Canadian Speedway Racing Association

Saturday June 11th 2005
With nine riders and only two from D2, they were grouped into one class for the night. Track was in good shape for the first night of racing and the at best average sized crowd were treated to some tremendous racing with John Kehoe and Jeff Orosz providing most of the excitement. However, if tonight is a guideline for the rest of the season, the fans are in for a treat as racing was very competitive with four different riders getting a win in the first five races and instead of the usual big-track experts at Welland, it was Joe Heye who led the qualifiers and was the only rider to win both his qualifying heats. This was an eye-openiing effort for Joe and easily his best performance there. However, he missed the gate in the final and when the chips were down, as so often has been the case in the past, it was John Kehoe who took the main event with a flawless ride. Heat 1. The first race of the season and John Kehoe and Jeff Orosz are in it so there is a buzz of anticipation as the riders come to the line. But it is Joe Heye who rockets from the gate to grab the early lead. Behind him Kehoe has second ahead of Orosz and all three are in close contention throughout the race. On the last lap Kehoe leaves a gap on the inside and Orosz slips past only for Kehoe to retake second on the back straight. At most five lengths covered all three bikes as a they crossed the line. A great start to racing and a fine win for Heye who showed everyone, including himself, that he can compete with the best of them at Welland. Heat 2. Not as spectacular a race as the first one but good fast action. Aaron Hesmer led from start to finish with Rob Dixon overtaking Nick Fafard coming out of turn two to finish second. Heat 3. Joe Heye shows that his new found form at Welland isn't a flash in the pan with another tapes to flag win over Fafard and Hesmer. Hard as they tried Heye was always several lengths clear and took a comfortable win. Heat 4. Another classic race featuring Kehoe and Orosz. Orosz was first off the line but Kehoe outpulled him to the first turn to grab the lead. They were shoulder to shoulder for most of the first lap and a half until Kehoe moved clear. Orosz continued to challenge throughout the race and he finally succeeded in moving to the front with a burst down the inside of the back straight on the last lap. However, he could not hold the race line around the final two turns, drifted wide and Kehoe grabbed his chance and roared through the gap to win by a couple of lengths. No doubt about it, these guys alone are worth the price of admission. Run-off With three riders tied for the last two places in the final we got the bonus of an extra race as they had a run-off to settle the line-up. Most fans expecting Orosz to win this handily but Rob Dixon had other ideas and showed that he is another rider who will have to reckoned with this season with a tapes to flag win leaving Orosz to head home Fafard and grab the remaining place in the final. Consi. No doubt about the winner here with Fafard taking an easy win from Drew Kehoe as he wheelied across the finishing line. FINAL With the choice of gate Heye selected number four but it was Kehoe from the outside who got the start right and was first to the turn ahead of Hesmer and Orosz. The result was never in doubt although Orosz moved into second and chased hard. Not sure what happened as I was concentrating on the leaders, but both Heye and Dixon went down and into the hay bales at turn three on the final lap. Happily both were able to remount and coast to the finish.

Saturday June 18th 2005
The second night of the season at Welland provided more excellent racing in the speedway class and confirmed that we are in for a very entertaining and highly competitive season. This week the honors went to Jeff Orosz who took the main event to complete an unbeaten night but it is a sign of just how exciting the action was that for once it wasn't Jeff O but Nick Fafard who provided most of the entertainment during the night, especially in the final. Although there were enough riders on hand this week to run a D2, all of the excitement was in the D1 action. As far as D2 is concerned it is suffice to report that it was dominated by John Bennett who won all three heats and that finishing order was the same in each with the riders well spread out. With the starting gate pole being demolished in a spectacular crash involving flat-track riders midway through the meeting, later races had to be started on the green light. Although they were a little ragged, rider discipline was good and there were no real flyers to mar the action. Brief notes on the D1 racing follow. Heat 1. Orosz surged around the outside of the first two turns to grab the lead and was never headed. Behind him Joe Heye continued last week's good form to overtake Aaron Hesmer for second but lost a chain on the final lap and could only coast home in last place. Heat 2. Nick Fafard was first off the line from gate two but John Kehoe off number one outgunned him in the run to the turn and dove into it ahead of him. However in doing so he drifted a little wide and with a classic move Fafard cut back to the inside and took the lead coming out of turn two. This turned into two races with Fafard eventually taking the win by five or six lengths from (John) Kehoe while behind them Merle Craven got the better of Drew Kehoe in the race for third place. Heat 3 . With Orosz and (John) Kehoe in this one fans were looking for another close race but Orosz got the better start, opened up a gap on the first lap and took a fairly comfortable win over Kehoe with Heye in third place. Heat 4. Another good win for Fafard with Hesmer coming second and Rob Dixon overtaking Merle Craven for third on the final lap. It was just as well that they only go four laps as Fafard's rear tire was absolutely flat as he passed the stands on his cool down lap! Onto the Consi and the final and here the riders seemed to take matters into their own hands. Although the program called for four riders to go directly to the main with the final place in it going to the winner of the Consi, apparently they agreed that the fifth highest scorer in the qualifying heats would also go directly to the final as only the three lowest scoring riders came out for the Consi. Fortunately there was no protest lodged by the riders affected by this change so the results of the final were allowed to stand. However, actions like this do not help the standing of the speedway group with the workers who have to organise the program at Welland. CONSI. In this Heye drove around (Drew) Kehoe at the first turn and won comfortably with Kehoe holding off Craven for second. FINAL. It is early in the season but if the fans get a better race than this before the year is out they will be lucky. Orosz swept into the lead with Fafard leading the chase. He drew level on the outside as they blasted around turn three only to come off and slide into the hay bales and onto the penalty line for the restart. Once again Orosz got the lead but Rob Dixon was quick from the line and was in second ahead of (John) Kehoe. By lap two Hesmer was in second place and a hard charging Fafard had moved up to third. A lap later and he powered around Hesmer on the third turn to move all the way up to second but Orosz was still several lengths clear. Unlikely though that seemed, he closed the gap and his final surge out of turn four brought his front tire level with Orosz's rear one as they crossed the line. Quite a finish and a remarkable effort by Fafard to come so close from the penalty line against riders of this caliber when passing is difficult at Welland at the best of times.

Saturday June 25th 2005
Our apologies to the completion of this report. Here are the results for the night: Heat 1. 1st - Aaron Hesmer / 2nd - Nick Fafard / 3rd - Drew Kehoe / 4th - Joe Heye / 5th - John Bennett Heat 2. 1st - John Kehoe / 2nd - Jeff Orosz / 3rd - Rob Dixon / 4th - Allan Chisholm Heat 3. 1st - John Kehoe / 2nd - Nick Fafard / 3rd - Rob Dixon / 4th - Drew Kehoe / 5th - John Bennett Heat 4. 1st - Jeff Orosz / 2nd - Aaron Hesmer / 3rd - Joe Heye / 4th - Allan Chisholm

Saturday July 3rd 2004
Only seven riders were on hand for this meeting and with only three from D2, and four from Division 1. The rider turnout for this night was: Divison 1. Aaron Hesmer, John Kehoe, Rob Dixon and Jeff Orosz Divison 2. Chris Houtby, John Bennett and Tim Murray Chris Houtby won for the second night in a row after taking the final at Paris on Friday night, he successfully won every race on Saturday night at Welland. Jeff Orosz had more success on Saturday night after failing to make the D1 final at Paris on Friday and come trough to win the D1 night.

Saturday July 2nd 2005
Although Aaron Hesmer and Nick Fafard were racing in Quebec there was still a 10 man field as Americans Jeremy Parsons and Chip Lengle took part on their way to an AMA race at Springfield. The meeting proved to be a perfect tune-up for Parsons for for the Nationals later this month. After a third place in his opening race he went back to the pits, adjusted his bike set up and went on to win his second heat and the final and prove that he will be a strong contender to win it all this year. Heat 1 . Rob Dixon just beat Joe Heye to the first turn and went on to take a comfortable win with Drew Kehoe in third place. Heat 2. Jeremy Parson shot from the gate to grab the lead. John Kehoe got around Jeff Orosz to take second and then powered around Parsons at turn three to take over first place. Orosz tried to do the same a lap later but got off the groove and Parsons held him off. However Orosz wasn't to be denied and drove around him at turn two on the next lap. That was it for passing and Kehoe finished several lengths in front at the line. In what may have been a sign of problems to come Orosz lost his chain cover during the race. Heat 3. Excellent race for the first two laps. Parsons once again launched from the gate with Joe Heye leading the pursuit. Going into turn three Heye tried the inside line while (John) Kehoe went storming around the outside and moved into second place. This time Parsons had his bike geared correctly and stretched away as the race went on. Heat 4. With all the other fast riders in the previous heat this one looked to be easy pickings for Orosz. That proved to be the case although Chip Lengle showed good form with a solid second place albeit well behind Orosz who for the second race in a row lost his primary chain cover. Consi. Young Lengle took a surprisingly easy win from (Drew) Kehoe with an impressive ride. Well behind them John Bennett took third ahead of Tim Murray and Alan Chisholm. FINAL. Excellent race. Once again Parsons was first into the turn while Orosz had problems getting away and was several lengths back in the first 60 yards. Kehoe emerged from the pack at turn two and took up the chase with Heye pushing him hard for a couple of laps. Kehoe gave it all he had but Parsons made no mistakes and took an impressive win. At the back Orosz caught Dixon on the first lap and battled his way past Heye before losing his primary chain on the third lap, leaving Heye and Dixon to finish third and fourth.

Saturday July 9th 2005
With nine riders and only two from D2 they were again grouped into one class for the night. A dusty track during practice brought out the water truck for more watering and as a result the first race didn't get started until 8.08 pm, an hour after the scheduled start time. With the dirt-track Championship being run next week this was the last chance for the speedway guys to get their set-ups right for the Nationals and establish themselves as the man to beat this year. But by the end of the night the only thing proved was that there is no clear favorite and if if this week is any indication, equipment could play a big part in the outcome. For the second week in a row Jeff Orosz lost a chain and this time it cost him a place in the final while the eventual winner, Aaron Hesmer, did so on a borrowed bike. With his impressive win Hesmer completed a great weekend for him and showed how wide open this year's Nationals should be as he became the fourth different rider to win the Main event in the last four weeks. Heat 1. The luck of the draw saw the top four riders come to the line for this heat. Jeff Orosz and John Kehoe were battling side by side as they came out of turn four only to find the race red flagged and Aaron Hesmer sent to the penalty line for the restart. This time Orosz lifted as he left the line and Rob Dixon grabbed the lead from Kehoe. Orosz then caught Kehoe on the second lap and chased Dixon down and took the lead on the back stretch of lap three only to shed a chain at turn two on the last lap. Back in front Dixon held off a late challenge from Kehoe and pumped the air with his fist as he crossed the line for the win. Heat 2. No such fireworks in this heat. Drew Kehoe led from start to finish and took an easy win from Gary Hesmer. Heat 3. This time Orosz led from the gate and after holding off an early challenge from Dixon sped away for the win with Dixon a solid second. Heat 4. (Aaron) Hesmer zipped from the gate and led from start to finish although chased hard by (John) Kehoe for all four laps. Consi. With Orosz getting no points from his first heat, he was relegated to the Consi where he was in a class of his own and simply cruised to the win. Far behind him John Bennett took second while Tim Murray held off several attempts by John Perry to use the outside line to catch him for third place. FINAL Bike problems at the end of his last race saw Aaron Hesmer come out for the final on a machine borrowed from Tim Murray. Although Rob Dixon for the first time had his choice of gate in the final he missed the start and it was Hesmer who rocketed off the line, grabbed the lead and ran away from the rest of the field for a very convincing win with (John) Kehoe second, Dixon third and Gary Hesmer holding off (Drew) Kehoe for fourth. A sign of things to come was that the new track lighting system, based on lights installed on a central tower in the middle of the track. was turned on during the meeting. Although there are still further lights to be installed on the tower and they all still have to properly lined up, it is an indication that the new system just might be ready to be used for the Nationals.

Saturday July 23rd 2005 - Canadian Championship Race
With Kyle Legault racing professionally in the UK and unable to defend his title, it meant that at the end of the night there would be a new Canadian Champion. The big question was whether either of the past champions, John Kehoe and Jeff Orosz, could win another title or would a new name be added to the trophy. By the end of the night a new name was added to the list of champions as Nick Fafard rose to the occasion, got stronger as the meeting progressed and finished a comfortable winner. Afterwards, a very happy Fafard explained why being the first rider from Quebec to become the National champion meant so much to him. Not only was it a personal triumph but he felt that his win was also a tribute to all the good riders from that province that had tried so hard for many years to win the title. Quite a night for this young man whose parents were on hand to see him win. With the event also being a round of the Blendzall sponsored East Coast Speedway series, it attracted a strong contingent of American riders. The result was not only the largest field of riders (28) for several years but one that was also deeper in quality riders than last year. Add in perfect track conditions and the stage was set for a great night's racing and the large crowd was certainly not disappointed. Despite the riders being seeded in the first round there was plenty of entertaining racing in it. Drew Kehoe got things going right from the start when he led Aaron Hesmer for a lap before having to settle for second. Then Rob Dixon provided the first highlight of the night when he dented the hopes of one of the pre-meeting favorites, Jeremy Parsons, by coming from behind to take a very impressive win. Nick Fafard won the next heat that had a dramatic finish when Merle Craven went wide on the final turn and just managed to hold off a final burst from Joe Heye by half a wheel. More action in the next race as Alex Heath fell and John Bennett paid a visit to the hay bales while avoiding him. On the restart Heath caught the eye with a third place finish from the penalty line while Jeff Orosz ended the round with a win from a hard charging Adam Mittl. The best race in the second round saw the second place finishers battling one another to stay in contention for a chance at the title. Parsons grabbed the early lead from Brian Hollenbeck with Mittl in third but it was Mittl who was ahead at the flag as he first powered around Hollenbeck and then a lap later switched to the inside line to pass Parsons with a fine effort. The first two turns were critical in the ‘Top Scorers' race with Orosz getting the lead from Fafard, John Kehoe, Hesmer and Dixon. Four fast laps later that was also the finishing order and local favorite Orosz had the early points lead. Round three saw 15-year-old visitor Katalin Davis delight the crowd by beating the boys fair and square in her race. Then it was Hesmer and Dixon finishing 1-2 to get back into the ‘Top Scorers' race in the next round, although for the second time Heye supplied the excitement as he almost caught up to Dixon as they crossed the line. The fast guys then served up another cracker. This time it was Mittl who emerged from turn two with the lead which he maintained all the way to the flag to establish his credentials as a possible winner. Behind him the other four were bunched close together for all four laps but there were no changes in the order and Kehoe took second from Fafard, Parsons and Orosz who simply couldn't find any space to move up. So half-way through the meeting only two points separated the top five with Mittl, Kehoe and Fafard on 15, Orosz on 14 and Hesmer on 13. With the pressure now on for a top ten finish, Merle Craven won his heat to clinch his spot. The remaining three contenders were out in the next heat and Heye was the unfortunate one not to make it as he slid out and down while chasing Orosz. An unfortunate end to a night in which he deserved a better result for his determined efforts. That race also ended Orosz's title challenge as he could do no better than third behind Parsons and Hollenbeck. In the ‘Top Scorers' race Hesmer had the lead for the first lap but Fafard showed impressive speed as he drove around him in the second lap and increased his lead as the race went on. Behind him Hesmer held onto second ahead of Kehoe and Dixon while Mittl ‘s challenge faded as his bike was misfiring. This meant that it was now a three man race for the title with Fafard two ahead of Kehoe and Hesmer a point further back . In the first semi Parsons had his best race of the night and led it from start to finish. Behind him Hesmer went wide on turn four in the second lap and dropped back from second to fourth but charged back to first pass Dixon and then power his around the final two turns to overtake Kehoe for a vital second place. In the next semi it was Orosz who won the charge to the first turn and had the lead before Fafard again showed that extra speed by going around him on the second lap to take the win with Mittl finishing third. That effort all but clinched the title for Fafard as it gave him a four-point lead over both Kehoe and Hesmer with only one race to go. Behind them Orosz, Parsons and Mittl were tied on points so a run-off was needed to decide the remaining two places in the final. With the pressure on the riders moved into the tapes before they went up. Although Parsons argued strongly that he was not at fault and was drawn into the tapes after Orosz moved, the referees decided that both Orosz and Parsons had to go to the penalty line. From there Orosz got the better of the restart and eventually caught and passed Mittl but Parsons was eliminated. Although Fafard only needed a fourth place finish to take the title he didn't settle for this. Instead he confirmed that he was indeed the best rider on the night by powering his way past first Orosz and then Hesmer to take another convincing win. Orosz then got past Hesmer to finish second while Kehoe had a good scrap with Mittl before finishing fourth. So in the end Fafard was champion and Hesmer's strong performance in the second half of the program earned a second place finish while Orosz just edged out Kehoe for third via the tiebreaker route. Adam Mittl's fifth place was particularly impressive as thi s was his first time on the Welland track and combined with his victory at St-Alex confirmed his place as one of the rising stars south of the border. Although Jeremy Parsons didn't quite match his performance last year he came close to reaching the final for the second year in a row and provided plenty of entertainment. Other Americans to catch the eye included Alex Heath, two falls and a win in his first three heats, Katalin Davis who rode well and would have had a second win but for an engine failure and Merle Craven who was much improved from his previous visit. Amongst the Canadians Rob Dixon has improved steadily year by year and is now firmly established as one of the top riders on large tracks and can beat the best of them in any race. I doubt if Joe Heye has ever contributed so much entertainment to a meeting with so little reward for his efforts. Hopefully the fates will be much kinder to him next year. Despite it being his first outing of the year, veteran Fred Legault is another who could have made the semis were it not for an engine failure that cost him the points he needed while John Perry will likely be pleased with his performance that included a couple of wins.

Saturday July 30th 2005
The final night of the Welland summer series was billed as the Grand Finale and that's what the riders provided with a pulsating final that had the fans whooping and hollering as local favorite Jeff Orosz came out on top in a spectacular race that put the lie to the old adage that first from the gate usually wins speedway races. The race was the perfect exclamation point to a season that has provided the best entertainment and exciting race action for many a year at Welland. Before that the fans were first intrigued and then impressed by the speedway debut of 600 c.c. flat-track champion Don Taylor. Despite only having a handful of laps on a speedway bike in the pre-race practice session, he had no problem adapting from the flat-track riding style and went faster in each race. He is only 19 and with his extensive flat-track experience will be a great addition to the speedway class and it won't be long until he is competitive in D1. The finishing order in all three D2 heats was the same, so the real interest was in watching Taylor improve race by race. He won his first heat from gate but next time out followed the early leader for a couple of laps until Chris Houtby made a mistake, almost collected the hay bales and allowed Taylor through for the win. He confirmed his promise in his final race when he again missed the gate but this time simply scorching around Houtby on the first two turns and seemed to get faster as the race went on and won it easily. Action in D1 started fairly slowly but got better as the night went on:- Heat 1. Rob Dixon set the pace for the night with an fast smooth tapes to flag win. Jeff Orosz did his best to mount a challenge but Dixon simply didn't let him get close enough to do so while new National Champ Nick Fafard had to settle for third. Heat 2. John Kehoe repeated Dixon's first heat effort and although Aaron Hesmer managed to stay close he wasn't able to challenge Kehoe. Heat 3. John Perry got a flyer and was first from the gate but that didn't last long as (John) Kehoe quickly moved to the front. Orosz messed up his start, slewing sideways a few lengths from the line before setting off in pursuit. Unusually for him he rode a tight inside line for much of race and moved up to second early in the third lap but by then Kehoe was long gone and took his second win of the night. Heat 4. Nick Fafard made no mistake this time out but behind him Drew Kehoe, Aaron Hesmer and Rob Dixon had a tight race for second. At the finish Hesmer got second but only after swapping positions back and forth with (Drew) Kehoe who had his best ride for some time. CONSI. Another good effort by (Drew) Kehoe. He led it from start to finish and was well clear of Gary Hesmer when he crossed the line. FINAL. A classic with only Rob Dixon not changing his position during the race and that wasn't from lack of effort on his part! (John) Kehoe, off his favorite outside gate, looked to have the best start but Fafard, from gate one, managed an almost right angle turn as he pitched his bike hard into the turn while holding his speed and grabbed the early lead. Behind him it was non stop action as first Orosz and then Hesmer found drive on the outside to get around Kehoe. At the half-way point there were no more than three lengths separating the first three with Fafard in front and Orosz challenging for the lead on his usual outside line while in danger of losing second to Hesmer who was on the inside line. To the delight of the fans local favorite Orosz found the perfect line around the outside of turns three and four to take a narrow lead going into the final lap. The fans were and on the edge of their seats throughout this but there was no further changes and the first three flashed across the line in close formation while John Kehoe tucked in right behind them and Dixon in fifth.

Saturday September 17th 2005
The now annual September race drew a packed house for the final race of the season and with a 5.30pm start for the heats, the meeting was over at a reasonable time this year although from beginning to end it was still almost five hours from start to finish. A side effect of a bad crash in the second flat-track heat was the demolition of the speedway starting gate which meant that all the races were started on the green light and this resulted in several less than perfect starts although, to be fair, referee Paul Gradwell did his best to combat this restarting half of the speedway heats, including the final, with a rider on the penalty line. On a night that didn't have a lot of passing most of the excitement was saved for the final in which local favourite Jeff Orosz delighted the fans when he came from the penalty line to get an improbable win in a race that saw another rarity, a crash that sidelined John Kehoe. It was an appropriately dramatic finale for a season at Welland that has provided the most consistently exciting racing seen there for many years. To even out the program Phil Small dropped down to D2 for the night and was the first rider to be sent to the penalty line for jumping the gun at the start. Despite this he overtook John Bennett out of the final bend to take the win but things quickly went downhill for him after that. His next outing came to an abrupt end as both he and Alan Chisholm hit the dirt when they collided at turn two and his bike had to be carted from the track. In the end, on the night it was Bennett who came out on top with Tim Murray in second and Small third. Heat 1. A ragged start with Aaron Hesmer missing the gate completely. Kehoe led from start to finish and pulled away from the others after the first lap. Behind him Orosz, Rob Dixon and Hesmer stayed fairly close together throughout the race with Dixon challenging Orosz for second. Heat 2. Kehoe again grabbed the lead from Orosz but this time he had rolled a little too soon and he was sent to the penalty line for the restart. On this Orosz made the gate followed by Dixon. Kehoe quickly moved up to third when he zipped inside Hesmer coming out of turn four but that was all the passing for this race. Heat 3. For the final race of the season it was Orosz's turn to jump the start and move to the penalty line. Once again it was Kehoe with the lead but Orosz used the speed he built up from the penalty line start to pass Drew Kehoe on his way to the first turn and then power around Dixon. In typical JO full throttle fashion, a lap later he swept around Hesmer and suddenly was in the lead when ahead of him Kehoe went wide out of turn two, caught the hay bales and crashed spectacularly. Not sure what caused that but as it was so out of character for JK it may have been a mechanical problem that sent him so far off his usual race line. The race was allowed to continue although both Kehoe and his bike were still on the track against the boards and to the delight of the fans Orosz completed the race for an remarkable victory.

Saturday June 11th 2005

With nine riders and only two from D2, they were grouped into one class for the night. Track was in good shape for the first night of racing and the at best average sized crowd were treated to some tremendous racing with John Kehoe and Jeff Orosz providing most of the excitement. However, if tonight is a guideline for the rest of the season, the fans are in for a treat as racing was very competitive with four different riders getting a win in the first five races and instead of the usual big-track experts at Welland, it was Joe Heye who led the qualifiers and was the only rider to win both his qualifying heats. This was an eye-openiing effort for Joe and easily his best performance there. However, he missed the gate in the final and when the chips were down, as so often has been the case in the past, it was John Kehoe who took the main event with a flawless ride.

Heat 1. The first race of the season and John Kehoe and Jeff Orosz are in it so there is a buzz of anticipation as the riders come to the line. But it is Joe Heye who rockets from the gate to grab the early lead. Behind him Kehoe has second ahead of Orosz and all three are in close contention throughout the race. On the last lap Kehoe leaves a gap on the inside and Orosz slips past only for Kehoe to retake second on the back straight. At most five lengths covered all three bikes as a they crossed the line. A great start to racing and a fine win for Heye who showed everyone, including himself, that he can compete with the best of them at Welland.

Heat 2. Not as spectacular a race as the first one but good fast action. Aaron Hesmer led from start to finish with Rob Dixon overtaking Nick Fafard coming out of turn two to finish second.

Heat 3. Joe Heye shows that his new found form at Welland isn't a flash in the pan with another tapes to flag win over Fafard and Hesmer. Hard as they tried Heye was always several lengths clear and took a comfortable win.

Heat 4. Another classic race featuring Kehoe and Orosz. Orosz was first off the line but Kehoe outpulled him to the first turn to grab the lead. They were shoulder to shoulder for most of the first lap and a half until Kehoe moved clear. Orosz continued to challenge throughout the race and he finally succeeded in moving to the front with a burst down the inside of the back straight on the last lap. However, he could not hold the race line around the final two turns, drifted wide and Kehoe grabbed his chance and roared through the gap to win by a couple of lengths. No doubt about it, these guys alone are worth the price of admission.

Run-off With three riders tied for the last two places in the final we got the bonus of an extra race as they had a run-off to settle the line-up. Most fans expecting Orosz to win this handily but Rob Dixon had other ideas and showed that he is another rider who will have to reckoned with this season with a tapes to flag win leaving Orosz to head home Fafard and grab the remaining place in the final.

Consi. No doubt about the winner here with Fafard taking an easy win from Drew Kehoe as he wheelied across the finishing line.

FINAL With the choice of gate Heye selected number four but it was Kehoe from the outside who got the start right and was first to the turn ahead of Hesmer and Orosz. The result was never in doubt although Orosz moved into second and chased hard. Not sure what happened as I was concentrating on the leaders, but both Heye and Dixon went down and into the hay bales at turn three on the final lap. Happily both were able to remount and coast to the finish.

Saturday June 18th 2005

The second night of the season at Welland provided more excellent racing in the speedway class and confirmed that we are in for a very entertaining and highly competitive season. This week the honors went to Jeff Orosz who took the main event to complete an unbeaten night but it is a sign of just how exciting the action was that for once it wasn't Jeff O but Nick Fafard who provided most of the entertainment during the night, especially in the final.

Although there were enough riders on hand this week to run a D2, all of the excitement was in the D1 action. As far as D2 is concerned it is suffice to report that it was dominated by John Bennett who won all three heats and that finishing order was the same in each with the riders well spread out.

With the starting gate pole being demolished in a spectacular crash involving flat-track riders midway through the meeting, later races had to be started on the green light. Although they were a little ragged, rider discipline was good and there were no real flyers to mar the action. Brief notes on the D1 racing follow.

Heat 1. Orosz surged around the outside of the first two turns to grab the lead and was never headed. Behind him Joe Heye continued last week's good form to overtake Aaron Hesmer for second but lost a chain on the final lap and could only coast home in last place.

Heat 2. Nick Fafard was first off the line from gate two but John Kehoe off number one outgunned him in the run to the turn and dove into it ahead of him. However in doing so he drifted a little wide and with a classic move Fafard cut back to the inside and took the lead coming out of turn two. This turned into two races with Fafard eventually taking the win by five or six lengths from (John) Kehoe while behind them Merle Craven got the better of Drew Kehoe in the race for third place.

Heat 3 . With Orosz and (John) Kehoe in this one fans were looking for another close race but Orosz got the better start, opened up a gap on the first lap and took a fairly comfortable win over Kehoe with Heye in third place.

Heat 4. Another good win for Fafard with Hesmer coming second and Rob Dixon overtaking Merle Craven for third on the final lap. It was just as well that they only go four laps as Fafard's rear tire was absolutely flat as he passed the stands on his cool down lap!

Onto the Consi and the final and here the riders seemed to take matters into their own hands. Although the program called for four riders to go directly to the main with the final place in it going to the winner of the Consi, apparently they agreed that the fifth highest scorer in the qualifying heats would also go directly to the final as only the three lowest scoring riders came out for the Consi. Fortunately there was no protest lodged by the riders affected by this change so the results of the final were allowed to stand. However, actions like this do not help the standing of the speedway group with the workers who have to organise the program at Welland.

CONSI. In this Heye drove around (Drew) Kehoe at the first turn and won comfortably with Kehoe holding off Craven for second.

FINAL. It is early in the season but if the fans get a better race than this before the year is out they will be lucky. Orosz swept into the lead with Fafard leading the chase. He drew level on the outside as they blasted around turn three only to come off and slide into the hay bales and onto the penalty line for the restart. Once again Orosz got the lead but Rob Dixon was quick from the line and was in second ahead of (John) Kehoe. By lap two Hesmer was in second place and a hard charging Fafard had moved up to third. A lap later and he powered around Hesmer on the third turn to move all the way up to second but Orosz was still several lengths clear. Unlikely though that seemed, he closed the gap and his final surge out of turn four brought his front tire level with Orosz's rear one as they crossed the line. Quite a finish and a remarkable effort by Fafard to come so close from the penalty line against riders of this caliber when passing is difficult at Welland at the best of times.

Saturday June 25th 2005

Our apologies to the completion of this report.

Here are the results for the night:

Heat 1. 1st - Aaron Hesmer / 2nd - Nick Fafard / 3rd - Drew Kehoe / 4th - Joe Heye / 5th - John Bennett

Heat 2. 1st - John Kehoe / 2nd - Jeff Orosz / 3rd - Rob Dixon / 4th - Allan Chisholm

Heat 3. 1st - John Kehoe / 2nd - Nick Fafard / 3rd - Rob Dixon / 4th - Drew Kehoe / 5th - John Bennett

Heat 4. 1st - Jeff Orosz / 2nd - Aaron Hesmer / 3rd - Joe Heye / 4th - Allan Chisholm

Saturday July 3rd 2004

Only seven riders were on hand for this meeting and with only three from D2, and four from Division 1.

The rider turnout for this night was:

Divison 1. Aaron Hesmer, John Kehoe, Rob Dixon and Jeff Orosz

Divison 2. Chris Houtby, John Bennett and Tim Murray

Chris Houtby won for the second night in a row after taking the final at Paris on Friday night, he successfully won every race on Saturday night at Welland. Jeff Orosz had more success on Saturday night after failing to make the D1 final at Paris on Friday and come trough to win the D1 night.

Saturday July 2nd 2005

Although Aaron Hesmer and Nick Fafard were racing in Quebec there was still a 10 man field as Americans Jeremy Parsons and Chip Lengle took part on their way to an AMA race at Springfield. The meeting proved to be a perfect tune-up for Parsons for for the Nationals later this month. After a third place in his opening race he went back to the pits, adjusted his bike set up and went on to win his second heat and the final and prove that he will be a strong contender to win it all this year.

Heat 1 . Rob Dixon just beat Joe Heye to the first turn and went on to take a comfortable win with Drew Kehoe in third place.

Heat 2. Jeremy Parson shot from the gate to grab the lead. John Kehoe got around Jeff Orosz to take second and then powered around Parsons at turn three to take over first place. Orosz tried to do the same a lap later but got off the groove and Parsons held him off. However Orosz wasn't to be denied and drove around him at turn two on the next lap. That was it for passing and Kehoe finished several lengths in front at the line. In what may have been a sign of problems to come Orosz lost his chain cover during the race.

Heat 3. Excellent race for the first two laps. Parsons once again launched from the gate with Joe Heye leading the pursuit. Going into turn three Heye tried the inside line while (John) Kehoe went storming around the outside and moved into second place. This time Parsons had his bike geared correctly and stretched away as the race went on.

Heat 4. With all the other fast riders in the previous heat this one looked to be easy pickings for Orosz. That proved to be the case although Chip Lengle showed good form with a solid second place albeit well behind Orosz who for the second race in a row lost his primary chain cover.

Consi. Young Lengle took a surprisingly easy win from (Drew) Kehoe with an impressive ride. Well behind them John Bennett took third ahead of Tim Murray and Alan Chisholm.

FINAL. Excellent race. Once again Parsons was first into the turn while Orosz had problems getting away and was several lengths back in the first 60 yards. Kehoe emerged from the pack at turn two and took up the chase with Heye pushing him hard for a couple of laps. Kehoe gave it all he had but Parsons made no mistakes and took an impressive win. At the back Orosz caught Dixon on the first lap and battled his way past Heye before losing his
primary chain on the third lap, leaving Heye and Dixon to finish third and fourth.

Saturday July 9th 2005

With nine riders and only two from D2 they were again grouped into one class for the night. A dusty track during practice brought out the water truck for more watering and as a result the first race didn't get started until 8.08 pm, an hour after the scheduled start time.

With the dirt-track Championship being run next week this was the last chance for the speedway guys to get their set-ups right for the Nationals and establish themselves as the man to beat this year. But by the end of the night the only thing proved was that there is no clear favorite and if if this week is any indication, equipment could play a big part in the outcome. For the second week in a row Jeff Orosz lost a chain and this time it cost him a place in the final while the eventual winner, Aaron Hesmer, did so on a borrowed bike. With his impressive win Hesmer completed a great weekend for him and showed how wide open this year's Nationals should be as he became the fourth different rider to win the Main event in the last four weeks.

Heat 1. The luck of the draw saw the top four riders come to the line for this heat. Jeff Orosz and John Kehoe were battling side by side as they came out of turn four only to find the race red flagged and Aaron Hesmer sent to the penalty line for the restart. This time Orosz lifted as he left the line and Rob Dixon grabbed the lead from Kehoe. Orosz then caught Kehoe on the second lap and chased Dixon down and took the lead on the back stretch of lap three only to shed a chain at turn two on the last lap. Back in front Dixon held off a late challenge from Kehoe and pumped the air with his fist as he crossed the line for the win.

Heat 2. No such fireworks in this heat. Drew Kehoe led from start to finish and took an easy win from Gary Hesmer.

Heat 3. This time Orosz led from the gate and after holding off an early challenge from Dixon sped away for the win with Dixon a solid second.

Heat 4. (Aaron) Hesmer zipped from the gate and led from start to finish although chased hard by (John) Kehoe for all four laps.

Consi. With Orosz getting no points from his first heat, he was relegated to the Consi where he was in a class of his own and simply cruised to the win. Far behind him John Bennett took second while Tim Murray held off several attempts by John Perry to use the outside line to catch him for third place.

FINAL Bike problems at the end of his last race saw Aaron Hesmer come out for the final on a machine borrowed from Tim Murray. Although Rob Dixon for the first time had his choice of gate in the final he missed the start and it was Hesmer who rocketed off the line, grabbed the lead and ran away from the rest of the field for a very convincing win with (John) Kehoe second, Dixon third and Gary Hesmer holding off (Drew) Kehoe for fourth.

A sign of things to come was that the new track lighting system, based on lights installed on a central tower in the middle of the track. was turned on during the meeting. Although there are still further lights to be installed on the tower and they all still have to properly lined up, it is an indication that the new system just might be ready to be used for the Nationals.

Saturday July 23rd 2005 - Canadian Championship Race

With Kyle Legault racing professionally in the UK and unable to defend his title, it meant that at the end of the night there would be a new Canadian Champion. The big question was whether either of the past champions, John Kehoe and Jeff Orosz, could win another title or would a new name be added to the trophy. By the end of the night a new name was added to the list of champions as Nick Fafard rose to the occasion, got stronger as the meeting progressed and finished a comfortable winner. Afterwards, a very happy Fafard explained why being the first rider from Quebec to become the National champion meant so much to him. Not only was it a personal triumph but he felt that his win was also a tribute to all the good riders from that province that had tried so hard for many years to win the title. Quite a night for this young man whose parents were on hand to see him win.

With the event also being a round of the Blendzall sponsored East Coast Speedway series, it attracted a strong contingent of American riders. The result was not only the largest field of riders (28) for several years but one that was also deeper in quality riders than last year. Add in perfect track conditions and the stage was set for a great night's racing and the large crowd was certainly not disappointed.

Despite the riders being seeded in the first round there was plenty of entertaining racing in it. Drew Kehoe got things going right from the start when he led Aaron Hesmer for a lap before having to settle for second. Then Rob Dixon provided the first highlight of the night when he dented the hopes of one of the pre-meeting favorites, Jeremy Parsons, by coming from behind to take a very impressive win. Nick Fafard won the next heat that had a dramatic finish when Merle Craven went wide on the final turn and just managed to hold off a final burst from Joe Heye by half a wheel. More action in the next race as Alex Heath fell and John Bennett paid a visit to the hay bales while avoiding him. On the restart Heath caught the eye with a third place finish from the penalty line while Jeff Orosz ended the round with a win from a hard charging Adam Mittl.

The best race in the second round saw the second place finishers battling one another to stay in contention for a chance at the title. Parsons grabbed the early lead from Brian Hollenbeck with Mittl in third but it was Mittl who was ahead at the flag as he first powered around Hollenbeck and then a lap later switched to the inside line to pass Parsons with a fine effort. The first two turns were critical in the ‘Top Scorers' race with Orosz getting the lead from Fafard, John Kehoe, Hesmer and Dixon. Four fast laps later that was also the finishing order and local favorite Orosz had the early points lead.

Round three saw 15-year-old visitor Katalin Davis delight the crowd by beating the boys fair and square in her race. Then it was Hesmer and Dixon finishing 1-2 to get back into the ‘Top Scorers' race in the next round, although for the second time Heye supplied the excitement as he almost caught up to Dixon as they crossed the line. The fast guys then served up another cracker. This time it was Mittl who emerged from turn two with the lead which he maintained all the way to the flag to establish his credentials as a possible winner. Behind him the other four were bunched close together for all four laps but there were no changes in the order and Kehoe took second from Fafard, Parsons and Orosz who simply couldn't find any space to move up. So half-way through the meeting only two points separated the top five with Mittl, Kehoe and Fafard on 15, Orosz on 14 and Hesmer on 13.

With the pressure now on for a top ten finish, Merle Craven won his heat to clinch his spot. The remaining three contenders were out in the next heat and Heye was the unfortunate one not to make it as he slid out and down while chasing Orosz. An unfortunate end to a night in which he deserved a better result for his determined efforts. That race also ended Orosz's title challenge as he could do no better than third behind Parsons and Hollenbeck. In the ‘Top Scorers' race Hesmer had the lead for the first lap but Fafard showed impressive speed as he drove around him in the second lap and increased his lead as the race went on. Behind him Hesmer held onto second ahead of Kehoe and Dixon while Mittl ‘s challenge faded as his bike was misfiring. This meant that it was now a three man race for the title with Fafard two ahead of Kehoe and Hesmer a point further back .

In the first semi Parsons had his best race of the night and led it from start to finish. Behind him Hesmer went wide on turn four in the second lap and dropped back from second to fourth but charged back to first pass Dixon and then power his around the final two turns to overtake Kehoe for a vital second place. In the next semi it was Orosz who won the charge to the first turn and had the lead before Fafard again showed that extra speed by going around him on the second lap to take the win with Mittl finishing third. That effort all but clinched the title for Fafard as it gave him a four-point lead over both Kehoe and Hesmer with only one race to go.

Behind them Orosz, Parsons and Mittl were tied on points so a run-off was needed to decide the remaining two places in the final. With the pressure on the riders moved into the tapes before they went up. Although Parsons argued strongly that he was not at fault and was drawn into the tapes after Orosz moved, the referees decided that both Orosz and Parsons had to go to the penalty line. From there Orosz got the better of the restart and eventually caught and passed Mittl but Parsons was eliminated.

Although Fafard only needed a fourth place finish to take the title he didn't settle for this. Instead he confirmed that he was indeed the best rider on the night by powering his way past first Orosz and then Hesmer to take another convincing win. Orosz then got past Hesmer to finish second while Kehoe had a good scrap with Mittl before finishing fourth.

So in the end Fafard was champion and Hesmer's strong performance in the second half of the program earned a second place finish while Orosz just edged out Kehoe for third via the tiebreaker route. Adam Mittl's fifth place was particularly impressive as thi s was his first time on the Welland track and combined with his victory at St-Alex confirmed his place as one of the rising stars south of the border.

Although Jeremy Parsons didn't quite match his performance last year he came close to reaching the final for the second year in a row and provided plenty of entertainment. Other Americans to catch the eye included Alex Heath, two falls and a win in his first three heats, Katalin Davis who rode well and would have had a second win but for an engine failure and Merle Craven who was much improved from his previous visit.

Amongst the Canadians Rob Dixon has improved steadily year by year and is now firmly established as one of the top riders on large tracks and can beat the best of them in any race. I doubt if Joe Heye has ever contributed so much entertainment to a meeting with so little reward for his efforts. Hopefully the fates will be much kinder to him next year. Despite it being his first outing of the year, veteran Fred Legault is another who could have made the semis were it not for an engine failure that cost him the points he needed while John Perry will likely be pleased with his performance that included a couple of wins.

Saturday July 30th 2005

The final night of the Welland summer series was billed as the Grand Finale and that's what the riders provided with a pulsating final that had the fans whooping and hollering as local favorite Jeff Orosz came out on top in a spectacular race that put the lie to the old adage that first from the gate usually wins speedway races. The race was the perfect exclamation point to a season that has provided the best entertainment and exciting race action for many a year at Welland.

Before that the fans were first intrigued and then impressed by the speedway debut of 600 c.c. flat-track champion Don Taylor. Despite only having a handful of laps on a speedway bike in the pre-race practice session, he had no problem adapting from the flat-track riding style and went faster in each race. He is only 19 and with his extensive flat-track experience will be a great addition to the speedway class and it won't be long until he is competitive in D1.

The finishing order in all three D2 heats was the same, so the real interest was in watching Taylor improve race by race. He won his first heat from gate but next time out followed the early leader for a couple of laps until Chris Houtby made a mistake, almost collected the hay bales and allowed Taylor through for the win. He confirmed his promise in his final race when he again missed the gate but this time simply scorching around Houtby on the first two turns and seemed to get faster as the race went on and won it easily.

Action in D1 started fairly slowly but got better as the night went on:-

Heat 1. Rob Dixon set the pace for the night with an fast smooth tapes to flag win. Jeff Orosz did his best to mount a challenge but Dixon simply didn't let him get close enough to do so while new National Champ Nick Fafard had to settle for third.

Heat 2. John Kehoe repeated Dixon's first heat effort and although Aaron Hesmer managed to stay close he wasn't able to challenge Kehoe.

Heat 3. John Perry got a flyer and was first from the gate but that didn't last long as (John) Kehoe quickly moved to the front. Orosz messed up his start, slewing sideways a few lengths from the line before setting off in pursuit. Unusually for him he rode a tight inside line for much of race and moved up to second early in the third lap but by then Kehoe was long gone and took his second win of the night.

Heat 4. Nick Fafard made no mistake this time out but behind him Drew Kehoe, Aaron Hesmer and Rob Dixon had a tight race for second. At the finish Hesmer got second but only after swapping positions back and forth with (Drew) Kehoe who had his best ride for some time.

CONSI. Another good effort by (Drew) Kehoe. He led it from start to finish and was well clear of Gary Hesmer when he crossed the line.

FINAL. A classic with only Rob Dixon not changing his position during the race and that wasn't from lack of effort on his part! (John) Kehoe, off his favorite outside gate, looked to have the best start but Fafard, from gate one, managed an almost right angle turn as he pitched his bike hard into the turn while holding his speed and grabbed the early lead. Behind him it was non stop action as first Orosz and then Hesmer found drive on the outside to get around Kehoe. At the half-way point there were no more than three lengths separating the first three with Fafard
in front and Orosz challenging for the lead on his usual outside line while in danger of losing second to Hesmer who was on the inside line. To the delight of the fans local favorite Orosz found the perfect line around the outside of turns three and four to take a narrow lead going into the final lap. The fans were and on the edge of their seats throughout this but there was no further changes and the first three flashed across the line in close formation while John Kehoe tucked in right behind them and Dixon in fifth.

Saturday September 17th 2005

The now annual September race drew a packed house for the final race of the season and with a 5.30pm start for the heats, the meeting was over at a reasonable time this year although from beginning to end it was still almost five hours from start to finish.

A side effect of a bad crash in the second flat-track heat was the demolition of the speedway starting gate which meant that all the races were started on the green light and this resulted in several less than perfect starts although, to be fair, referee Paul Gradwell did his best to combat this restarting half of the speedway heats, including the final, with a rider on the penalty line. On a night that didn't have a lot of passing most of the excitement was saved for the final in which local favourite Jeff Orosz delighted the fans when he came from the penalty line to get an improbable win in a race that saw another rarity, a crash that sidelined John Kehoe. It was an appropriately dramatic finale for a season at Welland that has provided the most consistently exciting racing seen there for many years.

To even out the program Phil Small dropped down to D2 for the night and was the first rider to be sent to the penalty line for jumping the gun at the start. Despite this he overtook John Bennett out of the final bend to take the win but things quickly went downhill for him after that. His next outing came to an abrupt end as both he and Alan Chisholm hit the dirt when they collided at turn two and his bike had to be carted from the track. In the end, on the night it was Bennett who came out on top with Tim Murray in second and Small third.

Heat 1. A ragged start with Aaron Hesmer missing the gate completely. Kehoe led from start to finish and pulled away from the others after the first lap. Behind him Orosz, Rob Dixon and Hesmer stayed fairly close together throughout the race with Dixon challenging Orosz for second.

Heat 2. Kehoe again grabbed the lead from Orosz but this time he had rolled a little too soon and he was sent to the penalty line for the restart. On this Orosz made the gate followed by Dixon. Kehoe quickly moved up to third when he zipped inside Hesmer coming out of turn four but that was all the passing for this race.

Heat 3. For the final race of the season it was Orosz's turn to jump the start and move to the penalty line. Once again it was Kehoe with the lead but Orosz used the speed he built up from the penalty line start to pass Drew Kehoe on his way to the first turn and then power around Dixon. In typical JO full throttle fashion, a lap later he swept around Hesmer and suddenly was in the lead when ahead of him Kehoe went wide out of turn two, caught the hay bales and crashed spectacularly. Not sure what caused that but as it was so out of character for JK it may have been a mechanical problem that sent him so far off his usual race line. The race was allowed to continue although both Kehoe and his bike were still on the track against the boards and to the delight of the fans Orosz completed the race for an remarkable victory.