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 Year-In-Review: Miller Tire Lightning Division By Tim Terry (January 2010) - Our Year in Reviews continue on ScotiaSpeedworld.ca with the entry division of stock car racing at the 3/10-mile oval. The Miller Tire Lightning class came out in 2008 chasing Andrew Starks. The sophomore from Truro who took the '08 championship by being consistent throughout the summer and amassing more points than former champions and race winners. Starks and team were busy over the winter as they built and prepped a new racecar for the 2009 season in an attempt to take down his second championship in the division in his third season of stock car racing at Scotia Speedworld! He would face stiff competition out of the gate as a twenty car field showed up to take the first green flag of the season on May 31st. When the checkered flag flew after the first twenty-lap main event of the season, it was one driver keeping up his momentum from the final races of 2008 - two of which he won! Russell Smith Jr. kept the ball rolling by picking up his third Miller Tire Lightning win in as many races at the track by grabbing checkers in the '09 Season Opener. Behind him, two Neons put on a show for second place with Russell's brother Jorden taking home the second place position in his first race! Dan Michaud Jr. in his #119 R&R Kinsmen Auto Salvage Neon took home third with Cody Singer coming home in fourth. Michaud and Singer picked up right where they left off in 2008 as they battled for the Rookie of the Year title in that season with Michaud edging Singer by a mere seven points. Division veterans also had a strong contingent in the top ten in the first race of '09 with Brian Parrott, Kevin Robar, Dan Smith, Jamie Dillman and Joey Sutherland posting solid runs with the defending champ Andrew Starks rounding out the first ten finishers on a Sunday afternoon. The Smith Brothers Racing team also fielded a Neon for Nick Hurshman. Hurshman got seat time at the end of the 2008 season and was ready to hit the ground running in 2009. That game plan was put into place on the second event of the season as the #145 Bernie's Drywall and Services Neon was positioned up front for many laps during the main feature. His teammates soon caught up to the yellow Neon though as Russell Smith Jr. continued to send the message to the division that he was going for his second series title by taking his fourth consecutive feature win and second of the season! Hurshman would fall to fourth after a great battle with the Neons of Dan Michaud Jr. and Jorden Smith. Cody Singer continued his consistent run in his #151 Singer Trucking Inc. Cavalier by posting his second consecutive top five run which vaulted him to fourth in the points. Even with Russell's two wins to start the season, he only had a four point advantage on Michaud and six points on his brother Jorden. Event #3 on the season would present us with another Smith victory - but it wasn't Russell extending his winning streak. Nor was it his brother Jorden triumphing for the first time in the Miller Tire Lightning division. One week before, their cousin Trevor entered the four cylinder ranks with a freshly painted #133 Oval Outlaw Racing Neon which he drove to an eleventh place finish. Trevor would take that experience from one week before and manufacture it into his first victory at Scotia Speedworld in only his second start but it wasn't easy as Michaud and Russell Smith Jr. kept hot on his heals throughout the event. Trevor Smith would go on to make eight more starts in the '09 season, visiting Victory Lane in four of his nine features starts to go along with a second, third and fifth place finishes. Meanwhile the battle between Russell Smith Jr. and Dan Michaud Jr. was keeping the point picture tight with Smith leading Michaud once again by four markers after event three on the schedule. Some separation was starting to be seen between the top two and the rest of the field as Michaud held a twenty-five point advantage over Singer in third place - but with nine races to go and the top thirteen in points within eighty-three markers of each other the hunt for September and that coveted number one point spot was far from over! The July 3rd race for the Lightning class at Scotia Speedworld will be one that many will not soon forget as the drivers ran in the fog. The weather began to roll into the area during the Lightning feature and after their 20-laps on track the fog put a heavy blanket over the facility. It did not put any damper on the Kevin Robar cheering section though as the #103 MacKay's Carstar Collision Centre Pontiac drove through the field and moisture to take his first victory of the season which would make him the first driver in '09 not named Smith to carry the checkered flag around Scotia Speedworld! The seasoned drivers would top the "young guns" of the division as the top four in the points each posted feature finishes of 17th or worse on the night. Brian Parrott, Jamie Dillman, John Poan and Tim Geldart occupied the top five in a race dubbed by some as the "fog bowl." With the misfortunes of the early season top runners it would close up the point race and shrink Russell Smith Jr.'s point lead to a single point over Michaud Jr. Thirty-nine points made up the gap from first to tenth in the championship standings 1/3-distance into the season. Race five of the 2009 season would go to Timberlea's Trevor Smith as he had to battle with his cousin Jorden Smith for the victory. The '08 champ Andrew Starks finally broke through for a podium finish following some mechanical failures and bad luck that put him behind the eight ball early in the 2009 season. Jamie Dillman and "fog bowl" winner Kevin Robar rounded out the top five on "Bike Night." Even though the July 10th festivities were run under beautiful weather for racing, the night wasn't as bright for some of the top runners. Russell Smith Jr. would lose the point lead to Dan Michaud Jr. as the Timberlea Beverage Room Cavalier finished 11th to Michaud's 6th place run in the main feature. Michaud would now lead the championship standings by ten over Jamie Dillman. The halfway mark in the season would be the Miller Tire 50 - the longest Lightning car division race of the season. This race was traditionally held at the end of the season but was moved to the midway point of the season in 2009 and with the defending champ of the event being Russell Smith Jr., it would be a great way for the Lakeside driver to rebound following a couple of tough weeks. His teammates had something to say about that though as Hurshman and Jorden Smith battled for the lead throughout most of the fifty lap affair but with Russell and Michaud closing in on the back bumper of the leaders as they approached lapped traffic it got mighty dicey up front. When the dust settled, it was Russell Smith Jr. coming out on top of his second consecutive Miller Tire 50 victory which would put him within nine points of the leader halfway through the season. Jorden Smith, Dan Smith, Michaud and Hurshman would round out the top five. One of the scariest Lightning wrecks of the season took place around the halfway mark in the race as Michaud's Neon made hard contact with Craig Cordeau's #199 Jennie's Photography Neon on the back straight. Michaud was able to continue but the back end of Cordeau's car was heavily damaged. Both drivers were alright following the hard contact. AMP Energy Day was next up on the schedule for the Lightning cars and with hot temperatures in the air and hot racing on track it would make for a great Sunday afternoon of racing. The action heated up on track quickly, Hurshman looked poised once again to capture that elusive first main feature victory until the point leaders picked their way through traffic to join the yellow #145 up front. Hurshman battled with and held off the Neon of point leader Michaud for a majority of the 20-lap main feature until the late laps when Michaud edged out in front of Hurshman for his first feature victory of 2009.Hurshman came home in second with Dan Smith, Russell Smith Jr. and Trevor Smith rounding out the top five. With five events to go, Michaud now had a seventeen point lead on car #144. The four cylinder cars returned to the track after the Atlantic CAT 250 weekend and with an extra five laps tagged on to their feature on August 14th the drivers put on a show for "Fan Appreciation Night Presented by Q104." Once again, the Smith Brothers Racing #145 Neon was up front for a great deal of the feature but was passed on the nineteenth circuit by Dan Michaud Jr. and Trevor Smith. Some paint was swapped and some sparks flew between between cars #133 and #119 before Smith got around Michaud for the victory! Hurshman, Robar, Jorden Smith and Cody Singer rounded out the top five finishers in one of the most entertaining Lighting car features in quite some time at the track. With Russell Smith Jr. finishing 11th and Michaud coming home in 14th after the fireworks up front it would tighten up the points with four races to go in the '09 season! Miller Tire Lightning racing returned to the track as Ken Schrader was in attendance for C&R Auto Supply Night. As was the norm for the last few races, Nick Hurshman got out in front and led the most laps in the main feature on August 21st. This time though the Lakeside driver would hold on for a popular victory in front of a huge crowd on a Friday night. It was far from easy though as Trevor Smith and Michaud once again swapped some paint for second and third with Michaud coming out on top in the battle. Robar and Poan rounded out the top five in a race that would see Michaud extend his point advantage with three races to go! Once again the fans were treated to some great fender to fender racing on Lockhart Truck Centre night as the "Battle of the Neons" was centre stage in the Lightning main feature. In the end, Trevor Smith would pull off a division high fourth feature win of the season, besting Michaud and Hurshman to the line. Russell Smith Jr. and Dan Smith came across the line in fourth and fifth which meant Michaud would have a forty point gap on Russell heading into the month of September and the final two races of '09! With the point lead in tow, Michaud would turn up the heat on his competition by winning the final two main features of the season en route to his first championship in the division! The final two events would see John Poan from Windsor grab his first podium finish (September 4th) along with the #173 mixing it up front on the last race night of the season with the usual suspects up front. Russell Smith Jr. would come home second in the final standings, fifty six points off the mark of the total put on the board by Michaud (1208-1152). Cody Singer was consistent all season as the North Noel Road driver finished in the top ten during eleven of the twelve feature races and was rewarded with third in the point standings. Dan Smith placed fourth overall in the championship standings, just a mere three points out of third with Kevin Robar and John Poan both amassing 1103 points to tie for fifth. The tiebreaker would go to Robar, the driver out of the two with the most feature wins on the season. Jorden Smith won the Rookie of the Year Award over part time drivers Trevor Smith and Harry Breimer Jr. Next week on ScotiaSpeedworld.ca, we take a look at the Lightning cars four-cylinder counterparts, the Miller Tire Thunder Division. If you have any off-season news you would like to report to the Scotia Speedworld racing community - feel free to send it into Tim's Corner at timscorner@timterryonline.com and we will get it up within the coming weeks. Until next time, keep the hammer down and we'll see you at the track! - Tim Terry, TimTerryOnline.com About Scotia Speedworld Scotia Speedworld is a 3/10-mile asphalt oval stock car racing track featuring the Lockhart Truck Center Weekly Racing Series for six divisions and several special events during the race season, which runs from May to September. Scotia Speedworld is located at Exit 6 on Highway 102, across from the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. For more information please click on ScotiaSpeedworld.ca or call our Event Hotline at (902) 873-2277 or our office at (902) 481-2514. MILLER TIRE LIGHTNING STATISTICS - 2009
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