7/12/2026
Merrittville Speedway
Christie Captures the Flag as Southern Ontario Sprints Return to Merrittville
THOROLD, Ontario (July 11th, 2026) … The Southern Ontario Sprints made a blistering return to Merrittville Speedway as part of Cotton Inc. night at the races. D.J. Christie of Beachville, ON scored the victory, leading flag to flag in the 360 Sprint Car feature. Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing was capped off by Gary Lindberg of Ridgeway, ON winning in the Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modifieds. Thorold, ON’s Brent Begolo claimed the win in the Rona Doidge Modified Lites. Kyle Pelrine of Smithville, ON and Ken Hair of Niagara Falls, ON made it back to back wins in the Hoosier Stock and All Star Concrete 4 Cylinder divisions respectively.
It was another patient performance from Gary Lindberg in the Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modifieds. He started 15th in the feature, while Dave Flannigan brought the field to green. Pete Bicknell got past outside polesitter Shayne Pierce early and kept the pressure on Flannigan before the first caution of the race at lap 11. After some beating and banging in the mid pack, Brad Rouse turned Nelson Mason in turn 1 after what appeared as a retaliatory hit by Mason in the previous corner. Both drivers were parked for the night. When the dust had settled and the race resumed, Lindberg found himself with a clean race car inside the top five. With 20 laps to go, he had worked up to third behind Bicknell and Flannigan. Utilizing the outside of the turn four which had been giving drivers in other divisions fits all night, Lindberg went around Flannigan before sailing off to his fourth victory of the season. Flannigan, Bicknell, Pierce and Scott Wood rounding out the top five.
Dave Cornish and Brent Begolo started from the front row of the Rona Doidge Modified Lites, with Begolo leading early. Defending track champion Tyler Winger brought the first caution out after making a rare error in turn four, spinning on lap eight. With six laps to go, Dillan Sliter emerged as the biggest threat to Begolo, appearing to track down the leader before a caution waved when Chris Sherk spun in turn four. On the restart, Sliter appeared to clip in the inside rail in turn one while pursuing Begolo, damaging his car and causing him to lose control in the next set of corners. After another caution on the restart, Begolo was tasked with holding off Chris Watson in a two lap shootout. Begolo perfectly anchored the bottom and Watson fell short of the win by less than a car length.
If you blinked you may have missed the Southern Ontario Sprints feature from Merrittville Speedway. D.J. Christie and Jacob Dykstra brought the field to green, in a race that ran caution free. Christie jumped out to an early lead, ahead of Dykstra, Darren Dryden, Josh Hansen and Travis Cunningham. As Christie paced the field and started to catch lap traffic, Dykstra started to eat into the second and a half gap that built between the top two. However, the lap traffic proved just as challenging for Dykstra as it had been for Christie, who found clean air again after lapping past five cars. Hansen ran down Dryden, and appeared to have the pace run down the front two. However, he sustained damage to his front wing near the end, halting his progress. Christie claimed the win to take the points lead on the Southern Ontario Sprint’s tour. Dykstra and Hansen rounded out the podium while Dryden finished fourth and Kyle Phillips took fifth from Cunningham in the closing laps. The entire 25 lap feature was run in a little over six and a half minutes.
The Hoosier Stocks also once again green to checkered Saturday night at Merrittville Speedway. Kyle Pelrine who started third, used the bottom side of the race track to lock on to leader Gofast Teeple, who started from pole. Pelrine stalked him for six laps before finding the room he needed to make the move to the lead. Teeple did his best to stay with Pelrine and fight back to the lead, he eventually faded off the tail and went on the defensive. Jason Fontaine, who won alongside Pelrine in double features the previous week at Merrittville, made his presence felt, driving up to the top three before having to bail out with an apparent mechanical failure on the final lap. Pelrine scored his second win of the campaign ahead of Teeple, Dave Bailey, Mark Fawcett and Pete Reid.
The yellow flag wasted no time appearing in the All Star Concrete Four Cylinder feature, as Connor Chambers and Brendan Lefrancois both had issues on the first lap. Point leader Ken Hair also wasted no time, as he drove from 13th to fifth in a lap and half once the race resumed. By lap three, Hair was second to Clinton Barrick. On lap five, Savannah Fontaine went for a slide in in treacherous turn four to bring out another caution. Barrick suffered a flat tire on lap nine that brought out the yellow and took him out of contention for the win. Hair would have to survive a few restarts as leader including a three lap shootout where he was pursued by Cierra Keus after she moved past Hana Rothwell with two to go. However, Hair was just too strong at the front of the field and claimed his third feature win of the year.
Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing returns next Saturday presented by Fastek Inc. All five of our Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing series will be in action including Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modifieds, Baron Roofing/Semenuk’s ESSO DIRTcar Sportsman, 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 11th, 2026.
Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modifieds – GARY LINDBERG (4), Dave Flannigan Jr., Pete Bicknell, Shayne Pierce, Scott Wood, Todd Gordon, Tommy Flannigan, Jacob Chevalier, James Friesen, Darrell Farraway, Justin Sharp, Jay Mallory, Boyd MacTavish, Ken Winfield, (DNF) Ryan Barrett, (DNF) Brian Page, (DNF) Gofast Teeple, (DNF) Nelson Mason, (DNF) Brad Rouse, (DNF) Brandon Gruhl
Qualifying Heats - Jacob Chevalier, Ryan Barrett, Pete Bicknell
Southern Ontario Sprints - D.J. CHRISTIE, Jacob Dykstra, Josh Hansen, Darren Dryden, Kyle Phillips, Travis Cunningham, Cory Turner, Skyler Evans, Tyeller Powless, Bailey Heard, Aaron Turkey, Ashton VanEvery, Jamie Turner. Cole MacDonald, Jeremy Hughes, Scott Sherk, (DNF) Ryan Turner
Qualifying Heats - Jacob Dykstra, Cory Turner, Josh Hansen
Quick Time - Aaron Turkey: 14.073
Rona Doidge Modlites - BRENT BEGOLO (2), Chris Watson, Sean Iftody, Leroy Buscumb, Cohen Corbett, Fabio Olivieri, Anthony Kelly, Jamie Gilbert, R.J. Pietz, Cole Hardy, Jesse Palmer, Dave Cornish, Max Trivieri, Travis Ruch, Tyler Winger, Josh Sliter, Derek Milman, Nick Sarantakos, (DNF) Dillan Sliter, (DNF) Chance Kotar, (DNF) Chris Sherk
Qualifying Heats - Cohen Corbett, Brent Begelo, Tyler Winger
Hoosier Stocks – KYLE PELRINE (2), Gofast Teeple, Dave Bailey, Mark Fawcett, Pete Reid, Zack Bleich, Chris Crowe, Jeff Bean, Mitch Petta, Kevin Kocarik, Jason Fontaine, Spencer Maytum, John Trivieri, Nathan MacWhirter, (DNF) Chase Kish, (DNF) Clinton Nicholls
Qualifying Heats - Kyle Pelrine, Jason Fontaine
All Star Concrete 4 Cylinders – KEN HAIR (3), Cierra Keus, Hana Rothwell, Joshua Dmytrow, Braden Keus, Mason Anderson, Sierra Robison, Clinton Barrick, Spencer Riddell, Steven Boverhof, Richard Hadler, Dave Wininger, Brendan Lefrancois, Savannah Fontaine, Jacob Mamo, Blake Wadham, Tyler Chesniak, (DNF) Randy Alway, (DNF) Jay Moulton, (DNF) Connor Chambers, (DNS) Jonathan Macwhirter
Qualifying Heats – Clinton Barrick, Connor Chambers, Ken Hair
Article Credit: Jonathon Howe
Submitted By: Jonathon Howe
