Maritime League of Legends Ready to Rock Riverside, IWK 250 Weekend

Series Release/Photo by McCarthy Photographic

The Maritime League of Legends Tour are back in action this Friday night, July 18th at 7pm at Riverside International Speedway for one of their biggest event of the season. While the Maritime Legends Challenge on IWK 250 weekend pays the same amount of points as every other event on the series, the 50-lap event opens one of the biggest weekends in stock car racing in Atlantic Canada.

The series comes off an exciting second round of the series which saw rookie Nicholas Naugle of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, score his first Maritime League of Legends Tour victory at Petty International Raceway in the Atlantic Tiltload 50. In his first Legend car start at the high banked, River Glade, New Brunswick track, Naugle topped a deep field of talent and will have to be on his game at Riverside International Speedway in order to repeat as a winner on the Maritime League of Legends Tour.

Behind Naugle, Paul Goulden, who makes the long haul from Shelburne, Nova Scotia to compete on the series, passed defending series champion Justin MacNeill (Bedford, NS) in the last laps of the race to take second place. Goulden will look to rebound at Riverside Speedway after he and Danny Harvey (Lantz, NS) had a hard crash at the IWK 250 weekend in 2013.

The Maritime Legends Challenge at Riverside International Speedway will also mark the return of former Maritime League of Legends Tour champions and current Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour drivers Cole Butcher (Porter’s Lake, NS) and Dylan Blenkhorn (Truro, NS). Both drivers have scored podium finishes on the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour this season, with Blenkhorn celebrating two victories on the competitive Super Late Model series. While both will be in action on Saturday, July 19th during the IWK 250 presented by Steve Lewis Auto Body, they will get track time on Friday as they get back to their roots in the Maritime League of Legends Tour.

In the championship picture, Naugle and MacNeill head into the third round of the seven race series tied atop the point standings. Jeff Cruickshank (Hantsport, NS) sits third, nine points out of the point lead with Goulden a single point in the rearview mirror of Cruickshank. Scotia Speedworld winner Jarrett Butcher (Porter’s Lake, NS), who had a set back with a crash in the Atlantic Tiltload 50 at Petty Raceway, completes the top five in the standings, one point up on Harvey.

The pre-entry list also includes 2013 series runner-up Emily Meehan (Rawdon Gold Mines, NS), Joey Lawson (Porter’s Lake, NS), Tony Gaudet Jr. (Milford Station, NS), Matthew Scott (Bayside, NS), Mark Williams (Windsor Junction, NS), Scott Cunning (Halifax, NS) and Brad Brown (Halifax, NS). The list is subject to change without notice.

Pit gates open for competitors on Friday at 2pm with practices at 4pm, 4:45pm and 5:30pm. Grandstand gates for fans open at 4pm with racing beginning at 7pm. Complete information on the event can be found on the race track’s website at www.RiversideSpeedway.ca.

The race is one of two stops at the high banked James River, Nova Scotia track for the Maritime League of Legends Tour in 2014, with the second taking place on August 16th as the undercard for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Round Four of the series will take place on Saturday, August 9th at Scotia Speedworld, outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in conjunction with the 15th Annual Atlantic Cat 250 weekend.

About Riverside International Speedway:
Riverside International Speedway is recognized as a premier stock racing facility in Canada. The 1/3-mile high banked asphalt oval roars to action several times a year for special events. It is the home for eastern Canada’s only NASCAR event, and of the IWK 250 – widely known as the best stock car race in Canada. Located in James River, between New Glasgow and Antigonish, the facility is easily accessible at exit 30 on Trans Canada Highway 104. For more information call 902.863.2410 or click www.riversidespeedway.ca.

About The Maritime League of Legends:
The Maritime League of Legends Association was formed in 2005 by a group of racer’s wanting to grow the Legends Cars division in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. In 2012, the Maritime League of Legends Tour will visit four venues throughout Nova Scotia and New Brunswick between May and October during its seven race season. For more information on the Maritime League of Legends, please visit www.maritimelegends.ca.