July 18-19, 2008
Regan Smith wins the IWK 250 at Riverside
Speedway driving the Wilson Equipment Limited's Chevrolet Racecar
Regan Smith, a NASCAR visitor from North Carolina, won the IWK 250 on
Saturday night at Riverside Speedway, near Antigonish. The IWK 250 has been
billed as the richest event ever held in the Maritimes, with a posted purse of
more than $103,000. Regan Smith took home the $10,000 first-place prize, by
leading the final 17 laps of the event. He becomes the fifth different driver to take the Halcraft Print checkered
flag in six events on the 2008 season.
Shawn Turple of Enfield and Mike MacKenzie of Dartmouth finished second and
third, respectively, in the event.
Bob White of Kennetcook and John Flemming of Halifax rounded out the top
five.
Several storyline were seen throughout the night.
Johnny Clark of Hallowell, Me., led the most laps, before a flat tire took
him out of contention. Greg Proude of Charlottetown led late in the race and had
a tire go flat on his Dodge with two laps remaining.
More than 10,000 fans saw 11 different leaders throughout the night.
There were ten stoppages in the race, including a halfway break, which took
almost three hours to complete.
Forty cars attempted to qualify for the event. Clark had the fastest time on
the 1/3 mile oval, with an average speed over 100 miles per hour.
Hometown hero Donald Chisholm earned the pole for the event after winning the
Dash for the Pole, featuring the top 10 cars in time trials.
Heat winners included Travis Benjamin of Belfast, Me., Flemming and Chris
Hughes of Brackley.
Semi winners were Rollie MacDonald of Pictou and Robbie MacLean of Winsloe.
The “B” Feature was won by defending CARQUEST Pro Stock Tour Champion Shawn
Tucker of Fredericton. The win earned him the final qualifying position in the
event. The King of the Road Roger Miller of North Noel Road and Dale Holmes of
West Covehead, P.E.I., finished second and third, respectively.
Eight additional cars were added to the show, creating a thirty one car
starting field for the prestigious event.
July 18-19, 2008
The newly
released Wilson
Equipment Limited’s
Chevrolet racecar was
unveiled recently at the Atlantic Heavy
Equipment show in Moncton NB, and will be driven
in the IWK
250 Pro Stock on July
18, 2008 by NASCAR 2008 Rookie
Contender Regan Smith. The IWK 250 is an event
that
will showcase one of
the biggest fields of Late Model Pro Stocks ever assembled at one track
in
Eastern Canada. The stage
will be set to attract a full house of enthusiastic race fans and most
importantly to raise as much money as possible for the IWK Health
Centre – with
the goal being to exceed the $20,000 raised at the event in 2007 for
the
region’s foremost children’s hospital.
Riverside
Speedway
