Canadian Speedway Racing Association

Saturday June 9th 2007
The Welland motorcyle clubs' season opener was blessed with perfect racing conditions. Seven Divison 1 and 4 Divison 2 riders enjoyed an accident free race night. Until, unbeaten, Jeff Orosz slid off in turn one of the final and was placed back on the 10 yard line for the restart. John Kehoe was untroubled in the restart and led from start to finish to take the D1 final win with Aaron Hesmer, Joe Heye, Jeff Orosz and Rob Dixon following him home. Fred Legault and Gary Hesmer both failed to make the D1 final. John Bennett, Tim Murray, Terry Rideout and Al chisholm completed the field, all riding in D2.

Saturday June 16th 2007
On a night that started quite windy and cloudy, turned into a still perfect night for racing. With a field of nine Division 1 riders and four Division 2 riders, the program format allowed for some great racing. Speedway has the terms, thrills, chills and spills and at Welland we had them all! The Divison 2 riders started the program and with Tim Murray keeping up his magnificent starting record going. Out of the gate like a light he took a good lead into the third turn, where Terry Rideout took over the control of the race and never looked back! In their second race, Tim once again exploded off the line only to have Terry do the same thing and take the race. But the race of this heat was John Bennett's continued push to get pass a very fast Tim Murray, but as is so often in speedway racing, he need 1 more lap to get by! Heat 1 of the Division 1 riders saw the first spill of the night. Off the line, Joe Heye was along side John Kehoe, into the first bend Joe pushed in front of John, leaving John to hook up leaving Rob Dixon nowhere to go but into John. He went down hard and Chris Hesmer did a good job of avoiding a major accident! Upon the restart, Joe and John were again side by side, but an ignited Kehoe opened up the throttle and took and held a good lead from a battling Heye. The second heat between Aaron Hesmer, Gary Hesmer, Marc Gauthier and Jeff Orosz was also a cracker behind the leader. Jeff Orosz took a commanding lead and left Aaron to be chased by Gary and Marc, Marc spent the whole race so close to Gary that he could have smelt the rubber off his back wheel. Gary did a great job in holding Marc back - good racing! Round 2 of the Division 1 heats saw Jeff orosz and Drew Kehoe up against the Hesmer boys - They all got a good start and Jeff once again pulled away to leave the Hesmer's to duel with Drew. Gary Hesmer pulled a rabbit out of his hat and kept a bobbing Aaron right behind him to take a great 2nd place. The second heat was also spectacular - Again John Kehoe was still fired up and he got in front of Marc Gauthier, Joe Heye and Rob Dixon. Marc took a good 2nd place for 2 laps but a hard charging Joe went passed him as he went wide as did Rob. Marc didn't give up the fight though and was all over Rob as he tried to get passed Joe. A well received cheer was granted by the crowd at the checkered flag! The B-Main Final provided the crowd with some exciting events. The track had become very slippery and the previous races of the flat-trackers had seen a few spills. With an absent Chris Hesmer due to ignition problems, Drew Kehoe decided enough was enough and that he would show what he was made of! Drew had the best gate of the year and pulled into a good 1st place, with Rob Dixon going past him on bend 3-4, he pulled out slightly and Marc Gauthier took them both, Marc going into 1st place. On lap 3 Rob Dixon was flat out coming into corner 1 when uncharacteristically, Rob's back wheel went out from under him leaving Rob to tumble awkwardly across the track. Following a few minutes to get his breath back - Rob got up and pushed his bike back to the pits, the race was called complete, crowning Marc Gauthier the winner. The Division 2 final was the crowd's highlight of the night! - Once again Tim Murray blew his opponents, John Bennett, Terry Rideout and Allan Chisholm away at the start! On the 3-4 bend of the first lap Terry Rideout slide out trying to pass John Bennett and the race was stopped. With a few minutes delay, Terry got his bike back together and restarted 10 yards back. Upon the restart, Tim again was ahead and John Bennett was in second, Terry Rideout charged passed John and was a man on a mission, but this mission became a bad one for him, he went under Tim Murray thinking Tim would move out, but Tim holding his line bounced off Terry on bend 2 and Terry ended up face-first into the hay bales. Rising to see and feel his left hand hurting and his bike looking worse for wear - Terry walked back into the pits. So for the 3rd time the race was started for a 2 lap race. John Bennett for the first time this year beat Tim out of the gate, and looked certain to win, but Tim charged and took John on the last bend to win the night! Great racing! The Main Division 1 race was poised to be good with John Kehoe, Joe Heye, Aaron Hesmer, Gary Hesmer and Jeff Orosz taking their places at the tapes. Jeff Orosz flew out of the gate and took a firm winning lead over John Kehoe and left Aaron and Gary to chase Joe Heye to the checkered flag. A good night of racing that leaves some great expectations for the Championship race in 2 weeks!

Saturday June 30th 2007
On a nice comfortable cool night at Welland Speedway, John Bennett was the star of the show! John saw a frustrated Chris Hesmer push his bike off the track after 2 laps of practice, with the return of his nightmare mechanical gremlins! Without question, John jumped up to the plate and offered the use of his second bike to Chris - In minutes they were stripping this down and getting it prepared with Chris's set-up ready for the night's action. John himself also received the biggest cheer of the night from an enthusiastic crowd after falling twice on the same corner. As John stayed upright on his 3rd attempt to restart the race, the crowd cheered loudly to his success! John also made some great moves to come from a 15 yard penalty to a good second place finish. With Jeff Orosz, Aaron Hesmer and Marc Gauthier riding in Quebec at the St. Alexis Canadian Championship Round, the field looked to be slim, but with the return of Drew Kehoe, and the addition of Casey Donholt from the US,. the event was a close match for all. The heats started with division 2 riders battling it out. US rider Dee Holden looped at the gate and fellow rider Casey Donholt ran out with his bike to allow this young lady to have another go! With this restart and John Bennett's two falls, it took four starts to get Terry Rideout his first win of the night. Division 1 was split into 7 riders, Joe Heye, Rob Dixon, Casey Donholt, Gary Hesmer, Chris Hesmer, John and Drew Kehoe. Gary Hesmer came focused and determined to win - his first heat gave the competition something too see! He got his lead and defended perfectly from the charging pack! The second heat saw another disappointment for Chris Hesmer. Just as he was coming to the start line the clutch assembly came loose and he had no control, so he was forced to sit and watch John Kehoe beat Casey Donholt. Not allowing this to phase him, Chris came out in his next heat and showed why he is a threat at Welland, with a superb win. The Division 2 night was all Terry Rideout. Terry showing that his grit and determination will make him a very popular and solid rider. In the second heat, he nearly became a victim of a racing accident, when Dee Holden's primary chain snapped mid-way through turn one, Terry was challenging side by side and Dee did very well to control a wobbling bike and avoid Terry! Terry did however, cruise along all night and took the final checkered flag in the final! In the second round of Divison 1 racing, Joe Heye also took a good lead in front of a dueling Rob Dixon and Gary Hesmer, to gain a slot in the final group. After the two heats, we had a points tie between, Rob Dixon, Casey Donholt and Chris Hesmer - This allowed for a run-off to see which 2 would join John Kehoe, Joe Heye and Gary Hesmer in the final. This run-off was all Chris Hesmer, cool and smooth, he held Rob and Casey behind to take the win and put himself and Rob into the final. The Final was a cracker! - With John Kehoe leaving a big long black tire line on the inside gate and Gary Hesmer also suffering from this tire spin too, this left Chris Hesmer and Joe Heye, to push all the way around the track, with the others pushing hard to catch them. But in fine style, Chris Hesmer aboard John Bennett's loaner bike took the checkered flag and with great gesture, gave John a trip aboard the bike on his lap of honor! Another great Welland show!

Saturday July 7th 2007
A full fun-filled weekend was enjoyed by the owners of GT Tuning Canada - Jeff Orosz and Tim Murray! The Welland event on Saturday night produced a great night of racing. With 8 Division 1 riders and 4 Division 2 riders, the program was set for a great spectacular event. The night started with D2 racing, this was what the crowd wanted to see! John Bennett took a commanding lead in the first heat but was hunted down and passed on the front straight on lap 3, by the ever-improving Terry Rideout to take a good win. The D1 first heat caused quite a stir, when Rob Dixon looped at the start, he just got too much grip and up she went! Recovering quickly, he re-started from the 15 yard line, but was unable to catch the pack of John Kehoe, Jeff Orosz and Aaron Hesmer. Jeff doing a strong job to keep these guys back! The second D1 heat was also full of surprises, Gary Hesmer got a great start but lost grip on his back wheel on bend one and spun around, leaving him well behind! Chris Hesmer suffered mechanical failure while challenging Joe Heye who was pushing hard to catch a flying Marc Gauthier. Marc took a good win! The second round of heats drew more fun as the D2 guys went at it, with Tim Murray coming hard out of the gate to take a good lead with John Bennett and Terry Rideout fighting for places, John was firmly in 2nd place when Terry challenged hard and they both wobbled and John went down. He regained composure and finished behind Allan Chisholm. Marc Gauthier went really hard in the next heat after leaving Aaron Hesmer behind him to battle it out with John Kehoe, Chris Hesmer once again suffered from a mechanical gremlin as he was forced to cruised around. The final D1 heat was all Jeff Orosz, he went hard and led the pack to win well. The D2 final was an amazing race by Tim Murray, he rode out of his skin to take a beautiful win! This was not easy though, John Bennett chased him hard with the crazy man Terry Rideout pulling off some rider splitting moves and hard in and outs, This race was fantastic and John and Terry gave all the guests their monies worth - Congratulations to Tim Murray for an outstanding ride! The D1 B-Main was also a real eye-opener for all. The race was very close with Chris hesmer taking a good lead from Gary Hesmer and Rob Dixon, but Chris seemed to suffer more gremlins and Gary passed on lap 2, then as Chris was coming out of turn 4 on lap 3, his engine seized solid and he somehow saved a disaster with the bike buckling awkwardly under him, he came to an upright stop on the start line and the bike wouldn't move!!! With great sportsman-like thoughts he threw the bike down and dragged the bike off the track allowing Gary Hesmer to take his win! - Good job Chris! The Main D1 final was all Jeff Orosz, having been forced to change his bike and use his back-up due to some mechanical problems, he sped away from the rest of the riders and took a commanding lead to win well! Congratulations to GT Tuning's boys for their wins and we look forward to another great night of racing next week!

Saturday July 21st 2007 - Canadian Championship Race
Aaron Hesmer lifts the Crown! Welland's logo of 'Thrills - Chills - Spills' were perfectly aligned with the stars this night! A great night of speedway racing was presented to a very large enthusiastic crowd, giving them lots of things to discuss on the way home! With a good solid field of 20 riders ranging from California, US to St, Cuthbert, Quebec, the cast was set for the night. Mark Engel - Rob Dixon - Gary Hesmer - Chris Hesmer - Aaron Hesmer - John Bennett - Terry Rideout - Allan Chisholm - Nick Fafard - Fred Legault - Shawn McConnell - Josh Carr - Mike Buman - Casey Donholt - Katalin Davis - Tim Murray - John Dmytrow - Cole Farewell -Joe Heye - Jeff Orosz At 5:00pm, local boy - John "Crash" Dmytrow arrived at the gate with a spare bike in case anyone needed it. After some discussion of riders being held at the border from the US, Crash signed up and said he would ride. He stated that he hasn't ridden in a long while and will take it easy - yeah right! - John won every single start he was in!!! His reflexes were great and he put on a superb show for the crowd - We would like to say thanks to "Crash" for his very kind help in balancing the night's program and for giving the crowd something to cheer for in their home town! The night began with the first race being temporarily suspended due to an over watered track being deemed unsafe - a few riders were not happy with their safety concerns and so the track was dried and packed. The first selection of heats were all close in their racing and the track still caught a few out, which included Jeff Orosz who usually looks very composed at Welland having to settle for 3rd place in one heat. Nick Fafard was on hand to show his great skill. Sadly for Nick, he was leading a race well when his chain came flying off mid-turn and he kept it upright very well. He returned in his next race aboard Tim Murray's bike and took a huge lead to give the crowd a race to remember, in true Nick style he was waving to the crowd and finished the race doing the infamous wheelie across the line! Shawn McConnell from California put on some great racing. With his Mickey Mouse ears on his helmet, he ensured that they flapped in the winning air a few times to keep the crowd on their feet! A pure showman and we thank him for making the long trip to Canada! As the heats progressed so did the tension, the racing was fast and furious. Joe Heye was a man on a mission and took some very good leads. but sadly went too hard into turn 3-4 and lost control, this caused Fred Legault to lay his bike down and end up in the safety barrier. The heat was called complete as it was on the last turn, but it was a sad end to the heat for both Joe and Fred as they had been doing so well. Chris Hesmer and Katalin Davis also produced the 'Spill' part of the program. Chris was coming hard out of turn 4 when his back wheel suddenly went out of control and on the front straight he twisted badly and fell, his bike launching across the open track leaving Katalin David nowhere to go! She hit the bike head-on and was left to dramatically tumble down the track. With a broken helmet and some bumps and bruises, both she and Chris were back up their feet after a visit from the St. John's Ambulance. Katalin withdrew from the program for the night, and Chris took part on his back-up bike to re-start the heat and finish the night of racing. Rob Dixon who has been working hard to get his engine tuning right, did so! He took to the track and produced some amazing heats with a new attitude to go with the newly tuned engine. He looked very cool and controlled against some very strong opposition and proved that he is a rider who is still a big threat around the Welland! track! The semi-finals were set, and the riders came out to gain their place in the much desired grand final. Aaron Hesmer took his lead and did just what he had to do to ensure his place in the final, Terry Rideout riding for the first time this year against the top guys was holding his own against Gary Hesmer but suddenly he lost some traction and almost put gary through the boards, Gary's quick reactions saved the day and he went onward without any further incident. Joe Heye also went to the front in the second semifinal. He held his line and won ahead of a battling Shawn McConnell. The final 5 were poised to go! Aaron Hesmer, Shawn McConnell, Jeff Orosz, Joe Heye and Casey Donholt enjoyed their introductions from Wes Pierce, and took to their bikes for the last time - The points totals were all in Aaron Hesmer's hands, all he had to do was finish the race and he would take the title! The tapes went up and Aaron Hesmer took to the front ahead of Jeff Orosz, Casy Donholt, Shawn McConnell and Joe Heye. The race was for 2nd and 3rd, Casey was all over Jeff who did a great job to keep the US youngster from grabbing second place from him. But the man who needed only to finish the race did so in-style. He crossed the finish line with fist pumping in the air putting behind him the bad memories of his chain failure while chasing Kyle Legault last year, to lift the coveted crown as the 2007 Canadian Speedway Champion!!!

Saturday July 21st 2007
Saturday night was the final event at Welland Speedway for 2007, and the riders let the crowd see why speedway racing is the most thrilling sport in the world! A 14 man/lady line-up rose to the occasion, and from the get-go gave their all! The first heat saw John "Crash" Dymtrow in a fiery mood to take a good lead in front of John Bennett, John did an excellent job in keeping Tim Murray and Terry Rideout from passing him! Their second heat was a cracker, "Crash" was pushed to his limit by Terry Rideout, Terry did everything in his powers to get by "Crash" but just couldn't do it! The final for the Division 2 riders was full of fun, Tim Murray came out of the gate like a rocket, he held the lead up to lap 2 until Terry Rideout went flying past on the back straight, then "Crash" took Tim on the next bend with Tim's bike suddenly lacking power, John Bennett and Allan Chisholm also passed Tim to take 3rd and 4th place respectively. Tim coasted home in last place with a sad sounding engine! Congratulations to Terry Rideout for the winning this final event and continuing on in a great way, in his rookie year at Welland! Division 1 riders, Jeff Orosz, Aaron Hesmer, Gary Hesmer, Joe Heye, John Kehoe, Drew Kehoe, Rob Dixon, Katalin Davis and Fred Legault, did a superb job in their own show this night! Heat 1 action saw Gary Hesmer have a great start, he took the lead ahead of Aaron Hesmer, but lost this to Aaron on lap 1, then he lost power and was unexpectedly left to chase Rob Dixon, Joe Heye and Fred Legault! He found out after the heat, that he had lost power from his rear tire coming off the rim!!!!! Heat 2 was a cracker, John Kehoe and Jeff Orosz were side by side from the start and battled like this all the way round lap 1, but on lap 2 Jeff took the lead holding it to the end. Round 2 saw Katalin Davis suffer another Welland misery, on the start of lap 2, Drew Kehoe was passing Katalin Davis when Katalin on Tim Murray's bike suddenly went into an aggressive speed-wobble and landed face first on bend 1-2. She arose feeling a bit shaky and withdrew from the night! The re-run was superb!!!! Gary Hesmer, Rob Dixon and John Kehoe were side by side for 2 laps at which point Rob Dixon took the lead leaving John Kehoe and Gary Hesmer to battle the second position, John Kehoe having none of this pushed passed Gary into second and launched toward Rob and on a last lap gasp, he threw himself alongside Rob and beat him on the line by a wheel!!! Brilliant racing!!!!!!!!! The next heat saw Aaron Hesmer having to pull a rabbit out of hat! Jeff Orosz, Joe Heye, Aaron Hesmer and Fred Legault were all having a great race when Fred suffered a mechanical problem and pulled off the track, leaving Aaron to blast past the leading Joe Heye on lap 3, Joe did a great solid job of holding back a "Jumping" Jeff Orosz! The B Final was between, Drew Kehoe, Gary Hesmer and Fred Legault. From the gate Drew Kehoe took a comfortable lead ahead of Fred legault to win comfortably! The main Final event saw Aaron Hesmer, John Kehoe, Jeff Orosz, Rob Dixon and Joe Heye take to the stage! Aaron Hesmer took the lead for lap one, he was closely followed by hard chasing John Kehoe, Joe Heye and Rob Dixon, sadly Joe Heye dropped back after being taken by John Kehoe as Jeff went by Rob, Jeff took Aaron in hand and took the lead on lap 2 on the back straight, leaving Rob Dixon to chase down Aaron, this he did on the start of lap 4 to hold a good second place! Congratulations to Jeff Orosz for adding another great win to his Welland results and to all the riders for providing a great season at Welland Speedway. The CSRA run races for 2007 have proven to be very successful and thanks to Karen Hanshaw for her dedication throughout the season!

Saturday June 9th 2007

The Welland motorcyle clubs' season opener was blessed with perfect racing conditions.

Seven Divison 1 and 4 Divison 2 riders enjoyed an accident free race night. Until, unbeaten, Jeff Orosz slid off in turn one of the final and was placed back on the 10 yard line for the restart.

John Kehoe was untroubled in the restart and led from start to finish to take the D1 final win with Aaron Hesmer, Joe Heye, Jeff Orosz and Rob Dixon following him home. Fred Legault and Gary Hesmer both failed to make the D1 final.

John Bennett, Tim Murray, Terry Rideout and Al chisholm completed the field, all riding in D2.

Saturday June 16th 2007

On a night that started quite windy and cloudy, turned into a still perfect night for racing.

With a field of nine Division 1 riders and four Division 2 riders, the program format allowed for some great racing. Speedway has the terms, thrills, chills and spills and at Welland we had them all! The Divison 2 riders started the program and with Tim Murray keeping up his magnificent starting record going.

Out of the gate like a light he took a good lead into the third turn, where Terry Rideout took over the control of the race and never looked back! In their second race, Tim once again exploded off the line only to have Terry do the same thing and take the race. But the race of this heat was John Bennett's continued push to get pass a very fast Tim Murray, but as is so often in speedway racing, he need 1 more lap to get by!

Heat 1 of the Division 1 riders saw the first spill of the night. Off the line, Joe Heye was along side John Kehoe, into the first bend Joe pushed in front of John, leaving John to hook up leaving Rob Dixon nowhere to go but into John. He went down hard and Chris Hesmer did a good job of avoiding a major accident! Upon the restart, Joe and John were again side by side, but an ignited Kehoe opened up the throttle and took and held a good lead from a battling Heye. The second heat between Aaron Hesmer, Gary Hesmer, Marc Gauthier and Jeff Orosz was also a cracker behind the leader.

Jeff Orosz took a commanding lead and left Aaron to be chased by Gary and Marc, Marc spent the whole race so close to Gary that he could have smelt the rubber off his back wheel. Gary did a great job in holding Marc back - good racing! Round 2 of the Division 1 heats saw Jeff orosz and Drew Kehoe up against the Hesmer boys - They all got a good start and Jeff once again pulled away to leave the Hesmer's to duel with Drew. Gary Hesmer pulled a rabbit out of his hat and kept a bobbing Aaron right behind him to take a great 2nd place. The second heat was also spectacular - Again John Kehoe was still fired up and he got in front of Marc Gauthier, Joe Heye and Rob Dixon.

Marc took a good 2nd place for 2 laps but a hard charging Joe went passed him as he went wide as did Rob. Marc didn't give up the fight though and was all over Rob as he tried to get passed Joe. A well received cheer was granted by the crowd at the checkered flag!

The B-Main Final provided the crowd with some exciting events. The track had become very slippery and the previous races of the flat-trackers had seen a few spills. With an absent Chris Hesmer due to ignition problems, Drew Kehoe decided enough was enough and that he would show what he was made of! Drew had the best gate of the year and pulled into a good 1st place, with Rob Dixon going past him on bend 3-4, he pulled out slightly and Marc Gauthier took them both, Marc going into 1st place. On lap 3 Rob Dixon was flat out coming into corner 1 when uncharacteristically, Rob's back wheel went out from under him leaving Rob to tumble awkwardly across the track.

Following a few minutes to get his breath back - Rob got up and pushed his bike back to the pits, the race was called complete, crowning Marc Gauthier the winner. The Division 2 final was the crowd's highlight of the night! - Once again Tim Murray blew his opponents, John Bennett, Terry Rideout and Allan Chisholm away at the start! On the 3-4 bend of the first lap Terry Rideout slide out trying to pass John Bennett and the race was stopped. With a few minutes delay, Terry got his bike back together and restarted 10 yards back.

Upon the restart, Tim again was ahead and John Bennett was in second, Terry Rideout charged passed John and was a man on a mission, but this mission became a bad one for him, he went under Tim Murray thinking Tim would move out, but Tim holding his line bounced off Terry on bend 2 and Terry ended up face-first into the hay bales. Rising to see and feel his left hand hurting and his bike looking worse for wear - Terry walked back into the pits.

So for the 3rd time the race was started for a 2 lap race. John Bennett for the first time this year beat Tim out of the gate, and looked certain to win, but Tim charged and took John on the last bend to win the night! Great racing!

The Main Division 1 race was poised to be good with John Kehoe, Joe Heye, Aaron Hesmer, Gary Hesmer and Jeff Orosz taking their places at the tapes. Jeff Orosz flew out of the gate and took a firm winning lead over John Kehoe and left Aaron and Gary to chase Joe Heye to the checkered flag. A good night of racing that leaves some great expectations for the Championship race in 2 weeks!

Saturday June 30th 2007

On a nice comfortable cool night at Welland Speedway, John Bennett was the star of the show!

John saw a frustrated Chris Hesmer push his bike off the track after 2 laps of practice, with the return of his nightmare mechanical gremlins! Without question, John jumped up to the plate and offered the use of his second bike to Chris - In minutes they were stripping this down and getting it prepared with Chris's set-up ready for the night's action.

John himself also received the biggest cheer of the night from an enthusiastic crowd after falling twice on the same corner. As John stayed upright on his 3rd attempt to restart the race, the crowd cheered loudly to his success! John also made some great moves to come from a 15 yard penalty to a good second place finish.

With Jeff Orosz, Aaron Hesmer and Marc Gauthier riding in Quebec at the St. Alexis Canadian Championship Round, the field looked to be slim, but with the return of Drew Kehoe, and the addition of Casey Donholt from the US,. the event was a close match for all. The heats started with division 2 riders battling it out. US rider Dee Holden looped at the gate and fellow rider Casey Donholt ran out with his bike to allow this young lady to have another go! With this restart and John Bennett's two falls, it took four starts to get Terry Rideout his first win of the night.

Division 1 was split into 7 riders, Joe Heye, Rob Dixon, Casey Donholt, Gary Hesmer, Chris Hesmer, John and Drew Kehoe. Gary Hesmer came focused and determined to win - his first heat gave the competition something too see! He got his lead and defended perfectly from the charging pack! The second heat saw another disappointment for Chris Hesmer. Just as he was coming to the start line the clutch assembly came loose and he had no control, so he was forced to sit and watch John Kehoe beat Casey Donholt.

Not allowing this to phase him, Chris came out in his next heat and showed why he is a threat at Welland, with a superb win. The Division 2 night was all Terry Rideout. Terry showing that his grit and determination will make him a very popular and solid rider. In the second heat, he nearly became a victim of a racing accident, when Dee Holden's primary chain snapped mid-way through turn one, Terry was challenging side by side and Dee did very well to control a wobbling bike and avoid Terry! Terry did however, cruise along all night and took the final checkered flag in the final! In the second round of Divison 1 racing, Joe Heye also took a good lead in front of a dueling Rob Dixon and Gary Hesmer, to gain a slot in the final group.

After the two heats, we had a points tie between, Rob Dixon, Casey Donholt and Chris Hesmer - This allowed for a run-off to see which 2 would join John Kehoe, Joe Heye and Gary Hesmer in the final. This run-off was all Chris Hesmer, cool and smooth, he held Rob and Casey behind to take the win and put himself and Rob into the final. The Final was a cracker! - With John Kehoe leaving a big long black tire line on the inside gate and Gary Hesmer also suffering from this tire spin too, this left Chris Hesmer and Joe Heye, to push all the way around the track, with the others pushing hard to catch them.

But in fine style, Chris Hesmer aboard John Bennett's loaner bike took the checkered flag and with great gesture, gave John a trip aboard the bike on his lap of honor! Another great Welland show!

Saturday July 7th 2007

A full fun-filled weekend was enjoyed by the owners of GT Tuning Canada - Jeff Orosz and Tim Murray!

The Welland event on Saturday night produced a great night of racing. With 8 Division 1 riders and 4 Division 2 riders, the program was set for a great spectacular event.

The night started with D2 racing, this was what the crowd wanted to see! John Bennett took a commanding lead in the first heat but was hunted down and passed on the front straight on lap 3, by the ever-improving Terry Rideout to take a good win.

The D1 first heat caused quite a stir, when Rob Dixon looped at the start, he just got too much grip and up she went! Recovering quickly, he re-started from the 15 yard line, but was unable to catch the pack of John Kehoe, Jeff Orosz and Aaron Hesmer. Jeff doing a strong job to keep these guys back!

The second D1 heat was also full of surprises, Gary Hesmer got a great start but lost grip on his back wheel on bend one and spun around, leaving him well behind! Chris Hesmer suffered mechanical failure while challenging Joe Heye who was pushing hard to catch a flying Marc Gauthier. Marc took a good win!

The second round of heats drew more fun as the D2 guys went at it, with Tim Murray coming hard out of the gate to take a good lead with John Bennett and Terry Rideout fighting for places, John was firmly in 2nd place when Terry challenged hard and they both wobbled and John went down. He regained composure and finished behind Allan Chisholm.

Marc Gauthier went really hard in the next heat after leaving Aaron Hesmer behind him to battle it out with John Kehoe, Chris Hesmer once again suffered from a mechanical gremlin as he was forced to cruised around.

The final D1 heat was all Jeff Orosz, he went hard and led the pack to win well.

The D2 final was an amazing race by Tim Murray, he rode out of his skin to take a beautiful win! This was not easy though, John Bennett chased him hard with the crazy man Terry Rideout pulling off some rider splitting moves and hard in and outs, This race was fantastic and John and Terry gave all the guests their monies worth - Congratulations to Tim Murray for an outstanding ride!

The D1 B-Main was also a real eye-opener for all. The race was very close with Chris hesmer taking a good lead from Gary Hesmer and Rob Dixon, but Chris seemed to suffer more gremlins and Gary passed on lap 2, then as Chris was coming out of turn 4 on lap 3, his engine seized solid and he somehow saved a disaster with the bike buckling awkwardly under him, he came to an upright stop on the start line and the bike wouldn't move!!! With great sportsman-like thoughts he threw the bike down and dragged the bike off the track allowing Gary Hesmer to take his win! - Good job Chris!

The Main D1 final was all Jeff Orosz, having been forced to change his bike and use his back-up due to some mechanical problems, he sped away from the rest of the riders and took a commanding lead to win well!

Congratulations to GT Tuning's boys for their wins and we look forward to another great night of racing next week!

Saturday July 21st 2007 - Canadian Championship Race

Aaron Hesmer lifts the Crown! Welland's logo of 'Thrills - Chills - Spills' were perfectly aligned with the stars this night! A great night of speedway racing was presented to a very large enthusiastic crowd, giving them lots of things to discuss on the way home! With a good solid field of 20 riders ranging from California, US to St, Cuthbert, Quebec, the cast was set for the night.

Mark Engel - Rob Dixon - Gary Hesmer - Chris Hesmer - Aaron Hesmer - John Bennett - Terry Rideout - Allan Chisholm - Nick Fafard - Fred Legault - Shawn McConnell - Josh Carr - Mike Buman - Casey Donholt - Katalin Davis - Tim Murray - John Dmytrow - Cole Farewell -Joe Heye - Jeff Orosz At 5:00pm, local boy - John "Crash" Dmytrow arrived at the gate with a spare bike in case anyone needed it. After some discussion of riders being held at the border from the US, Crash signed up and said he would ride. He stated that he hasn't ridden in a long while and will take it easy - yeah right! - John won every single start he was in!!!

His reflexes were great and he put on a superb show for the crowd - We would like to say thanks to "Crash" for his very kind help in balancing the night's program and for giving the crowd something to cheer for in their home town! The night began with the first race being temporarily suspended due to an over watered track being deemed unsafe - a few riders were not happy with their safety concerns and so the track was dried and packed.

The first selection of heats were all close in their racing and the track still caught a few out, which included Jeff Orosz who usually looks very composed at Welland having to settle for 3rd place in one heat. Nick Fafard was on hand to show his great skill. Sadly for Nick, he was leading a race well when his chain came flying off mid-turn and he kept it upright very well. He returned in his next race aboard Tim Murray's bike and took a huge lead to give the crowd a race to remember, in true Nick style he was waving to the crowd and finished the race doing the infamous wheelie across the line! Shawn McConnell from California put on some great racing.

With his Mickey Mouse ears on his helmet, he ensured that they flapped in the winning air a few times to keep the crowd on their feet! A pure showman and we thank him for making the long trip to Canada! As the heats progressed so did the tension, the racing was fast and furious. Joe Heye was a man on a mission and took some very good leads. but sadly went too hard into turn 3-4 and lost control, this caused Fred Legault to lay his bike down and end up in the safety barrier.

The heat was called complete as it was on the last turn, but it was a sad end to the heat for both Joe and Fred as they had been doing so well. Chris Hesmer and Katalin Davis also produced the 'Spill' part of the program. Chris was coming hard out of turn 4 when his back wheel suddenly went out of control and on the front straight he twisted badly and fell, his bike launching across the open track leaving Katalin David nowhere to go! She hit the bike head-on and was left to dramatically tumble down the track. With a broken helmet and some bumps and bruises, both she and Chris were back up their feet after a visit from the St. John's Ambulance. Katalin withdrew from the program for the night, and Chris took part on his back-up bike to re-start the heat and finish the night of racing.

Rob Dixon who has been working hard to get his engine tuning right, did so! He took to the track and produced some amazing heats with a new attitude to go with the newly tuned engine. He looked very cool and controlled against some very strong opposition and proved that he is a rider who is still a big threat around the Welland! track! The semi-finals were set, and the riders came out to gain their place in the much desired grand final. Aaron Hesmer took his lead and did just what he had to do to ensure his place in the final, Terry Rideout riding for the first time this year against the top guys was holding his own against Gary Hesmer but suddenly he lost some traction and almost put gary through the boards, Gary's quick reactions saved the day and he went onward without any further incident.

Joe Heye also went to the front in the second semifinal. He held his line and won ahead of a battling Shawn McConnell. The final 5 were poised to go! Aaron Hesmer, Shawn McConnell, Jeff Orosz, Joe Heye and Casey Donholt enjoyed their introductions from Wes Pierce, and took to their bikes for the last time - The points totals were all in Aaron Hesmer's hands, all he had to do was finish the race and he would take the title! The tapes went up and Aaron Hesmer took to the front ahead of Jeff Orosz, Casy Donholt, Shawn McConnell and Joe Heye.

The race was for 2nd and 3rd, Casey was all over Jeff who did a great job to keep the US youngster from grabbing second place from him. But the man who needed only to finish the race did so in-style. He crossed the finish line with fist pumping in the air putting behind him the bad memories of his chain failure while chasing Kyle Legault last year, to lift the coveted crown as the 2007 Canadian Speedway Champion!!!

Saturday July 21st 2007

Saturday night was the final event at Welland Speedway for 2007, and the riders let the crowd see why speedway racing is the most thrilling sport in the world!

A 14 man/lady line-up rose to the occasion, and from the get-go gave their all!

The first heat saw John "Crash" Dymtrow in a fiery mood to take a good lead in front of John Bennett, John did an excellent job in keeping Tim Murray and Terry Rideout from passing him!

Their second heat was a cracker, "Crash" was pushed to his limit by Terry Rideout, Terry did everything in his powers to get by "Crash" but just couldn't do it!

The final for the Division 2 riders was full of fun, Tim Murray came out of the gate like a rocket, he held the lead up to lap 2 until Terry Rideout went flying past on the back straight, then "Crash" took Tim on the next bend with Tim's bike suddenly lacking power, John Bennett and Allan Chisholm also passed Tim to take 3rd and 4th place respectively. Tim coasted home in last place with a sad sounding engine!

Congratulations to Terry Rideout for the winning this final event and continuing on in a great way, in his rookie year at Welland!

Division 1 riders, Jeff Orosz, Aaron Hesmer, Gary Hesmer, Joe Heye, John Kehoe, Drew Kehoe, Rob Dixon, Katalin Davis and Fred Legault, did a superb job in their own show this night!

Heat 1 action saw Gary Hesmer have a great start, he took the lead ahead of Aaron Hesmer, but lost this to Aaron on lap 1, then he lost power and was unexpectedly left to chase Rob Dixon, Joe Heye and Fred Legault! He found out after the heat, that he had lost power from his rear tire coming off the rim!!!!!

Heat 2 was a cracker, John Kehoe and Jeff Orosz were side by side from the start and battled like this all the way round lap 1, but on lap 2 Jeff took the lead holding it to the end.

Round 2 saw Katalin Davis suffer another Welland misery, on the start of lap 2, Drew Kehoe was passing Katalin Davis when Katalin on Tim Murray's bike suddenly went into an aggressive speed-wobble and landed face first on bend 1-2. She arose feeling a bit shaky and withdrew from the night! The re-run was superb!!!! Gary Hesmer, Rob Dixon and John Kehoe were side by side for 2 laps at which point Rob Dixon took the lead leaving John Kehoe and Gary Hesmer to battle the second position, John Kehoe having none of this pushed passed Gary into second and launched toward Rob and on a last lap gasp, he threw himself alongside Rob and beat him on the line by a wheel!!! Brilliant racing!!!!!!!!!

The next heat saw Aaron Hesmer having to pull a rabbit out of hat! Jeff Orosz, Joe Heye, Aaron Hesmer and Fred Legault were all having a great race when Fred suffered a mechanical problem and pulled off the track, leaving Aaron to blast past the leading Joe Heye on lap 3, Joe did a great solid job of holding back a "Jumping" Jeff Orosz!

The B Final was between, Drew Kehoe, Gary Hesmer and Fred Legault. From the gate Drew Kehoe took a comfortable lead ahead of Fred legault to win comfortably!

The main Final event saw Aaron Hesmer, John Kehoe, Jeff Orosz, Rob Dixon and Joe Heye take to the stage! Aaron Hesmer took the lead for lap one, he was closely followed by hard chasing John Kehoe, Joe Heye and Rob Dixon, sadly Joe Heye dropped back after being taken by John Kehoe as Jeff went by Rob, Jeff took Aaron in hand and took the lead on lap 2 on the back straight, leaving Rob Dixon to chase down Aaron, this he did on the start of lap 4 to hold a good second place!

Congratulations to Jeff Orosz for adding another great win to his Welland results and to all the riders for providing a great season at Welland Speedway. The CSRA run races for 2007 have proven to be very successful and thanks to Karen Hanshaw for her dedication throughout the season!