Mike Bowman Kicks Off ’25 Southern Ontario Sprints Season With Merrittville Speedway Win
Story By: JONATHON HOWE / MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY – THOROLD, ONT – The Southern Ontario Sprints kicked off their 2025 season of 360 Sprint Car racing with their opening event, held Saturday night at Merrittville Speedway, and it was won by Mike Bowman of Stevensville, On.
The race started with Mike Bowman and Baily Heard out front. The caution fell for the first time on lap 2 with Joe Trenca and Alex Bergeron tangled.
Bowman continued to lead after solo spins by Dylan Westbrook and Ashton VanEvery put the field under yellow on lap 10 and lap 12 respectively.
On the restart, Darren Dryden, who took over the second spot from Heard prior to the lap 12 incident, kept the pressure on Bowman, even threatening for the top spot while they battled their way through lap traffic until a spin by Matt Farnham in turn four on lap 23 set up a Green – White- Checkered.
The single file restart played into Bowman’s favour once again and he was able to pick up his second straight win at Merrittville after taking the Modified Feature win on opening night.
Dryden held on for while Heard, who hadn’t raced a Sprint Car since 2023, finished in third, a career best.
Southern Ontario Sprints – MIKE BOWMAN, Darren Dryden, Baily Heard, Todd Hoddick, D.J. Christie, Jordan Poirier, Ryan Turner, Dylan Westbrook, Allan Downey, Eric Gledhill, Josh Hansen, Travis Cunningham, Cory Turner, Skylar Evans, Scott Hall, Matt Farnham, Alex Bergeron, Ashton VanEvery, Joe Trenca, (DNS) Aaron Turkey
Heat Winners – Kyle Phillips, Darren Dryden, Mike Bowman
Quick Time – D.J. Christie 13.257
