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Our Season is Winding Down but the Action is Winding Up!

Recap for Thursday August 14, 2025

The night of Thursday August 14th marked our 5th regular racenight of the 2025 season. It was also our last regular Thursday Night Thunder racenight for this season; our two remaining scheduled racenights will be our Season Finale Mike Parson's Memorial weekend happening on Friday August 22nd, and Saturday August 23rd; more on that below.

This racenight was perhaps one of the best of our short season, the program ran smoothly, with few delays due to incidents, and fast races on the track. The weather was warmer than expected with temperatures at the beginning in the mid 20's dropping down to about 20 at the end of the race program.

After the qualifying session from 6 pm, races got started a bit past 7 following the national anthems, with a heat race in the Service Rentals and Sales Super Late Model Division

Service Rentals and Sales Super Late Models:

During the qualifying session there were eight Service Rentals and Sales Super Late Models out, including Chase Wilson, out for the first time this season in his familiar #77; Chase was out last week driving in the Dan Byrnes - Twin Contracting number #46. Also out qualifying was #61 Dustin Jackson, who was doing "double duty" for the night, also running his modified. Fast qualifier was Chase Wilson with a time of 14.117 seconds around the 1/3 mile Laird oval. Top 4 qualifiers were separated by approximately 2/10ths of a second, which promised some close racing action for the night. The division ran a single 10 lap heat, and a 25 lap feature during the night.

Six of the eight qualifiers were out for the 10 lap heat; missing was #50 Rob Hiiemaa and #61 Dustin Jackson. The race started with #826 Jordan Parniak and #56 Mike Heinonen in he front. Parniak led the first couple laps then was passed by #33 Jordan Roccetta and a couple others. On lap 3 caution flew when Parniak and Wilson collided going into corner 1; Parniak was sent to the back. The race restarted and caution was out again with Heinonen spinning by himself up into corner 2. On the restart #33 Jordan Rocchetta had the lead, with #79 Roddy Bolduc and #77 Chase Wilson behind, they raced that way to the end with Rocchetta taking the checkers.

Right after intermission the Super Late Models came out for their 25 lap feature; all 8 qualifiers were out to run. Caution was out on the initial lap when Rocchetta ran into the back of #56 Mike Heinonen, sending Heinonen into a spin on the backstretch. Rocchetta was cautioned by flagman Ron Schmidt and the group did a full race restart.

Bolduc and Heinonen led them off again. Bolduc led the first couple laps, while Heinonen drifted back a bit. On lap 3 Bolduc went off the pace and slowed around the track bringing out the caution then leaving. The race restarted and ran caution free to the end. Dustin Jackson restarted up front and led all laps to the win, with Jordan Sims and Chase Wilson at first running side by side right behind. Late in the race Wilson secured 2nd and finished beside Jackson just 1/10th of a second behind at the line. Sims took 3rd, crossing the line a half second behind Jackson.

In the season points championship #47 Jordan Sims retains top spot. Jordan Rocchetta bumped Jordan Parniak from 2nd, currently 25 points back. Parniak and Bolduc are now tied for 3rd, both 26 points behind the leader. Mike Heinonen is also close to the others in 5th, 29 points back. With just two racenights remaining it will be difficult for any of these others to displace Sims from top spot, short of Sims not being able to run some races or not showing up. Second through fifth are all up for grabs and any one of Rocchetta, Parniak, Bolduc, or Heinonen can better their position.

Results:

Qualifying: 1. 77-Chase Wilson, 00:14.117[6]; 2. 47-Jordan Sims, 00:14.147[1]; 3. 33-Jordan Rocchetta, 00:14.198[2]; 4. 61-Dustin Jackson, 00:14.331[5]; 5. 79-Roddy Bolduc, 00:14.445[3]; 6. 50-Rob Hiiemaa, 00:14.822[7]; 7. 56-Mike Heinonen, 00:14.850[8]; 8. 826-Jordan Parniak, 00:14.972[4]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 33-Jordan Rocchetta[4]; 2. 79-Roddy Bolduc[3]; 3. 77-Chase Wilson[5]; 4. 47-Jordan Sims[6]; 5. 56-Mike Heinonen[2]; 6. 826-Jordan Parniak[1]

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 61-Dustin Jackson[4]; 2. 77-Chase Wilson[5]; 3. 47-Jordan Sims[6]; 4. 33-Jordan Rocchetta[3]; 5. 50-Rob Hiiemaa[7]; 6. 56-Mike Heinonen[1]; 7. 826-Jordan Parniak[8]; 8. (DNF) 79-Roddy Bolduc[2]

Highland Ford Factory Stock Division:

There were once again thirteen Highland Ford Factory Stocks out for qualifying earlier in the evening. Top qualifier was #75 Kenn Schwarz with a time of 15.930 seconds. Schwarz has been progressively getting faster through the season. The division was split in two for a single 10 lap heat each, then a 20 lap feature with all later on.

The first heat was only four cars; missing from the lineup were Andrew Givens and Cody Champagne. The race ran quick and caution free with #77 Ed Lapish taking the win over the others.

The second heat consisted of 7 cars and like the first heat ran fast and caution free. #75 Ken Schwarz was on rails and took the win, almost 3 seconds ahead of #80 Brad Bibeau.

All thirteen were out for the feature but #33 Cody Champagne broke down during parade laps and had to be towed off before the green flag flew. There were two cautions during the race, the first was for #711 Shanna Harten taking a spin off the front stretch at the start of lap 5, into the infield up near corner 1. Until that point the race had been led by Ed Lapish with a lead of about 12 car lengths over the rest of the field. The 2nd caution flew on lap 9 when #74 Brian Jobst running second went inside up the front stretch in front of #80 Brad Bibeau; before they had sorted it out Bibeau bumped into the back of Jobst in corner 1 and both went for a spin. Jobst restarted at the rear.

On the restart Lapish had the Brad and Daniel Bibeau starting right behind him. Lapish was able to hold them off for a bit over a lap before being passed by the brothers on lap 10. The race ran the remaining 15 laps with #08 Dan Bibeau taking the win over brother #80 Brad. #75 Kenn Schwarz turned in an impressive race finishing 3rd, and Lapish 4th.

The Factory Stock division has been very competitive all season. Going into the evening #711 Shanna Harten had the points lead over #4 Dale Tucker, two points back. Coming out of the night Tucker took up the lead with 132 points, one point ahead of Harten. #80 Brad Bibeau jumped up a few spots to 3rd - now 6 points behind Harten, #29 Xavier Carter remains in 4th currently 7 points back and 5th is #72 Teagan Lapish 16 points behind the leader. Owen Brown was absent during the night and has dropped further in the standings down to 7th place behind #77 Ed Lapish. The factory stock division will be one to watch on our final two racenights.

Results:

Qualifying: 1. 75-Kenn Schwarz, 00:15.930[10]; 2. 80-Brad Bibeau, 00:16.130[5]; 3. 711-Shanna Harten, 00:16.243[2]; 4. 66-ALEX RANKIN, 00:16.291[13]; 5. 08-Daniel Bibeau, 00:16.293[3]; 6. 29-Xavier Carter, 00:16.404[11]; 7. 74-BRIAN JOBST, 00:16.447[4]; 8. 4-Dale Tucker, 00:16.481[12]; 9. 88-Rob Wagner, 00:16.505[6]; 10. 15G-Andrew Givens, 00:16.552[1]; 11. 77-Ed Lapish, 00:16.635[7]; 12. 33-Cody Champagne, 00:16.689[8]; 13. 72-Teagan Lapish, 00:17.078[9]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 77-Ed Lapish[2]; 2. 4-Dale Tucker[3]; 3. 72-Teagan Lapish[1]; 4. 88-Rob Wagner[4]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 75-Kenn Schwarz[4]; 2. 80-Brad Bibeau[6]; 3. 29-Xavier Carter[2]; 4. 74-BRIAN JOBST[1]; 5. 08-Daniel Bibeau[3]; 6. 711-Shanna Harten[5]; 7. 66-ALEX RANKIN[7]

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 08-Daniel Bibeau[7]; 2. 80-Brad Bibeau[12]; 3. 75-Kenn Schwarz[11]; 4. 77-Ed Lapish[2]; 5. 711-Shanna Harten[10]; 6. 4-Dale Tucker[5]; 7. 29-Xavier Carter[8]; 8. 88-Rob Wagner[4]; 9. 74-BRIAN JOBST[6]; 10. 66-ALEX RANKIN[9]; 11. 72-Teagan Lapish[1]; 12. (DNF) 15G-Andrew Givens[3]; 13. (DNS) 33-Cody Champagne

NAPA Reyco Automotive Modified Division:

There were 9 NAPA Reyco Automotive modifieds out on track for qualifying early in the evening including #36 Jesse Bailey out for his first run this year. Fast qualifier for the night was #61 Dustin Jackson with a time of 15.142 seconds. The division continues to be very competitive week after week. This week the top 5 qualifiers were less than 4/10ths of a second apart. The modifieds ran a two 10 lap heats and a 25 lap feature during the night.

In the first heat the 9 qualifiers were joined by a 10th car, #15 Chris Miller. Caution flew once at the midway point of the race with the leader #81 Craig Seabrook being spun at the beginning of the backstretch by #28 Mark Porpealia. Porpealia was sent to the rear. Until the caution cars had not broken up and were still running side by side. After the caution Brothers #02, and #01 John Ross started behind Seabrook. As the race completed #61 Dustin Jackson had moved up to 2nd. #81 Craig Seabrook led 8 of 10 laps and took the win.

All 10 were back out for their second heat a bit later. #28 Mark Porpealia got a good run from his 2nd row start and took the lead for the first couple laps. Caution flew on lap 3 when #01 Jerry Ross and #36 Jesse Bailey got together towards the end of the backstretch. Porpelia continued to lead after the caution until he was passed by #84 Mark Laakso and #78 Jason Herrington. A couple laps later #61 Dustin Jackson worked his way up to 2nd. The race finished with Laakso taking the checkered flag for a spin around the oval.

The 25 lap feature was led by #86 Dylan (The Grinch) Connolly for the first 10 laps until he was overtaken by #61 Dustin Jackson. Caution flew on lap 13 when #78 Jason Herrington drove into the back of #02 John Ross going through corner 3. Ross spun and Herrington went around him. Brother Jerry in the #01 got collected and spun into the infield out of corner 4. Jerry was unable to continue and was towed off. Herrington restarted at the back. Jackson restarted the race out front and built a 2 second lead over #84 Mark Laakso. Jackson had his second feature win of the night.

In the season's point standings Jackson opened his lead a bit, now with 177 points. Laakso remains in 2nd, now a bit further back, 30 points points behind Jackson (25 points back going in), and Herrington remains 3rd in the standings 42 points back (31 points back going into the night).

Results:

Qualifying: 1. 61-Dustin Jackson, 00:15.142[8]; 2. 78-Jason Herrington, 00:15.337[3]; 3. 84-Mark Laakso, 00:15.444[4]; 4. 02-John Ross, 00:15.488[6]; 5. 28-Mark Porpealia, 00:15.497[1]; 6. 01-Jerry Ross, 00:15.531[5]; 7. 81-CRAIG SEABROOK, 00:15.561[9]; 8. 86-Dylan Connolly, 00:15.755[7]; 9. 36-Jesse Bailey, 00:16.122[2]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 81-CRAIG SEABROOK[1]; 2. 61-Dustin Jackson[7]; 3. 02-John Ross[4]; 4. 01-Jerry Ross[2]; 5. 84-Mark Laakso[5]; 6. 78-Jason Herrington[6]; 7. 86-Dylan Connolly[10]; 8. 28-Mark Porpealia[3]; 9. 15-Chris Miller[8]; 10. 36-Jesse Bailey[9]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 84-Mark Laakso[5]; 2. 61-Dustin Jackson[8]; 3. 78-Jason Herrington[6]; 4. 28-Mark Porpealia[3]; 5. 02-John Ross[4]; 6. 86-Dylan Connolly[7]; 7. 81-CRAIG SEABROOK[10]; 8. 15-Chris Miller[9]; 9. 01-Jerry Ross[2]; 10. 36-Jesse Bailey[1]

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 61-Dustin Jackson[8]; 2. 84-Mark Laakso[6]; 3. 28-Mark Porpealia[3]; 4. 02-John Ross[4]; 5. 86-Dylan Connolly[1]; 6. 78-Jason Herrington[5]; 7. 15-Chris Miller[10]; 8. 36-Jesse Bailey[7]; 9. (DNF) 81-CRAIG SEABROOK[9]; 10. (DNF) 01-Jerry Ross[2]

Equipment World Factory Four Division:

In Equipment World Factory Four action we continue to have a high car count, with 18 out for qualifying. Fast qualifier was #3 Christopher Viotto. The division was split in two and each had a single heat, then later the group was together for a 20 lap feature.

The heat for the first group consisted of 8 cars. Caution flew at the beginning when #97 Dustin Couturier went sailing off the top of corner 2 down into the trees and bushes. It looked kind of like he was unable to slow - brake failure maybe? It took a few minutes for the Laird wrecker to fish him out. The race was restarted and #3 Christopher Viotto, starting at the back, rocketed to the front and gained the lead from #13 Logan Lavoy on lap 2. At the end of the race Viotto crossed the line over 6 seconds ahead of #22x Lucas Crosato.

The heat for the second group consisted of 9 cars. The group had a hard time lining up and starting but after a false start then a restart they got going. #21 Darryl Whitmel won the race, having run about a quarter lap ahead of 2nd place finisher #07 Bill Siddall at the end.

In the feature, there were 17 cars out to race. The race was set as a 20 lap feature but after a couple of long cautions an cleanup it was shortened down to 15 laps. The first caution was on the second lap. Cars were running 4 wide up the front stretch. Going into corner 1 #79 Cody Herrington got knocked into a spin in corner 1 and wasn't able to recover, going up the track and t-boning #96 Shawn Desjardins. Both were done for the night.

#13 Logan Lavoy led the first 6 laps of the race and had more than a quarter lap lead on the cars racing for 2nd, then the second caution came out. This time it was #21 Darryl Whitmel and #22x Lucas Crosato colliding in corner 1. Whitmel left shortly after. With the restart bringing them all back together, Lavoy was only able to lead one more lap before being overtaken by #3 Christopher Viotto. A couple laps later Lavoy brought out the caution with a slide in corner 3 - he went in a bit hot. Another restart and another caution, this time it was #86 Ryan Sharpe going in hot in corner 3 and spinning. Sharpe was unable to restart and it took a few minutes to remove his car. A this point officials decided to shorten the race. The last 6 laps were completed with #3 Christopher Viotto being unchallenged for the win, finishing more than 4 seconds ahead of 2nd place finisher Crosato.

In the points championship #16 Dyllen Sherrard maintains the points lead with 154 points, expanding his lead by 4 more points over #4 Kayleigh Tucker in 2nd, now 28 points back. #3 Chris Viotto jumps up into 3rd - 37 points behind the leader.

Results:

Qualifying: 1. 3-Christopher Viotto, 00:17.064[4]; 2. 16-Dyllen Sherrard, 00:17.261[1]; 3. 14-Chris Pinder, 00:17.432[16]; 4. 51-Gianni Viotto, 00:17.544[3]; 5. 22X-Lucas Crosato, 00:17.583[8]; 6. 4-Kayleigh Tucker, 00:17.622[2]; 7. 86-Ryan Sharpe, 00:17.677[10]; 8. 13-Logan Lavoy, 00:18.100[9]; 9. 97-Dustin Couturier, 00:18.134[17]; 10. 07-BILL SIDDALL, 00:18.378[15]; 11. 08-Alex Lapensee, 00:18.525[12]; 12. 21-Daryl Whitmel, 00:18.581[7]; 13. 96-Shawn Desjardins, 00:18.629[5]; 14. 94-Seth Ralph, 00:18.705[18]; 15. 76-Tim Pascall, 00:19.147[14]; 16. 79-Cody Herrington, 00:19.255[6]; 17. 77-HARMONY SWAIN, 00:19.609[13]; 18. 30-Tehden McBride, 00:19.723[11]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 3-Christopher Viotto[7]; 2. 22X-Lucas Crosato[3]; 3. 13-Logan Lavoy[2]; 4. 14-Chris Pinder[5]; 5. 16-Dyllen Sherrard[8]; 6. 4-Kayleigh Tucker[4]; 7. 51-Gianni Viotto[6]; 8. 86-Ryan Sharpe[9]; 9. 97-Dustin Couturier[1]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Daryl Whitmel[7]; 2. 07-BILL SIDDALL[8]; 3. 96-Shawn Desjardins[4]; 4. 08-Alex Lapensee[6]; 5. 76-Tim Pascall[2]; 6. 79-Cody Herrington[3]; 7. 30-Tehden McBride[1]; 8. 77-HARMONY SWAIN[9]; 9. (DNF) 94-Seth Ralph[5]

Feature (20 Laps): 1. 3-Christopher Viotto[15]; 2. 22X-Lucas Crosato[12]; 3. 16-Dyllen Sherrard[13]; 4. 07-BILL SIDDALL[16]; 5. 4-Kayleigh Tucker[11]; 6. 13-Logan Lavoy[9]; 7. 97-Dustin Couturier[7]; 8. 94-Seth Ralph[4]; 9. 30-Tehden McBride[2]; 10. 77-HARMONY SWAIN[17]; 11. (DNF) 86-Ryan Sharpe[10]; 12. (DNF) 08-Alex Lapensee[8]; 13. (DNF) 76-Tim Pascall[3]; 14. (DNF) 14-Chris Pinder[14]; 15. (DNF) 79-Cody Herrington[1]; 16. (DNF) 96-Shawn Desjardins[5]; 17. (DQ) 21-Daryl Whitmel[6]

AIM Recycling Enduro Division:

The AIM Recycling Enduros ran a 15 lap feature at the end of the night with 13 participants. The current points leaders, #19 Dayne Lorenzo, #95 Chris Pinder, and #44 Eric Sylvestre all started at the back. By lap 3, Lorenzo had got past everyone to take the lead. One lap later and Sylvestre had himself in 2nd, and Pinder 3rd. By lap 6 Lorenzo started to lap cars with Sylvestre and Pinder following on subsequent laps. As they were making their way through lap traffic Sylvestre managed to take a lead on lap 11. Lorenzo got ahead again but almost immediately after doing so he got pushed out of the way by Sylvestre. Sylvestre took the win, Lorenzo 2nd - 3.3 seconds later, and Pinder 3rd, 8.8 seconds behind the leader. All others finished either one or two laps down.

In the points standings in the division going into the race Lorenzo was running in the lead a point ahead of Pinder, and two ahead of Sylvestre. After this race Lorenzo remains the leader a point ahead of Sylvestre, and two point ahead of Pinder. The three leaders are turning lap times competitive with the Factory Four division cars.

Results:

Feature (15 Laps): 1. 44-Eric Sylvestre[13]; 2. 19-DAYNE LORENZO[12]; 3. 95-Chris Pinder[11]; 4. 94-hunter lewis[6]; 5. 25-ASHLEY MORIN[8]; 6. 55-Hayden Lewis[9]; 7. 57-JOHN DUBOIS[10]; 8. 07-Tannis Wirth[7]; 9. 77-Ben Price[1]; 10. 66-Cord Hughson[4]; 11. 92-Tiana Wiegand[2]; 12. 03-Chassie Stjules[3]; 13. 420-SAMARA JAMES[5]

Intermission:

We had a short intermission with another Lawnmower Race courtesy of the Algoma Lawnmower Racing Association (ALMRA). The track was a bit dusty again. Only three were competing during the race, Aaron “El Chapo” Chapman, Darcy Reid and Ray Ferguson. For the second week in a row El Chapo took the win and was interviewed on the front stretch by announcer Greg Brazeau. (Correction: Darcy Reid wasn’t able to make it out due to a breakdown, Dyllen Sherrard was 2nd)

Through the night Announcers Greg Brazeau and Ron Caruso handed out some freebies to fans, donated by drivers and sponsors. Four lucky kids were provided with brand new bicycles.

Our racenight ended at 10:20 pm.

Photos from the night can be found on our website under the “media” menu item - https://www.lairdraceway.com/gallery/ You will find there driver photos, qualifying and car photos, and various photos from our racenight. Did we get your picture during the night? Look there to see.

Fans are also invited to view the Laird Raceway Facebook page to get current news and updates including weather cancellations, announcements, and more at https://www.facebook.com/lairdraceway

General track information is available here on our website at https://www.lairdraceway.com. Here you will find post-race writeups, photos, results, point standings and more.

More news articles and videos relating to Laird Raceway and other local sports events can be found on Jay Houslander's SaultSports.com website

Our final race nights of this season are scheduled for the evenings of Friday Aug 22nd, and Saturday Aug 23rd - The Mike Parsons Memorial Weekend, featuring a Saturday night 73 Lap Late Model race with a purse including $10,000 to win and substantial payouts for other participants. The weekend brings in some top Southern Ontario competitors in the Late Model division, vying for the $10K win.

Camping is available onsite for Friday and Saturday night. Some conditions apply. Contact Stephanie at Lakeway Truck Centre to get the details and to register/reserve a spot.

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