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2005 BRP CanAm Series Review St. Catharines, ONT…The 2005 BRP CanAm Series produced new drivers, new events, new winners, a new champion, a record $21,422 point fund, and, most important, twelve action packed race programs that left both race fans and race teams looking for more in 2006. New Drivers: A measure of a healthy racing series is new drivers. By that measure, the 2005 BRP CanAm Series gets an A+. Steve Dixon, a 25 year old second generation race car driver, headed the list of new drivers. Dixon earned Rookie-of-the-Year honors with his sixth place finish in Series point standings. Dixon demonstrated both maturity and talent with six top ten finishes in the twelve event Series. Dixon’s best finish was third in the first event at Black Rock Speedway. The winningest new driver was Jeff Chesebro. Chesebro burst on the scene in August at Humberstone Speedway where he was an instant rocket. He was a rocket, but an inconsistent rocket until his racing skills, which had deteriorated during an eight year sabbatical from racing, were honed. Consistency did not take long. Chesebro won his first ever BRP CanAm event at Woodhull Raceway in mid-September. The following week he won at the first ever Series event at Black Rock Speedway. He completed his rookie year by winning the season finale at Black Rock in mid-October. Chesebro ended up 17th in the point standings, just one spot behind Larry Knowles, another Series rookie. Larry Knowles’ first year on the Series was highlighted by an outstanding second place finish at Genesee Speedway. Knowles’s second best finish was fourth in the first Black Rock event. Disappointing DNF’s at Woodhull and the second Black Rock event may have cost Knowles his first Series victory since he owns track championship titles at both of those tracks. Canadian Rick Baker added international flavor to the list of first year Series competitors. Baker, a former DIRT Pro Stock driver, finished 20th out of 78 drivers in the point standings. Baker campaigned a reworked, but very old Rocket Monte Carlo, which has been replaced by a nearly new Shaw Grand Prix for the 2006 season. Other drivers who competed in the 2005 edition of the BRP CanAm Series for the first time in the three years of the Series included Mike Wonderling, who doubled up when the Series shared billing with the super late models, teenager Ron Mogavero, Steve Fields, Richard Hale, Tim Barnard, JJ Watson, Rich Michael, Joe Watson, Tracey Rhoads, Glenn Whritenour, Luke Carleton, Don Newton, John McKay, and Blane Smith. New events: Black Rock Speedway in Dundee, NY booked two shows for the 2005 BRP CanAm Series and helped with the Series mission to promote the BRP CanAm Late Model type of race cars that compete regularly at Genesee Speedway in Batavia, NY, Little Valley Speedway in Little Valley, NY, and McKean County Raceway in Smethport, PA. Black Rock Speedway owner Dean Hoag was impressed to the point that he has booked the Series for two events in 2006, but more importantly, has begun a rule book transition to convert the Black Rock Speedway Super Stocks to the BRP CanAm Series Late Model configuration. New Winners: As previously mentioned, first year Series driver Jeff Chesebro won three events [two at Black Rock and Woodhull]. Bill Holmes shook off his bad luck and recorded a Series win at Little Valley where he owns many race wins. Genesee Speedway produced two first time winners. In the first Genesee event, Jon Rivers did what many would have believed impossible by coming from last to first. Tim Schram earned his first ever Series win in the second Genesee event AJ Young, who has a perfect three year Series attendance record, won his first Series event at the midweek McKean County Fair event. New Champion: The international flavor of the Series was spiced by Port Colborne, Ontario speedster Darren Kish. Kish dethroned statesider Bob Dixon as the BRP CanAm Series champion. Dixon had earned the Series championship in both of the prior two years of the Series. Kish established himself as a championship contender by winning the first three events of the year. Although he did not win again, he stayed on top of the point standings all season long. In fact, Kish was so dominate that he had locked up the championship before the final event at Black Rock. Kish’s championship year was highlighted with nine top ten finishes. Record $21,422 Point Fund: Champion Darren Kish earned a record $4005 from the largest point fund in the history of the Series. Runner-up AJ Young took $2422 from the point fund. Todd Rice finished third in the point battle for the third consecutive year. Rice’s 2005 take was $1925. The top twelve drivers shared the $21,422 point fund. In addition to the point fund, over $7000 in bonus money was paid to the Series competitors. Included in the bonus programs were $3000 from F/A Products – Clevite Engine Builder Awards, $1500 in B-Main awards from Ed Carley Motorsports, and $1200 in Close Racing Supply Hard Charger Awards. Great racing: The quality of the racing in each of the twelve events that made up the 2005 BRP CanAm Series was outstanding. Side by side racing with lots of passing provided by an average car count of 35 provided the essential ingredients for outstanding racing. AJ Young’s win in the Theresa Dixon Memorial at the McKean County Fair was the most emotion filled event. The first time Series wins by Bill Holmes, Jon Rivers, Tim Schram, and AJ Young established personal high water marks. Bill Holmes’ win in Little Valley #2 had the partisan crowd of about 3000 fans on their feet as their guy lead Kish to the checkers. The best races of the 2005 Series were the twin 30s at Merrittville Speedway. The Bicknell-Williamson team had their track surface in outstanding condition and the racers used ever inch of it with wheel standing bite. The side-by-side lead swapping battle staged by eventual winner Bruce Miller and runner-up Darren Kish makes the best race ever list. The Merrittville night capper which featured the one / two finish by the father / son duo of Dave Miller and Bruce Miller was an excellent race by all metrics, but fell short of the Miller / Kish dogfight. 2005 Race Results: Little
Valley 5/29/05: 1. D. Kish, 2. D. Miller, 3. B. Holmes, 4. T.
Shaw, 5. B. Babbitt [45 entries] 2005 Point Standings: [top 30 / 78 earned points] 1. D. Kish, 2. A. Young, 3. T. Rice, 4. T. Schram, 5. J. Lichy, 6. S. Dixon, 7. N. Patterson, 8. P. Grigsby, 9. J. Wonderling, 10. B. Babbitt, 11. J. Tingue, 12. J. Rivers, 13. Jr. Peters, 14. R. Baker, 15. B. Dixon, 16. L. Knowles, 17. J. Chesebro, 18. B. Miller, 19. J. Venuto, 20. R. Baker, 21. J. Johnson, 22. D. Miller, 23. D. DuBois, 24. M. Cobb, 25. T. Hansen, 26. P. Waldron, 27. T. Dunham. 28. T. Kauffman, 29. B. Holmes, 30. M Wonderling 2006: Plans for the 2006 BRP CanAm Series are well underway. The work-in-progress schedule looks much like 2005 with new events scheduled for Cayuga County Fair Speedway and Canandaigua Speedway. The fourth year of the Series promises to be the best yet with several new teams planning to compete and many new cars being constructed. For continuing news our new website www.brpcanamseries.com will be operational soon. |