Sept 9 Race Day Preview

(CHARLOTTETOWN, PE – September 8, 2023)

Two more weekends remain in the 2023 Oyster Bed Speedway racing season. Aside from all conflicts on and off the track, we have all the confidence in the world to end the season on a high note despite all of the adversity from Mother Nature!

This upcoming Saturday features plenty of entertainment for families, with five house divisions and the Legends class on tap for race day. One division will be deciding its champion under the lights.

Here is a preview of the facts you must know and the action to expect prior to race day this weekend. The points standings for each division (if any) are at the bottom of each section.

Note: For stats, starts mean all heat, semi & feature races combined for one driver, including all point and non-point races. Rounds mean every race day/weekend. Mini Stock drivers will have “races” instead of “starts” as they haven’t had to run multiple heat/semi races yet.

Note 2: Weather date is Sunday, September 10 at 2pm.

Chris’s Bobcat Services Mini Stock Division

One week after awarding a Street Stock champion, it’s time to crown another Oyster Bed Speedway champion in the Mini Stock division. Although the points battle isn’t as close as it was earlier in the summer, anything’s possible this Saturday.

2021 champion Jeff Bridges (#95) earned his first win since May 28 on August 19 in the semi race but still has yet to claim his first feature victory this year. The Lightning McQueen car leads the standings by 19 points, so unless an on or off-track conflict strikes, the young OBS fans should expect to hear Sheryl Crow’s Cars “Real Gone” song at full blast at the feature checkered flag.

Second in points, 19 behind Bridges, is Brandon Forsyth (#3), who was the hottest driver in Mini Stocks all summer with three straight feature wins but has dropped in performance as of recently, with an August 19 fifth-place feature finish and a September 4 feature DNF. The driver who finished sixth in 2022 points will likely need a miracle this Saturday.

The same goes for 2022 points runner-up Corey Bridges (#04), who’s been affected by Lady Luck the most ever since his May 28 feature victory. He finished fourth in the Labour Day feature. Multiple drivers behind him in points have been slowly catching up, including Randy MacTavish (#76), who won the August 19 feature and finished runner-up in the Labour Day feature.

Cash Bridges (#69) has steadily progressed every race whilst carrying an August 19 heat win, but Ricky Bedell (#2) was the class of the field on Labour Day with a shocking triple victory. For the luck he’s had this year, it was a popular, long-awaited, and deserving accomplishment.

WHO will be crowned the 2023 Chris’s Bobcat Services Mini Stock champion?

Reliable Motors Beginner Bandolero Division

The future stars of racing are coming off a Labour Day Monday afternoon where the one and only Beginner Bandolero race, a 15-lap non-point feature alongside the Tim’s Corner Motorsports Bandolero September Shootout, went caution-free and was praised by many fans. Now, it’s time to carry the momentum back into points territory.

Three drivers are in a five-point cushion with only two point rounds remaining. Mason Gillis (#9) leads the way with nine wins (two features) in 27 starts but will need a bounce-back after crashing on lap one in the August 19 feature. He did earn a podium finish in the Labour Day race, so that could turn things around. Hudson Linzel-Waddell (#57), two points behind, will have plenty of momentum heading into Saturday, with an August 19 feature runner-up finish and a Labour Day victory.

Andrew O’Connor (#63), five points behind, will be in a similar territory as Linzel-Waddell, except he’s won the past two house division features and he finished runner-up in the Labour Day race. Both O’Connor and Linzel-Waddell ran the TCM September Shootout twin races, finishing an overall 12th and 15th, respectively. In a nutshell, those two or Gillis could be crowned a champion on Sept. 23.

Rhyan Burke (#01), 49 points behind, finished fifth in the August 19 feature, fourth in the Labour Day race, and 13th in TCM September Shootout Twin #1, while crashing in Twin #2. Payton Gallant (#42), 61 points behind, is coming off a podium finish in the August 19 feature. Juliana O’Connor (#10), has struggled for the majority of the season, but she will hope to hang on to sixth in points over Irelyn Rose (#47), who is 22 points behind her and coming off a ninth-place overall finish in the TCM September Shootout.

Reliable Motors Outlaw Bandolero Division

The Beginner Bandolero division has quite the battle going, meanwhile, the Outlaw Bandolero division might already have a champion decided unless catastrophe strikes.

2022 points runner-up Landon Pierce (#19) arrived on Labour Day with all of the confidence in the world after sweeping the TCM SpeedWeekend Bandolero Blast at Speedway 660, and his run started on a high note with a Twin #1 win, but a spin on a restart plus a heavy crash into the Turn 4 wall ended any shot of a perfect weekend. In OBS points, Pierce has a 25-point lead, which was shrunk from 48 after Rory Coats had to substitute for him on August 19. As long as Pierce shows up on Sept. 9 and Sept. 23 and finishes both features, he can breathe a sigh of relief. Fun fact, Pierce has not had a single incident in any point-paying races but has been in one in both non-point rounds (July 29 & Sept. 4).

The Doyle brothers round out the points podium. Cole (#12) has been having his best runs yet as of recently, with an August 19 triple victory and a fourth overall finish in the TCM September Shootout. 25 points behind Pierce, the driver who finished fourth in 2022 points could be en route to a potential upset if things go his way. Simon (#91) claimed the runner-up spot in the August 19 feature and a sixth overall finish (tie with Bristol Matthews) in the TCM September Shootout.

Behind Simon by 16 points is Wyatt Peters (#33), who has had the worst luck imaginable in recent weeks, from multiple spins at the SpeedWeekend Bandolero Blast to only finishing one of the TCM September Shootout races. Peters has proven to be fast but will need to be more conservative and patient if he wants a shot at any higher position in points.

Hunter MacKinnon sits fifth in points, 44 behind Peters, coming off a 13th overall finish in the TCM September Shootout. Behind him is a toss-up where anyone could show up. 2022 Mike Stevens Memorial Beginner Bandolero winner Ethan Hicken (#5) finished last in TCMSS Twin #1 and fourth in Twin #2 albeit getting caught up in multiple incidents. 2022 Petty Int. Raceway Beginner Bandolero champion Hudson Ruff (#83) did not run the TCMSS, but he did earn finishes of third and fourth, respectively, in the SpeedWeekend Bandolero Blast.

Although Scotia Speedworld will be running Friday night, you never know if their drivers will make the trip over the next night. Nova Scotia’s Daniel Vandenburg (#97) was the overall TCMSS winner and ran at OBS on June 24, earning heat and semi wins but crashing in the feature. Fellow Nova Scotians Hailey Bland (#27) and Samantha MacDonald (#14) followed him on the TCMSS overall podium.

Red Rock/Toy Master Motorsports Legends Division

The Legends are scheduled to return to house division racing for the second time this season on Saturday as part of the postponed activities from June 10.

The division last raced on Canada Day, with 2022 TCM September Shootout winner and Maritime League of Legends Tour driver Caden Tufts (#00) earning the feature victory. Tufts also won the Island ICF 50 on July 29 as part of the MLOL. Including the MLOL, other Legends winners at OBS this year (including heats & semis) include Tanton Wooldridge (#0), Chase Livingston (#39), Nathan Blackburn (#44), and 2022 Island ICF 50 & 2023 SpeedWeekend MLOL doubleheader sweeper Danny Chisholm (#87).

Gage Gilby (#25) and Ayden Christensen (#24) joined Tufts on the Island ICF 50 podium. PEI’s Aiden MacDonald (#13) is a driver to keep an eye on, especially after participating in the track’s recent practice session.

Moore Well Drilling Outlaw Division

The Outlaws will be running for money rather than points this Saturday. Regardless, let’s take a look at who’s hot and who’s not.

Points leader Ricky Millar (#17) has only one victory within his last six starts, but he remains far ahead of everyone else and has won five of eight features this year. 81 points behind is Jordan LeClair (#47), who earned an August 19 heat win but has had bad luck in the past two features, including an incident on Labour Day. Six points behind him is 2022 Petty Int. Raceway Mini Stock champion Ryan McKnight (#46m), who won the August 19 feature and did claim a Labour Day semi win but wound up ninth in the feature after a fluid-leaking mishap.

Gerald Gallant (#99G) is fourth in points, 28 behind McKnight, and was substituted by Matt Watson on Labour Day, who brought Gallant’s car home in the runner-up position in the feature. Jessie LeClair (#46), fifth in points, had an early DNF on Labour Day due to the same incident his brother was involved in. Rick Millar (#71) was substituted by Mitch Montgomery on Labour Day, who finished third in the feature. The feature victory was claimed by Kendall Palmer (#45), who also won the pole and led every lap.

Jamie Ronaghan (#59) initially had a nice bounce-back run on Labour Day coming off a slow August 19 round, but was caught up in the earlier-mentioned feature incident. He did claim a semi victory in what was originally a photo finish with Dave Matthews (#99), but post-race tech moved Ronaghan to the top spot.

Note: No points awarded this Saturday.

Central Engine Services Street Stock Division

Although the Street Stocks are done points-wise, they still have two more rounds to go with lots of cash up for grabs, and this Saturday’s round will be good practice for the Piston Cup 100 later in the month. This division replaces what was originally a 75-lap $1000-to-win Pro Stock feature on June 10. Whoever wins the Street Stock feature will earn $500!

Brandon Albert (#37) had yet another dominant feature performance on Labour Day, earning his second feature victory of the season, his first since June 17. His buddy and rookie Tyler Doucette (#24) also claimed a victory in semi #1. 2023 champion Tyler Gauthier (#11) went winless on Labour Day but did finish third in the feature and won the August 19 feature, while 2023 points runner-up and two-time champion Colton Ford (#35) finished second in the Labour Day feature. Three-time champion Nick Chiasson (#27) won heat and semi #2.

2023 points third-place finisher Jeff MacInnis (#29) finished fifth in the Labour Day feature and will look to grab momentum heading into the Piston Cup, in which he has finished runner-up twice. Randy Millar (#77) didn’t have the best luck on Labour Day, but some confidence will hopefully show after he jumped Andrew Thompson (#4) in points, fifth to fourth, swapping their 2022 finishing positions.

As for anyone else, we’ll see who shows up on race day.

Note: Points are done for SS.

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Weather date: Sunday, September 10 at 2pm

Race day format:

Prices: Adults $20, Youth 8-15 $10, 7 and under FREE, pit admission $25.

For pit area access, you must fill out the online e-waiver form and have it ready to show at pit entry. Link: https://os.speedwaiver.com/dtopx

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Race days remaining per division (as of September 4)

Beginner & Outlaw Bandolero: 2 (Sept. 9 & 23)

Mini Stock: 2 (Sept. 9 & 23)

Note: Sept. 23rd is for money, no points.

Outlaw: 2 (Sept. 9 & 23)

Note: Sept. 9 is for money, no points.

Street Stock: 2 (Sept. 9 & 23)

Note: Points are done for this division. The 9th is $500 to win and the 23rd is the Piston Cup 100.

Legends: 1 (Sept. 9 & 23)

Bombers: 1 (Sept. 23)

Pro Stocks: 0

Hot Rods: 0

Points leaders

Beginner Bandolero: Mason Gillis (#9)

Outlaw Bandolero: Landon Pierce (#19)

Mini Stock: Jeff Bridges (#95)

Outlaw: Ricky Millar (#17)

Street Stock is done for points. Tyler Gauthier (#11) is your 2023 Central Engine Services Street Stock Division champion.

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