For Release - Sunday July 5, 2009 From Jim Irvine - Merrittville Speedway Public Relations - 905-892-8266

 Thorold, Ontario (July 5) Modern Corporation Open Wheel Lite Driver Adam Leslie started the night with his ‘Salute to the Troops and Fallen Heroes’ Lucas Oil # 15 on display inside the grandstand gates at Merrittville Speedway.

When he finished his night – he was again on display and in Victory Lane for the first time of the season in front of a great July 4^th crowd with Reservists from the Lincoln & Welland Regiment and members of Fallen Heroes Warrant Officer Dennis Brown’s and Corporal Tyler Crooks’ families the first to greet him.

Also winning their first features of the season in the RK Shaver Chartered Accountant presentation were Garnet Wilson and Tyler McPherson in the Turn 4 Collision 4 Cylinder and Original Pizza Logs Sportsman Divisions respectively.

Billy Hogue won his fourth Hoosier Stock Feature while Chris Steele won his second L. St. Amand Enterprises 358 Modified Feature.

When Corporal Tyler Crooks was killed in action – Adam Leslie felt that he had to do something to honor his former Hockey Coach and other Canadian Fallen Heroes and the Troops.

The Port Colborne native developed an idea to do it with his Lucas Oil # 15Open Wheel Lite and the idea came to fruition after a vinyl wrap was created and installed by Auto FX.

Just prior to the entire Pit Area converging on the front-stretch for the rain-delayed Seaway Hose & Hydraulics Autograph Night – members of the Crooks and Brown families as well as Lincoln & Welland Reservists in uniform joined Leslie for a tribute.

“Adam came to me with his idea,” revealed Lucas Oil Canada’s Steve Snowden, “it really impressed me … I could tell right from the start that it meant so much to Adam to do it … and then to go out win tonight … I’m so proud of him.”

The start of the Modern Corporation Open Wheel Lite Feature went red right away after a number of cars came together right at the drop of starter Doug Leonard’s Green Flag.

Rick Brubacher would take control once the track was cleared and a second try was successful. Two more early cautions would slow the leader with Adam Leslie soon to take control.

With Leslie out front, Brubacher would stay right with him for a number of laps until another caution on lap 9 saw Shawn Sliter stranded between turns 1 and 2 with front suspension problems – more than likely a result of getting caught up in the initial caution.

Leslie would set the pace again on the restart with another Sliter on the move to the runner-up spot as Josh Sliter was now setting his sights on Leslie by lap 14. Paul Klager soon challenged Sliter for the position with Leslie able to pull away to a 5 car lead at the finish.

“It’s unexplainable,” remarked an overwhelmed Adam Leslie in Victory lane, “I couldn’t ask for anything else … it’s the best it could be … I can’t thank the track, my crew. Lucas Oil, the Lincoln & Welland Regiment, Modern and my sponsors enough.”

Leslie was followed by Paul Klager, Josh Sliter, Rick Brubacher and Andy Tallman.

It was also the best it could be for Garnet Wilson who won his first career Merrittville Turn 4 Collision 4 Cylinder Feature after countless runner-up finishes in his 8 year career.

The start of the event had his son Greg Wilson in control before Rob Overholt become the new leader just before the race was red flagged after AJ Castelein rolled his car in turn 4 in the early going.

Castelein – who couldn’t have done it any gentler commented about hanging up side down, “it’s pretty cool… but I don’t think the car owner will be impressed.”

What was impressive was that the second generation driver was able to rejoin the race once righted by the CAA Niagara Safety Crew.

Rocco Conte was the new leader on the restart before Overholt resumed control. Garnet Wilson would take over top spot along the front stretch of lap 9 and held off the hard charging VW Rabbits of Rob Goulding and Matt Deschamps. For the second straight week Goulding would steal the runner-up spot just before the checkered flag.

“It was a little scary in the first few laps,” said an overjoyed Wilson, “I didn’t know what was going to happen … I have to thank Robbie Rounce for all his help.”

Charlie Lynch would take fourth with Rob Overholt settling for fifth.

Rick Bellante beat fellow front row starter Len Dignard to the initial green flag of the Original Pizza Logs Sportsman Feature before the rookie Dignard quickly gained top spot.

A lap 4 caution saw Dignard in control once more before Tyler McPherson was the new leader.

Another caution slowed McPherson and the field but by the halfway point in the 25 lap event, the second generation driver opened up a huge lead on the field.

That would all disappear just after that as another caution slowed the pace.

McPherson set the tone on the restart before Nick Cupolo took over with Chad Chevalier soon joining the battle for top spot.

McPherson resumed control of the event with Chevalier out front again on lap 16. The former champion would open up a lead of his own before McPherson closed the margin to challenge the leader.

On lap 19, McPherson regained top spot and through to the finish enjoyed a 5 car length advantage.

“He’s one of the best here,” said McPherson of Chevalier, “to lose the lead but get it back from him … you got to be lucky to do that.”

Brad Rouse drove to a third place finish after starting tail on the field with his backup car with Nick Cupolo and Brandon Easey closing out the top 5.

Post race inspection found infractions on the Cupolo and Easey machines, and they therefore will forfeit monies for the evenings events.

The first thing Co-Announcers Mikey Kruchka and Clint Geoffrey informed Hoosier Stock Feature Winner Billy Hogue of was the race that he missed behind him.

Hogue out raced Jack Meyers to take the early lead and almost immediately ran away to a comfortable lead.

What he didn’t see was the battle for the runner-up spot that had Dave Small, Barry Blanchard and Al Sleight running three wide.

When Kevin Knapp joined the battle – the full fender cars were now 4 wide and it wasn’t a Sprint Car parade lap – they were all looking for their piece of second spot. The war raged on and for more than a lap they remained incredibly 4 wide until Sleight took control all on his own.

A lap 17 caution would slow the event but once action resumed – it was all Billy Hogue once again.

“We’ve had a rough couple of weeks,” revealed Hogue, “some motor problems … but it’s been changed … thanks to my Dad, Roger and Bob Walton for all their help.”

Al Sleight settled for second with Rob Murray making a late race charge to take third. Kevin Knapp and Shayne Pierce rounded out the top 5.

Post race, the carburetor of the #48 was handed over to officials for further technical inspection.  Results will be posted when available.

In Chris Steele’s first 358 Modified Win last season – rain caused the checkered flag to drop at lap 33. He came so close to wishing he would see the double checkers for his third career win on lap 33 July 4^th.

With two to go he enjoyed a comfortable lead but a hard charging Larry Lampman gave it everything he had in the final two laps. The current point leader came to within just .011 of a second of stealing the win.

The start of the 35 lap event had rookie third generation driver Justin Sharp and Dereck Lemyre in a seesaw battle for the lead.

The Hamilton native would set the pace before Tim Jones would come into play – another back and forth struggle for top spot now between Lemyre and Jones.

Now one third of the way in the record books Jones would set the pace but it wasn’t long before he was challenged by Chris Steele. The two pulled away from the field with Steele pulling away himself after taking the lead on lap 15.

The last third of the race saw Steele running the high groove while Jones took to the bottom – trying to hold off challengers Larry Lampman and Pete Bicknell.

With all this going on behind him, Steele opened up a 5 car lead with 10 laps to go.

By the time Larry Lampman took control of second on lap 28 – Steele had stretched his lead but was the laps wound down – Lampman would reel the leader in.

In just short of a photo finish – Steele and Lampman were followed by Pete Bicknell, Tim Jones and rookie Mike Bowman.

“I don’t know if the slower cars helped me or not,” questioned Chris Steele, “I’m here (in Victory Lane) though … so I guess that’s all that matters.”

Turn 4 Collision 4 Cylinders
Fin.	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown
1	8	71	Garnet Wilson	Canfield , On
2	17	16	Robert Goulding	Port Colborne, On
3	14	43	Matt Deschamps	Stevensville , On
4	11	19	Charlie Lynch	St. Catharines, On
5	9	48	Rob Overholt	Fort Erie, On
6	5	34	Rocco Conte	Welland , On
7	12	7W	Aaron Wiley	Wellandport , On
8	16	6	Trevor Goulding	Welland , On
9	7	5	Carey Gore	Niagara Falls, On
10	13	47X	Kyle Pelrine	Beamsville , On
11	10	12	Tony Kelly	Niagara Falls, On
12	15	7	Jocelyn Wiley	Wellandport , On
13	2	4	Jason Coutu	St. Catharines, On
14	1	33	Greg Wilson	Canfield , On
15	20	8	Terry Larmet	St. Catharines, On
16	6	11	Mike Giberson	Caledonia , On
17	19	31	Rick Grundy	Niagara Falls, On
18	22	19W	Kevin Warner	Welland , On
19	18	38	Austin Wood	Thorold , On
20	3	55	Aj Castelein	St. Catharines, On
21	4	45	John Babion	Port Colborne, On
22	21	37S	Steve Brooker	Port Robinson, On
Modern Corporation Open Wheel Lites
Fin	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown
1	8	15L	Adam Leslie	Port Colborne, On
2	10	1	Paul Klager	Beamsville , On
3	7	17	Joshua Sliter	Ridgeway , On
4	3	67	Rick Brubacher	St. Clements, On
5	9	18	Andy Tallman	Vineland , On
6	6	5C	Jordan Curran	Welland , On
7	4	14	Kellie Mason	St. Catharines, On
8	19	76	Dan Kviring	Brantford , On
9	18	27	Ray Sliter Jr	Ridgeway , On
10	17	117	Derek Bredin	Niagara Falls, On
11	20	11	Brad Fuller	Smithville , On
12	12	53	Jamie Gilbert	Welland , On
13	11	71	Shawn Sliter	Port Colborne, On
14	23	80C	Travis Cunningham	Grimsby , On
15	16	116	Bob Bredin	Niagara Falls, On
16	22	8M	Joey Mastroianni	Welland , On
17	21	2EZ	Blair Young	Niagara Falls, On
18	1	4	Greg Mills	Niagara Falls, On
19	5	19	Jason Corless	Bolton , On
20	13	87	Ryan Grady	Beamsville , On
21	15	37	Wally Billing	Elmira , On
22	14	33	Kory Howe	St. Catharines, On
23	2	31	Scott Billing	Waterloo , On
Hoosier Stocks
Fin	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown
1	2	48H	Billy Hogue	Welland , On
2	5	2	Al Sleight	Fenwick , On
3	18	M1	Rob Murray	St. Catharines, On
4	7	4K	Kevin Knapp	St. Catharines, On
5	21	88	Shayne Pierce	Welland , On
6	13	108	Billy Bleich Jr	Port Robinson, On
7	3	31B	Barry Blanchard	Welland , On
8	9	8	Kirk Wilson	Port Robinson, On
9	11	56B	Brad Sheehan	St. Catharines, On
10	8	97	Ron Loggie	St. Catharines, On
11	19	25	Ken Sargent	Fenwick , On
12	4	67	Dave Small	Port Colborne, On
13	10	16B	Brett Robins	Port Robinson, On
14	16	18K	Ron Kingsbury	Thorold , On
15	14	16	Brent Begolo	Thorold , On
16	20	5H	Devin Habiuk	Thorold , On
17	1	33	Jack Myers	Welland , On
18	23	17	Robert Disher	Grimsby , On
19	24	11	Andrew Iker	Welland , On
20	17	27	Dolf Mccready	St. Catharines, On
21	22	31JR	Michael Bosse	St. Catharines, On
22	6	7K	Kevin Kocarik	Fonthill , On
23	15	3	Chris Schneider	Port Colborne, On
24	12	32	Mark Fawcett	Canfield , On
Original Pizza Logs Sportsman
Fin	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown
1	5	777	Tyler Mcpherson	St. Catharines, On
2	10	12	Chad Chevalier	Port Colborne, On
3	14	MR18	Brad Rouse	St. Catharines, On
4	3	99C	Nick Cupolo	Thorold , On
5	9	6	Brandon Easey	St. Catharines, On
6	7	2K	Rob Knapp	Niagara Falls, On
7	8	21JJ	Jim Johnstone	Niagara On, On
8	2	62	Rick Bellante	St. Catharines, On
9	1	95	Len Dignard	Sherkson , On
10	11	22R	Ron Macaulay	St. Catharines, On
11	4	56	Steven Schumacher	Lockport , Ny
12	13	111	Robbie Rounce	Caledonia , On
13	12	53	Darrell Farraway	Hamilton , On
14	15	20J	Tony Cowell	Woodstock , On
15	6	7	Cody Mcpherson	St. Catharines, On
16	16	43T	Jay Doerr	London , On
17	18	99P	Greg Panunte	Port Colborne, On
18	17	77JR	Bj Willard	St. Catharines, On
L.St.Amand Enterprises
Fin	Start	Car	Driver	Hometown
1	9	80	Chris Steele	Fenwick , On
2	17	22	Larry Lampman Jr	Port Colborne, On
3	18	42	Pete Bicknell	St. Catharines, On
4	5	5*	Tim Jones	Sanborn , Ny
5	8	71	Mike Bowman	St. Catharines, On
6	11	76	Travis Braun	Jordon Station, On
7	14	26	Rick Richner	Niagara Falls, Ny
8	20	38	Scott Wood	Thorold , On
9	21	44	Brian Stevens	St. Catharines, On
10	2	56	Dereck Lemyre	Hamilton , On
11	12	96	Fred Carleton	Niagara On, On
12	6	72	Tommy Flannigan	St. Catharines, On
13	4	XXX	Todd Gordon	St. Catharines, On
14	16	6	Mat Williamson	St. Catharines, On
15	19	37S	Wayne Conn	St. Catharines, On
16	15	3B	Chad Brachmann	Wheatfield , Ny
17	13	108	Bill Bleich	Port Robinson, On
18	3	55	Todd Kendrick	London , On
19	22	16W	Derek Wutzke	Fenwick , On
20	23	82	Kenny Winfield	Ridgeway , On
21	7	69	Rob Pietz	Port Colborne, On
22	10	8	Mark D'ilerio	Smithville , On
23	1	8S	Justin Sharp	St. Catharines, On

UPCOMING AT MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY
The month of July continues at Merrittville Speedway with Modern Corporation presenting it’s 7^th Annual Truck Show ‘n Shine plus a 5 Division Lucas Oil Weekly Racing Series Program – Saturday July 11^th.

Gates open at 5:30 with Showtime is 7:00.

For further info call 905-892-8266 or visit www.merrittvillespeedway.com. 

Join us this season on a Saturday Night for A LUCAS OIL WEEKLY RACING SERIES EVENT featuring FIVE Weekly Racing Divisions featuring local heroes and up and coming new stars!  

Make your plans … call your friends and maybe even get a car pool together and enjoy a staycation at the speedway with plenty of free parking and camping spots! 

You’re among friends at Boston Pizza and Merrittville Speedway. Check your 2009 Merrittville Speedway Grandstand Ticket stubs for a special offer from the Niagara Street Welland Boston Pizza location. 

Your Local Dirt Track is where it's at!! Merrittville Best Family Entertainment in Niagara" 

MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY SPONSORS
The 2009 Lucas Oil Weekly Racing Series for Merrittville Speedway’s 5 Divisions is brought to fans by several partners, including division sponsors L. St. Amand Enterprises, Original Pizza Logs, Hoosier, Modern Corporation and Turn 4 Collision as well as contingency sponsors Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shock Absorbers, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Hoosier Tire, Lucas Oil Products, Inside Track Motorsport News, Intercomp, ISC Racer’s Tape, Jaz Products, Kirkey Racing Fabrication, Motorsports Safety Systems, Outerwears, Port City Racing, R.J.S. Racing Equipment, Racing Optics, Schroeder Torsion Bars, Schoenfeld Headers, Ultra Shield Race Products, Wrisco Industries and XRP, Inc.

Lucas Oil Products is one of the fastest growing additive lines in the consumer automotive industry featuring a premium line of oils, greases and problem-solving additives.

Through innovative product research and development, along with aggressive marketing programs, Lucas Oil Products has established itself as the top selling additive in the industry.

Race fans can look for Lucas Oil Products at their favorite automotive retailer including Drummond Home Hardware in Niagara Falls and through RCM Racing Equipment.