DELAWARE - On the nicest night for racing at Delaware Speedway Park this season, it started out very promising for the three St. Marys drivers here last Friday.
Unfortunately, the good luck ended rather quickly—especially for Shawn Johns and Scott Lindsay.
Johns started the night by going wire-to-wire and winning his 10-lap Demar Aggregates Trucks heat race.
Matt Humphrys then went out and took his first-ever checkered flag at Delaware, coming from behind to win his 10-lap Delaware Super Stocks heat.
Following the back-to-back victories, a track announcer was overheard saying that “it could be St. Marys’ night” at the half-mile oval.
But for local racing fans who follow the three St. Marys drivers, that’s where the good news ended.
Johns black-flagged in feature
In the 25-lap trucks feature, Johns started eighth in a 16-truck field.
He quickly moved up, and was sitting in sixth spot on Lap 7, fifth on Lap 10, and fourth on Lap 16. He appeared headed for an easy top-five finish.
However, on Lap 18, Johns spun fellow trucker Zack Kirschner, of London, and was black-flagged. “I tried to back off and let (Kirschner) get him get straightened up, but he went around (spun out), so they black-flagged me,” Johns explained.
Starting from the back of the field with just seven laps remaining, Johns did well to battle his way back to a respectable sixth-place finish.
Justin DeMelo, of London, won the trucks’ race. Delaware’s Devon Bloemendal was second.
In the Super Stocks feature, Humphrys started sixth in a 23-car field, but quickly fell back in the pack and finished 11th overall. The 25-lap race was shortened by five laps due to several caution flags.
“The car is not quite as fast as I’d like it to be, but it’s very comfortable to drive,” Humphrys said afterwards.
“Unfortunately, they called the race early on us; we were just starting to gain our spots back after being held back on the outside on the initial start. You get hung on to dry on that (top lane). But it’s getting to be a decent car,” he added.
Scott Nagy, of London, was the Super Stocks’ race winner. Darrell Lake, also of London, was second.
Late Model race divided into three segments
The feature event of the night, the PartSource 142, was actually divided into three segments. It’s an annual event for the APC Late Models, and this year it celebrated Canada’s 142nd birthday.
Scott Lindsay and the Late Models ran 50 laps, then another 25, and then 42 more laps to complete the night.
The second segment was supposed to be 50 laps, but was reduced by 25 laps after two Late Models tangled badly along the front straightaway—leaving the No. 44 car up on its side on top of the wall. It caused a lengthy 45-minute delay as the track crew—using tow trucks—pried the No. 44 and No. 5 cars apart.
Lindsay started fifth in a big 28-car field. He was cruising along nicely in fourth spot when he got bit by some bad racing luck on Lap 29. Kirk Hooker’s ‘38’ car quit on him, causing Lindsay to ‘check-up’ behind the Chatham driver. When that happened, Southwold’s Jesse Kennedy struck the St. Marys car, bringing out a caution flag. As a result, Lindsay was sent to the back of the field.
After the first 50-lap segment, Lindsay was 16th. He was up to ninth when the entire field pitted (for five minutes) for fuel, tires and/or minor repairs at the completion of 75 laps. It was a grind for the St. Marys driver, who had to battle his way through crazy traffic in an attempt to get back up with the front-runners.
“It was a case of survival, trying to get back up to the front without getting destroyed out there,” Lindsay said, shaking his head. “It was quite a journey.
“It was just one of those nights. The car was pretty decent, but we just couldn’t get any breaks out there.”
Dorchester’s Steve Robblee won the caution-marred race, grabbing the lead on Lap 23 and holding on to it the rest of the way. Mark Watson, of St. Thomas, was second, Ron Sheridan, of Mt. Brydges, third, and Jesse Kennedy fourth. Lindsay had to settle for a ninth-place finish.
“The night started great,” a disappointed Lindsay added. “We qualified well and we were sitting right where we wanted to be (until Lap 29).”
Altogether, cautions stopped the 117-lap race a total of 11 times.
All three portions of the Late Model race will count for full Delaware Speedway and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series points.
Racing notebook:
•Scott Lindsay had the sixth fastest qualifying time in time trials last Friday night. Lindsay’s best lap of two was 19.043 seconds.
Mark Watson (02), of St. Thomas, had the quickest lap time—18.79 seconds.
•Looking ahead, Lindsay had this to say: “We’re just trying to get the car faster right now. Do what we can and try and win a couple of races. If we can get back in the points chase, so be it.”
•On tap this Friday, July 3 are the Powerade Modifieds, Delaware Super Stocks, Demar Aggregates Trucks, and Ultimate Sandblasting and Coating Chaos Cars.
The Late Models return to Delaware Friday, July 10 for a 50-lapper.