Tommy Wickham wins the Empire Super Sprints feature at Edelweiss Speedway

Cantley, PQ – Friday June 12, 2009 – Martin Bélanger – The Empire Super Sprints were in town and the biggest crowd of the season was gathered in the stands of Edelweiss Speedway. The Semi-Pro had a 25-lap feature counting for the TMR series. The Mod-Lite and 4-cylinders categories were also in action on Coca-Cola night.

In the 25-lap Empire Super Sprints feature race, Tommy Wickham took the early lead with Justin Harris and Tim Kelly in the top 3, Kelly was able to pass Harris on the third lap as Rick Wilson did the same on the following lap.  Wickham was in the lap cars with only 5 laps down. The first caution came out on lap 6 with Chuck Hebing. Wickham stayed in front with Wilson taking second on Kelly, former Edelweiss regulars Brian McDonald and Lee Ladouceur completed the top 5 with 10 laps in the book. Wilson got close to Wickham as they got in traffic on lap 15, Mcdonald and Poirier made moves to take third and fifth spots respectively on lap 17.

McDonald was getting close to Wilson with less than five to go as second caution came out for Sylvain Ericksen. On the restart, Wilson lost control of his car and had to go to the back from his second spot, yellow stayed on the field. Wickham had the lead with McDonald now second and getting closer with Ladouceur in third. Wickham led the final laps to win the feature over McDonald, Ladouceur, Steve Poirier and Tim Kelly completed the top 5. Alain Bergeron, Brian McDonald and Steve Poirier won the heat races; Poirier was also the winner in the 4-lap dash for cash.

Charles Galipeau was the early leader in the 25-lap Semi-Pro feature but Stéphane Carrière passed him on the first lap to become the new leader with Nico Leblanc in second and Steve Gagné in third, Carrière and Leblanc were racing closely for the lead as the first caution on lap 7. Carrière stays in front with Leblanc and Philipps in third with 10 laps done, Carrière in the leader with Leblanc and Philipps getting together and Philipps taking second spot. Yellow comes out on lap 16, Philipps is sent to the back for rough riding. Because of the late time, the race was green and checker as Carrière won the race over Mark Trudeau and Nico Leblanc.

Unfortunately early in the evening an incident occurred has Normand Beaudreault had a severe accident in the first heat, he hit the wall in turn 4 at full speed, and he had lower body injuries, broken ribs, a bruised lung and was sent to the hospital. The speedway emergency team did a great job in this situation. We will have more news during the weekend. All the Edelweiss Speedway staff is with the Beaudreault family and friends and wishes a fast recovery to him.

The 4-cylinders and Mod-Lite features are postponed to next week because of the time that took to clear the Beaudreault accident. Next week we could have something special at the speedway with a 20-lap dash for cash with a few stars of the World of Outlaws Late Models. These spectacular cars might be at the speedway if everything goes well the night before at Oshweken, we suggest that keep an eye on the website at www.autodromeedelweiss.com on Friday morning to have all the information. A complete race program is also on the schedule, if the Late Models are there, the Mod-Lite will have the night off. Be there!

Résultats Empire Super Sprints (25 tours)             
Tommy Wickham, Brian McDonald, Lee Ladouceur, Alain Bergeron, Steve Poirier, Lance Yonge, Jeff Cook, Tim Kelly, Justin Barger, Rick Wilson, Michael Parent, Sylvain Ericksen, Justin Harris, Daniel Lampron, Paul Pekkonen, Chuck Hebing, April Wilson, Anthony Cain, David Renaud, Normand Beaudreault (DNS)

Semi-Pro Feature Results (25 laps)
Stéphane Carrière, Mark Trudeau, Nico Leblanc, Sébastien Bigras, Guy Régimbald, Bruno Boivin, Charles Galipeau, Jeff Philipps, Alexandre Gagnon, John Benard, Maxim Foley, Steve Gagné, Marie-Ève Bérard, Alain Proulx

Petro Marché Tassé 307 Halfway Bonus Winner: Stéphane Carrière
Mr.Gas Halfway Bonus Winner: Postponed to next week

Kenyon Race Parts Hard Luck Award Winner: Postponed to next week

Babe Design Early Bird:  Maxime Foley