Pollock Nabs ‘Fast 50’ Win at Red River Co-op Speedway

Steven Bradley, Winnipeg, MB (September 17) Red River Co-op Speedway hosted the Pure Stock Fast 50 on Saturday. This special was a 50 lap endurance style race with a mandatory fuel stop at the half way point which took place on the front stretch right in front of the grand stand. 23 Pure Stocks formed the line up however just 11 teams survived until the end to see the checkered flag.

The Northern Super Trucks and 4 Cylinder Stocks also took part in the festivities as the WISSOTA regulars were in Huron, SD competing in the AFCO Race of Champions. Sunny, breezy skies made for an enjoyable evening and the racing kept fans captivated right to the end.

In the Pure Stock Fast 50, it looked like Rob Reese was about to cash the $550 winner’s check, however a dislodged tire in turn 4 of the 49th lap ended those hopes. Derek Pollock was the recipient of the race lead, and the win after surviving a couple mid-pack restarts. Jeff Rempel piloted Brett Proctor’s car to a second place finish, while Kevin Delaine, Cole Maydanuk and Mike Wenham picked up top 5 finishes. Just 7 of the 11 cars that finished were scored on the lead lap.

In the Northern Super Truck division, Jamie Vernaus stayed up front and out of trouble in a feature that tore up a lot of trucks. Dustin Enns also managed to avoid trouble to finish second while Rick Lowey, Rod Fidler and Trevor Krause finished in the top 5 of the 12 truck field.

In 4 Cylinder Stock action, Scott Perdonic walked away with the feature win. However, his car failed post race inspection and was disqualified from the event. Second place Ian Cabernel was awarded the win ahead of Dean Miljure and Mike Perdonic. Ryan Higgins and Denis Seguin finished in the top 5 of the 18 car field.

In Pure Stock action, 12 cautions took place over the 50 lap endurance race. This resulted in just 11 cars surviving to the end out of the 21 cars that started.

An opening lap yellow fell in turn 1 when Nathan Klassen and Brian Kentner looped their cars around. On the restart, Micheal Copp took the lead with Trevor Rambow and Rob Reese forming the top 3.

On lap 2, Reese took over second position when he passed Rambow on the front stretch. Rambow fell out of the top 3 on the next lap when Kevin Delaine picked up 3 spots after a pass in turn 2. On lap 3, Les McRae and Cole Maydanuk climbed into the top 5 after getting by Rambow in turn 2.

A caution took place on lap 4 when Al Unger was credited for spinning Klassen and collecting a handful of cars.

On the restart, Copp continued to lead with Reese holding onto second position, just in front of Delaine.

On lap 5, McRae moved into the top 3 after completing a pass on Delaine in turn 2. Over the next couple laps, McRae and Reese battled hard for second spot as they traded the position back and fourth. Eventually on lap 8, Reese spun in turn 2 and McRae secured the position. Reese fell back to eighth while Derek Pollock moved up into the top 3.

On lap 12, the top 3 battled 3-wide for the lead down the front stretch. Pollock won that battle and moved to the point.

On lap 20, Copp began slowing and he fell out of the top 3. The third caution took place on lap 21 after Lance Relf came to rest exiting turn 2 after his tire fell off his car – narrowly collecting the race leaders. Pollock surrendered  the lead under yellow when he took his car to the pits to fix a flat tire.

After 4 failed attempts to restart the race, officials decided it was a good time to take the mandatory fuel stop on the front stretch to let the drivers cool off. Each race team was allowed 2 pit crew to refuel the car and supply water to the driver. After a short 5 minute break, the field lined up to finish the remaining 30 laps. At this point in time, there were just 9 cars on the lead lap.

On the restart, McRae continued to lead with Delaine and Maydanuk making up the top 3. On lap 25, Reese climbed back into the top 5 after getting by both Rempel and Mike Wenham on the back stretch. On lap 26, Pollock completed a pass on Maydanuk on the front stretch to secure the third position. On lap 28, Pollock stole second from Delaine and began hunting down McRae for the lead.

On lap 30, Al Beamish and Michael Copp made contact in turn 4 which resulted in Copp shooting up the corner and taking on a flat tire. Copp was deemed responsible and made his way to the pits for a new Hoosier.

2 Laps after the restart, Copp’s night came to an end when his car came to rest low on the front stretch. He was towed to the pits for the night. 2 laps after the restart, Pollock shot over turn 3 which caused another yellow. Pollock headed to the pits for the second time to address his flat tire.

On the single file restart, McRae led while Delaine and Reese were busy deciding second position.

With 16 laps remaining, Reese got by Delaine for second low exiting turn 2.

With 15 laps remaining, Jeff Rempel took third position from Delaine exiting turn 2. Over the next 4 laps, Reese and McRae began swapping the lead back and fourth until a caution slowed race pace when Kevin Delaine was ticketed for spinning Rempel exiting turn 4 in a battle for third.

On the single file restart, Reese continued to lead with Rempel in second and Pollock in third. With 10 laps on the scoreboard, Pollock completed a pass on Rempel for second in turn 2.

With 8 laps remaining, Delaine was recovering nicely from his penalty 4 laps earlier and got by Maydanuk in turn 2 to move back into the top 5.

Just as leader Reese was about to receive the white flag exiting turn 4, his right front wheel dislodged from his car – ending his bid to celebrate in victory lane. Derek Pollock who was a couple seconds behind gladly accepted the lead as the caution was displayed one final time – setting up a single file, green-white-checkered finish.

On the restart, Pollock maintained the point and drove to the checkered flag untouched. Jeff Rempel finished his rare Pure Stock appearance in second, while Kevin Delaine made a last lap pass on McRae exiting turn 2 for a top 3 finish. A spin in the last corner after battling with Maydanuk knocked McRae out of the top 5. Maydanuk and Mike Wenham earned top 5 placings.

Derek Pollock swept the series by collecting a win in heat 1. Rob Reese and Micheal Copp also picked up heat wins.

In Northern Super Truck racing, 4 cautions during the 15 lap feature were the cause of lots of tore up sheet metal. The first of 4 yellow flags occurred on the opening lap when Phil Taylor found himself over turn 1. At that very moment Rene Poluyko pulled into the infield with mechanical failure where he spent the remainder of the feature.

On the restart, polesitter Darren Lane spun in front of the entire pack in turn 2, however the field managed to avoid his sideways truck and the race stayed green with Jamie Vernaus picking up 3 spots to take the lead.

On lap 3, Rick Lowey and Rod Fidler moved Klim back to fourth position in turns 3 and 4. Klim lost another position to Dustin Enns on lap 7 after getting extremely sideways in turn 2.

With 2 laps remaining, yellows began falling fast and furious – the first for Scott Marcine spinning in turn 2 right in front of the leaders. Marcine collected second place Lowey and tore all the body panels off the right side of Lowey’s truck while Marcine suffered heavy front end damage and headed to the pits.

Lowey must have taken on more than just cosmetic damage, because on the restart he lost control of his truck in turn 1 and collected the back half of the field.

After a lengthy clean up, a final caution took place on the restart when contact between Wayne Grosky and Darren Lane punted Grosky over the turn 3 brim. Under caution Grosky showed his displeasure with Lane by sending him spinning in turn 4. Lane took on extensive body damage with half his right side metal hanging off. Grosky was sent to the pits for the night.

On the final single file, green-white-checkered restart, Fidler attempted a pass on Vernaus for the lead in turn 4 which resulted in contact. Vernaus was able to keep his truck pointed straight while Fidler lost the handle and fell to the back of the field. Vernaus maintained the point for the last circuit to pick up the win. Dustin Enns picked up 5 positions to finish in second, while Rick Lowey, Rod Fidler and Trevor Krause survived to finish with top 5 placings.

Jamie Vernaus swept the Super Truck division by earning a heat win. Rene Poluyko also collected a win in heat 2.

In the 4 Cylinder Stock division, Ryan Higgins used a front row starting spot to take early control of the lead. On lap 3 of the 25 lap feature, Ian Cabernel powered by second place Mike Demcuk and leader Higgins high in turn 1 to move to the point. Scott Perdonic also got by Higgins and Demchuk later in turn 4 to move into second position.

The first of 2 cautions reset the field after Sean Casidy came to a stop low in turn 3 – around the same time Lee Moir drove hard into the wall exiting turn 4. Both cars needed visits to the pits.

On the restart, Perdonic took over the lead with Cabernel chasing from second spot. The last caution was displayed on lap 7 when Rob Reese and Mike Demchuk connected exiting turn 2 – which punted Demchuk over turn 2 into Moir who was returning to the track from the previous caution. Reese was sent to the rear for the restart.

Perdonic once again grabbed the lead when the green flag flew with Cabernel in second. On lap 8, Dean Miljure picked up 4 spots after getting by team mate Higgins during a mistake in turn 1 to secure third position.

The field began to stretch out and by lap 18, leader Perdonic was encountering lap traffic. Perdonic managed to navigate the lap cars over the remaining 7 laps to take the checkered flag.

Unfortunately for Perdonic, his car failed post-race inspection and the win was awarded to second place finisher, Ian Cabernel. Dean Miljure ended his run in second ahead of Mike Perdonic while Ryan Higgins and Denis Seguin finished in the top 5.

Ian Cabernel swept the 4 Cylinder division by picking up a win in heat 1. Scott Perdonic and Jim Mulholland also collected heat wins.

With just 1 race remaining in the 4 Cylinder class, Sean Casidy holds a small 1 point lead over second place Dean Miljure. Jim Mulholland, Mike Demchuk and Brandon Rehill are within striking distance of the championship just 15 points back.

Saturday race action continues at Red River Co-op Speedway on September 24 starting at 5PM. Late Models, Modifieds, Midwest Modifeds, Street Stocks along with Super Trucks and Pure Stocks will be competing. For more information on upcoming events, visit www.redrivercoopspeedway.com.

Race Summaries

Northern Super Trucks
Feature – Jamie Vernaus, Dustin Enns, Rick Lowey, Rod Fidler, Trevor Krause, Marc Zondag DNF), Dan Klim (DNF), Darren Lane, Wayne Grosky, Phil Taylor, Scott Marcine, Rene Poluyko (DNF), Tayvia Dorge (DNS).
Heat 1 – Jamie Vernaus, Rod Fidler, Rick Lowey, Dan Klim, Tayvia Dorge, Wayne Grosky, Trevor Krause (DNS).
Heat 2- Rene Poluyko, Dustin Enns, Darren Lane, Marc Zondag, Scott Marcine, Phil Taylor.

Pure Stocks
Feature – Derek Pollock, Jeff Rempel, Kevin Delaine, Cole Maydanuk, Mike Wenham, Jack Millar, Les McRae, Trevor Rambow, Allan Beamish, Rob Reese (DNF), Brian Bellew (DNF), Bill Messier, Doug Jones, Micheal Copp (DNF), Austin Overwater (DNF), Brian Kentner (DNF), Lance Relf (DNF), Michael Wood (DNF), Al Unger (DNF), Mark Sexton, Nathan Klassen (DNF), Ethan Friesen (DNS), Roger Boisjoli (DNS).
Heat 1 – Derek Pollock, Les McRae, Cole Maydanuk, Austin Overwater, Roger Boisjoli, Al Unger, Doug Jones, Ethan Friesen (DNS).
Heat 2 – Rob Reese, Kevin Delaine, Jeff Rempel, Lance Relf, Micheal Wood, Allan Beamish, Nathan Klassen, Brian Bellew (DNF).
Heat 3 – Micheal Copp, Mark Sexton, Trevor Rambow, Mike Wenham, Bill Messier, Jack Millar, Brian Kentner (DQ).

4 Cylinder Stocks
Feature – Ian Cabernel, Dean MIljure, Mike Perdonic, Ryan Higgins, Denis Seguin, Rob Reese, Jim Mulholland, Brandon Rehill, Joshua Peters, Norm Anderson, Shane Rehill, Brayson Bytheway, Madison Brown (DNF), Mike Demchuk (DNF), Lee Moir (DNF), Sean Casidy (DNF), Tanner Burke (DNS), Scott Perdonic (DQ).
Heat 1 – Ian Cabernel, Mike Demchuk, Brayson Bytheway, Brandon Rehill, Shane Rehill, Madison Brown.
Heat 2 – Scott Perdonic, Rob Reese, Ryan Higgins, Joshua Peters, Mike Perdonic, Norm Anderson.
Heat 3 – Jim Mulholland, Denis Seguin, Dean MIljure, Sean Casidy, Lee Moir, Tanner Burke.