The Brachmann Racing team took to both the Ransomville and Merrittville Speedways this past weekend, looking for that elusive win in this 2010 season.

 Friday night at the Ransomville Speedway, Chad would qualify for this weeks feature through his heat and find himself in the 14^th starting position for the nights feature event. It took just a few laps for the Sanborn NY driver to get to 11^th, before a caution on lap 2 came out for Anthony Rizzardo. Right on Chad’s tail were Mr Small Block Pete Bicknell, last weeks feature winner Danny Johnson and the 6* car that was being piloted for the evening by Clifton Springs NY driver and friend Gary Tomkins.

Chad was on the move in the early stages of the race, slipping past sophomore driver Matt Williamson on the bottom side of the speedway on lap 4 and had garnered the 7^th position in the field by lap 6. Lap 10 saw Chad, Bicknell and local standout Robbie Krull in a heated three way battle for the eighth position that left Chad in the 8 hole and pushed Bicknell past and into 7^th when a second caution came upon the field. On the restart, Bicknell would rocket to the 6^th position, while Chad fought for 6 laps before diving under Pete Cosco and taking the 7^th position away on lap 18. Chad would eventually make his way into the 6^th position before the checkers flew and saw the Doctor take home his second feature in as many weeks while Todd Gordon took runner up honours and Bicknell would finish 3^rd on the evening.

 Monday night, the eve of the Canadian holiday weekend, the Merrittville Speedway hosted the first event of the season for the 358 Modified Super Dirtcar Series, and what an event it turned out to be. Looking down pit road with just a half hour until hot laps, names such as Brett Hearn, Pat O’Brien, Dale Planck, Jimmy Phelps and David Hebert were unloaded and ready to steal the spotlight from local standouts Bicknell, Brachmann and Scott Wood. Once again Tomkins was in attendance, however, this time he was piloting the back up car for Brachmann Racing, hoping to bring home his first checkers of the year as well.

 As difficult as it seems, both Chad and Gary drew to line up in the first heat and qualification group. After a tough time qualifying, Chad would start the heat in the 7^th position, while Tomkins timed to start in the 5^th spot. On a dry race surface that made the bottom of the speedway the place to be, Tomkins would hold his 5^th place and Chad would sneak into the 6^th position, but neither car would make tremendous gains on others. This left both drivers forced to race their way into the feature through the consolation races later in the evening.

 Tomkins would start on the pole in the first consi, and pulled away from the field after just 3 of the scheduled 10 laps and left local driver Mike Bowman chasing furiously until a caution flew on lap 5. On the restart, Tomkins would smash the gas and regain his 3 car length lead and ride it to checkers followed by Bowman and Mark DIlario.

 Chad would start the second consi in the 3^rd starting position, but already having a qualified spot in the feature from his top 12 points finish in last years series events, left him the opportunity to make improvements to his machine for 10 laps. Chad would move into the second position, and while reeling in Luke Whittaker, eventually ran out of laps while Hebert would settle for 3^rd.

 Feature time, and Tomkins would ride off in the 21^st position, Chad would attempt to make a charge from the 24^th position, deep in the 30 car field against some of the greats in the Northeast. Just 12 laps in, Tomkins has moved to 16^th, and Chad sits 20^th, however, both are looking to the inside groove to make gains and it is as congested as the freeway on your drive home from work. A second caution would eventually fly on lap 25 as Tomkins was in a battle with Stewart Friesen and Chad was looking for an opening around fast Freddy Carleton.

 Just past the halfway point of the race, local driver Rob Pietz looses the handle on his machine and leaves Chad inches from the front stretch wall, enticing a quick recovery and a spot next to Pietz for the following restart. Up to lap 75 and while Chad continues to make gains on the speedway, Tomkins has lost handling in his 3T car and taken it pit side for the night. A post race comment would state that the car was very loose in the corners and destined for trouble. Chad would begin his surge that first saw him power past Freddy on the restart, then battle his way past locals Rick Richner and Ferri, while diving under Danny O’Brien in the closing laps for a 7^th place finish.

Dirtcar Big Block regular Hearn would set fast time, draw the pole starting position and keep it for the entire 100 lap feature while fellow tour driver Phelps would wheel his ride normally driven by Scott Kerwin to a runner up finish and 1/1000^th of a second from checkers. Danny Johnson would finish 3^rd and was right there for the last 20 laps looking to take down his third feature of the weekend, but came up just short on this operation.

 We hope to see you again this Memorial Day weekend for a special 50 lap feature Friday at the Ransomville Speedway, while regular events are scheduled for the Merrittville Speedway and a possible appearance again at the Humberstone Speedway. Celebrate in style this weekend and why not get a little, dirty.

Photo courtesy of Alex and Helen Bruce Photography