Doubleheader on Deck for Mini Stock Tour at Sydney This Weekend

The Passione Flooring & Interiors East Coast Mini Stock Tour will begin a tip to tip voyage of Nova Scotia this weekend as the Series heads to Cape Breton Island on Saturday and Sunday. The Veterans for Healing Twin 75s will be the co-headlining act in the grand re-opening of Sydney Speedway and will feature two 75-lap races, one on Saturday, July 27th and a second on Sunday, July 28th. The races will mark Round Three and Four of Nine on the 2019 season. Racing gets underway at 4 pm on Saturday and at 12 pm on Sunday.

Dave Matthews (Kennetcook, NS) set out at the start of 2019 with the ultimate goal of winning the Passione Flooring & Interiors East Coast Mini Stock Tour (ECMST) championship. The three-time Scotia Speedworld track champion has the top spot on the Tour, albeit only two races in. The Petty International Raceway Season Opener winner has “The Mystery Machine” in front by just 16 points over Jesse Deveau (Greenwood, NS) and by 17 points over Mike Edwards (Penobsquis, NB). For Deveau and Edwards, this will be their first appearances at the Grand Lake Road oval, while Matthews took home a big money win at the Speedway back in 2015. The Veterans for Healing Twin 75s will be run as separate points races on the Passione Flooring & Interiors East Coast Mini Stock Tour, meaning the landscape of the championship standings could be shaken when the Series leaves the Island on Sunday evening.

Dave Timmons (Inverness, NS) leads the home track racers into battle. Timmons, who has teamed up with Jeffery Davidson this season to drive the No. 47 car, enters this race fourth in the standings. With thousands of laps under his belt at Sydney Speedway, Timmons would have to be considered an early favorite to win at least one of the two Veterans for Healing Twin 75s based on his early-season performance. Timmons enters 20 points out of the point lead after two races.

Tim Webster (Beaver Bank, NS), a former big money winner at Sydney Speedway and inaugural ECMST titlist, is fifth in the Series standings heading into Sydney.

The Rookie of the Year battle sees reigning Lake Doucette Motor Speedway Four Cylinder Mens Champion Shay MacPhee (Yarmouth, NS) ahead of Darrell Hulme (Sydney, NS) by just eight points. Team Sonic’s Stephan Somerset (Nictaux, NS) is only six points behind Hulme entering the doubleheader.

With the re-opening of Sydney Speedway, several familiar names have been working on their cars in advance of their home track seeing action once more. The last time the track held point racing, it was Kody Quinn (Sydney, NS) hoisting the championship trophy. He, along with Josh Benac (Sydney, NS), who won the last race held at the track in 2016, will be looking to pick up where they left off three years ago. Upwards of a dozen of the expected entries for the Veterans for Healing Twin 75s hail from Cape Breton Island.

Of note, Cody Byrne (Orwell Cove, PE) and the LDR Racing team have quite the journey ahead of them. The team made the nearly 24-hour haul from PEI to Jukasa Motor Speedway in Ontario to compete in the Mini Stock event at the race track on Thursday. Once completed, the team will pack up and head back east for the Veterans for Healing Twin 75s. The ECMST would like to wish Byrne and his team good luck in Ontario and safe travels back to Sydney!

EXPECTED ENTRY LIST – VETERANS FOR HEALING TWIN 75s

**entry list subject to change.

1 ® – Stephan Somerset – Nictaux, NS
02 – Brian Axworthy – Sydney Mines, NS 
3 – Josh Benac – Sydney, NS
9 – Douglas Webb – New Waterford, NS
13 – Drew MacEachern – Dartmouth, NS
17 ® – Shay MacPhee – Yarmouth, NS
22 – Darren Flemming – Shubenacadie, NS
24 – Rhonda Kelloway – Glace Bay, NS
29 – Ryan Price – Louisbourg, NS
33 – Jerome Tracey – Port Hawkesbury, NS
37 – JLS Autosport – Antigonish, NS
42 – Brandon MacMillan – Glace Bay, NS
47 – Dave Timmons – Inverness, NS
51 – Jesse Deveau – Greenwood, NS
58 ® – Darrell Hulme – Sydney, NS
67 – Cody Byrne – Orwell Cove, PE
71 – Neil Miousse – Kentville, NS
88 – Kody Quinn – Sydney, NS
89 – Mike Edwards – Penobsquis, NB
99 – Dave Matthews – Kennetcook, NS
TBA – Jordan Kemp 
TBA – Jonathan MacInnis

The driver who draws the pole position will be the first driver offered the Giles Auto World Pole Challenge. The first driver to accept the challenge will fall to the back of the field and pick up cash bonuses based off where they finish the event. The EIT Race Radios Hard Charger and RockAuto.com Hard Luck Awards will also be offered during the Season Opening, and every other, event on the Passione Flooring & Interiors East Coast Mini Stock Tour.

Special thanks to several presenting partners who helped make the Veterans for Healing Twin 75s happen, including Celtic Air Services, Cape Breton Auto Radiator, Keltic Lodge and JL Syms Towing. Celtic Air Services has donated a 45-minute Helicopter Tour of Cape Breton Island to be raffled off during the Veterans for Healing Twin 75s weekend, with all proceeds going towards Veterans for Healing. Tickets will be available at the Speedway for $10 each with the draw being made on Sunday afternoon prior to the second Veterans for Healing 75.

The Veterans for Healing Twin 75s for the Passione Flooring & Interiors East Coast Mini Stock Tour is a part of the Grand Re-Opening Weekend of Sydney Speedway. Now under the ownership of Greg Dowe, the new chapter of stock car racing in Sydney will begin with two full days of motorsports action. Along with two days of ECMST action, the Colbourne Ford Legend and Steve Lewis Bandolero classes will compete both days in INEX National Qualifier action. The PPM Inc. Street Stocks will race on the undercard of Saturday’s show with Sunday seeing an appearance by the Late Model Sportsman. The weekend will conclude with a bang with a Demolition Derby and 100-lap Endurance Race.

Adult grandstand admission price for Saturday and Sunday’s events (per day) are $15 (aged 16 and up), Youth eight to 15 years of age are $6 each with children aged seven and under admitted to the grandstands free of charge. A family pass (two adults, two youth) is $35 per day. Pit admission is $25  per day and is restricted to those 18 years of age and older, or aged 14 to 17 with minor waiver form signed. Tickets are available at the gate on race day, cash only. Pit gates for competitors will open at 11am on Saturday, grandstand gates for fans open at 2pm with racing beginning at 4pm. Pit gates on Sunday morning open at 8:30am, grandstand gates open at 10am with racing getting underway at 12pm. A complete weekend format and competitor package is available at TimsCorner.ca.

The Veterans for Healing Twin 75s weekend kicks off a busy stretch of racing for the Passione Flooring & Interiors East Coast Mini Stock Tour. Following this weekend’s action, the Tour will head to the other end of the Province to take on the high banked half mile at Lake Doucette Motor Speedway for the Second Annual Showdown on the Shore on Sunday, August 4th. The Series will then head to Scotia Speedworld for a 50-lap show on Saturday, August 10th as a part of the 20th Annual Toromont Cat 250 weekend. The five race in four weekend road trip will draw to a close on Friday, August 16th at Riverside International Speedway with a 50-lap feature to open the Bumper to Bumper 300 weekend.

Fans are encouraged to follow along with the ECMST on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @ECMiniStockTour. You can also visit the ECMST website for complete series and event information at EastCoastMiniStockTour.com.

About Passione Flooring and Interiors:
Passione Flooring and Interiors offers the highest quality of products from the Quality Sterling Group. Whether it is tile, carpet, hardwood, laminate or the world class service and installation, they can do it all! Their new state of the art location is now open at 64 Burbridge Avenue in Dartmouth’s Burnside Industrial Park. Visit them today or call (902) 832-9091 for expert advice on your next flooring and interior project! The Quality Sterling Group line of products and services can be found online at PassioneFlooring.com.

About the East Coast Mini Stock Tour:
The East Coast Mini Stock Tour was formed in December 2016 to give Mini Stock racing in the Maritime Provinces a unified home. Featuring four cylinder Honda models, the series will host events at six oval race tracks throughout Atlantic Canada in their nine race season. For complete information on the East Coast Mini Stock Tour, please visit EastCoastMiniStockTour.com

About Sydney Speedway:
Opened in 1975, Sydney Speedway has built a racing tradition on Cape Breton Island over the past four decades. Purchased in 2019 by local businessman and racing enthusiast Greg Dowe, the track is home to a number of stock car racing divisions, a destination for local touring series and motorsports events. For more information on Sydney Speedway, find them online at SydneySpeedway.ca and on various social media platforms at @SydneySpeedCA.