South Buxton Raceway
Reaume's flat tires opens door for Dale's double
By Mike Bennett
South Buxton Raceway
MERLIN, Ontario (Aug. 1) — It took Jim Dale Jr. three months to get to victory lane. It took him about an hour to get back there again. Dale enjoyed a double celebration in front of a big crowd at South Buxton Raceway on Saturday night.
The Shrewsbury, Ontario, driver won the second leg of the UMP DIRTcar-sanctioned Summer Sizzler and $2,000 first-place prize. Later in the night, Dale returned to victory lane following a triumph in the modified division. | Summer Sizzler at Ohsweken
“Go figure, I haven’t won one all year, then to win two in the same night …” Dale said with a huge smile.
Ironically, it was just over a year ago when Dale made South Buxton history as the first driver to win two features in the same night. He won both the Late Model and Modified features on midseason championship night on July 5, 2008.
“To win a big Late Model race with Andrew (Reaume) and Chris (Ross) both here … by far it’s the biggest win of my career,” Dale said. “The modified … I was just way overdue."
In the Late Model feature, Dale led twice for 15 laps of the 25-lapper, holding off Wallaceburg’s Chris Ross in the final laps to post the improbable win. Reaume, who won the first leg of the Summer Sizzler at Ohsweken Speedway on Friday night, twice lost the lead on Saturday because of cut tires.
The first incident happened on lap two, but he was able to make the tire change under caution, storm through the field and pass Dale for the lead on lap 14. The second flat came with just three laps to go after contact with a lapped car. Reaume had to settle for a disappointing seventh-place finish, ending his streak of nine straight feature wins.
“When Drew sailed by me the first time, I thought, ’Second would be good,’ ” Dale said. “Then when I saw him wobble in turn four the second time, I knew I had a shot.”
But Dale still had a fight on his hands with Ross “I just tried to hold my line on the bottom. I figured on the last lap, he’d try a bonsai hammer down move around the top, but he didn’t do it, so I’m happy,” Dale said.
Ross felt like he had a couple of shots at Dale Jr. but said it wasn’t worth the risk. “Not the way the track was,” he said, as rough conditions made passing an adventure. “I didn’t want to take a chance at taking him out. I’m glad Jimmy won; he deserves it."
Ross, who was also second to Reaume on Friday, pocketed $3,500 over the two nights, earning $1,500 for each of his second-place finishes and the $500 bonus for the best two-night finish. Joe Field of Chatham was third, Brett Reaume of Blenheim fourth and Kirk Hooker of Chatham fifth.
Summer Sizzler: (1) Jim Dale Jr., (2) Chris Ross, (3) Joe Field, (4) Brett Reaume, (5) Kirk Hooker, (6) Dale Glassford, (7) Andrew Reaume, (8) Gregg Haskell, (9) Tom Hazlett, (10) Jason Haskell, (11) Brad Authier, (12) Brad McLeod, (13) Mark Glassford, (14) Jim Jones. Heat race winners: A. Reaume, Ross.
