steve McGrath.

Sunday’s bonus prize winners:
Geoblaster – member’s entry draw ($100) – Ian Hill
Rick Hill – member’s first round looser gas money ($50) – Ryan Boniferro
Karbelt Speed and Custom – Bounty Hunter – defeating Saturday’s winner ($150) – Chuck Nagy
Race Car Services – 1st round closest to the dial ($100) – Richard Mowat
Performance Cellar – best winning package 2nd round ($100) – Chris Lozon (.015 and 10.050 on a 10.05 dial)
WC Enterprises – best reaction time 1st round looser ($100) – Mike McGrath
Dilts Piston Hydraulics – dinner draw Sunday Entry ($100) – Rob Becker

Thanks to all our sponsors who donated cash and prizes to support this race and help make it a great success.
Also, we’d like to thank the staff at TMP for their efforts in making and keeping the track in great shape for our
race cars. This was especially difficult with Saturday’s late night finish.

The 2014 Can-Am season is winding down with an upcoming two day race at St Thomas (Sep. 20 & 21) that includes the Can-Am Shootout race Saturday night..

Filed with Posts from Andrew Stirk and Fred Smith