(River Glade, NB – September 5th, 2018) – A season long championship chase comes down to one intense night of stock car racing at Petty International Raceway. Five house divisions are in action on Saturday evening, September 8th with four of those competing in double features to ultimately crown the track champions. The event also serves as Fan Appreciation Night that sees a special adult grandstand admission rate of $10 per person. Racing on Saturday, September 8th begins at 4pm.
Highlighting the card will be two 40-lap A.E. McKay Builders Late Model Sportsman feature events. The spotlight will be on the top three in points with each of the trio looking for their first Late Model Sportsman championship at Petty International Raceway since the track re-opened in 2011. Brady Creamer (Miramichi) enters the final night of point racing with a five point lead over 54th Jones Auto Body River Glade International champion Jordan Veinotte (Porter’s Lake, NS) and six points on veteran Laurie Cormier (Riverview). Reigning track champion Kenny MacKenzie Jr (Salisbury) enters with a mathematical chance at a second title but with a 25-point deficit will need some help to get back to the top. With lots of laps for the trio to work and several others looking to grab two checkered flags on the evening, this battle could go either way when the dust settles after heat racing and two feature events.
The Westwood Estates Street Stock division is coming down to two drivers also in search of their first Petty International Raceway Street Stock championship. Michael Cormier (Grand-Barachois) is the most recent winner in the Westwood Estates Street Stock division and leads Nick Cudmore (Petitcodiac) by just four points heading into two 40-lap features on Saturday. Cormier has a Leisure Days RV Bandolero championship in his back pocket from 2016 and knows the pressures of winning a season long title while Cudmore will look to add his name to the list of recent track champions at Petty International Raceway. Defending champion Logan Power (Riverview) enters with an outside shot at the title, sitting 23 points out of the top spot.
Patricia Taylor (Salisbury) and Rob Poirier (Irishtown) will look to settle the Mister Transmission Mini Stock division title amongst themselves on Saturday evening. The pair head into the championship point finale deadlocked atop the standings. With a heat race and two 30-lap features, it is possible for the lead to shift thrice before the champion is crowned at the end of the night. Of note, the last time the division ran twin features in July, Poirier gained 19 points on Taylor in the championship chase. Entering Saturday, Chantel Ackles (Shubenacadie, NS) enters 21 points behind the pair tied for the championship lead. Case in point? It is not over until the final checkered flag falls!
Sam Rogers (Lower Onslow, NS) is in firm control of the Leisure Days RV Bandolero standings with a pair of 15 lap features to come on Saturday. Rogers, who has a 32 point lead on Colton Noble (Upper Nine Mile River), would need a catastrophic failure on Saturday evening to lose his grip on the top spot in the championship. Rogers will look to become the second back to back Bandolero champion at the track after Cole Tanner (Shubenacadie, NS) pulled the feat in 2012 and 2013.
A new name to the division hasn’t stopped Paula Evans from driving to the front. The Kings County Performance Beginner Four Cylinder division championship will come down to a final 15-lap feature and it is Evans in the driver’s seat by nine points over Ashley Campbell. Evans is the defending champion of sorts after winning her first point title in the Women on Wheels division at Petty International Raceway in 2017.
To salute the fans that support Petty International Raceway, grandstand admission prices for Saturday are just $10 for adults and youth aged eight to 18, while children seven years of age and under will be admitted free. Pit admission is $25 and is restricted to those 16 years of age and older. Pit gates for competitors open at 12pm, grandstand gates open for spectators at 2pm with racing getting underway at 4pm.
For complete, up-to-date information on Petty International Raceway, please visit PettyInternationalRaceway.com, follow us on Twitter (@PettyRaceway_NB) and like us on Facebook (@PettyInternationalRaceway).
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