The Qwick Wick Can-Am Midgets presented by Miller Office Trailers rolled into Sauble Speedway in Hepworth, Ontario for the August long weekend. This was set to be the second double header of the season.
Night #1 had some scorching heat that had to have all the drivers to keep hydrated throughout the evening. A total of 16 cars were on hand to provide some good, hard racing to support the APC United Racing Series. Both heat races saw a mixture of the championship leaders trying to keep within reach for the championship. Heat race #1 went green to checkered other than a lot of smoke and fire from the #8x car of Cory Whittam ending the race with Darren McLennan (78) visiting Miller Office Trailers victory lane. Whittam was okay. Jody Bound (24) took heat race 2 going green to checkered as well. There was not a lot of time in between the heat races and the feature to dial in any adjustments to the drivers’ cars as the show had to go in with only a 15 minute break.
The 25-lap feature event saw an amazing 4 wide salute to the huge crowd. 4 wide of the 16 best looking TQ midgets in North America. The green flag waved with David Miller (11) and Jody Bound (24) leading the field. Immediate dicing throughout the field to get the best places as possible in the running order. Caution flew on just lap 3 with Whittam in the #8x car stopping on track with a rake failure. The restart would be the last of the race, with the top runners in the championship nose to tail for the lead. Blackburn, McLennan and Hawn were all trying to get ahead and receive the checkered flag. When the double flags waved, it was Blackburn who would stand atop his car in victory. James Stanley (57) and Dominique Smith (49) rounded out the top 5.
After a night of rest for all the drivers, crews and officials, everyone returned to the track on Sunday afternoon to do battle again. Practice would have some woes with mechanical failures from the #11 car of David Miller and 74 of Sherri Hogan. Miller would be done for the evening while Hogan jumped into a back up car out of the Mike Westwood stable. Heat race #1 went green to checkered with point leader Hawn taking the victory. Heat race #2 had some action with a caution on lap 2 for Whittam spinning with Larry Lawson (08) and Luc Munsie (55) spinning to avoid. Munsie was racing Whittam’s original car while visiting from Nova Scotia and would get his spot back for the restart. McLennan would claim the lead and visit Miller Office Trailers victory lane.
With some time between races this night out, a Dash for Cash race was set for 4 drivers to race a quick 4 laps for some cold, hard cash. Tyler Cullen (43) would claim the victory. No points up for grabs, but all cash. Thank you to Larry’s Small Engines of Orangeville for always putting some cash up for this race for our drivers and some extra laps for our fans.
The now 15-car field was set to do battle for 25 laps. The field was lead to green and battling for position from the back to the front. A spin collecting a few cars, including point contender McLennan. McLennan had to pit to his crew to get the front repaired before continuing. Westwood in the #91 car was dragging parts unable to finish. Along with the visiting Nova Scotian, Munsie with damage to the front axle after contact with another car trying to avoid. The restart was set with Hawn pursuing to the front before a spin by Stanley bringing out caution #2 of the race. The restart had everyone pushing the limits with 2021 series champion, Blackburn taking a spin on his own in turn 2. This would set up all 3 drivers who are chasing current point leader to the back of the pack with their issues. All 3 would have to hard charge to the front of the field to stay in contention for both the win, and championship. As a fan, this was fun to watch as all 3 were able to do this. Other than one more caution for a spinning 05 car of Cory Whittam, the rest of the race went green to checkered with Hawn taking the victory. McLennan and Blackburn out on a show getting through the field to finish on the podium and parking their cars in Miller Office Trailers victory lane.
We would like to thank Sauble Speedway for their hospitality all weekend, and to the amazing crowd who came out in full force both nights to support a great track and all the great series! The Qwick Wick Can-Am Midgets have just three races remaining in the season, with Sunset Speedway up next on August 17th.