Maritime Racing
Dave O’Blenis Dominates Firecracker 150 at Speedway 660
Track Release
Father and Daughter Win Features on Hot Geary Afternoon
For the third straight year Dave O’Blenis has won the Firecracker 150 at Speedway 660. O’Blenis dominated the big Sportsman race after his daughter Courtney won her second Street Stock feature of the season.
The Firecracker 150, which was rained-out Saturday night, was run under hot, humid conditions in the Geary Woods on Sunday afternoon. But that didn’t stop Dave O’Blenis from continuing his winning streak in major Sportsman races. O’Blenis won his heat race, took the early lead in the Firecracker, held back a couple of late challengers and survived the heat wave to win one of the biggest Sportsman races of the season.
“It was unbelievably hot in these cars today, but this race team worked hard all week to give me a great car that stayed strong for the entire 150 laps” said O’Blenis. “I know we’ve had a lot of success in these Sportsman races in the last couple of years, but we’ve had to work hard to get these wins against some really great competition.”
Randy Moore, the Speedway 660 Martin’s Home Heat Sportsman point leader, drove to a second place finish in the Firecracker 150, while Brent Roy had a strong second half of the race to come home third. Moore and Matt Mailett won the other heat races.
Before Dave O’Blenis won the big race of the day, his daughter Courtney won the DMR Auto Sales & Service Street Stock feature. After starting deep in the field, Courtney made two or three great moves to come to the front and then held off Geoff Tugwell for the win. Rob Raynes, the point leader, settled for third as he continued his streak of podium finishes in every 2015 Street Stock feature. Raynes, O’Blenis and Eric Matthews won the Street Stock heat races.
“I am having so much fun and learning so much about racing in these bigger cars after moving up from Bando, and to win two features in this tough division is awesome” said Courtney O’Blenis. “Heading into this season, I wanted to make a run for Rookie of the Year, but now we’re battling Rob and Geoff for the Street Stock championship and I’m enjoying every minute of it.”
The Fredericton Gun Shop Sharp Shooters had the Speedway 660 crowd on the edge of their seats on Sunday afternoon. After the dust cleared and the cars got through post-race inspection, Curtis Collins was the winner, while Malcolm Suley and Noah Gillespie were second and third. Collins, Brody Levesque and Kyle MacKinnon won the Sharp Shooter heat races.
Next Saturday night Speedway 660 hosts Fan Appreciation Night. There will be an on-track autograph session with drivers, from all five weekly divisions, at 5:30 and racing gets underway at 6:30PM. On August 29th, Speedway 660 holds its Night of Champions, followed by SpeedWeekend from September 4th through 7th.
Firecracker 150 Results – Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015
1.Dave O’Blenis (Boundary Creek, NB), 2. Randy Moore (Saint John, NB), 3. Brent Roy (Hanwell, NB), 4. Drew Greenlaw (Eastport, ME), 5. Lonnie Sommerville (Saint John, NB), 6. Ryan Messer (Harvey, NB), 7. George Jamieson (Fredericton, NB), 8. Justin Cole (Harvey , NB), 9. Kyle Reid (Fort McMurray, ), 10. Devin Snell (Saint John, ), 11. Chris Reid (Fort McMurray, ), 12. Braxton Stafford, 13. Alexandra O’Blenis (Boundary Creek, NB), 14. Ken Magliaro, 15. Byron Bartlett (Quispamsis, NB), 16. Richard Atkinson (Haneytown, NB), 17. Jeff Doherty, 18. Kyle Carr (Saint John, NB), 19. Greg Fahey (St. Stephen, NB), 20. Matt Maillet (Burton, NB), 21. Shawn Warren (Waasis, NB), 22. Jason Shannon (Hoyt, NB).
DMR Auto Sales & Service Street Stock Feature
1. Courtney O’Blenis (Boundary Creek, NB), 2. Geoff Tugwell (Moncton, NB), 3. Robert Raynes (Summerville, NB), 4. Rick Cashol (Saint John, NB), 5. Ryan Raynes, 6. Roger Slocum (Chipman, NB), 7. Destiny Enkel (Saint John, NB), 8. Chuck Morton (Lincoln, NB), 9. Ashton Tucker (Lyttleton, NB), 10. Eric Matthew, 11. Luc McLaughlin (Geary, NB), 12. Andre Chamberlain (Fredericton, ), 13. Gary Wade (Hampton, ), 14. Courtney Barton (Minto, NB), 15. Lee Goodine, 16. Tyler Seveck (Nackawic, NB), 17. Rodney Ness (Hanwell, NB).
Fredericton Gun Shop Sharp Shooter Feature 1. Curtis Collins, 2. Malcolm Suley (Clarendon, NB), 3. Noah Gillespie, 4. James McCoy, 5. Kyle Boudreau, 6. Ira Farnell (Lincoln, NB), 7. Bryan Suttie (Keswick, NB), 8. Ryan Richard, 9. Robert Colquhoun (Rothesay, ), 10. BJ Gillespie, 11. Aaron Belleville, 12. Jacob Logan (Harvey, NB), 13. Allison Hall, 14. Adam Gavel, 15. Matt Crocker (Fredericton, NB), 16. Neil Miousse (Fredericton, NB), 17. Brody Levesque (Fredericton) DQ, 18. Kyle MacKinnon DQ 19. Jeremy Doran (Fredericton, NB) DQ.