DSE Sportsman Series kicks off 2014 season with Great Turnout
CAYUGA, ON – The 3rd annual Season Opener kicked off the 2014 campaign for DSE Sportsman Racing Series competitors this past 
weekend with over 115 competitors from all over Ontario and Western New York converging on Toronto Motorsports Park for a weekend of Championship Bracket Racing that unfortunately was cut short on Sunday by mother nature.
Saturday’s opening round of competition saw DSE competitors take to the legendary quarter mile drag strip under blue skies and warm mid 70’s conditions which in turn helped produce a fantastic racing surface that even the Paton Family Top Fuel Dragster team took advantage of to get some pre-national event testing in before Epping.
HeadsUpRacer.com Quick 16 presented by Lowdown Hot Rods hit the track for their first Championship Points season with Dragster driver Tom Bene taking both the number one qualifier with a 7.15 E.T and eventual event win over Top Sportsman competitor Steve Corriveau and his low 7 second Chevy II. As low qualifier, Bene also took home a case of Renegade Race Fuels and Lubricants Oil for his efforts on Saturday.
Ian Hill Racing/ATI Performance Products Modified saw 39 first round competitors square off on Saturday, with Craig Wilson and Gary McDonald racing into the final round. In that final round, Wilson used his reaction time advantage to push McDonald into a double breakout where Wilson would take the win by a narrow .007 of a second.
DSEAutomotive.ca Super Bike/Sled found two bikes in the final round for the first time in many races with Ray Philp taking on former DSE winner Lyle Elliot. Both racers left very little on the starting line with Elliot launching with a .021 light to Philp’s .023, however it was Philp who was able to get to the finish line first with a 9.96 ET on his 9.91 dial in for the victory.
Performance Improvements Street Eliminator saw newcomer Scott Cline and Street Eliminator veteran Brian Hampson in the Saturday Final Round. Cline used a great .045 and 14.54 on his 14.49 dial in to get around Hampson’s package and claim his first Street Eliminator win as well as the points lead.
The Corriveau Concrete forming supplies Jr Dragster Category saw defending Jr dragster Points Champion Emily Ramundo make her way into her first final round of 2014 to match up against young Jack Barnes. Following in the footsteps of his multi time Championship winning father Ted Barnes, Jack used a big starting line advantage to hold off Emily’s hard charging 7.90 dialed Jr for his first win in his new Dragster.
Renegade Race Fuels Super Pro category saw two very familiar faces to the DSE electronics class in the final round on Saturday, as 2012 Super Pro Champion Steve Ferstl in his S&W Dragster faced off against Andrew Stirk and his Super Gas 1963 corvette Roadster. Both competitors ran their dial ins to within 3 one thousandths of a second, however it was Stirks .015 reaction time advantage that made the difference and allowed him to take the early win and points lead.
The Final class run on Saturday was the Box/No Box Combo race, which takes place after round two of the main event and is open to any competitor wishing to enter. The final of the combo saw Box ET racer Brad Redford take on Super Stock and No/Box racer Chuck Nagy square off. Redford took a .012 reaction time advantage at the line and used that to help force a double breakout race at the finshline, winning by a mere .005.
Unfortunately Sundays racing action came to a grinding halt shortly after Modified Eliminators first round of competition was complete due to a large Rain system that had quickly moved in, forcing TMP and DSE officials to cancel the rest of Sundays Scheduled racing activities.
The next event in the $23,500 DSE Automotive Sportsman Racing Series is the 3rd Annual Joe’s Transmission Services Canada Day Spectacular June 27-29th 2014 at Toronto Motorsports Park featuring both the NHRA “King of the Track” Wally race on Saturday and the NHRA Jr Drag Racing League Challenge both Saturday and Sunday for the Jr Dragster Racers.
More information on the DSE Sportsman Racing Series can be found at www.sportsmanracingseries.ca
Photo Credit Stacee Kenington
