Results Parham

Rain ,Rain , Rain...........Well that was until the green flag dropped, the rain stopped the track was pretty good and fast considering the weather.

Twenty seven tractors registered to give it a go, we had several class and driver changes over last season, plus some very interesting new builds in all classes. The qualifying heats proved challenging for some, and I’m sure back to the drawing board for the next race will show some better results. Practicing in the drive way sure aint the same as track time and there is some very promising looking mowchines coming along.

Ya gota love this class, 9 to 13 yr olds battling it out, sure its speed restricted for safety, but the little guys and yes girls get to go compete, and compete they do. 2006's top Junior Skyar Green # 36 was allowed by the Oeltra executive to move up to Stock Mod for 2007 even though his age was a issue because of his excellent driving skills and ability to run in the faster class.

Although the grid was tight for the first few laps in the feature race, new comer for the 2007 Troy-Bilt Cup Series, # 25 Braden Fowler pulled away taking his first win , # 31 Maryanne Byford showing a remarkable improvement over 2006 captured 2^nd place, and #99 Cameron Bishop filled out the top three with third place( thanks in part to Uncle Howie) keeping the belt on this year.Stock Mod:

Eight tractors gridded up for this class, there would have been more, but engine failures for a few meant back on the trailer. This class has to be the fastest growing class over the past two years, Its all about the driver and a reliable mowchine. Seldom is all four wheels on the ground threw the corners, fun to drive and a spectator favorite.

The top five battled it out for most of the feature, with #42 Dereck Davison 1^st place, #25 Phil Beaudoin 2^nd, #20 Grant Bartholomew JR. 3rd. # 36 Skylar Green finished with a respectable 4^th after dumping it close to the finish and #44 Paul Hicks hung on to 5^th.Modified:

Due in part to the weather and rule changes for this class for 2007, the field was about half that of 2006. But it sure was close, returning from some strong finishes in 2006 Colin Mcfie started of his full season in this class with another young gun #75 Eric Cone barking at his heals. Good clean racing with #38 Colin Mcfie taking 1^st, #43 Paul Hicks 2^nd #75 Eric Cone 3^rd Note. Eric did have second wrapped up but veered off the track just prior to taking checker, missing finish line, losing a position ,hmmmmm Rookies ha ha !!

Supr Mod:Boy, there was some real cool looking new rides that showed up for there first real test. It was pretty fast paced racing even with the mud and all. The circuit was still race able , it was evident that pushing these mowchines to there limit on the ragged edge caused some mechanical failures. Missing from the action was # 5's old nemesis Mike and Jason, but we are told that the mowchines are still being built and will be joining the field soon.

Well the returning 2006 Oeltra Supr Mod Champion had his hands full, trying to get to the front and stay there. In the end #5 Rod Easton did take the win with a hard charging rookie #45 Rick Rezniczek 2^nd and # 53 Howie Jones 3^rd place. Special note, Rookie #57 Gary Cone came out with a well prepared and fast Supr Mod, found out in a hurry that wet straw bail and rear axle don’t mix and broke.FT Open

After all the racing, the FT Open class was left with a pretty cruddy circuit, talk about air time out of the corners. Didn’t hear or see a lot of #6 Andrew Getz up to this point and his infamous 12 hp flatty B&S. Well no question he got the bugs worked out, and woo hoo away he went to the front not to be seen again until the checker, but watch out folks #13 Gary Neff has quite the new ride under him, and when he gets it figured out it will be something to reckon with. O and the post race chatter with Andrew was hilarious, " I knew Oldsodwarrior would tire out before he could catch me"

The results where #6 Andrew Getz taking the checker, # 53 Howie Jones 2^nd, and #13 Gary Neff with respectful 3^rd, Good clean racing to all that ventured into this class

OK, this is the class that The Old Sod Warrior usually puts his foot in his mouth or says the wrong thing.

Sure it sounds like something from the dark ages of racing, But it’s not folks its what its meant to be, For the Mom’s girlfriends, grandma’s, daughters etc. that don’t race in a regular class, are not interested in the bump and grind of fierce competition in the regular program. But are interested in going out and having some fun running at there pace for the shier pleasure of racing a mower.

That’s what I seen at the Gloucester race # 3 Cassandra Hood , # B66 Krystal Bartholomew and # 14 Donna Easton out there having fun. Good for you Cassie I think that’s the first time I’ve seen that old mowchine of Tebworths do a race without it going on it’s hood..So until the next race keep the rubber side down and mow fast

Brighton Speedway Shoot Out Race

For a shortened program of regular Oeltra racing, Wow that was some turn out of racers. Would like to thank all that pitched in to make the event run smooth, and Rick Rez and Gary Cone for going down weeks ahead to make sure we had a decent clay race circuit. That baby was fast, A big thumbs up to all the racers , that I know some where alittle nervous out there in front of a packed house of stock car racing fans. The word from track management was " it was great " . The Speedway announcer did recognize some of our drivers as ex stock car racers from way back, and that was hilarious to listen to. And we did get a mention in the Speedway highlights today.
Sorry for the delay in putting up our own race highlights , but the Nationals is closing in and it's a ton of work, plus get our own race team ready to rumble.
Have to mention we had the privilege of seeing a long time Soltra racer Don Simmons on Mean Green at Brighton and a few other western Ontario racers taking in the action. Glad you had a blast and see you at the Nationals. And thanks Don, for sitting on the Nationals race committee.

2007 Canadian Grand Nationals
by the Old Sod warrior

Well the 2007 Nationals held and hosted by Kawartha Downs and Speedway is now in the books. What started out as a day and half event ballooned to three days of turf pounding race and qualifying.
It all started off early Friday 27th July with race teams from all parts of Ontario setting up camp in the pits. Racers that had never even met each other pitched in to help the Oeltra crew set up the banners and circuit hardware . A fantastic large circuit was already in place with some great work from the Kawartha Speedway crew. We had the pleasure of having on hand and to Oeltra’s beck and call Derek Lynch track manager and race director for Kawartha Speedway, who also has a full time ride in the NASCAR/Canadian Tire Series (formerly CASCAR). With everyone itching to go racing and practice, plus the Speedway was running their Friday night race program and a giant car show. Kawartha Speedway officials took the time to escort hand picked National racers for the Troy-Bilt Cup exhibition laps on the Speedway circuit. Well to all the lawn tractor racers surprise the Speedway pace car picked up the racers for a pace lap, and woo hoo the green flag to go racing, no one was geared for the large paved circuit but it sure did get the attention of the stock car fans. Even more so when the racers parked up in front of the NASCAR booth after the checker. A fantastic time was had by all in the pits Friday night.
Saturday brought sunny skies and excellent track conditions to start of practice and time trials to determine the grid line up for Sunday feature racing. The Supr Mod Class seen 14 tractors just for qualifying, the top speed and best time of the day was laided down by # 21 Ryan Kerr lap time 16.78 seconds average lap speed of 38 mph. fallowed by #22 George Nussey at 17.19 sec. # 5 Rod Easton at 18.19 sec. the remainder of the field was all within 1.5 seconds. Stock Modified Class, led off with #38 Colin Mcfie at 20.03 sec. # 88 Robbie Price at 20.59 sec and third fastest # 42 Derek Davison at 21.25 sec # 44 Paul Hicks 22.06 , rounding off top five # 9 Stan Akey at 23.37 sec. Nationals Modified Class: Most racers were within 1 second of top time and the fastest three where # 14 Rod Easton logging in a 19.28sec. # 69 Tim Inchley 19.50 sec and # 38 Colin McFie at 20.18 sec. Due to having to repair the circuit the FT Open Class was using the Supr Mod times and all else would draw for grid line up. The Juniors were clocked in at 33 kph and that was the speed rule for race day. To keep the action going the track was opened up for Happy Hour ( controlled practice ) for each class. To keep the day of events even more interesting all racers where called to the staging area for a late day Dash for Cash race, using the timed trial grid each class was run , divying up a $300 purse put up by the Troy-Bilt Cup Series. The winners of the dough was , Stock Mod: #38 Colin McFie, Nationals Modified: #14 Rod Easton, Supr Modified: #21 Ryan Kerr, each of the top three racers in each class received some of the purse. Then the coolers opened up for a evening of watching old race tapes and get to know fellow racers.
Sunday Race Day , The weather was perfect, Kawartha crew rebuilt the whole circuit in the morning. The pits started to fill up even more with late comers, by 12:00 the staging area was packed ready to go, in fact the Supr Mod class had to be broke down into A and B features so that more could share in the huge purse and even larger trophies plus make it safe. With a short drivers meeting everyone was excited to hit the circuit. The top three finishers in each class went as fallows: Stock Modified: 1st place to #38 Colin Mcfie (Sydenham), 2nd Place # 44 Paul Hicks ( Grafton), 3rd #88 Robbie Price Nationals Modified: 1 st place #69 Tim Inchley (Sarnia area) 2nd place # 43 Paul Hicks ( Grafton) 3rd place # 25 Phil Beaudoin ( Perth) Super Modified (A) 1st place # 21 Ryan Kerr ( Petrolia) 2nd place George Nussey (Belle River) 3rd place # 13 Gary Neff (Seeleys Bay) Super Modified (B): 1st Place #6 Andrew Getz (Ottawa) 2nd Place # 45 Rick Rezniezek (Trenton) 3rd Place # 4 Derek Nieradka (Belle River) Power Puff Class: 1st Place # 14 Jessica “mowertician” Nevin (Kingston) , 2nd place #43 Sassy Cassie Hood (TO) , 3rd Place #25 Becca “The weedwacker” Fowler..... Juniors : 1st Place #25 Braden Fowler 2nd Place #36 Skyler Green FT OPEN Class: 1st Place # 22 George Nussey, 2nd Place, #21 Ryan Kerr, 3rd Place,#77 Don Simmons Following the final race of the day, the awards were presented it was high fives all around and congratulary applause for a weekend of top notch competitive racing and fun.
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Who would have thought, coming off a full weekend of Nationals racing? The pits were packed at Lombardy Fair, racers were treated to the same circuit set up that the 2006 Nationals were run on.

Repairs and some well packed surface made for even faster racing since its last visit by Oeltra racers. A special treat and inclusion in the opening ceremony were a group of historically clad Red Coats sporting their musket rifles, and a present arms live fire CA BANG to start your engines. With drivers rumbling under the start finish banner and jam-packed bleachers, the first class pulled away to start a great day of fast paced lawn tractor racing, so much so that Oeltra racers drowned out the truck pulls next to the circuit. The big right hander proved just as difficult as last year for some drivers, some very creative tuck and roll when a few went on their hood, lots of tongues hanging out, totally spent after racing around the large circuit. All in all respectful driving with the high speeds everyone went home uninjured and another day of great racing. Team Thunder Racing even had enough energy left after the tear down to BQ up burgers for all that wanted some, thank you guys.

Stock Mod: # 44 Paul Hicks and #38 Colin McFie set off on a blistering pace but both crashed and rolled together on the second lap. Good sport Paul hauled Colins sorry butt off the track so he didn’t get run over by the rest of the field. # 88 Robbie Price cruised by the spill to keep the lead to the checker, #38 Colin Mcfie finished up 2 nd, # 77 Steven Storms 3 rd place. Power Puff: O my goodness!! What happened with the girl’s and ladies? Six in all and if they didn’t crash up they blew up pushing so hard. # 31 Mary Anne Byford pedal to the metal took 1 st place, Crashandra oops # 43 Cassandra Hood 2 nd Place, and out first time this year # 36 Tandie Tanner 3 rd place.

Modified Class: # 14 yours truly had a good view of this feature race, sitting in the infield broken. It seemed like a run away by # 48 Dan Fox but started to slow near the end of the race, only to discover he was using his brake pedal to brace himself threw the right-hand turn corner. # 38 Colin Mcfie got by to take the checker followed by # 48 Dan Fox and barking at their heels young gun # 75 Eric Cone 3 rd place

Super Modified : Eleven tractors lined up for this feature, the circuit most definitely evened out brute horse power and the more finesse drivers. After the dust settled taking 1 st place # 6 Andrew Getz , # 33 Sam Davison 2 nd place, # 53 Howie Jones bounced his way around for a deserved 3 rd Place

FT Open Class: # 6 Andrew Getz on his well-prepared mowchine captured First place, a hard charging # 13 Gary Neff suffering some mechanical problems took Second Place and # 33 Sam Davison charged through for Third Place.

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Under the lights at Campbellford , with perfect weather and by far the smoothest circuit this season, made for a awesome evening of racing. The Campbellford race will most likely go down as the worst turn out of racers from the eastern Ontario area teams. Not to worry... on hand was the diehard top quality racers to take advantage of one of the best circuits ever and it was fast and the only challenge was super speeds not bumps. For the first time this year a last racer standing race was run at the conclusion of the regular feature races, which proved to be a spectator favorite with over 30 laps to complete.

Stock Modified: The front four battled it out not separated by more than half a tractor length for the first 6 laps, after that it was a battle for second place when # 38 Colin McFie eased away to take the win , 2 nd to #44 Paul Hicks and the early leader # 88 Robbie Price settled for 3 rd place.

Juniors: Short a few drivers in this class # 36 Skylar Green being a good sport dropped back to juniors to make a race of it. The two drivers didn’t miss a beat, speed restricted not a lot changed for the extended 14 laps when yours truly lost count of the laps. # 36 Skylar Green took the win with #81 Trevor Houghton on the leaders bumper.

Power Puff: Two of our regular ladies hit the track, # 3 Cassandra Hood kept her mowchine in one piece to take the checker, followed by #31 Mary Anne Byford , who looked almost possessed just smoking it during the qualifying heat race.

Modified: Some of Oeltras top drivers in this class battled it out in the heat race. The young guns didn’t let the old Sod Warrior catch his breath , it was razor edge close racing and a lot of discipline with the high speeds. Just barely holding off , Colin McFie and Eric Cone, # 14 Rod Easton 1 st Place , # 38 Colin McFie 2 nd, place, and # 75 Eric Cone 3 rd place.

Super Modified Class: A real spectator favorite , and word from some drivers “man that’s scary fast” this feature race also saw the most spectacular crash of the evening after several lead changes between # 5 and # 13 and the rest of the field only a few tractor lengths behind. # 13 Gary Neff trying for another pass on the inside , he hooked up so well tractor and driver flipped over the front hood of # 5 right to the outside bales. The race was red flagged to assess the damage to body work and bodies. after about 5 minutes big hands up all ok , proof that the neck collar and body armour do their job. Both tractor and drivers dusted off and fell in behind for a restart. Eventually after the dust settled # 5 Rod Easton took 1 st place from a still hard charging # 13 Gary Neff , # 71 Rob Smith 3 rd place # 32 Mike Wick 4 th # 33 Derek Davison 5 th place and our acrobat racer # 57 Gary Cone 6 th.

FT Open : Pretty well all the same racers as the Supr Mod class, only this time around # 13 Gary Neff redeemed himself taking the checker, close behind # 5 Rod Easton and after two years of battling with mechanical problems # 32 Mike Wick took home 3 rd place.

Last Man Standing: Wow over 30 laps, and last driver left was # 13 driven by Robbie Price

Even as late as this race went it was a big thumbs up for the under the lights race, and a big thank you from the fair President for bringing a Troy-Bilt Cup Race to their fair.

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Red Neck 500 ( Parham Fair)

by The Old Sod-Warrior

The Red Neck 500 2007 is now in the books. The racers and spectators were treated to a fantastic lawn tractor race event. A pretty darn good turn out of racers , considering the jam packed 2007 Troy-Bilt Cup Series schedule.

Credit goes out to local racers Gary Neff and Colin McFie for helping to prepare the circuit Friday night at the fair grounds. The Parham Fair personnel with the help of Hartington Equipment donated equipment went the extra mile , well 800 feet, to give both the racers and fans a good show. Hot laps and practice time were almost a show in itself , getting everyone revved up for the opening rounds of heat races. The weather was great, the stands were full, reps from far away other fairs taking in the Parham Fair action and after some hair razing features it was " how do we get you folks to come to our Fair" Answer: Do it the Red Neck 500 (Parham Fair) way .The return of the Red Neck 500 was a little of the back in the day plus the added value of the Troy-Bilt Cup Series organization and officiating. It was also fun to see the area's local driver rivalry of Revell Fords entry driven by Rod Easton and that of the Canadian Tire (Cat Store) #13 piloted by Gary Neff (Harrowsmith), plus locals Ross and Joe Nicol (Verona) giving it all it had to give. Areas of Central Frontenac and as far away as Ottawa , Perth, Trenton and Kingston were well represented for the return of lawn tractor racing at the Parham Fair.

Results:

Stock Modified........ Some hard pounding and close racing in this class, some tuff luck for newbies from the Perth area. But a good effort and looked like they had fun. Welcome to racing mowers. so get'r fixed up for your home town race Perth Fair. #42 Derek Davison with some impressive finishes this season took the checker, not far behind was # 23 Michael Dillon 2^nd place, and an always charging # 77 Steven Storms 3 rd place

Juniors:............. With no speed rule in place for the Red Neck, a pair of Juniors pedal to the metal around, guess the mowchines not liking the extra speed suffered some breaks . # 25 Braden Fowler took 1^st place and #36 Skylar Green 2^nd place.

Power Puff: We had two girls just itching to hit the track, None have slowed down much even with some out there crashes this season. Well, they kept the mowchines off their hoods ending up with # 31 Maryanne Byford all excited with the checker, and # 3 Cassandra Hood finishing the entire race in 2 nd place. Good driving girls. Note, lets see more ladies out there or the Old Sod-Warrior will have to come out there in drag again, and that aint perty.

Modified Class..... Well, if you were watching the pre feature hot laps, you would have thought the outcome would be different, even the at the start/finish line waiting to go, rough housing of #14 and # 75, Oh, this will be an interesting first corner. What looked like the fastest tractor #16 Joe Nicol got struck by the hay bale gremlins about lap 7, #14 led the race from the green , but as usual driver started running out of gas, and the field of racers closed in ready to pounce. # 14 Rod Easton stayed off # 75 Eric Cone by a whisker with #19 Mike Vandervelde glued to # 75. That's how it finished #14 1^st , #75 Eric Cone 2^nd , # 19 Mike Vandervelde 3 rd place.

Supr Modified:........Turf shattering thunder was the treat for the Parham spectators , that were riveted to the fence when this class came out. # 66 Ross Nicol sounded more like a Hemi under his hood then a mower engine. # 5 got the jump on #13 at the green flag , well that was good for only one lap # 13 Gary Neff tried all the tricks to take the lead only to spin out with his typical inside out break move after the straight away. It was all good close and clean racing. After the dust settled # 5 Rod Easton 1^st place, #13 Gary Neff 2^nd place and a strong 3^rd place by # 57 Gary Cone.

FT Open Class........This class was pretty well a make up of the Supr Mod class, with a few other class mowers in to give it a go and more racing. The first two rows was the regular top runners, and #5 didn't qualify well and started a little back. That made it interesting, everyone was chasing #13 Gary Neff, #45 Rick Rez made life a little more easy for Easton and Cone #75 up on two wheels and the two passed underneath him. A big ouwa for Gary Cone hitting a bump and driving his seat brace up his butt, ouch. All the battling for second place allowed # 13 to get well ahead and the last we saw him was going around with the checker flag. Finishing up was # 5 Rod Easton 2^nd place and # 45 Rick Rezniczek 3 rd place.

Have to say the race went rather smooth with most of the extra Oeltra members stepping up to help with put up and tear down and the flagging. The help is really noticed and appreciated by all that race and officiate.

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