7/5/2026
Merrittville Speedway
Friesen Back To Victory Lane, Mamo and Iftody Score First Career Wins on Busy Saturday Night at Merrittville
THOROLD, Ontario (July 4th, 2026) … Fans were treated to an action-packed evening at Merrittville Speedway as RCR Performance Golf Carts and VP Racing Fuels presented Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing. Jame Friesen of Niagara On The Lake, ON won in the Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modifieds, while Ridgeway, ON’s Noah Mamo scored his first career win in the Baron Roofing/Semenuk’s ESSO DIRTcar Sportsman. The Rona Doidge Modified Lites and Hoosier Stocks ran double features to make up for the rain shortened event from June 6th. Josh Sliter of Port Cobrone, ON won the first Modlite feature on the night, while Sean Iftody of Fenwick, ON scored his long awaited first win in the division. Kyle Pelrine of Smithville, ON and Jason Fontaine of Port Colborne, ON broke through in the Hoosier Stocks. Niagara Falls, ON native Ken Hair won the All Star Concrete Four Cylinder feature.
Ryan Barrett and Tommy Flannigan lead the field to green in the Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modified feature. The next flag the field would see was the red after a scary incident involving Justin Sharp. Sharp’s car bicycled onto two wheels then flipped over, landing in the front stretch moat against the wall upside down. Sharp was able to walk away from the incident. When racing resumed at lap four, Barrett and Flannigan raced side by side with Flannigan eventually claiming the top spot. Their battle kept James Friesen close, who overtook Barrett for second at lap eight. At the race's halfway mark, Friesen was able to take over the top spot. As the race continued on an extended green flag run to the end, Friesen was able to build a comfortable margin ahead of the field. Gary Lindberg reached third spot after starting 14th. However, he spent the final 10 laps working over Flannigan for second, doing so coming to the checkered flag. The victory for Friesen was his second of the season and helped narrow the gap to Lindberg in the season standings.
In the Baron Roofing/Semenuk’s ESSO DIRTcar Sportsman, the caution waved early as Cody McPherson wedged himself into a hornet’s nest on the third lap of the race, spinning and five other cars were caught up after the track was blocked. Polesitter Noah Mamo continued to lead on the restart, driving away from the field. Matteo Panunte worked himself forward after starting eighth, eventually taking over second. Meanwhile, McPherson who’s car was damaged cosmetically but appeared fine otherwise, drove back to sixth by the 10th lap of the race. However, neither Panunte or McPherson had enough to run down Mamo, who was able to secure the win for his first checkered flag at Merrittville Speedway in the Sportsman division.
The Rona Doidge Modified Lites contested two features on Saturday night. In the first feature, a make up from June 6th, Josh Sliter started from pole and took control of the race early. Jamie Gilbert and Tony Kelly brought out the only caution of the event, spinning in the early goings of the event. Chris Watson and Sean Iftody showed great speed, driving up to second and third, but could not run down Sliter for the win.
In the second feature of the evening, Sean Iftody led the field to green in search of his first career Rona Doidge Modified Lite win. Tyler Winger appeared to have the fastest car, but on an early restart, the car appeared to have something amiss in the drive train, jamming up the field behind him. Everyone escaped without incident but it threw the field in a blender as cars scattered to avoid the incident. On lap 11, Chris Sherk spun for the second caution of the race. Chris Watson, Josh Sliter and Leroy Buscumb battled hard inside the top 10 that sent Buscumb for a spin when the three cars went for the same real estate. Josh Sliter eventually worked his way inside the top three, along with Dillan Sliter. Iftody was tasked with holding both Sliter’s off on a restart with three to go, and did just that to reach victory lane for the first time after a few seasons of close calls.
Chris Crowe and Pete Reid started on the front row of the Hoosier Stocks make up feature, with Reid leading the opening lap before Rob Murray took over on the second lap of the race. On lap five, it was Kyle Pelrine’s turn to take over the top spot from Murray. Jason Fontaine got bogged down battling with Murray for second, eventually completing the pass. However, Fontaine ran out of time to run down Pelrine, who won the caution free feature.
The second Hoosier Stock feature of the night started with Gofast Teeple and Rob Murray on the front row. Murray got the top spot on lap four and once again found himself in a battle with Jason Fontaine just a few short laps later. Murray eventually got sideways and Fontaine made contact that spun the already sideways Murray completely around. Fontaine inherited the lead and never looked back, claiming his first victory of the season.
Clinton Barrick took the lead early in All Star Concrete 4 Cylinder action. After multiple cautions in the race’s opening laps, Ken Hair was able to take the lead from Barrick before another caution on lap four. Barrick then had a bobble on the restart, scrambling the field before his bad luck finally caught up to him when his rear suspension broke and he ground to a halt on the back stretch. The race finally got some green flag flow to it in the second half, where Hair drove off and left the field. Hana Rothwell and Cierra Keus dueled for second with Rothwell prevailing.
Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing returns next Saturday as the Southern Ontario Sprints visit Merrittville Speedway. Cotton Inc. will present the night as the 360 Sprint Cars are joined by the Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modifieds, Rona Doidge Modified Lites, Hoosier Stocks and All Star Concrete Four Cylinders will all be in action. Pit Gates will open at 5pm, with grandstands opening at 5:30pm, and racing will get underway at 7pm. For more information, visit www.merrittvillespeedway.com and can follow the action on My Race Pass.
Follow Merrittville on social media including Facebook (facebook.com/MerrittvilleSpeedway), Twitter (@Merrittville), and now on Instagram (@merrittvillespeedway). For results, point standings, and more, check out www.merrittvillespeedway.com
RACE RESULTS –- July 4th, 2026.
Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modifieds – JAMES FRIESEN (2), Gary Lindberg, Tommy Flannigan, Brad Rouse, Ryan Barrett, Todd Gordon, Pete Bicknell, Nelson MAson, Fred Carleton, Scott Wood, Jacob Chevalier, Dave Flannigan Jr., Shayne Pierce, Darrell Farraway, Boyd MacTavish, Brian Page, Ken Winfield, Gofast Teeple, (DNF) Justin Sharp
Qualifying Heats - James Friesen, Todd Gordon, Pete Bicknell
Baron Roofing/Semenuk’s Esso DIRTcar Sportsman - NOAH MAMO, Matteo Panunte, Cody McPherson, Billy Bleich Jr., Tyler Puchalski, Matt Sharpe, Cameron Olm, Nigel Pendykoski, Terry Smith, Brad Overbeeke, Russell Friesen, Brendan Zimmerman, Madyson Rouse, Daniel McKay, Austin Seburn, John Babion, Carter Gaboury, Elijah Knutt, (DNF) Jeff Panunte, (DNF) Dustin Duga, (DNF) Lance Waldeck, (DNF) Chris Hawkins, (DNF) Bill Gill
Qualifying Heats - Noah Mamo, Terry Smith, Cameron Olm
Rona Doidge Modlites - SEAN IFTODY, Josh Sliter, Dillan Sliter, Fabio Olivieri, Chris Watson, Anthony Kelly, R.J. Pietz, Cohen Corbett, Jesse Palmer, Cole Hardy, Dave Cornish, Nick Sarantakos, Max Trivieri, Tony Kelly, Travis Ruch, Rob Misener, Ryleigh Sliter, Chris Sherk, Ashton Anderson, (DNF) Ryan Anderson, (DNF) Evan Leonard, (DNF) Leroy Buscumb, (DNF) Tyler Winger, (DNF) Shawn Sliter, (DNF) Jamie Gilbert, (DNS) Brent Begolo
Rona Doidge Modlites (June 6th) - JOSH SLITER (3), Chris Watson, Sean Iftody, Fabio Olivieri, Jesse Palmer, Anthony Kelly, Leroy Buscumb, Brent Begolo, Tyler Winger, Dillan Sliter, Cohen Corbett, Cole Hardy, Shawn Sliter, Rob Misener, Evan Leonard, Ashton Anderson, Ryleigh Sliter, Dave Cornish, Nick Sarantakos, Max Trivieri, (DNF) Jamie Gilbert, (DNF) Chance Kotar, (DNF) Lance Waldeck, (DNF) Tony Kelly
Hoosier Stocks – JASON FONTAINE, Zack Bleich, Dave Bailey, Gofast Teeple, Kyle Pelrine, Mark Fawcett, Pete Reid, George Grosul, Kevin Kocarik, Chris Crowe, Jeff Bean, John Trivieri, Steve Hayes, (DNF) Spencer Maytum, (DNF) Rob Murray
Hoosier Stocks (June 6th) – KYLE PELRINE, Jason Fontaine, Rob Murray, Dave Bailey, Zack Bleich, Pete Reid, Mark Fawcett, Chris Crowe, George Grosul, Gofast Teeple, Jeff Bean, Kevin Kocarik, Spencer Maytum, Nathan MacWhirter, (DNS) Mike Klazinga
All Star Concrete 4 Cylinders – KEN HAIR (2), Hana Rothwell, Cierra Keus, Mason Anderson, Joshua Dmytrow, Connor Chambers, Jeremy Cooper, Brendan Lefrancois, Savannah Fontaine, Sierra Robison, Joe Stevenson, Jamie Werstroh, Jay Moulton, Richard Hadler, Dave Wininger, Blake Wadham, Ruler Chesniak, Rob General, (DNF) Clinton Barrick, (DNF) Braden Keus, (DNF) Alex Riley, (DNF) Randy Alway, (DNF) Jacob McIntyre, (DNS) Jacob Mamo
Qualifying Heats – Hana Rothwell, Mason Anderson, Jeremy Cooper
Article Credit: Jonathon Howe
Submitted By: Jonathon Howe
