Cody McPherson Continues Dominance Of Brighton’s Applefest Shootout; Sweeps Weekend

Story By: TIM BALTZ / BRIGHTON SPEEDWAY – BRIGHTON, ONT – Night two of the Applefest Shootout at Brighton Speedway saw a big event for the DIRTCar Sportsman division with former Applefest champion, Cody McPherson, getting the job done again.

The DIRTCar Sportsman 35 lap event saw Nigel Pendykoski take the lead at the start of the race but McPherson was right there to challenge. McPherson was able to grab the lead as Gavin Eisele, Shane Stearns, Bobby Herrington and Brennan Moore were on the move.

McPherson was stretching his lead to a comfortable margin as Eisele, Stearns and Herrington continued their top 5 battle. A pile up involving close to 10 cars would take place on lap 22 in turn number two bringing out the yellow. On the restart McPherson took the lead but Bobby Herrington made his way to the runner up spot, as he tried to chase down the leader.

Another yellow came out late in the event as Michael Dillon lost a left front tire setting up another restart. When the green flew Herrington gave it his best try but McPherson stayed up front and in control with local favorite Kraig Handley coming from 15th to challenge Gavin Eisele for third.

Over the final laps, despite a challenge from Bobby Herrington, Cody McPherson was not to be denied as he scored his record 8th Applefest Shootout Sportsman win and a guaranteed spot into the Outlaw 200 weekend Sportsman race at Fulton Speedway.

Herrington crossed in second with Gavin Eisele, Kraig Handley and Brennan Moore finishing 5th.

In other action during the Applefest Shootout a 20 lap Comp4/Mini Stock Challenge event took place and Adrian Black held off repeated challenges from Josh Bogaard to pick up the win. Brandon McMillan Tyson Gregory and Travis McLean completed the top 5.

The Canadian/UMP Modified challenge was up next for a 30 lap contest and this race went green to checkered. Shawn Gregory got out in front early and lapped up to the 6th place car to score a dominant win. Veteran Ron Wadforth crossed in second with Charlie Sandercock Leslie Mowat and Adam Turner 5th.

The 40 lap Great Crate Race was also part of the festivities, which started with a major pile up in turns 1 and 2, with all drivers able to pull away. Kyle Sopaz made a charge to the front but Charlie Sandercock battled his way forward and took the lead on lap 15 as Adam Turner made a charge to the front eventually taking second from Eli Mayhew. Even with a few late race yellows and repeated challenges from Adam Turner, Sandercock would remain in front but a lap 36 caution bunched the field up again. Sandercock would get away on the restart with Turner and Mayhew right there to challenge. In the end it was Charlie Sandercock holding off a late charge by Adam Turner for the win. David Vandertoorn, Eli Mayhew and Brian McDonald the top 5.

The night was completed with a 40 lap Thunderstock feature. Several yellows slowed the start of the event. Once the laps clicked off Justin Ramsay held the lead but Tyler French was on the move taking the lead on lap 9. Once in front French pulled away as Brock Greory challenged Ramsay for 2nd for several laps. Tyler French had a dominant car but a yellow on lap 20 slowed the field setting up another restart. When the green flew it was French in control again as Ramsay grabbed the runner up spot with Gregory back to third. With 13 laps to go Ramsey and Gregory made contact sending Ramsay around in turn 2. Gregory was sent to the rear for the contact while Ramsay got his second spot back. On the final restart Tyler French jumped in front and never looked back scoring the win. Justin Ramsay crossed in second with Carter Rhodes, Shawn Gregory and Zack Bleich the top 5.

The regular season is done for 2024 at the Brighton Speedway. The staff and management and the Rinaldi family thank the teams, the drivers and you the race fans for your continued support this season. The year will finish up with the sold out Eve of Destruction event on October 5th.

DIRTcar Sportsman

A Feature 1: 1. 7-Cody McPherson[2]; 2. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[8]; 3. 18E-Gavin Eisele[3]; 4. 91-Kraig Handley[15]; 5. 35B-Brennan Moore[7]; 6. 185-Tyler Puchalski[12]; 7. 22S-Shane Stearns[5]; 8. 98-Domonick Merkley[9]; 9. X41-Xavier Perrin[17]; 10. 78JR-Nigel Pendykoski[1]; 11. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[6]; 12. 17-Trent Wallace[14]; 13. 16-Matt Barbour[18]; 14. 21T-Trey Ladouceur[10]; 15. 707-Greg Brinklow[16]; 16. 18B-Blake Smith[20]; 17. 29D-Justin Desrosiers[13]; 18. 80D-Damien King[22]; 19. 18-Jordan Wood[27]; 20. 23-Michael Dillon[21]; 21. 39-Cory Lambert[19]; 22. 11-Dan Ferguson[11]; 23. 20-Nathan Lambert[25]; 24. 35D-Dylan Moore[4]; 25. 48D-Sylvain Dupuis[24]; 26. 911-Nick Merkley[23]; 27. 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[28]; 28. (DNS) 44-David Rogers

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 98-Domonick Merkley[2]; 2. 78JR-Nigel Pendykoski[1]; 3. 35D-Dylan Moore[5]; 4. 21T-Trey Ladouceur[7]; 5. 29D-Justin Desrosiers[3]; 6. 707-Greg Brinklow[4]; 7. 39-Cory Lambert[8]; 8. 80D-Damien King[9]; 9. 20-Nathan Lambert[6]; 10. (DNS) 35P-Patrick Kudrinko

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[1]; 2. 18E-Gavin Eisele[2]; 3. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[3]; 4. 11-Dan Ferguson[4]; 5. 17-Trent Wallace[5]; 6. X41-Xavier Perrin[6]; 7. 18B-Blake Smith[7]; 8. 911-Nick Merkley[8]; 9. (DNS) 44-David Rogers

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22S-Shane Stearns[1]; 2. 7-Cody McPherson[2]; 3. 35B-Brennan Moore[3]; 4. 185-Tyler Puchalski[5]; 5. 91-Kraig Handley[4]; 6. 16-Matt Barbour[6]; 7. 23-Michael Dillon[7]; 8. 48D-Sylvain Dupuis[8]; 9. 18-Jordan Wood[9]

Qualifying 1: 1. 78JR-Nigel Pendykoski, 00:14.684[10]; 2. 98-Domonick Merkley, 00:14.697[5]; 3. 29D-Justin Desrosiers, 00:14.729[1]; 4. 707-Greg Brinklow, 00:14.850[9]; 5. 35D-Dylan Moore, 00:15.154[6]; 6. 20-Nathan Lambert, 00:15.246[3]; 7. 21T-Trey Ladouceur, 00:15.322[7]; 8. 39-Cory Lambert, 00:15.374[2]; 9. 80D-Damien King, 00:15.752[8]; 10. (DNS) 35P-Patrick Kudrinko

Qualifying 2: 1. 88K-Dylan Kirkland, 00:14.511[3]; 2. 18E-Gavin Eisele, 00:14.647[4]; 3. 88Z-Bobby Herrington, 00:14.749[2]; 4. 11-Dan Ferguson, 00:14.767[9]; 5. 17-Trent Wallace, 00:14.805[7]; 6. X41-Xavier Perrin, 00:14.918[1]; 7. 18B-Blake Smith, 00:15.010[5]; 8. 911-Nick Merkley, 00:15.070[8]; 9. (DNS) 44-David Rogers

Qualifying 3: 1. 22S-Shane Stearns, 00:14.708[1]; 2. 7-Cody McPherson, 00:14.725[6]; 3. 35B-Brennan Moore, 00:14.884[7]; 4. 91-Kraig Handley, 00:14.951[5]; 5. 185-Tyler Puchalski, 00:15.006[4]; 6. 16-Matt Barbour, 00:15.133[9]; 7. 23-Michael Dillon, 00:15.193[3]; 8. 48D-Sylvain Dupuis, 00:15.242[2]; 9. 18-Jordan Wood, 00:15.316[8]

Late Models

Vanderlaan Building Products Ltd Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Charlie Sandercock[7]; 2. 92-Adam Turner[12]; 3. 33-David Vandertoorn[14]; 4. 151X-Eli Mayhew[6]; 5. 151-Brian McDonald[4]; 6. 0-Tyler French[10]; 7. 05-James Seymour[9]; 8. 5-Steve Baldwin[3]; 9. 89-Austin King[15]; 10. 3-Nathan Rinaldi[1]; 11. 41-Ryan Lambert[5]; 12. 11-Kyle Sopaz[11]; 13. 46-Brandon Mowat[21]; 14. 00-Ryan Goudie[23]; 15. 97-Dave Barrett[13]; 16. 15-Tim Gillespie[18]; 17. 21-Rich Sanders[22]; 18. (DNF) 38-Michael Goudie[20]; 19. (DNF) 77-Caley Weese[8]; 20. (DNF) 13TWO-Tucker Halliday[16]; 21. (DNF) 7-Anthony Rinaldi[2]; 22. (DNF) 9-Joshua Black[17]; 23. (DNS) 4-Anthony Barrett

Hot Laps: 1. 7-Anthony Rinaldi, 00:15.012[14]; 2. 05-James Seymour, 00:15.115; 3. 89-Austin King, 00:15.129; 4. 41-Ryan Lambert, 00:15.134[18]; 5. 151-Brian McDonald, 00:15.160[8]; 6. 92-Adam Turner, 00:15.161[7]; 7. 11-Kyle Sopaz, 00:15.193[12]; 8. 9-Joshua Black, 00:15.257[6]; 9. 46-Brandon Mowat, 00:15.320[13]; 10. 13TWO-Tucker Halliday, 00:15.507[10]; 11. 15-Tim Gillespie, 00:15.664[5]; 12. 151X-Eli Mayhew, 00:15.688[9]; 13. 21-Rich Sanders, 00:15.779[19]; 14. 97-Dave Barrett, 00:16.131[1]; 15. 4-Anthony Barrett, 00:16.373[2]; 16. (DNS) 38-Michael Goudie; 17. (DNS) 00-Ryan Goudie; 18. (DNS) 0-Tyler French; 19. (DNS) 3-Nathan Rinaldi; 20. (DNS) 33-David Vandertoorn; 21. (DNS) 5-Steve Baldwin

Canadian Modified

A Feature 1: 1. 1-Shawn Gregory[2]; 2. 40-Ron Wadforth[7]; 3. 57-Charlie Sandercock[6]; 4. 2-Leslie Mowat[1]; 5. 85-Brittany Golden[13]; 6. 25-Greg Belyea[8]; 7. 32-Doug O’Blenis[4]; 8. 41-Corey Halbert[12]; 9. 50-Dylan Boyle[5]; 10. 14M-Matthew Moore[15]; 11. 09-Dan Price[14]; 12. 26-Bob Green[9]; 13. 08-Angie Kirby[11]; 14. 51-Mike Freeman[3]; 15. (DNS) 5-Wally Alderdice

Thunder Stocks

A Feature 1: 1. 0-Tyler French[4]; 2. 03-Justin Ramsay[2]; 3. 10-Carter Rhodes[7]; 4. 1-Shawn Gregory[19]; 5. 108-Zack Bleich[1]; 6. 01-Kyle Gregory[5]; 7. 32-Mark Fawcett[16]; 8. 26-Brock Gregory[3]; 9. 16-Kaitlyn O’Blenis[10]; 10. 97-Dave Barrett[9]; 11. 96T-Todd Shaw[12]; 12. 11-Cole McKeown[22]; 13. 17-Ethan Humphry[8]; 14. 17W-Travis Whittal[13]; 15. 11X-Gofast Teeple[20]; 16. 5-Jake Hadley[18]; 17. 45-Dylan Riley[21]; 18. 82-Brad Brooking[25]; 19. 06-Chris Hackett[23]; 20. 49-Dave Bailey[6]; 21. 41-Mike Schonauer[15]; 22. 09-Garren Taylor[26]; 23. 07-Josh Toon[24]; 24. 1J-Jason Fontaine[11]; 25. 18-Kyle Anderson[17]; 26. 22C-Kyle Pelrine[14]

B Feature 1: 1. 1-Shawn Gregory[6]; 2. 11X-Gofast Teeple[1]; 3. 45-Dylan Riley[2]; 4. 11-Cole McKeown[7]; 5. 06-Chris Hackett[8]; 6. 07-Josh Toon[9]; 7. 27-Torri Pope[10]; 8. 82-Brad Brooking[3]; 9. 09-Garren Taylor[4]; 10. 23-Doug May[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 03-Justin Ramsay[3]; 2. 97-Dave Barrett[1]; 3. 26-Brock Gregory[9]; 4. 16-Kaitlyn O’Blenis[7]; 5. 17W-Travis Whittal[2]; 6. 32-Mark Fawcett[4]; 7. 11X-Gofast Teeple[8]; 8. 09-Garren Taylor[10]; 9. 11-Cole McKeown[5]; 10. 27-Torri Pope[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 49-Dave Bailey[1]; 2. 17-Ethan Humphry[2]; 3. 108-Zack Bleich[4]; 4. 1J-Jason Fontaine[9]; 5. 22C-Kyle Pelrine[8]; 6. 18-Kyle Anderson[6]; 7. 45-Dylan Riley[5]; 8. 23-Doug May[7]; 9. 06-Chris Hackett[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Kyle Gregory[1]; 2. 10-Carter Rhodes[4]; 3. 0-Tyler French[8]; 4. 96T-Todd Shaw[2]; 5. 41-Mike Schonauer[7]; 6. 5-Jake Hadley[3]; 7. 82-Brad Brooking[6]; 8. 1-Shawn Gregory[5]; 9. 07-Josh Toon[9]

Mini Stock

A Feature 1: 1. 15B-Adrian Black[1]; 2. 15-Josh Bogaard[8]; 3. 23B-Brandon Macmillan[7]; 4. 22-Tyson Gregory[4]; 5. 10-Travis Mclean[19]; 6. 44-Tommy Bailey[9]; 7. 42JR-Aidan Fletcher[15]; 8. 41-Landon Mutch[5]; 9. 3-Shawn Knowlton[16]; 10. 54-Tim Moore[22]; 11. 16-Fabio Olivieri[24]; 12. 72-John South[18]; 13. 24-Travis Fox Connor[21]; 14. 7C-Cierra Keus[13]; 15. 25-Lawrence Evenden[23]; 16. 66P-Mark Packer[17]; 17. 13-Travis Gourd[12]; 18. 66-Marc Dagenais[2]; 19. 5K-Ken Hair[11]; 20. 4A-Mason Anderson[3]; 21. 5-Eric Conlin[20]; 22. 91-Jaiden Miller[10]; 23. 12-Caleb Severin[6]; 24. 24X-Alain Letourneau[14]

B Feature 1: 1. 24-Travis Fox Connor[9]; 2. 54-Tim Moore[3]; 3. 25-Lawrence Evenden[7]; 4. 16-Fabio Olivieri[2]; 5. 22X-Keith Dunk[13]; 6. 75-Owen Chilvers[6]; 7. 04-Dave Chamberlain[10]; 8. 17-Emily Wood Peterson[14]; 9. 7B-Braden Keus[11]; 10. 00-Kyle Kudrinko[1]; 11. 32L-Cole Hardy[4]; 12. 2-Trevyn McCrillis[12]; 13. (DNS) 77-Travis Chamberlain; 14. (DQ) 68L-John Lamarche[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5K-Ken Hair[5]; 2. 41-Landon Mutch[9]; 3. 91-Jaiden Miller[2]; 4. 7C-Cierra Keus[7]; 5. 66P-Mark Packer[1]; 6. 00-Kyle Kudrinko[3]; 7. 77-Travis Chamberlain[4]; 8. 24-Travis Fox Connor[6]; 9. (DNS) 35-Bailey Kippen

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Tyson Gregory[5]; 2. 66-Marc Dagenais[4]; 3. 4A-Mason Anderson[1]; 4. 24X-Alain Letourneau[2]; 5. 72-John South[7]; 6. 16-Fabio Olivieri[8]; 7. 75-Owen Chilvers[3]; 8. 04-Dave Chamberlain[6]; 9. 22X-Keith Dunk[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Josh Bogaard[4]; 2. 23B-Brandon Macmillan[3]; 3. 44-Tommy Bailey[8]; 4. 42JR-Aidan Fletcher[6]; 5. 10-Travis Mclean[5]; 6. 54-Tim Moore[1]; 7. 25-Lawrence Evenden[2]; 8. 7B-Braden Keus[7]; 9. 17-Emily Wood Peterson[9]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Travis Gourd[2]; 2. 15B-Adrian Black[3]; 3. 12-Caleb Severin[4]; 4. 3-Shawn Knowlton[6]; 5. 5-Eric Conlin[5]; 6. 32L-Cole Hardy[1]; 7. 68L-John Lamarche[8]; 8. 2-Trevyn McCrillis[7]