LAUTERBORN TAKES HARD-FOUGHT VICTORY
AS SOS KICKS OFF SECOND HALF OF SEASON
By Dave Cook, Media Officer

Grand Island names in bold

   Ohsweken, Ontario, August 8: They say chassis set up is everything. Or is it? Just ask Mike Lauterborn following Friday night’s Southern Ontario Sprints (SOS) points tour win at Ohsweken Speedway and you might get a different answer.

Lauterborn said his car just didn’t feel the same in the last portion of the 20 lap race over Ohsweken’s clay surfaced 3-8th mile oval and when he pulled into the pits following his victory. A post race inspection revealed he was missing a left front shock.

"The car just didn’t feel right. I don’t know what happened but it must have broken early in the race. It was a really tough race tonight," he said following the grueling 20 lap run that saw five caution flags in total.

Interestingly, third place finisher Glenn Styers encountered the same problem, He too finished the race minus a shock.

At the driver’s meeting prior to the event Styers, who also owns Ohsweken, cautioned all the drivers about the condition of the track. He said because of the rains all week, there are soft spots in turns three and four and parts of the main straight. "I think I lost my shock when I hit a low spot in turn four," he said.

However, there were several times that both Lauterborn and Styers could have lost their shocks. On lop 13 both Styers and Lauterborn split around a slower car which was spinning in turn four, and to several people it looked like both cars may have actually touched the spinning car. Another opportunity came when Lauterborn had to swing wide of a slower car while attempting to pass leader Keith Dempster of Alton, Ontario. He ended up sliding off the banking.

"I thought I had lost everything. In fact, my engine stalled but the momentum helped and it re-fired," said Luaterborn. He re-entered the track a half straight behind Dempster but still holding second position.

Lauterborn started the race from the fifth row and by lap five was in third position behind race leader Dempster and Dick Mahoney of Newmarket, Ontario. At the hal distance Dempster, Mahoney and Lauterborn were setting a fast pace with Tim Phillips of Grand Island, N.Y., Styers and Warren Mahoney of Lefroy, Ontario following.

Tim Phillips dropped off the pace suddenly with mechanical problems allowing Styers to move into third. Following a lap 15 restart Dick Mahoney slipped back allowing the top three, Dempster, Lauterborn and Styers to open a gap on the rest of the field. Warren Mahoney then moved ahead of his father to finish fourth. Sixth place went to Mark Schulz of Newfane, N.Y. while Vinnie Christiano Jr. of Tonawanda, N.Y., Phil Armishaw of Mount Hope, Ontario, Jim Porter of Grand Island, N.Y., and Kyle Patrick of Tilbury, Ontario, rounded out the top 10 finishers.

Frank Baranowski of Hamilton finished 11th with Tim Phillips being scored 12th followed by Curt Sherwood of Sanborn, N.Y., Dave MacLeod of Tonawanda, N.Y. and Joel Lehman of Elora, Ontario. Lehman, who retired from racing after winning the SOS championship in 1999, finished 15th. Paul Ballantyne of Brantford, Ontario and Daryl Turford of Stratford, Ontario finished 16th and 17th.

Results: Heat One: 1. Keith Dempster, Alton, Ontario; 2. Tim Phillips, Grand Island, N.Y. 3. , Jim Porter, Grand Island, N.Y. Not running at finish Al Gaukle, Brantford, Ontario, Phil Armishaw, Mount Hope, Ontario, John Riegling, Chatham Ontario, Daryl Turford, Stratford, Ontario.

Heat Two: 1. Dick Mahoney, Newmarket, Ontario, 2. Warren Mahoney, Lefroy, Ontario, 3. Mark Schulz, Newfane, N.Y. Not running at finish, Vinnie Christiano Jr., Tonawanda, N.Y., Paul Ballantyne, Brantford, Ontario, Bob Crawford, Sutton, Ontario.

Heat Three: Mike Lauterborn, Rochester, Ontario, 2. Glenn Styers, Ohsweken, Ontario, 3. Curt Sherwood, Sanborn, N.Y. 4. Kyle Patrick, Tilbury, Ontario, 5. Joel Lehman, Elora, Ontario, 6. Frank Baranowski, Hamilton, Ontario, 7. Dave Macleod, Tonawanda, N.Y.

Feature: 1. Lauterborn, 2. Dempster, 3. Styers, 4. Warren Mahoney, 5. Dick Mahoney, 6. Schulz, 7. Christinano Jr. 8. Armishaw, 9. Jim Porter, 10. Patrick, 11. Baranowski, 12. Tim Phillips, 13. Sherwood, 14. MacLeod, 15. Lehman, 16. Ballantyne, 17. Turford. Non starters: Crawford, Gaukel, Riegling, Dave Goetz, Tonawanda, N.Y.