Story By: BRENT OTCHERE / OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY – OHSWEKEN, ONT – Nitro 54 Variety, Arrow Express, and Sit’n Bull Tire presented the 20th Running of the Northern Sprint Car Nationals at Ohsweken Speedway on Saturday; Ryan Turner took the $30,000 A-Main win for the 360 Sprint Cars, while Brent Begolo won in the Crate Sprint division.
Northern Sprint Car Nationals 360 Sprint Cars
J.J. Hickle and Cory Turner earned front row starting positions for the 35 lap Northern Sprint Car Nationals 360 Sprint Car A-Main. Hickle had a dream start to the race, quickly catching the back of the 30 car field by lap six. Cory Turner became the new leader on lap eleven after chasing Hickle down. Turner’s lead was short-lived though, as Aaron Turkey spun and brought out the caution flag. Josh Hansen claimed the lead on the restart, becoming the third leader of the race, while Hickle began to fade through the field.
2024 Ohsweken track champion Dylan Westbrook started in the tenth row, but began to make his presence known as he raced himself into fifth place with ten laps to go. Two-time Nationals champion Ryan Turner also moved steadily forward from a row seven start and eventually passed Hansen for the lead on lap 27.
Anyone who saved their tires turned up the wick in the closing laps, however this hard racing resulted in contact between Jason Barney and Westbrook who were both inside the top five at the time. The damage led to Westbrook crashing hard into the inside wall in turn one and flipping, bringing out the red flag. Both drivers were unharmed in the accident.
The restart set up a three lap dash to the finish, and saw Ryan Turner stay up front to win his third Northern Sprint Car Nationals and the $30,000 grand prize. Nick Sheridan pushed hard, but had to settle for a runner-up finish after running out of fuel. Hansen took the final podium spot, followed by 2023 Nationals winner Mike Bowman in fourth, and Cory Turner in fifth. Jordan Poirier took the Hard Charger award after coming from the B-Main to finish sixth in the A-Main, while Joe Trenca, Liam Martin, Matt Billings, and Darren Dryden claimed top ten finishes.
Strickland’s Crate Sprint Cars
Brian Nanticoke and Keegan Baker brought the field to the green flag for the 20 lap Crate Sprint Car A-Main. Baker made quick work of Nanticoke, taking the lead of the race by the end of the first lap.
Baker had to hold off the field of stout drivers on several restarts as multiple caution flags fell during the race. He successfully kept the pressure under control all the way up to four laps left to go when traffic began to play a role.
Northern Crate Nationals champion Brent Begolo bided his time behind Baker, applying tremendous pressure on the young racer. Baker suffered a punctured left rear tire after contact while negotiating traffic, allowing Begolo to snatch the lead with just two laps left to go.
Begolo went on to claim another victory in his rookie season, quickly becoming an impressive driver in the Crate Sprint division. 2024 track champion Brett Stratford finished in second, with New York racer Josh Verne Jr finding the final podium position. Mack DeMan finished in fourth, while Lucas Smith rounded out the top five.
360 Sprints
A Feature 1 (35 Laps): 1. 15-Ryan Turner[13]; 2. 45-Nick Sheridan[7]; 3. 88H-Josh Hansen[3]; 4. 71-Mike Bowman[15]; 5. 17X-Cory Turner[2]; 6. 28-Jordan Poirier[21]; 7. 98-Joe Trenca[9]; 8. 9-Liam Martin[18]; 9. 84B-Matt Billings[16]; 10. 12DD-Darren Dryden[4]; 11. 5-DJ Christie[6]; 12. 77T-Tyeller Powless[25]; 13. 67X-JJ Hickle[1]; 14. 21-Alex Therrien[26]; 15. 94-Todd Hoddick[17]; 16. 28F-Davie Franek[27]; 17. 14H-Jim Huppunen[28]; 18. 71H-Max Stambaugh[8]; 19. 19D-Allan Downey[20]; 20. 3G-Dale Gosselin[11]; 21. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[30]; 22. 68-Aaron Turkey[24]; 23. 87X-Shone Evans[10]; 24. (DNF) 87-Jason Barney[5]; 25. (DNF) 47X-Dylan Westbrook[19]; 26. (DNF) 36-Logan Crisafulli[14]; 27. (DNF) 53-Shawn Donath[12]; 28. (DNF) 85-Dustin Daggett[29]; 29. (DNF) 52X-Jesse Costa[23]; 30. (DNF) 11-Jamie Turner[22]
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[3]; 2. 19D-Allan Downey[2]; 3. 28-Jordan Poirier[4]; 4. 11-Jamie Turner[1]; 5. 52X-Jesse Costa[5]; 6. 68-Aaron Turkey[7]; 7. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[14]; 8. 77T-Tyeller Powless[6]; 9. 28F-Davie Franek[9]; 10. 21-Alex Therrien[8]; 11. 79-Jordan Thomas[19]; 12. 7NY-Matt Farnham[17]; 13. 10H-Kelly Hebing[22]; 14. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[12]; 15. 0-Glenn Styres[20]; 16. 7-Eric Gledhill[16]; 17. 14H-Jim Huppunen[10]; 18. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[15]; 19. 21K-Kyle Phillips[21]; 20. (DNF) 84-Tyler Rand[13]; 21. (DNF) 15GG-Garrett Green[18]; 22. (DNF) 85-Dustin Daggett[11]
C Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 79-Jordan Thomas[5]; 2. 0-Glenn Styres[3]; 3. 21K-Kyle Phillips[4]; 4. 10H-Kelly Hebing[10]; 5. 21J-John Burbridge Jr[2]; 6. 13-Evan Reynolds[1]; 7. 70MM-Dale Curran[7]; 8. 94X-Scott Hall[6]; 9. 46-Kevin Pauls[8]; 10. (DNF) 19KC-Mathieu Bardier[9]
POLE DASH (5 Laps): 1. 67X-JJ Hickle[1]; 2. 17X-Cory Turner[4]; 3. 88H-Josh Hansen[2]; 4. 12DD-Darren Dryden[3]; 5. 87-Jason Barney[6]; 6. 5-DJ Christie[8]; 7. 45-Nick Sheridan[7]; 8. 71H-Max Stambaugh[5]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 12DD-Darren Dryden[2]; 2. 87-Jason Barney[4]; 3. 15-Ryan Turner[3]; 4. 68-Aaron Turkey[1]; 5. 21-Alex Therrien[5]; 6. 84-Tyler Rand[7]; 7. (DNF) 17-Jared Horstman[8]; 8. (DNF) 19KC-Mathieu Bardier[6]; 9. (DNS) 52K-Scott Kreutter
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 88H-Josh Hansen[4]; 2. 3G-Dale Gosselin[1]; 3. 36-Logan Crisafulli[3]; 4. 77T-Tyeller Powless[2]; 5. 14H-Jim Huppunen[5]; 6. 15GG-Garrett Green[6]; 7. 21J-John Burbridge Jr[7]; 8. 46-Kevin Pauls[8]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 67X-JJ Hickle[4]; 2. 87X-Shone Evans[1]; 3. 94-Todd Hoddick[2]; 4. 28-Jordan Poirier[3]; 5. 52X-Jesse Costa[6]; 6. 77E-Ashton VanEvery[7]; 7. 79-Jordan Thomas[5]; 8. 94X-Scott Hall[8]
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 98-Joe Trenca[1]; 2. 5-DJ Christie[4]; 3. 71-Mike Bowman[3]; 4. 11-Jamie Turner[5]; 5. 7-Eric Gledhill[2]; 6. 7NY-Matt Farnham[6]; 7. 0-Glenn Styres[7]
Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 17X-Cory Turner[2]; 2. 45-Nick Sheridan[4]; 3. 9-Liam Martin[1]; 4. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[3]; 5. 28F-Davie Franek[5]; 6. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr[7]; 7. 21K-Kyle Phillips[6]; 8. 70MM-Dale Curran[8]
Heat 6 (10 Laps): 1. 71H-Max Stambaugh[2]; 2. 53-Shawn Donath[1]; 3. 84B-Matt Billings[3]; 4. 19D-Allan Downey[4]; 5. 85-Dustin Daggett[5]; 6. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[7]; 7. 13-Evan Reynolds[8]; 8. 10H-Kelly Hebing[6]
FLIGHT 1 GROUP A (3 Laps): 1. 36-Logan Crisafulli, 00:13.855[2]; 2. 12DD-Darren Dryden, 00:13.860[5]; 3. 21-Alex Therrien, 00:14.074[3]; 4. 19KC-Mathieu Bardier, 00:14.309[1]; 5. 21J-John Burbridge Jr, 00:14.855[4]
FLIGHT 1 GROUP B (3 Laps): 1. 88H-Josh Hansen, 00:13.703[1]; 2. 15-Ryan Turner, 00:13.705[4]; 3. 3G-Dale Gosselin, 00:14.045[2]; 4. 52K-Scott Kreutter[3]
FLIGHT 1 GROUP C (3 Laps): 1. 87-Jason Barney, 00:13.610[3]; 2. 15GG-Garrett Green, 00:14.361[2]; 3. 84-Tyler Rand, 00:14.485[4]; 4. 17-Jared Horstman, 00:15.029[1]
FLIGHT 1 GROUP D (3 Laps): 1. 77T-Tyeller Powless, 00:13.898[3]; 2. 68-Aaron Turkey, 00:13.935[2]; 3. 14H-Jim Huppunen, 00:14.262[4]; 4. 46-Kevin Pauls, 00:15.810[1]
FLIGHT 2 GROUP A (3 Laps): 1. 5-DJ Christie, 00:13.718[2]; 2. 71-Mike Bowman, 00:13.886[4]; 3. 7NY-Matt Farnham, 00:14.144[1]; 4. 77E-Ashton VanEvery, 00:14.276[3]
FLIGHT 2 GROUP B (3 Laps): 1. 67X-JJ Hickle, 00:13.499[4]; 2. 7-Eric Gledhill, 00:13.977[2]; 3. 94X-Scott Hall, 00:14.690[1]; 4. 46C-Ryan Coniam[3]
FLIGHT 2 GROUP C (3 Laps): 1. 28-Jordan Poirier, 00:13.782[3]; 2. 87X-Shone Evans, 00:13.990[1]; 3. 11-Jamie Turner, 00:14.123[2]; 4. 52X-Jesse Costa, 00:14.124[4]
FLIGHT 2 GROUP D (3 Laps): 1. 94-Todd Hoddick, 00:13.919[3]; 2. 98-Joe Trenca, 00:14.048[1]; 3. 79-Jordan Thomas, 00:14.081[4]; 4. 0-Glenn Styres, 00:14.622[2]
FLIGHT 3 GROUP A (3 Laps): 1. 71H-Max Stambaugh, 00:14.142[4]; 2. 21K-Kyle Phillips, 00:14.554[1]; 3. 19D-Allan Downey, 00:14.767[2]; 4. 13-Evan Reynolds, 00:14.842[3]
FLIGHT 3 GROUP B (3 Laps): 1. 9-Liam Martin, 00:14.160[2]; 2. 10H-Kelly Hebing, 00:14.620[4]; 3. 20I-Kelsey Ivy, 00:14.740[3]; 4. 70MM-Dale Curran, 00:14.747[1]
FLIGHT 3 GROUP C (3 Laps): 1. 45-Nick Sheridan, 00:13.621[2]; 2. 28F-Davie Franek, 00:14.411[3]; 3. 85-Dustin Daggett, 00:14.479[4]; 4. 10V-Billy VanInwegen Jr, 00:14.634[1]
FLIGHT 3 GROUP D (3 Laps): 1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, 00:13.772[4]; 2. 84B-Matt Billings, 00:13.951[1]; 3. 17X-Cory Turner, 00:13.963[3]; 4. 53-Shawn Donath, 00:14.387[2]
Crate Sprints
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 71-Brent Begolo[5]; 2. BS39-Brett Stratford[8]; 3. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[10]; 4. 00-Mack DeMan[3]; 5. 52L-Lucas Smith[16]; 6. 16X-Keegan Baker[2]; 7. 94-Ryan Fraser[4]; 8. 20-Johnny Miller[9]; 9. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[1]; 10. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[13]; 11. 88-Lance Erskine[15]; 12. 50LS-Adrian Stahle[6]; 13. 72-Tanner Podwinski[14]; 14. 53-Logan Shwedyk[19]; 15. 9-Adam Turner[30]; 16. 87-Andrew Hennessy[21]; 17. 74-Rob Neely[25]; 18. 2S-Al Sleight[18]; 19. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[7]; 20. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[29]; 21. 2-Travis Hofstetter[20]; 22. 24A-AJ Lewis[12]; 23. 98-Jonah Mutton[24]; 24. 29W-Tyler Ward[26]; 25. 28T-Cameron Thomson[17]; 26. 14W-Greg Wilson[11]; 27. 777-Cameron Olm[22]; 28. (DNF) 44-Connor Ross[27]; 29. (DNF) 777A-Tyler Willard[23]; 30. (DNF) 8-Trevor Young[28]
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 74-Rob Neely[4]; 2. 29W-Tyler Ward[1]; 3. 44-Connor Ross[2]; 4. 8-Trevor Young[8]; 5. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[3]; 6. 9-Adam Turner[7]; 7. 14B-Broden Weiler[12]; 8. 5-Tom Pellezari[14]; 9. 27-Niko Hansen[5]; 10. 93-Guy Gosselin[13]; 11. M52-Marc Surprenant[15]; 12. 3-Brad Bacher[11]; 13. 24K-Kiana Teal[9]; 14. 26-John Verney[10]; 15. 69K-Ken Hamilton[16]; 16. (DNS) 99-Joshua Hill; 17. (DNS) 38-Melissa Miller
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9C-Brian Nanticoke[1]; 2. 94-Ryan Fraser[2]; 3. 71-Brent Begolo[10]; 4. 2S-Al Sleight[4]; 5. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[9]; 6. 777A-Tyler Willard[5]; 7. 4B-Darrell Pelletier[7]; 8. 44-Connor Ross[11]; 9. 14B-Broden Weiler[6]; 10. M52-Marc Surprenant[3]; 11. 69K-Ken Hamilton[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[4]; 2. 14W-Greg Wilson[1]; 3. 72-Tanner Podwinski[2]; 4. 88-Lance Erskine[5]; 5. 24A-AJ Lewis[8]; 6. 777-Cameron Olm[6]; 7. 29W-Tyler Ward[9]; 8. 26-John Verney[3]; 9. 9-Adam Turner[10]; 10. 5-Tom Pellezari[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 16X-Keegan Baker[1]; 2. 50LS-Adrian Stahle[2]; 3. BS39-Brett Stratford[6]; 4. 52L-Lucas Smith[5]; 5. 28T-Cameron Thomson[7]; 6. 98-Jonah Mutton[3]; 7. 99-Joshua Hill[4]; 8. 27-Niko Hansen[9]; 9. 3-Brad Bacher[8]; 10. (DNS) 38-Melissa Miller
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 00-Mack DeMan[1]; 2. 20-Johnny Miller[2]; 3. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[3]; 4. 53-Logan Shwedyk[4]; 5. 87-Andrew Hennessy[5]; 6. 2-Travis Hofstetter[8]; 7. 74-Rob Neely[7]; 8. 8-Trevor Young[6]; 9. 24K-Kiana Teal[9]; 10. 93-Guy Gosselin[10]