By 
Photo by Karly Leclair
(CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – July 31st, 2025) – One race down and one more to go for Pro Stock Summer Thunder on Prince Edward Island – and this one’s making history.
The past, present, and future will all be showcased equally on the biggest stage in Maritime stock car racing at Oyster Bed Speedway in Oyster Bed Bridge, PEI, on Saturday, August 2nd, with three regional touring series and three track-sanctioned classes comprising a jam-packed, action-filled race card for the annual Natal Day Weekend event.
The Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series anchors the show with their second and final visit to the quarter-mile bullring in 2025 for the Island Construction 200. It will be the longest Pro Stock/Late Model race on the Island in over a decade.
Two more touring series will fuel the regional adrenaline, with the Cross Roads Maritime League of Legends Tour crossing the Confederation Bridge for the first time this year for the PiccottCare 50, and the Heart of a Champion Hot Rod Classics powered by Kimco bringing stock car racing heritage and history to the Island for their annual visit with the Confederation Classic.
Three house divisions will play support and continue their season-long championship battles, including the Reliable Motors Beginner and Outlaw Bandoleros, and the Moore Well Drilling Outlaws.
And don’t forget – with impeccable timing, the Confederation Bridge toll finally drops effective Friday, so mainlanders, it’s just $20 to make the trek to Prince Edward Island for this Saturday night showdown!
Event Information
Date: Saturday, August 2nd, 2025
Important Times: Pits and grandstands open at 12:00pm, practices from 1:30-5:00pm, racing begins at 6:00pm
Classes: Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series, Maritime League of Legends Tour, Heart of a Champion Hot Rod Classics, Outlaw (Honda), Bandolero (Beginner & Outlaw)
Ticket Prices: Adults – $30 | Youth (8-15) – $10 | Children (7 & Under) – FREE | Pits – $40 with electronic e-waiver (must be 8+ to enter)
Ticket Info: Tickets can only be purchased at the gates on race day. Cash, credit, and debit are accepted.
eWaiver Link: https://os.speedwaiver.com/
Rain Date: Sunday, August 3rd, at 2:00pm
Event Storylines
Significant 200-Lap Battle of the Bridge On Tap for Atlantic Canada’s Best!
For the first time since 2009, the region’s most elite will battle for more than 150 green-flag laps on Prince Edward Island’s red soil.
Oyster Bed Speedway’s previous 200-lap affair was held on August 1st, 2009, and sanctioned by the Maritime Pro Stock Tour. Greg Proude won the Parts for Trucks/Lucas Oil 200 that day for his fourth career major regional touring series win, which was his third on the Island.
Multiple Island drivers in that race continue to compete to this day, including Darren MacKinnon (#18, Charlottetown, PE) and former track champions Chris Hughes (#32, Stratford, PE) and Kent Vincent (#8, Crapaud, PE). To make the old-timers feel more old, that race featured two names who now co-own the speedway and help operate the Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series – Kris Fournier and Robbie MacLean. There was also Lonnie Sommerville (#23, Barnesville, NB) and Dave O’Blenis (#48, Boundary Creek, NB), who are currently fighting for the Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series championship.
The lengthiest feature at the high-banked oval in a long time will include a halfway break for fuel and adjustments. While race teams have been used to 150-lap contests for years, the additional 50 laps and the halfway break (meaning two 100-lap stints with no controlled competition cautions) will add a spicy mix of strategy and endurance to a race that’ll play a crucial factor in a currently epic and close Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series championship.
Knowing how the BJ’s Truck Centre 150 for the Maritime Pro Stock Tour played out last weekend, we can only imagine what’s about to go down this Saturday will be just as, if not more, crazy. Sixteen (16) race teams are expected to fight for Prince Edward Island glory, with nine (9) Islanders aiming to capitalize on the Series’ final trip to the Island this year, and seven (7) off-island cars hoping to burst their bubble.
It’s Cory Hall Versus The Field… Maybe?
To no one’s surprise, the heavy favourite is Cory Hall (#83, Plymouth, NS). The recent BJ’s Truck Centre 150 and IWK 250 winner has won the last three Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series races on the Island, and has been on a hot streak all year across the Maritimes. We could see a part two of last Saturday’s battle between him and Darren MacKinnon, who came agonizingly close to stealing the victory in the closing laps. While MacKinnon has piled podiums onto his resume in recent years, he still eyes his first touring win since 2015.
Notably, Hall will be driving with a chassis familiar to many from Nova Scotia, but one that Islanders have yet to see – the white car with a Hamke chassis that won the IWK 250. All of Hall’s victories have come with the black and blue car with a Fury chassis, so we’ll see how that affects Hall’s chase for back-to-back yearly Island sweeps in Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series competition.
As for the championship, points leader and former Island podium finisher Ryan Messer (#1, Harvey, NB) is being closely hounded by two Island drivers within a seven-point bubble. The young Tanton Wooldridge (#01, Summerside, PE) has been performing exceptionally well in his first year competing full-time at the region’s highest level, most recently finishing third in the Universal Truck and Trailer 150 in June. Inaugural Series champion Dylan Gosbee (#16, Cornwall, PE) led multiple laps during last Saturday’s BJ’s Truck Centre 150 and was the runner-up to Hall in June. He’ll be pursuing a second career win on home turf and his first since 2023.
Former Island polesitter Lonnie Sommerville is only 11 points behind Messer, being the most recent Series winner at Speedway 660. Greg Fahey (#20, Oak Bay, NB) recorded a career-best finish of fourth at Oyster Bed in June, and recently visited victory lane in weekly competition at Speedway 660. Dave O’Blenis has always been fast on our high banks and is a past polesitter, but hasn’t gotten the finish he’s hoped for on PEI in a while.
Rounding out the mainland pack are former Series Rookie of the Year Hudson Weston (#43, St. Martins, NB), who missed the Series’ previous Island visit in June, and multi-time champion across the region Chris Duncan (#97, Hampton, NB), who looks to bounce back after a scary rollover accident during the Series’ last race in early July.
Seven (7) of the nine (9) Island cars are past Oyster Bed Speedway champions, including rookie Brandon Albert (#37, Summerside, PE), two-time Maritime Pro Stock Tour winner Robbie MacEwen (#40, Sherwood, PE), and Mark Leclair (#51, Brackley Beach, PE). Completing the PEI contingent is former Mini Cup competitor Brodie Lewis (#22, West Covehead, PE).
For more Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series storylines and important information, check out their recent press release at slms.ca.
Maritime Legends Marathon Continues into Prince Edward Island for the First Time in 2025!
It’s not just the Maritime Pro Stock Tour that added another visit to the Island on their 2025 calendar, as the Cross Roads Maritime League of Legends Tour also has two Island visits marked on their agenda, starting this Saturday.
This round was initially the third of 10 for the summer, but Mother Nature now has it stapled as round two, and it’s the first contest since the Tour’s season opener at Riverside International Speedway during the IWK 250 Super Race Weekend. The Tour will be busy from this weekend onward, with races on nine of the next 10 weekends across the Maritimes, including a return to Oyster Bed Speedway alongside the Maritime Pro Stock Tour on September 6th.
Nineteen (19) entries are expected for the PiccottCare 50, with a whopping sixteen (16) Nova Scotians representing the “Bluenose Province,” along with two (2) Prince Edward Islanders and one (1) New Brunswick car.
Former Bandolero champion Danny Chisholm (#87, Port Williams, NS) is the Tour’s reigning winner and current points leader, with a dominant showing during the IWK 250 Super Race Weekend that included back-to-back 50-lap race wins – one of those rewarded championship points. Chisholm, who has raced alongside NASCAR stars like Bubba Wallace and Shane van Gisburgen in Charlotte, North Carolina, numerous times this year, hasn’t raced on the Island since 2023.
Owen Mahar (#66, Hubley, NS) is the defending winner of the PiccottCare 50, having beaten 2024 Tour champion Ayden Christensen (#24, Windsor Junction, NS) in a tight battle during the Tour’s one-off visit last year. The driver who claimed the final podium spot in that race, 2021 Tour champion Craig MacDonald (#98, Waverly, NS), will join them. Another former winner in Caden Tufts (#00, Timberlea, NS) continues to gain seat time ahead of his anticipated NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut on August 15th.
Multiple drivers who have participated in the track’s PiccottCare Legend Super Series this year will challenge for a touring series win, including points leader Chase MacKay (#71M, Bear Cove, NS), 2024 MLOL Rookie of the Year Stephen Piccott Jr. (#34, Charlottetown, PE), past Bandolero champion Daniel Vandenburg (#97, Glenholme, NS), Kelsey Hann (#07, New Glasgow, NS), and Samantha MacDonald (#14M, Lawrencetown, NS).
Piccott Jr. and Aiden MacDonald (#13, York, PE) are the lone Island racers. Joining Chisholm, Christensen and MacKay with feature wins in Scotia Speedworld’s Weekly Racing Series this year – writing this ahead of the track’s next races this Friday – are Nathan Langille (#3, Coldbrook, NS), Colton Noble (#03, Upper Nine Mile River, NS), and Chase “The Springhill Smoke” Livingston (#39, Springhill, NS).
Hot Rod Classics to Relive Distant Memories, Build Foundation for Newbies During Annual Visit!
The Super Late Models are the present. The Legends and Bandoleros are the future. The Hot Rods are the past.
The “past” is making an appearance in Oyster Bed Bridge on Saturday, and it’s the only one this year, with the Heart of a Champion Hot Rod Classics powered by Kimco coming to town to put on a vintage show ahead of the event’s headliner. Islanders who want a taste of the industry’s past eras have their one chance this Saturday.
The Heart of a Champion community was born in 2017 to protect and sustain the history of stock car racing in the Maritimes. Eventually, the Hot Rod Classics Vintage Race Car Series was inaugurated in 2020 as a way to honour industry legends and to provide fans with an old-school experience featuring race cars from the past. For several years, the group has made an annual getaway to Prince Edward Island, and the tradition continues this weekend with the Confederation Classic.
Twelve (12) race teams are hopeful to roar around the facility’s tight confines with their vintage hot rods, with nine (9) residing in Nova Scotia and the other three (3) dwelling within New Brunswick.
Notable drivers include past winners of this race, Ron Hefler (#10, NS) and Jim Rankin (#63, NS), Canada’s Ironman Gary Elliott (#36, NS) – coming off an impressive 11th-place finish with the Maritime Pro Stock Tour last Saturday, former Speedway 660 champion Glyn Nott (#158, NB), past Maritime Pro Stock Tour competitor Stacey Clements (#99C, NS), and the wheelman of the famed “Brenda Lee,” Donny Young (#55, NB).
Outlaws Back at it Again, Bandoleros Set for Final Run to Championship Finale!
One class continues from last Saturday, two others return after a one-month break, and all three have extended-distance features on tap this Saturday.
The Moore Well Drilling Outlaws enter their second of four consecutive weekends of racing, and the Reliable Motors Beginner and Outlaw Bandoleros have a three-week sprint to the finish in the cards, with races across the next three Saturdays helping to determine who will be crowned champions on August 16th.
The crossed flags are in the air for the Hondas as they enter their fifth of eight point-paying rounds, with an intense championship battle coming down to the wire. While we don’t have an official update just yet on championship points, it’s safe to say multi-time champion Kendell Palmer (#45, Charlottetown, PE) remains the leader after collecting a heat race win and runner-up feature finish last Saturday.
Jonathan Fitzpatrick (#78, Winsloe, PE) has dominantly won back-to-back features and will try at three in a row, which no one within the division has done since Ricky Millar in 2023. Rookie and 2024 Mini Stock champion Cash Bridges (#69, Miscouche, PE) scored a career-best feature finish of third on July 26th after post-race tech inspections, and has been steadily progressing each race. Could the driver of the lone Toyota (Mistress II) in the field become the next Outlaw rookie winner?
In Beginner Bandoleros, Regan MacBeth (#34, Pisquid West, PE) has held a slim championship points lead since mid-June over Charlee Rayner (#24, Summerside, PE), with five points currently separating the youthful talents.
MacBeth has maintained consistency all summer and showed great improvement along with his brother Landon MacBeth (#32, Pisquid West, PE), while Rayner is still looking for a second feature win and her first since the May 19th season opener. Nova Scotia teams have won four of the five features contested thus far in 2025, including the previous four, being Ben Turple (twice), Jake Campbell, and Ryder Smith.
Simon Doyle (#91, Stratford, PE) leads Wyatt Peters (#33, Oyster Bed Bridge, PE) by 11 points in the Outlaw Bandolero championship, with both drivers having combined to win the last three features, and totalling 13 wins across heats, semis, and features together thus far. Mason Gillis (#9, Morell, PE) is 31 points behind Doyle and eyeing a redemption arc at home after some gnarly accidents at other tracks during the Island break.
Gillis is followed by one-time feature winner Hunter MacKinnon (#07, Oyster Bed Bridge, PE) and Irelyn Rose (#47, Halifax, NS) in points, with the latter finally achieving a long-awaited first career feature win at Scotia Speedworld in early July. Rose has been on the doorstep multiple times for a major race win on the Island.
Several rookies to the Outlaw level collected season-high feature results in the last go-around, with reigning Beginner Bandolero champion Hudson Linzel-Waddell (#57, Charlottetown, PE) cracking the podium, and Payton Gallant (#42, Cornwall, PE) coming home fourth.
Race Day Format
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More Information
Stay up-to-date on our website and social media pages for more breaking news and updates as they happen across the 2025 season and beyond.
Oyster Bed Speedway can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at @oysterbedspeedway, and @obspeedwaypei on YouTube and X.
Merchandise is available at www.obsmerch.ca, notably featuring Shop Samantha Busch merch!
About Oyster Bed Speedway
Oyster Bed Speedway is Prince Edward Island’s premier auto racing facility and features fun and excitement with multiple stock car racing events throughout the season. The 1/4 mile paved oval is located in Oyster Bed Bridge at the intersection of routes 6 and 7, halfway between Cavendish and Charlottetown on beautiful Prince Edward Island.
Website: www.oysterbedspeedwaypei.ca
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