Langford BC -- Forty-two cars qualified to run in another Steve Copp Construction sponsored Wednesday Night Fever event held at Western Speedway for the Hornet Series. The regular drivers at Western were joined by a few cars that normally run at Saratoga Speedway as well as Brandon Steen the Bomber Champion from 2011 making his first appearance here. Trophy Dash wins went to Laura-Ashley Grant, Cole Schuurman, Kyle Fournier, Blair Davis, and Cam Stanfield. Rory Smith led this race but within sight of the chequered flag his car quit and that allowed Stanfield and Karl Parker to pass him. Heat races produced two red flags as a couple of drivers tangled with the frontstretch wall that included Davin Otke and Rocky Sandhu. Otke's car suffered a lot of damage that ended his night but Sandhu would return in later races. Winners included Meghan McCollum, Laura-Ashley Grant, Cole Schuurman with two, Ian Brown, and Ian Walker in the Rookie class. Expert winners were Richard Shuck, Mike Halls, Garrett Smith, Matt Schultz, Steve Copp, and Cam Stanfield. Mike Halls and Brandon Steen waged a great race side by side for seven laps and as the white flew Steen pulled off the circuit thinking the race was done.
Bruce Duffis and Kevin Dawson shared the front row for the start of the Rookie Feature event scheduled for twenty laps. Dawson grabbed the lead on the first lap followed by Duffis and Ian Walker. On lap four, Paris Williams moved up to the third spot with Helen Thorne taking the fourth spot one lap later. Dawson opened up a big lead leaving Duffis, Williams, Thorne, and Walker to battle for the next several spots. On lap eleven, Glenn Rand moved up in the thick of things and running in fifth. On lap fifteen, Williams dropped out after a good run leaving Rand, Duffis, Thorne, and Walker looking for a podium finish. When the dust settled, Dawson cruised to the win followed by Rand, Walker, Duffis, and Thorne rounding out the top five. Thorne was the top Bumblebee on this night.
Andrew Buchanan and Richard Shuck led seventeen cars to the green flag for thirty laps of racing in the Expert Feature event. He and Shuck traded the lead over the first four laps until Matt Schultz got by and into the lead on lap five followed by Brandon Steen and Daryl Cahill. On lap seven Cahill went by Steen and into the second spot with Steve Copp also making a move and into fourth. On lap nine, both Garrett and Rory Smith got by Copp now running fourth and fifth respectively. On lap ten, Cahill blew into the lead leaving Schultz to battle with Steen and Rory Smith. At different portions of this race drivers were three and four wide looking for a higher position. On lap fourteen, Rory Smith broke out and took over the second spot with Garrett moving into the third spot three laps later. Cody Aumen moved into contention taking over the fourth spot on lap nineteen with Steve Copp again moving up to run fifth. This race was not without some bumping and grinding but when the chequered flag dropped it was Cahill returning to Victory Square on his return to Western Speedway this season. Rory Smith followed him in second with Garrett Smith placing third, followed by Aumen and Cam Stanfield taking the fifth spot with two laps remaining.
The next event is the George Canyon concert on Friday night, July 22nd, followed by the "Eve of Destruction" with the Demo Cars, Demo Trucks, Figure 8s, and the Bombers on Saturday night, July 23rd. On this card Western Speedway presents a boat race as well as another limo jump with Gary Williams at the wheel. The next Hornet race is scheduled for July 27th when Steve Copp Construction sponsors another Wednesday Night Fever.
