McNeil Captures Double Victory on the Blacktop

There was an excellent turnout of cars for the Atlantic Drag Racing Association and Raceway Park combined points event at the local drag strip over the weekend, and the racing was as hot as the weather.

Jason McNeil from Stellerton, Nova Scotia drove his 1979 Chevy Monza to wins in both the prestigious Super Pro Division on Sunday and Saturday’s huge Electronic Gamblers’ Race. On Sunday, McNeil’s excellent .510 reaction time pushed Benny Niesten from Mineville, Nova Scotia to breakout by more than McNeil in an attempt to gain the finish line first. On Saturday McNeil narrowly edged Mt. Uniacke, Nova Scotia’s John Rankin in the Gambler final.

On Saturday the Atlantic Stock/Super Stock Series showed up with a record 21 cars in attendance. After two qualifying attempts and five rounds of racing, Jack Keirstead from Onslow, Mountain, Nova Scotia drove his 1976 Chevy Nova to a final round win over Kelly MacKay’s 1972 Dodge Demon from Mineville, Nova Scotia. Greg Nickerson from Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia was third.

In the Quick 32 class, Benny Niesten and his 1971 Chevy Nova  from Millville, Nova Scotia defeated the 2004 Dan Page dragster of Chris O’Neil from Fredericton, New Brunswick in the final.

In Saturday’s Non-Electronic Gamblers’ Race, Mike Ingram from Middle Sackville, Nova Scotia worked his way through the 52 car field to meet and beat Chad Ramsay from Wellington, PEI in the final pairing.

In Sunday’s Pro Division final, Kelly MacKay worked his way through the large field to earn his way into his second final of the weekend. This time he fared better when Yarmouth, Nova Scotia’s Bud Murphy deep-staged and caught a red light to hand the victory to MacKay. Jeremy Keans from Liverpool, Nova Scotia was third in the class.

In the Bike/Sled Class, the 1981 Kawasaki KZ1000 of  Chris Pozzebon from Gardiner Mines, Nova Scotia managed to defeat the #12 Arctic Cat snowmobile of Charlottetown’s Glenn Frizzell. In the last few races, Frizzell had seemed almost unbeatable in the division. It took a great .519 light and a 10.71 pass on a 10.69 dial-in from Pozzebon to complete the feat. Justin Horton from Trenton, Nova Scotia finished third in the class.

In the Sportsman Division, Christine Leeman from Letang, New Brunswick drove her 1998 Camaro to class honours with a win over the 1995 Camaro of Tim Lawrence from Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia. Randy Langille from Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia was third in the class.

In the Junior Dragster Division, Rylie Green from Berwick, New Brunswick pulled off the weekend’s second double victory with a win over his  younger brother, Jensen Green, on Saturday and by edging Sackville, Nova Scotia’s Logan Power in Sunday’s Junior final.


Sunday’s Duck Race, held for first round losers of all classes, was won for the first time by a motorcycle. Marshfield’s Nevin Scott managed to work his way through Pro and Super Pro cars to get to the final where he defeated the Pro Bracket car of Tyne Valley’s Ernest Newcombe.

Next drag racing action will be July 21/22 when the Sport Compacts invade the park. Meanwhile Street Drags continue each Tuesday night at 6:30 with Wednesday and Thursday being rain dates.