6/1/2025
Merrittville Speedway
MCPHERSON MAGIC CONTINUES, FAST FREDDIE FOLLOWS THROUGH AT MERRITTVILLE
THOROLD, Ontario (May 31st, 2025) … On the eve of June and staring down a summer stretch of racing, a cold night at the racetrack saw red hot racing action with two features running caution free as DDL & Co presented Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing. The DIRTcar Sportsman Western Region event was won by St. Catharines, ON ‘s Cody McPherson. Fellow St. Catharines, ON native Fred Carleton won the Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modified feature. Josh Sliter of Port Colborne, ON scored the win the Rona Doidge Modified Lites. The Hoosier Stocks contested their second home track event for the APC Auto Parts Centre Duel on the Dirt which was won by Rob Murray of St. Catharines, ON. Ken Hair of Niagara Falls won the All Star Concrete 4 Cylinder feature.
Cody McPherson and Brett Senek led the field to green as Merrittville Speedway hosted the DIRTcar Sportsman Western Region tour to headline its Saturday Night programming. Brett Senek set a new track record in Timed hot laps earlier in the evening when he timed in with a 15.777. Senek would continue to show his speed, jumping out to an early lead. On lap four, Tyler Lafantaise spun to bring out an early yellow. Senek controlled the restart and drove off to the lead with a sizeable margin. At the race's halfway point, Cody McPherson used lap traffic to draw back in on Senek and take the lead. After multiple cautions within five laps, a single file restart was called with seven laps to go. Senek kept McPherson honest but could not get back by to stop Cody McPherson’s win streak at Merrittville, which rose to four in a row to start the 2025 campaign. Matt Sharpe, who won a heat earlier in the evening finished on the podium in third.
The Commercial Auto Electric Modified got off to a breath-taking start when Todd Gordon flipped in turn one on the features second lap. He would be alright after help from CAA Niagara Tow Crews and Race Med to get the car righted. The field would settle, with outside polesitter Fred Carleton in the top spot. Another caution on lap eight, set up a duel between Carleton and Justin Sharp, who drove up to the second spot. After laps of trying, Sharp finally nosed ahead of Carleton before clearing him as the caution came out again on lap 19 for a slowing Bill Gill. Fast Freddie was determined to capitalize on his car's speed and on lap 21, he got back by Sharp to regain control of the race. With 10 laps to go, Derek VanMil spun, setting up a shootout once again between Carleton and Sharp. Carleton led all final ten laps on route to his first win of the season, making it six different winners in six features at Merrittville for the 358 Modified division. Sharp was second, with Pete Bicknell, Darrell Farraway and James Friesen rounding out the top five
Greg Zack took the lead on the opening lap of the Rona Doidge Modified Lites feature. He surrendered that on lap five to Cohen Corbett. By lap 10, Josh Sliter had raced his way to second from 12th and was in hot pursuit of Corbett. On lap 13, Shawn Sliter spun bringing out the first caution of the night. On the restart, with the defending track champ bearing down on him, Corbett spun from the lead in the first turn, collecting 5 other cars including Tyler Winger and Brent Begolo, causing minimal damage. Sliter lead as the field went back to green flag racing. Joe Isabell passed R.J. Pietz late to take second but did not have enough time to run down Sliter, who held on for his third win of the season.
Dustin Duga and Zach Bleich made up the front row for the Hoosier stock feature. Jason Fontaine took the lead but was quickly passed on lap two by Rob Murray. On lap 10, the battle heated up behind Murray with Kyle Pelrine, Dave Bailey and Mark Fawcett all catching Jason Fontaine. By the time the battle had settled, Rob Murray had checked out winning the caution free APC Auto Parts Centre Duel on the Dirt Home Track Event #2 on the year. Fawcett finished second with Bailey third, Pelrine fourth and Fontaine fifth.
The All Star Concrete 4 Cylinders also ran caution free, an impressive feat considering the full field of cars ran in a multi-lane pack akin to NASCAR Superspeedway style racing. Austyn Werstroh led laps after Shawn Wilton led the open circuit. Ray Cerenzia got a taste of the lead on lap five and would lead until five laps remained. Ken Hair put the pressure on Cerenzia in the closing laps, eventually completing a slide job move in turns three and four to take the top spot away coming to two laps to go. Hair hung on for his second win of the year, with Cerenzia finishing second, Mason Anderson third, Alex Riley fourth and Werstroh fifth.
June 7th sees racing action return for Family Autograph Night presented by the Pen Centre. Meet your favourite drivers at the intermission prior to the start of feature racing. The Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modifieds, Baron Roofing/Semenuk’s Esso DIRTcar Sportsman, Hoosier Stocks, Rona Doidge Mod-Lites, and All-Star Concrete 4 Cylinders will all be in action as part of Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing. Pit Gates will open at 4pm, with grandstands opening at 5:30pm, and action 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 –- May 31st, 2025
DIRTcar Sportsman Western Region Event – CODY MCPHERSON (4), Brett Senek, Matt Sharpe, Curtis Friesen, Taylor Vanderzanden, Mitch Dumont, Dan Ferguson, Jacob Chevalier, Nigel Pendykoski, Boyd MacTavish, Matteo Panunte, Ryan Barrett, Daniel McKay, Brad Overbeeke, Matthew Jessome, Madyson Rouse, Noah Mamo, Elijah Knutt, Trevor Pitt, Jeff Panunte, Zack Bleich, Doug Walsh Jr., (DNF) Tyler Lafantaise, (DNF) Tyler Puchalski, (DNF) Billy Bleich Jr.
Heat Winners - Matt Sharpe, Brett Senek, Cody McPherson
Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modifieds – FRED CARLETON, Justin Sharp, Pete Bicknell, Darrell Farraway, James Friesen, Dave Flannigan Jr., Nelson Mason, Gary Lindberg, Jay Mallory, Glenn Styres, Dylan Davidson, Paul Gaboury, Ken Winfield, Derek VanMil, (DNF) Scott Wood, (DNF) Martin Polhill, (DNF) Luke Carleton, (DNF) Brian Page, (DNF) Bill Gill, (DNF) Shayne Pierce, (DNF) Brad Rouse, (DNF) Todd Gordon
Heat Winners – Justin Sharp, Fred Carleton, Nelson Mason
Rona Doidge Modified Lites – JOSH SLITER (3), Joe Isabell, R.J. Pietz, Tyler Winger, Rob Misener, Shawn Sliter, Greg Zack, Sean Iftody, Roger Pardis, Chris Watson, Dave Cornish, Roger Olschewske Jr., Dillan Sliter, Leroy Buscumb, Cohen Corbett, Dan Kviring, Ashton Anderson, Nick Sarantakos, Ryleigh Sliter, Bella General, (DNF) Brent Begolo, (DNF) Anthony Kelly, (DNF) Cole Hardy, (DNF) Ryan Anderson
Heat Winners – Tyler Winger, Joe Isabell, Greg Zack
Hoosier Stocks – ROB MURRAY, Kyle Pelrine, Mark Fawcett, Dave Bailey, Jason Fontaine, Zack Bleich, George Grosul, Dustin Duga, Chris Crowe, Jeff Larmet, Gofast Teeple, Kyle Andress, Kacey Huffman, Jackson Maytum
Heat Winners – Mark Fawcett, Jason Fontaine
Allstar Concrete 4 Cylinders – KEN HAIR (2), Ray Cerenzia, Mason Anderson, Alex Riley, Austyn Werstroh, Dave Wininger, Hana Rothwell, Randy Always, Sierra Robinson, Cierra Keus, Jonathan Devries, Clinton Barrick, John Trivieri, Cameron Olm, Olivier Larocque, Shawn Wilton, Richard Hadler, Braden Keus, Savannah Fontaine, Steven Boverhof, Aaron Paquet, Joe Stevenson, Connor Chambers, Jonathon Macwhirter, Joshua Dmytrow, (DNF) Jeremy Cooper, (DNS) Nick Bowman, (DNS) James Marshall
Heat Winners – Ken Hair, Randy Always, Austyn Werstroh
Article Credit: Jonathon Howe
Submitted By: Jonathon Howe