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By Andy Campbell - voice of the CARQUEST Pro Stock Tour

The Parts For Trucks 100 at Centre for Speed (July 15, 2006)

July 16, 2006

By far, the best race of the season so far.

Maybe it was the fact that we’re half way through. Maybe it was the fact that the Centre for Speed has a little more room than most tracks. Maybe it was the Bologna Burgers.

Whatever it was, we can only hope it’s contagious.

45 minutes, green to checkers. Three cautions. THREE cautions! Wow.

Just when you think Rollie MacDonald is slowing down, he goes and wins a race. It wasn’t as dominating a performance as John Flemming’s the week before, but make no mistake, MacDonald was unstoppable in Shediac.

He claims he didn’t have the best of cars through practice and time trials and that he really only “found” the car in his heat race. Starting from 12th on the grid, MacDonald slowly weaved his way through the field. Quietly, into the top ten. Stealthily, into the top five. Hey, isn’t that Rollie in third? Gordie Ryan fought valiantly to hold his lead, but he never had a chance. The only thing that might’ve saved Ryan, would’ve been racing in the Parts For Trucks 65.

Congratulations to Rollie. He’s not a full-time tour competitor this season. It’d be nice to think the win would change his mind.

I don’t know about you, but I really enjoyed seeing some new blood in the Motor Mart Dash.

Tim Rogers has been a tour regular for as long as I can remember. Darren Vanderaa and Mike Stevens were nice additions too.

The race in Shediac is the shortest tow of the season for Brad Mann, so I was surprised to hear him say “I hate this place.”

Let me explain.

With all the room available at the Centre for Speed, the oval is more like a circle. Brad’s logic is that he never stops turning. He prefers Scotia Speedworld or NBIS, where he straightens out for a bit each lap.

Regardless of how he feels about the place, Mann won his heat, ran in the top ten much of the night and finished sixth. Not bad for running somewhere you don’t like.

Maybe Mike MacKenzie’s luck has turned. His third place run in Shediac comes a week after a top five finish at SSW.

MacKenzie, MacDonald, Scott Alexander and Flemming are among the Maritime pro stockers considering a trip to Oxford Plains Speedway in Maine for the annual TD Banknorth (Oxford) 250 (July 30).

The race in Shediac is a good place to judge how they might fair. The Shediac oval, or cirlcle is the closest match you’ll find in these parts to what is described as a “bull ring,” in Oxford.

Graham Spinney took his second green flag of the season. The dirt track veteran is fast, however, he’s still adjusting to running on asphalt. When that learning curve straightens out… CMPST competitors, look out.

Roger Crane is still smiling. One has to wonder what’s keeping that smile in place. Yet again, Crane failed to take the green flag in the feature. This time, mechanical troubles kept him out of the Parts For Trucks 100.

“We knew it would be tough,” says the driver of the #76 Montague Tire Monte Carlo. “These are the largest fields of cars the tour has seen in years. We may not have made a feature, but we’re learning and we’re still having fun.”

Roger Crane is one of those “glass is half full” people. Too bad more of us didn’t carry the same attitude.

Wayne Smith isn’t afraid of a challenge. For the third time in five races, and after replacing the enging block in his car after his troubles at SSW, he accepted the Pole Challenge, sponsored this week by MacDonald Pontiac Buick, in Moncton. Smith raced to a fifth place finish. Kind of makes you wonder where he’d have placed if he’d kept his fifth starting spot on the grid.

Scott Alexander’s wife Corinna was celebrating a birthday on Saturday. It would’ve been nice for her if Scott had remembered. The date apparently slipped his mind through much of the morning. Not until after a few subtle reminders was his memory jarred. As the story goes, Dan MacKay remembered before Corinna’s husband! There’s something a husband only forgets once.

Sandy Livingston was probably hoping for a better showing on what he considers his home track. The Springhill, N.S. native has been racing in Shediac for years. Like other teams, Livingston has a few corporate sponsors. But, he’s also got some good friends who sponsor him, albeit somewhat silently. You won’t see their name on the side of the #39 car, but a group known as “The Hog Boys,” has been working on Sandy’s behalf this season. Through some 50/50 draws and prize draws at work, they’ve raised enough money to buy Livingston a set of Hoosier slicks and more. Sandy is very appreciative of the efforts. Every little bits helps.

The marathon that is the month of July wraps up this coming weekend as the CARQUEST Maritime Pro Stock Tour returns to Raceway Park, in P.E.I.

Television has “The O.C.” The CMPST has “The O.B.”

It will be interesting to see if the Island drivers can keep the streak in tact. Between Kent Livingston, Kent Vincent, Greg Proude(twice) and Dale Holmes, they’ve won the past five Tour races in Oyster Bed Bridge.

See you there.

Click here for The Parts for Trucks 100 at Centre for Speed Notebook

Click here for Andy Campbell's bio

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