Laird drops green flag on new racing season

After their first scheduled races were postponed due to the threat of bad weather, Laird International Raceway officially kicked off their 2005 racing season on Saturday afternoon.

The races were pushed back to Saturday after the threat of rain caused track management to cancel another set of races deciding to move them to the weekend.

For Factory Stock veteran Steve Kent, it was a great day for racing as he rode his No. 3 Factory Stock car to a pair of Heat victories on the afternoon. Kent also earned himself top spot in the first Factory Stock feature of the season allowing him to get a very early jump in the points race this season.

Kent finished last season in third in the Factory Stock points race behind second place John Fragale and champion David Slingsby.

The Stock Four division, which features a number of new racers on the scene, saw Gord Hunt win the first feature race of the season for the division. Hunt edged out Dave King for the victory.

Hunt and King were also prominent in the Stock Four Heat races with King edging out Hunt in the first heat before Hunt was victorious in heat two. The two veterans of the Stock Four Division both finished in the top five in the Stock Four points race last season – King in third spot and Hunt in fourth.

Kevin Oicle rode his No. 88 Modified car to a points championship in the Modified division last season, winning the title by 64 points over Randy Hache. If his start to this season is any indication, he could be in for another very successful season.

Oicle started his night off by coming out victorious in both Modified heat races and then proceeded to sweep the Modified events by winning the 20-lap feature race.

The Late Model Division opened up the night with the Fast Car Dash as new Late Model racer Cory Furkey went up against Late Model veterans Rod Bolduc, Rob Sartini and fast qualifier George Wilson. Car problems for Sartini saw the race finish under a caution flag, allowing Furkey to win his first Late Model race.

Heat one for the Late Models saw Rod Bolduc hold off the persistent efforts of Jeremy Van Hoek and hold on for a victory. Van Hoek got his revenge though as he came out victorious in Heat two, despite charges by Wilson and Bolduc to overtake him.

The 25-lap Late Model feature race saw seven drivers open the race, but only four actually completed the race. Wilson and Van Hoek battled throughout much of the race and Wilson overtook Van Hoek for the lead midway through the race and held off the young driver to take the first Late Model feature victory of the season.

Action continues this Thursday night at Laird with a full schedule planned.