column By: JIM CLARKE / LAMBERT RACING – BROCKVILLE, ONT – Late season special events have quickly become the highlight of the local short track racing schedule.
After wrapping-up the 2023 season at Brockville Ontario Speedway, Lambert Racing of Wolfe Island had a trip booked for the Northeast Fall Nationals at the popular oval on Temperance Lake Road.
Both drivers compete in the track’s Novice Sportsman division. Rookie of the Year hopeful Cory Lambert was 4th in the overall standings on the strength of a handful of top-5 finishes in 11 starts. Older brother Nathan Lambert was 7th in the championship chase, scoring a couple of main event wins and 6 top-5 efforts in 8 starts.
Friday, October 13th, the team’s No. 20 and No. 39 rides were set to make their first-ever starts in a highly competitive Sportsman-Modified field that saw 41 teams looking to crack that starting line-up that would see 30 cars take the initial green flag.
After being sidelined by mechanical issues during his qualifying heat, Cory Lambert – a 26-year-old who works on Kingston’s Wolfe Island Ferry – was forced to the sidelines. On the other hand, his 28-year-old brother Nathan who is a member of the Amherst Island Ferry crew, advanced to the 50-lap feature tilt with a 5th place finish in his qualifying heat and was 26th in the night’s ‘A’ main.
With help from several other teams and the welding expertise of veteran racer Rick Wilson, the front-end components of the No. 39 car were repaired and ready for the next day’s main event. With another 50-lapper on the schedule, this time Cory Lambert was able to make the field through his 4th place finish in the last-chance qualifier, while his brother Nathan – who experienced mechanical issues during the Saturday show – took over the role as family cheerleader. To close-off his first season of racing, Cory Lambert added 28th place finish and dropped-out of the race with a vibration and missed being caught-up in a crash that involved at least a dozen cars.