2026-07-26
Merrittville Speedway
Top Drivers Survive Calamity on Carquest Auto Parts Night At Merrittville
THOROLD, Ontario (July 25th, 2026) … On a night where the yellow flags flew frequently, the cream of the crop rose to the top of each Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing division on Carquest Auto Parts night at Merrittville Speedway. Gary Lindberg of Ridgeway, ON scored another victory in the Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modified feature. In the Baron Roofing/Semenuk’s ESSO DIRTcar Sportsman feature, it was St. Catharines, ON’s Cody McPherson winning his seventh feature of the season. Defending champion of the Rona Doidge Modified Lites, Tyler Winger of Ridgeway, ON returned to victory lane for the second consecutive week. Port Colborne, ON Native Jason Fontaine won the Hoosier Stock feature and Ken Hair of Niagara Falls, ON extended his point lead with a win in the All Star Concrete 4 Cylinders.
The Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modified feature quickly became a game of keeping all four tires on the dirt. Contact on the opening lap sent Scott Wood and Shayne Pierce bouncing and spinning on the back stretch. Cautions would continue to breed cautions with a handful of yellows in the race's first five laps. After a restart on lap 11, Brad Rouse made his charge to the front, quickly getting around Tommy Flannigan and Darrell Farraway. On lap 21, Todd Gordon came to a stop after a mechanical issue, and Rouse led the field back to green with Gary Lindberg now in pursuit from second. Gordon would bring out the final caution on lap 23 as his mechanical problems continued. On the final stretch of green flag racing, Lindberg took several laps to figure out where he had the advantage on Rouse, who once again masterfully played defence to hold on to the lead. Lindberg finally found an opening out of turn four on lap 29, getting to the inside and coming away with the top spot after a hard fought battle. Lindberg notched the win, his sixth of the season.
The Baron Roofing/Semenuk’s ESSO Dirtcar Sportsman started off with a similar rash of early cautions. Madyson Rouse secured the lead after a restart on lap three, driving off to build an over two second lead on the field. However, a caution for Brendan Zimmerman just before the race's half way point erased the margin. Meanwhile, Cody McPherson had driven to the top five, and jumped to the high side on the restart and continued making progress towards the front. After catching Rouse, McPherson carried momentum around the highside to complete the pass for the top spot. Nigel Pendykoski followed McPherson around to take second but was not able to challenge McPherson for the win.
Ryleigh Sliter and Nick Sarantakos started from the front row of the Rona Doidge Modified Lites feature, with Sarantakos out to an early lead. After a multi car stack up on lap two, Anthony Kelly took over the lead for the next five laps until Cohen Corbett ran him down. The two would find themselves tangled to bring out the caution with two laps to go, shortly after a Tyler Winger took over the top spot. Winger was tasked with holding off point leader Chris Watson in a two lap shootout, which he was able to do, making gains on the championship leader with his fourth win of the season.
Chris Crowe and Gofast Teeple lead the field to green in the Hoosier Stock feature, and that's where they remained, racing side by side for several laps. That came to an end at lap eight, when Zack Bleich overcooked turn one trying to get to Crowe’s inside, resulting in Crowe spinning, and Kyle Pelrine inheriting the lead. After going back to green, Jason Fontaine was able to get past Pelrine, as was last week's winner Mark Fawcett. Fontaine and Fawcett drove off from the field over the final eight laps, and Fontaine executed a perfect race to score his second feature win of the season.
Connor Chambers took the lead from Jay Moulton on the second lap of the All Star Concrete 4 Cylinder feature. Chambers held the lead through two periods of caution on lap five and seven. On the restart at lap eight, Josh Dmytrow closed in on Chambers, trying to take the top spot while Sierra Robison and Ken Hair lurked from third and fourth. After slight contact out of turn four between Chambers and Dmytrow, Hair and Robison took the leaders four wide with Hair coming away with the lead. Hair drove off with clean race track ahead to take the win ahead of Chambers, Robison, Dmytrow and Tim DeBoer
Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing returns for a double header weekend to kick off August. Saturday August 1st, Niagara Employment Help Centre presents Bobcat of Hamilton Weekly Racing. Then on Monday, August 3rd Baron Roofing presents the 5th Annual Canadian Grand Nationals. The special holiday Monday event will be headlined by a 50 lap feature for the Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modified with bonus from courtesy of Tom Cosgrove. In addition to on track action, each fan will have the chance to win $1000, plus Firemaster Productions will present fireworks to close out the evening. 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 25th, 2026.
Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modifieds – GARY LINDBERG (6), Brad Rouse, Tommy Flannigan, James Friesen, Nelson Mason, Darrell Farraway, Jacob Chevalier, Dave Flannigan Jr., Shayne Pierce, Pete Bicknell, Justin Sharp, Jay Mallory, Ken Winfield, Gofast Teeple, (DNF) Todd Gordon, (DNF) Brian Page, (DNF) Fred Carleton, (DNF) Scott Wood,
Qualifying Heats - Jacob Chevalier, Fred Carleton, Scott Wood
Baron Roofing/Semenuk’s Esso DIRTcar Sportsman - CODY MCPHERSON (7), Nigel Pendykoski, Madyson Rouse, Brad Overbeeke, Matt Sharpe, Daniel McKay, Tyler Puchalski, Noah Mamo, Billy Bleich Jr., Russell Friesen, Terry Smith, Elijah Knutt, Jeff Panunte, Kyle Rothwell, John Babion, Trevor Pitt, Bill Gill, Dustin Duga, Chris Hawkins, (DNF) Matteo Panunte, (DNF) Brendan Zimmerman, (DNF) Carter Gaboury, (DNF) Doug Walsh, (DNF) Lance Waldeck, (DNF) Cameron Olm, (DNS) Martin Polhill
Qualifying Heats - Nigel Pendykoski, Jeff Panunte, Tyler Puchalski
Rona Doidge Modlites - TYLER WINGER (4), Chris Watson, Fabio Olivieri, Sean Iftody, Brent Begolo, Dillan Sliter, R.J. Pietz, Leroy Buscumb, Max Trivieri, Nick Sarantakos, Cole Hardy, Anthony Kelly, Ryleigh Sliter, Dave Cornish, Travis Ruch, (DNF) Cohen Corbett, (DNF) Chris Sherk, (DNF) Josh Sliter, (DNF) Jesse Palmer
Qualifying Heats - Chris Watson, Brent Begolo, Anthony Kelly
Hoosier Stocks – JASON FONTAINE (2), Mark Fawcett, Kyle Pelrine, Gofast Teeple, Dave Bailey, Kacey Huffman, Clinton Nicholls, Chris Crowe, Mitch Petta, Kevin Kocarik, Spencer Maytum, Nathan MacWhirter, (DNF) Jeff Bean, (DNF) John Trivieri, (DNF) Zack Bleich, (DNF) Trevor DeBoer
Qualifying Heats - Mark Fawcett, Gofast Teeple
All Star Concrete 4 Cylinders – KEN HAIR (4), Connor Chambers, Sierra Robison, Joshua Dmytrow, Tim DeBoer, Mason Anderson, Clinton Barrick, Steven Boverhof, Jonathan Macwhirter, Dave Wininger, Richard Hadler, Brendan Lefrancois, Dave Mamo, Jay Moulton, Cierra Keus, Hana Rothwell, Braden Keus, (DNF) Jeremy Cooper (DNS) Savannah Fontaine
Qualifying Heats – Mason Anderson, Connor Chambers, Clinton Barrick
Article Credit: Jonathon Howe
Submitted By: Jonathon Howe
