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Another Great Season at Laird is now in the Books!

Recap for the 2025 Mike Parsons Memorial Weekend Fri Aug 22 & Sat Aug 23

We held the final events of the 2025 Laird Raceway season during the weekend of Friday August 22, and Saturday August 23. The weekend long event was our annual Mike Parsons Memorial Weekend. Friday night was a regular racenight, and Saturday night included a special Mike Parson’s Memorial racenight featuring a 73 Lap Late Model race with a purse including $10,000 to win and substantial payouts for other participants.

Going into the weekend events we were looking at the weather carefully. As race time approached on Friday we saw that rain could dampen the program later in the evening. Rain did hold off though and it wasn't until the last feature of the night, the Enduro race, that it started to sprinkle. Thunderstorms rolled through the area later on and into Saturday morning with about 2" coming down at the fairgrounds where the track is located. The weather for Saturday night was a bit more positive, but the previous night's heavy rain left the grounds soaked. There was still water on the edges of the track come racetime and we saw the track crew out numerous times during the night to sweep in the corner areas. Temperatures for both nights was moderate, with Saturday being a bit cooler than Friday.

Many drivers, crew, and fans camped out in trailers and tents through the weekend. We had a couple of visiting drivers from Southern Ontario for the Super Late Model race; a good sized crowd on Friday night, and a packed house on Saturday.

The race weekend was sponsored by the kind folks at NAPA/Reyco Automotive, the main sponsor for the Modified Division. Our announcers were once again Greg Brazeau and Ron Caruso. Annette Bouchard sang the American and Canadian national anthems during opening ceremonies both nights. As Annette was finishing the Canadian national anthem on Saturday night, fans watched a 3 plane flyover in a "missing man" formation. The formation is often seen at memorials, where one aircraft separates from the formation, soaring up and away from the others to signify the soul's departure - in this case Michael Parsons. Local pilot Peter Petäinen was going to be lead flying his Piper Arrow but his plane was unavailable due to unexpected maintenance, so instead Sault Academy of Flight donated their Cessna 172 to fly with Doug Snedden was the pilot. The other two pilots were John Kauk flying a Cessna 182 and Terry Mortimor flying his RV-6A. If any of our race fans want to learn to fly, you can go visit Annie at the Academy.

We had a second flyover during race action just prior to sunset - this one by a flock of dozens of Canada Geese over the grandstands! I have no clue who might have arranged that one.

Here is a run down of the weekend activities by division and race night:

Service Rentals and Sales Super Late Models:

We had a good car count in the division for the weekend, with two visiting drivers from Southern Ontario joining in, and almost all our local favourites. Visitors included #73 Mike Miller from Caledonia; and #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick a well known top Canadian driver from the Cambridge area. Mike Hearty, owner/operator of Millies Mini-Mart invited and sponsored J.R. to attend.

Friday Aug 22nd

In the Service Rentals and Sales Super Late Model division we had a qualifying session, two 10 lap heats and a 30 lap feature. The division was broken into two for the heats.

In qualifying there were 10 cars out. Missing from the action was #79 Roddy Bolduc who had an engine failure during hot laps and subsequently couldn't run the rest of the night, #21K Kevin Errington, and #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick who was fighting a fuel pump issue. J.R. was able to get it resolved and was out to race during the heat and the feature later in the night. Errington also showed on track for the heat. Fast qualifier was #77 Chase Wilson with a time of 14.108 seconds.

Heat 1 consisted of the fastest qualifiers with 6 cars out to participate. Caution flew three times during the 10 lap heat, once before the first lap was complete, again during lap 7, and finally on lap 8. All six completed the race with about 4 seconds separating first to sixth at the end. #51 Jeremy Van Hoek led the first 7 laps, then was passed by #47 Jordan Sims for the last couple, to take the checkered flag.

Heat 2 consisted of the slower qualifiers and consisted of 6 cars. The 10 lap heat was fast and caution free. #73 Mike Miller led the first lap from the pole, #50 Rob Hiiemaa took over for laps 2 thru 8, then was passed by Errington on lap 9 who went on and took the win. Fitzpatrick was 2nd, about 1/4 second behind.

In the 30 lap feature, 10 cars were out. #73 Mike Miller led the first couple laps from his pole position start then was passed by Van Hoek. Caution flew on lap 4 with a slide in corner 3 by #77 Chase Wilson, who was sent to the back on the restart. Before the restart lap was complete #90 Jay Palumbo left the track. The race continued caution free. Van Hoek maintained the lead until lap 20 when he was passed by #47 Jordan Sims. #77 Chase Wilson fought his way past the others and got past Van Hoek on lap 27 but by that time Sims had a quarter lap lead and took the win. Wilson was 2nd, Van Hoek 3rd.

Results (Friday):

Qualifying: 1. 77-Chase Wilson, 00:14.108[8]; 2. 47-Jordan Sims, 00:14.196[2]; 3. 33-Jordan Rocchetta, 00:14.344[10]; 4. 51-Jeremy Van Hoek, 00:14.466[3]; 5. 61-Dustin Jackson, 00:14.567[6]; 6. 90-Jay Palumbo, 00:14.594[5]; 7. 15-Jake Irwin, 00:14.603[7]; 8. 50-Rob Hiiemaa, 00:14.687[9]; 9. 56-Mike Heinonen, 00:14.934[1]; 10. 73-Mike Miller, 00:15.118[4]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 47-Jordan Sims[3]; 2. 51-Jeremy Van Hoek[1]; 3. 90-Jay Palumbo[6]; 4. 33-Jordan Rocchetta[2]; 5. 77-Chase Wilson[4]; 6. 61-Dustin Jackson[5]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 21K-Kevin Errington[5]; 2. 84-JR Fitzpatrick[6]; 3. 50-Rob Hiiemaa[3]; 4. 15-Jake Irwin[4]; 5. 73-Mike Miller[1]; 6. 56-Mike Heinonen[2]

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 47-Jordan Sims[5]; 2. 77-Chase Wilson[6]; 3. 51-Jeremy Van Hoek[3]; 4. 33-Jordan Rocchetta[4]; 5. 84-JR Fitzpatrick[10]; 6. 61-Dustin Jackson[7]; 7. 50-Rob Hiiemaa[9]; 8. 73-Mike Miller[1]; 9. 56-Mike Heinonen[2]; 10. (DNF) 90-Jay Palumbo[8]

Saturday Aug 23rd

During our Saturday program the Service Rentals Sales and Service Super Late Models were out for qualifying, no heats, and a 73 lap feature.

There were 13 cars out to qualify in the division with fast qualifier being #77 Chase Wilson with a time of 19.959 seconds. Chase was awarded a $300 bonus for being fast qualifier in the division, courtesy of Flawless Roofing. Qualifiers also included Roddy Bolduc driving the #94 car - after missing Friday night events in his #79 after an engine failure.

The special Mike Parsons 73 lap Super Late Model feature ran after the Factory Stock and Modified features. Cars were all brought up on the front stretch for driver introductions. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick announced at that time that he couldn't run the race due to engine issues; he was obviously disappointed in his inability to start. There were 12 cars out for parade/warmup laps but before the green flag flew #21K Kevin Errington exited, unable to start. The race got started with 11 cars participating. Starting at the front were and #73 Mike Miller inside and #50 Rob Hiiemaa outside. Fast qualifier Wilson start in 6th place, outside row 3.

Hiiemaa got a great start and took the lead for the first 4 laps while Miller fell back to mid field. Lap 5 saw #51 Jeremy Van Hoek take over the lead. The first caution flew on lap 8 when Chase Wilson went a bit sideways into corner 2 and slowed on the backstretch. #47 Jordan Sims was sent to the back. Chase was running on the inside with Sims above and it looked like Wilson was just forced down off the track.

The second caution flew on lap 9 when #21 Jake Irwin and #73 Mike Miller got into it into corner 4. Irwin was sent to the back for that incident. Van Hoek still held the lead at this point.

With the restart bringing cars together Van Hoek ran another lap in the lead then was passed by Chase Wilson. Caution flew for the third time on lap 11; Hiiemaa, all by himself went for a run down the track exit, not sure what happened. He was able to restart, at the rear.

After the restart the fourth caution was out before another lap was complete. This time is was Van Hoek going for a spin in corner 2. By this time in the race the track seemed to be getting slippery at both ends, possibly with water splashed up on track from previous incidents. Track cleanup crews were out after each incident sweeping and laying down speedy dry.

Cars restarted in the same order as the previous start and got another 4 laps complete before the 5th caution was out on lap 15. This time it was #56 Mike Heinonen taking a spin by himself in corner 3 into 4. Caution flew for the 6th time on lap 19, this time it was #21 Jake Irwin slowing to a stop on the inside of the backstretch. Jake left the track and was done for the night. #33 Jordan Rochetta took the green restart flag but left the track right after that. Wilson was still running in the lead at this point.

The 7th caution came out on lap 27, with Heinonen looping it again coming out of corner 4. On the restart we then had a 12 lap run of good racing. Wilson held a good lead over Sims and #61 Dustin Jackson through this portion of the race. The 8th caution came out with 38 laps complete with Heiimaa getting tapped by Miller out of corner 4 and looping it at the start of the front stretch. Heiimaa made a great save to keep it off the guardrail. Mike Miller was sent to the back.

The 9th caution flew after a good run of racing with 52 complete. Once again Miller got into the rear of Heiimaa coming out of corner 4 putting Heiimaa into a nearly identical spin on the front stretch a number of laps before. Again, Miller found himself at the back on the restart. When the caution came out Wilson still had the lead with #47 Jordan Sims close behind and they were coming up on the rear of the field. At the time of the caution Van Hoek was running 3rd, and #61 Dustin Jackson was 4th.

Heiimaa left shortly after the restart. The 10th caution came out on lap 58 with a lone spin by Jackson on the backstretch. Jackson seemed to have handling issues as the race progressed; he left the track after bringing out the caution then came back up on track as the field were taking the white one lap to go flag.

The field took the green then as they entered corner 1 #94 Roddy Bolduc running 4th got into the back of Van Hoek running third, both spinning out and collecting the rest of the field, with exception of Jackson who was further back on the restart and was able to slow and pilot through the mess. #826 Jordan Parniak went over the bank at the top of corner 1 and the red flag came out while crews pulled him back on track. All cars involved were able to restart the race a few minutes later. That was the 11th caution. Will there be more? Yep!

On the race restart Jackson brought out the 12th caution with a spin up the front stretch. Still 57 laps complete. A few laps later Parniak was seen with showers of sparks flying out the back of his car, he was dragging someting. Parniak was shown a black flag for the technical issue.

Maybe Jackson figured he might as well make it an even bakers dozen and brought out caution #13 on lap 70. So the field had one more chance to get past Wilson on the restart for the final three laps. Wilson had been flawless through all the restarts and this one was no different. Wilson captured the checkers and took the $10,000 to win. #47 Jordan Sims brought home the 2nd place prize of $4000 and #51 Jeremy Van Hoek was right behind Bolduc in 4th.

Wilson was awarded his trophy on the front stretch but post race celebrations took place in the pits as we were running really late and wanted to try and get the Factory Four race in. Overall the Late Model feature took an hour and 15 minutes to complete with all the cautions and cleanups.

Results (Saturday):

Qualifying: 1. 77-Chase Wilson, 00:13.959[6]; 2. 33-Jordan Rocchetta, 00:14.015[7]; 3. 47-Jordan Sims, 00:14.210[4]; 4. 84-JR Fitzpatrick, 00:14.221[12]; 5. 94-Roddy Bolduc, 00:14.325[5]; 6. 21K-Kevin Errington, 00:14.352[10]; 7. 51-Jeremy Van Hoek, 00:14.353[8]; 8. 61-Dustin Jackson, 00:14.426[2]; 9. 50-Rob Hiiemaa, 00:14.641[11]; 10. 73-Mike Miller, 00:14.745[13]; 11. 56-Mike Heinonen, 00:14.798[1]; 12. 21-Jake Irwin, 00:14.896[9]; 13. 826-Jordan Parniak, 00:14.940[3]

Feature (73 Laps): 1. 77-Chase Wilson[8]; 2. 47-Jordan Sims[6]; 3. 94-Roddy Bolduc[5]; 4. 51-Jeremy Van Hoek[4]; 5. 61-Dustin Jackson[3]; 6. 73-Mike Miller[1]; 7. (BF) 826-Jordan Parniak[11]; 8. (BF) 56-Mike Heinonen[9]; 9. (DNF) 50-Rob Hiiemaa[2]; 10. (DNF) 33-Jordan Rocchetta[7]; 11. (DNF) 21-Jake Irwin[10]; 12. (DNS) 84-JR Fitzpatrick; 13. (DNS) 21K-Kevin Errington

Season Championship:

In the season points championship going into the weekend #47 Jordan Sims had top spot and retained it to take the Championship. Jordan Rocchetta went in 2nd and came out the same. Parniak and Bolduc were tied for third going into the weekend but with both missing from the lineup on Friday they were displaced for third place in the division by rookie #56 Mike Heinonen.

Highland Ford Factory Stock Division

Friday Aug 22nd

In the Factory Stock division we watched two 10 lap heats and a 25 lap feature during the night. In qualifying there were 10 cars out, including visiting Michigan driver Grant Howard who was driving the #08 car normally piloted by Daniel Bibeau. Fast qualifier was #05 Tyler Praysner. Tyler was presented with a cheque for $150 courtesy of DelPaggio Overhead Doors for being fast qualifier in the division for the night.

In heat 1 there were 12 cars out. The race was fast and caution free. #15G Andrew Givens left after 3 laps, the rest finished. #72 Teagan Lapish led the first 5 laps before being passed by #80 Brad Bibeau who took the win. Lapish finished 2nd, with father Ed Lapish in the #77 3rd.

Heat 2 for the Factory Stocks didn't go so well. Eleven cars were out on track to take the green but #05 Tyler Praysner left before completing a lap. Front row at the start was #88 Rob Wagner and #72 Teagan Lapish. Wagner did a good job of leading for the first 3 laps then Lapish took the lead for a lap. Wagner seemed to lose power and dropped back a few positions. Grant Howard in the #08 moved ahead of Lapish on lap 5 and 6. On lap 7, at the start of the backstretch out of corner 2 Howard had the lead on the outside a nose ahead but seemed to get together with Lapish and ended up spun in front of Lapish. Cars right behind accordioned (7 cars total) and when it all settled we had 5 cars all mashed together, with #7 Dale Tucker being "hammered" underneath #77 of Ed Lapish. It took a while for track crews to lift Lapish's car off of Tucker's and the race was called and the finishing order was set as #80 Brad Bibeau 1st, #29 Xavier Carter 2nd, #711 Shanna Harten 3rd, and #88 Rob Wagner 4th. It seemed to be that Tucker took the brunt of it with his entire front clip, hood, air breather and rad destroyed.

In their feature later in the night it was amazing to see Tucker back out to race, looking more like an open wheel modified than a factory stock. Tucker and his crew borrowed a spare rad from another team, replaced the air breather and were back out. Missing was #77 Ed Lapish.

Eleven cars were out for the 25 lap feature. Rob Wagner and Teagan Lapish had the front row. By the end of the first lap both had been passed by #29 Xavier Carter who started 2nd row, and #80 Brad Bibeau who started third row. Carter led the first three laps then Bibeau took over. Bibeau rocketed off while Carter, #67 Jarritt Varcoe, and #08 Grant Howard battled for 2nd spot. On lap 14 caution flew with a spin by #05 Tyler Praysner out of corner 4. #711 Shanna Harten was sent to the back for the restart.

A couple laps after the restart Harten left the track. Bibeau was untouchable for the last half of the race and took the checkered flag. Grant Howard took 2nd, about seconds behind; Jarritt Varcoe 3rd, and Dale Tucker 4th.

Results (Friday):

Qualifying: 1. 05-Tyler Praysner, 00:15.992[11]; 2. 75-Kenn Schwarz, 00:16.082[9]; 3. 67-Jarritt Varcoe, 00:16.093[1]; 4. 80-Brad Bibeau, 00:16.107[10]; 5. 711-Shanna Harten, 00:16.323[2]; 6. 4-Dale Tucker, 00:16.458[7]; 7. 29-Xavier Carter, 00:16.536[6]; 8. 08-Grant Howard, 00:16.622[8]; 9. 77-Ed Lapish, 00:16.686[3]; 10. 88-Rob Wagner, 00:16.733[5]; 11. 72-Teagan Lapish, 00:17.052[4]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 80-Brad Bibeau[6]; 2. 72-Teagan Lapish[1]; 3. 77-Ed Lapish[3]; 4. 711-Shanna Harten[8]; 5. 05-Tyler Praysner[12]; 6. 67-Jarritt Varcoe[10]; 7. 75-Kenn Schwarz[9]; 8. 4-Dale Tucker[7]; 9. 29-Xavier Carter[5]; 10. 08-Grant Howard[4]; 11. 88-Rob Wagner[2]; 12. (DNF) 15G-Andrew Givens[11]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 80-Brad Bibeau[6]; 2. 29-Xavier Carter[5]; 3. 711-Shanna Harten[8]; 4. 88-Rob Wagner[2]; 5. 08-Grant Howard[4]; 6. 72-Teagan Lapish[1]; 7. 77-Ed Lapish[3]; 8. 4-Dale Tucker[7]; 9. 75-Kenn Schwarz[10]; 10. 67-Jarritt Varcoe[9]; 11. (DNS) 05-Tyler Praysner

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 80-Brad Bibeau[5]; 2. 08-Grant Howard[4]; 3. 67-Jarritt Varcoe[7]; 4. 4-Dale Tucker[6]; 5. 29-Xavier Carter[3]; 6. 05-Tyler Praysner[11]; 7. 15G-Andrew Givens[9]; 8. 75-Kenn Schwarz[10]; 9. 88-Rob Wagner[2]; 10. 72-Teagan Lapish[1]; 11. (DNF) 711-Shanna Harten[8]

Saturday Aug 23rd

Racing in the Factory Stock division on Saturday night consisted of a single 10 lap heat and a 30 lap feature. Tyler Praysner was fast qualifier again with a time of 15.930 seconds and took home another bonus cheque for $150 courtesy of DelPaggio Overhead Doors. There were 12 cars out for qualifying.

All 12 were out for the heat. #88 Rob Wagner and #04 Dale Tucker led them off and traded the lead a couple times for the first six laps. #75 Kenn Schwarz took the lead on lap 7 then a caution flew on lap 8 when #67 Jarritt Varcoe and #29 Xavier Carter got together in corner 1 into 2. Carter was sent to the back, Varcoe left the track. Schwarz went on for the win.

In their 30 lap feature all 12 were out. Caution flew twice. First on lap 6, the second on lap 25. The second caution involved #67 Jarrit Varcoe and #15G Andrew Givens. Givens was being sent to the back for the incident, but he left along with Varcoe. During the race #29 Xavier Carter was shown the black flag for illegal equipment. Apparently he had a mirror in his car which he uses to back his car into his garage and forgot to remove it before racing during the night.

The first half of the race had #4 Dale Tucker in the lead, before he got passed by #80 Brad Bibeau who went on and took the win. Tucker finished 2nd, and #711 Shanna Harten drove hard through the race to take 3rd.

Results (Saturday):

Qualifying: 1. 05-Tyler Praysner, 00:15.930[9]; 2. 80-Brad Bibeau, 00:15.931[7]; 3. 67-Jarritt Varcoe, 00:16.010[6]; 4. 66-JP Delpaggio, 00:16.149[12]; 5. 711-Shanna Harten, 00:16.196[8]; 6. 08-Daniel Bibeau, 00:16.197[2]; 7. 15G-Andrew Givens, 00:16.279[10]; 8. 72-Teagan Lapish, 00:16.438[3]; 9. 75-Kenn Schwarz, 00:16.552[4]; 10. 4-Dale Tucker, 00:16.587[11]; 11. 88-Rob Wagner, 00:16.630[5]; 12. 29-Xavier Carter, 00:16.686[1]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 75-Kenn Schwarz[3]; 2. 08-Daniel Bibeau[7]; 3. 4-Dale Tucker[2]; 4. 711-Shanna Harten[8]; 5. 05-Tyler Praysner[12]; 6. 80-Brad Bibeau[11]; 7. 88-Rob Wagner[1]; 8. 72-Teagan Lapish[4]; 9. 29-Xavier Carter[5]; 10. 15G-Andrew Givens[6]; 11. 66-JP Delpaggio[9]; 12. (DNF) 67-Jarritt Varcoe[10]

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 80-Brad Bibeau[11]; 2. 4-Dale Tucker[2]; 3. 711-Shanna Harten[8]; 4. 08-Daniel Bibeau[7]; 5. 05-Tyler Praysner[12]; 6. 66-JP Delpaggio[9]; 7. 72-Teagan Lapish[4]; 8. 75-Kenn Schwarz[3]; 9. 88-Rob Wagner[1]; 10. 15G-Andrew Givens[6]; 11. (DNF) 67-Jarritt Varcoe[10]; 12. (DQ) 29-Xavier Carter[5]

Championship

Going into the weekend the points standings were very close. #4 Dale Tucker had the lead in the standings, one point ahead of #711 Shanna Harten, and #80 Brad Bibeau 7 points back. Coming out of the weekend Bibeau had secured the championship, finishing 6 points ahead of Tucker taking 2nd place, and 9 points ahead of Harten taking 3rd place. Harten is a rookie in the division. Another rookie, #72 Teagan Lapish finished 4th in the competitive division.

NAPA Reyco Automotive Modified Division:

Friday Aug 22

In the NAPA/Reyco Automotive Modified Division we had a car count of 13 for the night, including the #12 of A.J. Daniel. We haven't seen A.J. out to race for a few years it was good to see him on the track. There were 10 out for the qualifying session. Fast qualifier was #61 Dustin Jackson with a time of 15.237 seconds. Dustin was out doing "double duty" during the night, also racing in the Super Late Model Division.

Racing in the division consisted of two 10 lap heats, and a 2 lap feature. Twelve were out for the first heat, missing was #21 Jake Irwin. The race was over in less than 5 minutes with no cautions. #84 Mark Laakso started from the front and led all laps for the checkered flag. #28 Mark Porpealia followed with 2nd place, with #78 Jason Herrington right beside for 3rd.

In heat 2 there were 12, with #86 Dylan Connolly missing fromthe action. There was one caution during the race due to a single car spin at the back of the pack. Mark Laakso took his second checkered flag for the night, with #61 Dustin Jackson a couple car lengths behind.

Eleven drivers were out for the 25 lap feature, with 12 A.J. Daniel, and #36 Jesse Bailey unable to start. Caution flew 4 times during the race. The first caution on lap 3 was for #71 Schyler McCoy looping it at the end of the back stretch. Schyler left at that point. The second caution came out on lap 5 when #28 Mark Porpealia was slip'n and slid'n out of corner 4. Cars collided at the beginning of the front stretch trying to avoid Porpealia. #21 Jake Irwin suffered damage and was done for the night. Caution three popped out again on lap 15; this time it was #15 Chris Miller looping it by himself through corner 4. The fourth caution was on lap 16 with #86 Dylan Connolly and #20 Matt Lewis colliding in corner 4; both were unable to continue.

#84 Mark Laakso led the first part of the race with #61 Dustin Jackson creeping up through the field. Close to the midway point of the race Laakso and Jackson traded the first place spot a couple of times, with Jackson ultimately winning out and leading for the last half of the race to cross the finish line first. Laakso battled with #78 Jason Herrington for second eventually securing that spot, Herrington was third.

Results (Friday):

Qualifying: 1. 61-Dustin Jackson, 00:15.237[7]; 2. 81-CRAIG SEABROOK, 00:15.446[5]; 3. 01-Jerry Ross, 00:15.495[3]; 4. 28-Mark Porpealia, 00:15.514[8]; 5. 84-Mark Laakso, 00:15.548[1]; 6. 78-Jason Herrington, 00:15.577[2]; 7. 20-Matt Lewis, 00:15.696[4]; 8. 12-AJ Daniel, 00:15.786[10]; 9. 86-Dylan Connolly, 00:16.068[9]; 10. 15-Chris Miller, 00:16.170[6]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 84-Mark Laakso[1]; 2. 28-Mark Porpealia[5]; 3. 78-Jason Herrington[3]; 4. 20-Matt Lewis[4]; 5. 01-Jerry Ross[6]; 6. 61-Dustin Jackson[9]; 7. 81-CRAIG SEABROOK[7]; 8. 12-AJ Daniel[11]; 9. 15-Chris Miller[8]; 10. 86-Dylan Connolly[2]; 11. 71-SCHYLER MCCOY[12]; 12. 36-Jesse Bailey[10]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 84-Mark Laakso[2]; 2. 61-Dustin Jackson[8]; 3. 78-Jason Herrington[5]; 4. 28-Mark Porpealia[7]; 5. 01-Jerry Ross[4]; 6. 81-CRAIG SEABROOK[3]; 7. 15-Chris Miller[6]; 8. (DNF) 20-Matt Lewis[1]; 9. (DNF) 12-AJ Daniel[9]; 10. (DNF) 21-Jake Irwin[10]; 11. (DNF) 71-SCHYLER MCCOY[12]; 12. (DNF) 36-Jesse Bailey[11]

Feature(25 Laps): 1. 61-Dustin Jackson[9]; 2. 84-Mark Laakso[4]; 3. 78-Jason Herrington[1]; 4. 01-Jerry Ross[6]; 5. 81-CRAIG SEABROOK[7]; 6. 28-Mark Porpealia[5]; 7. 15-Chris Miller[8]; 8. (DNF) 20-Matt Lewis[3]; 9. (DNF) 86-Dylan Connolly[2]; 10. (DNF) 21-Jake Irwin[10]; 11. (DNF) 71-SCHYLER MCCOY[11]

Saturday Aug 23rd

On Saturday we had one 10 lap heat and a 30 lap feature in our NAPA/Reyco Automotive Modified Division. 10 cars were out for qualifying with #61 Dustin Jackson posting fast time of 15.113 seconds.

In their heat caution was out twice. The first was with 2 laps complete and #12 A.J. Daniel looping it out of corner 4 with following cars narrowly missing him. The second caution came out when rookie #36 Jesse Bailey spun by himself to the top of corner 2.

The #02 of John Ross led all laps of the race, taking the checkers in fine fashion. #86 Dylan Connolly followed close in second until lap 9 when #61 Dustin Jackson got around him to take the spot.

In their 30 lap feature Ross once again led the initial 12 laps until being overtaken by Jackson on lap 13. Caution flew on lap 20 when Daniel slid out of corner 4 into the water and muddy clay in the infield on the front stretch.

Jackson got a good restart and continued his lead to take the checkered flag and a trophy. #02 John Ross took second place, and #86 Dylan Connolly worked his way to a 3rd place finish.

Results (Saturday):

Qualifying: 1. 61-Dustin Jackson, 00:15.113[2]; 2. 84-Mark Laakso, 00:15.343[1]; 3. 12-AJ Daniel, 00:15.518[7]; 4. 01-Jerry Ross, 00:15.530[4]; 5. 28-Mark Porpealia, 00:15.573[9]; 6. 86-Dylan Connolly, 00:15.631[10]; 7. 02-John Ross, 00:15.654[6]; 8. 15-Chris Miller, 00:16.055[5]; 9. 71-SCHYLER MCCOY, 00:16.237[8]; 10. 36-Jesse Bailey, 00:16.401[3]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 02-John Ross[1]; 2. 61-Dustin Jackson[8]; 3. 86-Dylan Connolly[2]; 4. 78-Jason Herrington[3]; 5. 84-Mark Laakso[7]; 6. 01-Jerry Ross[5]; 7. 12-AJ Daniel[6]; 8. 28-Mark Porpealia[4]; 9. 36-Jesse Bailey[10]; 10. 15-Chris Miller[9]

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 61-Dustin Jackson[9]; 2. 02-John Ross[1]; 3. 86-Dylan Connolly[2]; 4. 84-Mark Laakso[7]; 5. 01-Jerry Ross[3]; 6. 78-Jason Herrington[5]; 7. 28-Mark Porpealia[4]; 8. 15-Chris Miller[8]; 9. 36-Jesse Bailey[10]; 10. (DNF) 12-AJ Daniel[6]

Championship

Going into the weekend #61 Dustin Jackson had a good lead of 30 points ahead of #84 Mark Laakso, and 42 points ahead of #78 Jason Herrington. At the end of the weekend the points opened up a bit more with Jackson taking the championship with 246 points total. Laakso finished 2nd in the division 34 points back, and Herrington 3rd 54 points behind the leader.

Equipment World Factory Fours

Friday Aug 22nd

The Equipment World Factory Four drivers really stepped up for the weekend with 22 cars out for qualifying at the beginning of Friday night. #166 Wyatt Dubois from Indian River Michigan arrived with a change of car; through the season Wyatt was driving a compact stepside pickup truck, and this evening showed up with a little Mustang. Wyatt was fast qualifier with a time of 17.175 seconds.

As has been done most of the season the division was broken into two parts for the heats. We had two 10 lap heats and a 20 lap feature during the night. An anonymous supporter upped the ante for the division by providing a $350 "bounty" on #3 Christopher Viotto - any driver winning the features on either evening over Viotto would take home the extra bounty money - with the provision that Viotto was also able to finish the race.

In heat 1 there were 11 cars out to take part. The green flag flew and on the first corner there was a three car pileup in corner 1, requiring a full restart. One of the cars involved was #94 Seth Ralph, he was able to restart but ended up leaving the track after 4 laps were complete. Once restarted the race ran caution free with #39F Dylan Couturier taking the win just 2/100ths of a second ahead of #3 Chris Viotto.

In heat 2 there were 10 of the little buzz bombs out to race. They ran 10 laps caution free. Leading them off was #71 Taryn McCoy alongside #97 Dustin Couturier. Couturier led the first 3 laps while McCoy drifted back a few spots. Gianni Viotto in the #51 took over the lead on lap 4, from a third row start, and won the race. #14 Chris Pinder pulled second, about 5 seconds behind.

In their 20 lap feature there was 20 cars out. As is often the case the first lap is the hardest to complete in these races as the faster cars work from the back of the pack quickly to get around slower cars in front of them. This leads to a bit of a "traffic jam" on the first lap or two until cars sort out and space apart a bit. The beginning of this race was no different, before the first lap was complete there were at least two, maybe three incidents on the track. Three of the 20 were unable to restart.

Once restarted the field quickly started to space out with #51 Gianni Viotto quickly taking the lead and eventually the win. Gianni takes home the bounty for beating his brother #3 Chris. Chris took 2nd place about 2 seconds behind. Fourteen of the 20 starters finished the race with 3rd through 14th finishing anywhere from 10 seconds to 6 laps behind the leader.

Results (Friday):

Qualifying 1: 1. 166-Wyatt Dubois, 00:17.175[17]; 2. 3-Christopher Viotto, 00:17.234[1]; 3. 16-Dyllen Sherrard, 00:17.373[2]; 4. 51-Gianni Viotto, 00:17.434[3]; 5. 38F-Dylan Couturier, 00:17.469[10]; 6. 14-Chris Pinder, 00:17.531[19]; 7. 22X-Lucas Crosato, 00:17.647[4]; 8. 4-Kayleigh Tucker, 00:17.714[5]; 9. 86-Ryan Sharpe, 00:17.954[12]; 10. 13-Logan Lavoy, 00:18.005[7]; 11. 07-BILL SIDDALL, 00:18.071[18]; 12. 97-Dustin Couturier, 00:18.433[15]; 13. 94-Seth Ralph, 00:18.434[11]; 14. 08-Alex Lapensee, 00:18.463[6]; 15. 79-Cody Herrington, 00:18.527[9]; 16. 71-Taryn McCoy, 00:19.259[14]; 17. 27-Kohle Kennedy, 00:19.560[8]; 18. 77-HARMONY SWAIN, 00:19.660[13]; 19. 30-Tehden McBride, 00:19.947[16]; 20. 76-Tim Pascall, 00:21.323[22]; 21. 96T-TEAGEN ARMSTRONG, 00:21.850[20]; 22. (DNS) 94R-Bob Ralph

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 38F-Dylan Couturier[5]; 2. 3-Christopher Viotto[7]; 3. 22X-Lucas Crosato[6]; 4. 16-Dyllen Sherrard[8]; 5. 07-BILL SIDDALL[10]; 6. 79-Cody Herrington[4]; 7. 86-Ryan Sharpe[9]; 8. 27-Kohle Kennedy[1]; 9. 30-Tehden McBride[2]; 10. 96T-TEAGEN ARMSTRONG[11]; 11. (DNF) 94-Seth Ralph[3]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 51-Gianni Viotto[5]; 2. 14-Chris Pinder[6]; 3. 4-Kayleigh Tucker[4]; 4. 13-Logan Lavoy[9]; 5. 71-Taryn McCoy[1]; 6. 08-Alex Lapensee[2]; 7. 76-Tim Pascall[8]; 8. 166-Wyatt Dubois[7]; 9. 77-HARMONY SWAIN[10]; 10. (DNF) 97-Dustin Couturier[3]

**Feature (20 Laps): 1. 51-Gianni Viotto[10]; 2. 3-Christopher Viotto[17]; 3. 22X-Lucas Crosato[13]; 4. 97-Dustin Couturier[9]; 5. 38F-Dylan Couturier[14]; 6. 13-Logan Lavoy[18]; 7. 16-Dyllen Sherrard[16]; 8. 4-Kayleigh Tucker[7]; 9. 71-Taryn McCoy[4]; 10. 94-Seth Ralph[5]; 11. 86-Ryan Sharpe[11]; 12. 08-Alex Lapensee[6]; 13. 77-HARMONY SWAIN[19]; 14. 96T-TEAGEN ARMSTRONG[20]; 15. (DNF) 166-Wyatt Dubois[12]; 16. (DNF) 30-Tehden McBride[2]; 17. (DNF) 76-Tim Pascall[15]; 18. (DNF) 27-Kohle Kennedy[1]; 19. (DNF) 79-Cody Herrington[3]; 20. (DNF) 14-Chris Pinder[8]

Saturday Aug 23rd

We had scheduled two 10 lap heats and a 20 lap feature in the Equipment World Factory Four division on Saturday night. There were 18 cars out for the qualifying session early in the evening. Fast qualifier was #3 Chris Viotto. For the heats the division was split in two.

There were 8 cars in heat 1. Race ran caution free, with the winner being #13 Logan Lavoy. Logan had started in 4th row at the back and took over the lead on lap 6.

In heat 2 there were 11 cars taking part. Two cautions flew during the race. #14 Chris Pinder took over the lead on lap 2 and led to finish first. #16 Dyllen Sherrard finished 2nd, about a half second behind Pinder.

Our evening program ran longer than expected due to all the cautions in the Super Late Model Race, and the subsequent track cleanups of water on the track that was required after many of the cautions through the night. The Factory Fours came up on track about 6 minutes before the curfew time of 11 pm. It took a bit for them to line up properly, the green flag flew and caution came out a lap in. While they were trying to line up again the message came from the pits that we had to shut it down due to the curfew.

Results (Saturday):

Qualifying: 1. 3-Christopher Viotto, 00:17.187[7]; 2. 16-Dyllen Sherrard, 00:17.284[1]; 3. 14-Chris Pinder, 00:17.325[16]; 4. 97-Dustin Couturier, 00:17.553[14]; 5. 38F-Dylan Couturier, 00:17.635[2]; 6. 4-Kayleigh Tucker, 00:17.751[5]; 7. 22X-Lucas Crosato, 00:17.988[6]; 8. 94-Seth Ralph, 00:18.280[4]; 9. 79-Cody Herrington, 00:18.423[3]; 10. 13-Logan Lavoy, 00:18.533[9]; 11. 76-Tim Pascall, 00:18.671[10]; 12. 08-Alex Lapensee, 00:18.728[8]; 13. 71-Taryn McCoy, 00:18.928[15]; 14. 27-Kohle Kennedy, 00:18.994[12]; 15. 77-HARMONY SWAIN, 00:19.784[13]; 16. 30-Tehden McBride, 00:20.750[17]; 17. 96-Shawn Desjardins[11]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 13-Logan Lavoy[6]; 2. 96-Shawn Desjardins[1]; 3. 76-Tim Pascall[7]; 4. 71-Taryn McCoy[3]; 5. 27-Kohle Kennedy[4]; 6. 08-Alex Lapensee[5]; 7. 30-Tehden McBride[2]; 8. 77-HARMONY SWAIN[8]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 14-Chris Pinder[3]; 2. 16-Dyllen Sherrard[8]; 3. 3-Christopher Viotto[7]; 4. 97-Dustin Couturier[6]; 5. 07-BILL SIDDALL[10]; 6. 4-Kayleigh Tucker[4]; 7. 94-Seth Ralph[2]; 8. 79-Cody Herrington[1]; 9. (DNF) 22X-Lucas Crosato[9]; 10. (DQ) 38F-Dylan Couturier[5]

Season Championship

In the points championship #16 Dyllen Sherrard went into the weekend with the lead, followed by #4 Kayleigh Tucker in 2nd and #3 Chris Viotto in 3rd. When the weekend events were over Sherrard had maintained the lead and got the season championship in the division. Viotto had moved up to 2nd place, #22x Lucas Crosato had moved up into 3rd, and #4 Kayleigh Tucker had dropped back to 4th.

AIM Recycling Enduro Division:

Friday Aug 22nd

As is always the case, the Enduro feature is last up for the night. It is done this way because after the race it can take a bit of time for the track crews to tow off broken cars and/or clean up the track.

The Enduro's rolled out on track and started their race. Midway through there were a few drops of rain starting to fall. The race completed then the showers began. We did manage to get the entire 15 laps in, just in the knick of time. Sixteen cars started. The points leaders going into the night were #19 Dayne Lorenzo, #44 Eric Sylvestre, and #95 Chris Pinder. Pinder started at the rear, and the other two were mid pack. The week previous Sylvestre and Lorenzo mixed it up at the bottom of corner 3 & 4. This week they got into it again right on the first corner of the race. Both were off the top of corner 2 and stayed there for the entire race.

#94 Hunter Lewis started up front and ran there to take the win. Pinder ran up through the field during the race and finished 2nd, about a half second back. Third was #55 Hayden Lewis and fourth was #007 Tannis Wirth.

Results:

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 94-Hunter Lewis[2]; 2. 95-Chris Pinder[12]; 3. 55-Hayden Lewis[4]; 4. 07-Tannis Wirth[6]; 5. 57-JOHN DUBOIS[8]; 6. 4-Madison Tucker[16]; 7. 19R-Rob Morrison[10]; 8. 66-Cord Hughson[3]; 9. 03-Chassie Stjules[11]; 10. 25-ASHLEY MORIN[1]; 11. 86-Cole Ambeault[13]; 12. 92-Tiana Wiegand[9]; 13. 420-SAMARA JAMES[7]; 14. 70-KAYDEN LAPISH[5]; 15. 19-DAYNE LORENZO[14]; 16. 44-Eric Sylvestre[15]

Saturday Aug 22nd

The Enduro division was unable to run at the end of the night because prior races - including the 73 Lap Late Model feature - ran long and we hit our 11 pm curfew.

Season Championship

Going into the Friday night race Lorenzo was the points leader a point ahead of Sylvestre, and two points ahead of Pinder. With Lorenzo and Sylvestere taking each other out at the beginning of the Friday night race, it dropped them down in the standings. #95 Chris Pinder takes the season championship with 24 points accumulated. Second place goes to #19 Dayne Lorenzo, 2 points back; third goes to #44 Eric Sylvestre 3 points back, and 4th to #94 Hunter Lewis 11 points behind the leader. We had 18 drivers run in the division during the season; congrats to all and we hope to see you back at the track having fun next season.

Intermission and Other Activities

During intermission on Friday we had a Lawnmower Race, courtesy of the Algoma Lawnmower Racing Association (ALMRA). Although another was scheduled for Saturday intermission they were unable to run due to mud and water on their infield track from heavy rains early Saturday morning. For information about ALMRA visit their facebook group page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/101494564073784
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There were multiple giveaways through the weekend with 9 or 10 more happy kids going home with new bicycles. Hats, pillows, T-shirts and other items all courtesy of our sponsors, drivers and supporters. Chase Wilson was invited up to the grandstand area to give away one of the bicycles. The bicycle was donated by Flawless Roofing, one of Chase's primary sponsors. Announcer Ron Caruso told Chase to pick a young fan in the grandstands to receive the bike; Chase took two steps then picked up a young guy that was walking by with his mom and plunked him on the bike. The young boy, maybe 4 years old, didn't know what was going on, he just sat on the bike with a stunned look on his face, staring at Chase. Towards the end of the night we still had a couple bikes left to give away. Announcer Greg Brazeau spotted a woman walking out with a young girl in her arms sleeping. Braz announced to the woman if you wake her up and if she can stay awake until the end of the race that was running the bike would be hers to take home; she did it and she got it. The last bike to be given away on Saturday night made it's way down to the pits after the races to be given away to a youngster in the pits.

Photos from the weekend can be found on our website under the “media” menu item - https://www.lairdraceway.com/gallery/ You will find there driver photos, qualifying and car photos, and various photos from our racenight and season. Did we get your picture during the season? Look there to see.

Fans are also invited to view the Laird Raceway Facebook page to get current news and updates, announcements, and more at https://www.facebook.com/lairdraceway

General track information is available here on our website at https://www.lairdraceway.com. Here you will find post-race writeups, photos, results, point standings and more.

More news articles and videos relating to Laird Raceway and other local sports events can be found on Jay Houslander's SaultSports.com website

**Our 2025 Race season has now come to an end. What a great season it was too! It was a bit shortened due to a couple of rainouts, but that can be expected in any given year. We had record fan counts again that make larger tracks, near larger population centers envious. It’s all thanks to you - our fans - for making it possible, and of course our drivers and sponsors. Preparation for the 2026 race season will begin almost immediately and we hope make things even more fun and exciting! During the off season, make sure you stay tuned to our Facebook page for news and updates. **

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