Pro Stock 250 podium finishers (l to r): Robbie MacEwen - 3rd, Jonathan Hicken - 1st, Dylan Gosbee - 2nd (photo by Tim Terry)Hicken Wins Pro Stock 250 at Centre for Speed October 9, 2017 Regional SHEDIAC, NB – Jonathan Hicken (Brudenell, PE) picked up where he left off in 2016 by collecting another Atlantic Stock Car Championship in Sunday’s Pro Stock 250 at the CENTRE For Speed. Hicken led the final 125 laps after taking the lead from Fredericton, New Brunswick’s Kevin Moore on Lap 126. Dylan Gosbee (Cornwall, PE) and Robbie MacEwen (Sherwood, PE) joined Hicken in the top three to create an all Prince Edward Island podium. Brandon Harris (Fredericton Junction, NB) and Chris Hughes (Brackley Beach, PE) completed the top five. Ashton Tucker (Lyttleton, NB) led the opening lap of the 250-lap race, passing pole sitter Cal Hatfield (Rothesay, NB) before Hicken took the lead on the second lap. Moore took the lead on the 78th circuit from Hicken before driveshaft issues would sideline Moore shortly after losing the lead on Lap 126. Nine cautions slowed the Pro Stock 250. Heat races were won by Gosbee and MacEwen. Alex Sheehan (Oyster Bed Bridge, PE) was the winner of the Street Stock 100 for his first Atlantic Championships title. Sheehan took the lead from Cory Leonard (Goodwood, NS) shortly after a restart on Lap 20 and led the remaining 80 laps en route to the win. Luc McLaughlin (Geary, NB) crossed the line in second place but would not pass post-race technical inspection, giving Brandon Snow (Oyster Bed Bridge, PE) and James “Hollywood” Matchett (Miramichi, NB) second and third, respectively. Leonard and Chuck Mercer (Mount Hebron, NB) completed the top five in the 18-car field. Heat races were won by Snow and Sheehan. Three cautions slowed the feature event. Three-time Atlantic Champion in the Mini Stock division in J.R. Lawson (Shubenacadie, NS) started on the pole position in the feature in his Street Stock debut and led the first seven laps before a spin in Turn Four took him out of the top spot. Saturday’s action saw Atlantic Championship titles decided in the Limited Late Model, Four Fun and Eastern Mini Cup divisions. Brady Creamer (Miramichi, NB) led the final 111 laps to take home a long-awaited Atlantic Championship in the Limited Late Model division. Creamer, who was third in the Sportsman 100 a week prior, had Laurie Cormier (Riverview, NB) shadow him for most of the race before Cormier slowed coming to the white flag lap. Bert Cormier (Bouctouche, NB) was the second driver across the line but failed post-race technical inspection. The penalty would promote “Mr. Excitement” Kirk Ryan (Upper Nine Mile River, NS) to second and Laurie Cormier to third. Torbay, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Ches Cole brought home a fourth-place finish for his long haul while sophomore Late Model driver Alex Painting (Stewiacke, NS) was credited with fifth. The Limited Late Model 125 was slowed by fourteen caution periods and featured two leaders in Marcel LeBlanc (Bouctouche, NB) and Creamer. Creamer and Bert Cormier took home heat race victories. Deven Smith (Lakeside, NS) added an Atlantic Championship to his impressive Four Cylinder resume. Smith took the lead in the Four Fun 50 from Tom Stewart (Stewiacke, NS) on Lap Seven and never looked back for the win. Stewart finished second, followed by Bryan Suttie (Keswick, NB), Jeff Richard (Tignish, PE), early leader Shane Bridges (Ellerslie, PE) and Scott “Bat Hubby” Kennie (Fredericton, NB). The Four Fun 50 featured two caution flags. Smith swept the action by also winning the qualifying heat. In their first appearance at the CENTRE For Speed in three years, Mark Ferguson (Saint John, NB) was the top driver in the Eastern Mini Cup division, taking home his first Atlantic Championship. Ferguson, a former Street Stock driver at the track, led 24 of the 25 laps in the race after taking the lead on Lap Two from Donnie McNeill. Shaun Morrison and Don Gaudet completed the podium in the Eastern Mini Cup feature. The third and final weekend of the Atlantic Championships takes place on Saturday, October 14th and Sunday, October 15th with Atlantic MONSTER Nationals taking the spotlight. Saturday’s events will see Round One for the Monster Truck competitors, along with a V8 Demolition and the championship round of the MJS Holdings East Coast Mini Stock Tour. Sunday will see a Four and Six Cylinder Demolition and Roger LeBlanc’s World Record attempt play support to the Monster Trucks. LeBlanc will be attempting the world’s longest wheelie with three passengers, which will encompass three full laps around the 3/8-mile oval! Ticket information and more can be found at CentreForSpeed.com. UNOFFICIAL FEATURE RESULTS Pro Stock 250 1st – #13 Jonathan Hicken – Brudenell, PE 2nd – #91 Dylan Gosbee – Cornwall, PE 3rd – #40 Robbie MacEwen – Sherwood, PE 4th – #87 Brandon Harris – Fredericton Junction, NB 5th – #32 Chris Hughes – Brackley Beach, PE 6th – #33 Andrew McKay – Quispamsis, NB 7th – #32T Ashton Tucker – Lyttleton, NB 8th – #21 Shawn Pierce – Bridgewater, NS 9th – #02 Craig Ward – Riverview, NB 10th – #11 Cal Hatfield – Rothesay, NB 11th – #88 Kevin Moore – Fredericton, NB 12th – #84 Brandon Skidmore – Springhill, NS 13th – #80 Byron Bartlett – Rothesay, NB DNS – #26 Brent Roy – Hanwell, NB STREET STOCK 100 1st – #06 Alex Sheehan – PE 2nd – #7 Brandon Snow – PE 3rd – #1 James Matchett – NB 4th – #74 Cory Leonard – NS 5th – #2 Chuck Mercer – NB 6th – #77 Riley Goodwin – NB 7th – #39 Dan Smith – NS 8th – #81 JR Lawson – NS 9th – #60 Mike Weagle – NB 10th – #23 Jamie Vassallo – NS 11th – #37 Brandon Albert – PE 12th – #68 Michael Cormier – NB 13th – #26 Brennan MacInnis – NS 14th – #95 Briar Ellis – NB 15th – #87 Craig Ward/Nick Cudmore – NB 16th – #31 Tayler Albert – PE 17th – #29 Jeff MacInnis – PE DQ – #11 Luc McLaughlin – NB Limited Late Model 125 1st – #10 Brady Creamer – NB 2nd – #54 Kirk Ryan – NS 3rd – #53 Laurie Cormier – NB 4th – #61 Ches Cole – NL 5th – #60 Alex Painting – NS 6th – #30 Marcel LeBlanc – NB 7th – #22 Remi Gaudet – NB 8th – #56 Josh Collins – NL 9th – #67 Cody Byrne – PE DQ – #03 Bert Cormier – NB Four Fun 50 1st – #94 Deven Smith – NS 2nd – #171 Tom Stewart – NS 3rd – #51 Bryan Suttie – NB 4th – #48 Jeff Richard – PE 5th – #4 Shane Bridges – PE 6th – #71 Scott Kennie – NB Eastern Mini Cup 25 1st – #41 Mark Ferguson – NB 2nd – #78 Shaun Morrison – PE 3rd – #88 Don Gaudet – PE 4th – #8 Donnie McNeill – PE 5th – #3 Dave Griffin – PE 6th – #00 Jeremy Alexander – PE DNS – #40 Kirk Sheasgreen – NB source – track communications
