BRIGHTON APPLEFEST SHOOTOUT WEEKEND

With files from Brighton Speedway Brighton Speedway hosted its 18th annual Applefest Shootout Weekend on September 22-23. In all, more than 300 cars were in attendance during the two-day event which drew competitors from across Ontario, as well as some from Quebec and upper New York state.

DIRTcar 358 Modifieds, DIRTcar Sportsman, Late Models, Canadian Modifieds, Thunder Stocks and 4 Cylinders were all in action at the eastern Ontario dirt oval.

When the action started on the Friday night, 33 Thunder Stocks were whittled down to 25 cars for a 20-lap feature event. Jason Fontaine led early, with Brock Gregory – who started fourth – chased him down.

On lap 18, Fountaine suffered a mechanical issue and Gregory assumed the lead. He survived a late race restart and held on to win. Tyler French, Justin Ramsay, Josh Black and Jim Lampman rounded out the top five.

The spotlighted of the Friday night card saw a field of 31 DIRTcar Sportsman take the green flag for a 35-lap feature. Jordan Cosco led the field early only to see Bobby Herrington take the top spot, on lap 12.

The two were eventually challenged by Cody McPherson. On lap 21, McPherson passed Herrington for the lead, one that he wouldn’t relinquish on route to ‘taking home the apples’ on Night One of Applefest. Herrington, William Racine, Cosco and Xavier

Andrews were the other top-five finishers.

In other Friday Applefest action, the Mini Stock Duel on the Dirt combined feature event saw 29 competitors in the pits, with 28 of them making the starting field. Jason Tolton led the first 20 laps with Carter Rhodes and Caleb Severin challenging for the lead. Rhodes made a pass to take the lead on lap 21 and finished ahead of Severin, Tolton, Cole Abrams and Ryan Hillar.

The Northeast Late Model Alliance field saw 24 participants complete their heat races and a 10-lap Dash For Cash on Friday night. Kyle Sopaz took home the purse for the Dash, followed by Brandon Mowat and Steve Baldwin.

The Canadian Modified / UMP Dash for Cash went to Ron Wadforth ahead of Adam Turner and Doug O’Blenis.

A field of 24 DIRTcar 358 Modifieds joined the evening’s card for hot laps and a Dash for Cash. The 10 ten fastest 358s raced for the payday which saw Jonathan Ferguson take the checkered flag. Gary Lindberg and Kyle Dingwall followed him across the line.

Day Two

Saturday was Day Two of Applefest and everyone in attendance was pleased to be greeted by sunny skies.

The first feature of the night was an annual Comp 4 / Mini Stock challenge where the best drivers the track’s two 4-Cylinder divisions are in action. With 34 cars signing in, the drivers had to race their way into the show through heats and a B-Main to earn a spot in the 24-car starting field.

Caleb Severn started on the pole, with Friday night’s winner Carter Rhodes on the outside. Severin took the early lead, but Rhodes nabbed the spot on lap 3. Tom Bailey, who started third, moved to second on lap 8 and started to apply pressure to Rhodes, before ultimately passing him with two laps to go in the 20-lap chase. Rhodes held for second ahead of Terry McClelland, Travis Lamarche and Aiden Fletcher.

Next up, the DIRTCar Sportsman drivers took to the track for Night Two of their double header. Youngster Brennan Moore started on the pole and drove the race of his life, holding off seasoned veterans like Bobby Herrington, Gabriel Cyr and Friday night’s winner Cody McPherson.

Moore did an outstanding job but on the last lap – while being pressured hard by McPherson – Moore slipped up just enough to give McPherson an opening on the bottom, allowing the St. Catharines racer to sweep the weekend and take his sixth career Applefest Weekend win. Moore finished second, followed by Cyr, Herrington and Shane Steams.

The Canadian Modifieds were up next. At the finish of their 25-lap feature, 2023 sea- son champion 40 Ronnie Wadforth made the trip to Victory Lane, after besting Leslie Mowat and UMP driver Joe Brosseau, who were second and third, respectively.

358 Modified Shootout

That set the table for the main event, the 75-lap DIRTcar 358 Modified Applefest Shootout. With a record high event car count of 33 cars in the pits, the field was reduced to 30 starters via the time trials, heats and B-Main.

Jonathan Ferguson started on the pole, alongside 2018 Applefest winner Gary Linberg. Ferguson set a torrid pace from the drop of the green flag and led the first 48 laps. But all the while, Chris Raabe and Eric Rudolph were making moves towards the front.

Between Raabe (two) and Rudolph (three), they have a total of five career Shootout wins. Raabe made a pass to take the lead on lap 49 and Rudolph slid past Furguson two laps later.

Through the final 25 laps, Rudolph could get to Raabe’s back bumper but could not get around the Napanee, ON native who went on to win his third career Applefest Shootout and the $5,000 winner’s cheque. With the victory, Raabe is now tied with three victories in this prestigious event.

Rudolph settled for second, ahead of Linberg who was as low as seventh during the race but fought back for a podium result. Kyle Dingwall charged from ninth to fourth, and Ferguson rounded out the top five.

The Northeast Late Model

Alliance Great Crate Race was up next with 24 cars starting the Main Event, all vying for the $4,000 top prize.

Nathan Rinaldi and Ryan Lambert started on the front row with Rinaldi jumping out to the early lead. Charlie Sandercock, the 2022 GCR champion, quickly moved from his fourth starting spot, to second, by lap 4 and started to apply pressure to Rinaldi.

On lap 13, while Rinaldi and Sandercock were maneuvering through lapped traffic, a tangle in Turn 3 left Caley Weese spinning right in front of Rinaldi. The leader made contact with Weese’s car, causing heavy body damage. But because Rinaldi did not stop, he was awarded the spot back.

On the next restart, Sandercock continued to apply pressure to Rinaldi and eventually took the lead on lap 17 of the 40-lap event. Two laps later, during a restart, Lambert also made his way past Rinaldi to take second, leaving Sopaz and Rinaldi to battle third until lap 23.

Although it looked like Lambert was closing in on Sandercock as the laps wound down, the track’s alltime Late Model feature winner leader was not to be denied as he carved through traffic en route to the win.

Lambert finished second, with Sopaz third. Rinaldi limped his damaged car to a fourthplace finish, ahead of Bradley Rayner.

The final feature of the Applefest Weekend was Duel in the Dirt 40-lap Main. The fatherand-son duo of Doug Anderson and Kyle Anderson led the field to the green.

The two battled side-by-side for four tours of the track, during the first ten laps. Doug took the lead on lap 9, but was quickly challenged on the high side by 2023 Brighton Speedway champion Justin Ramsay.

Ramsay moved to the front on lap 11 and continued to hold off Doug Anderson until lap 15 when Jason Fontaine joined the battle for the lead. The three-way scrap lasted for 11 laps, until Fontaine asserted his dominance on lap 26.

The next few laps featured some threewide action, at which point the lead trio was joined by Peter Reid, who started the race in 14th spot. With Reid stuck to the bottom line, Ramsay running the middle, and Fontaine up top, the three-wide chase continued until the last lap when the three emerged from the final turn.

With no contact made, Fontaine edged our Reid and Ramsay at the line. Tyler French (started 17th) and Jeff Humphries (started 20th) came home fourth and fifth, respectively. IT