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E-mail your Hornet news and photos! 2009 HORNET ARCHIVES MIDGLEY WINS BY INCHES - WESTERN SPEEDWAY    Langford, B.C., March 7, 2010 Submitted by: Ken Keating Although Darrell Midgley never accepts a winning trophy, in Hornet Car racing, he sure makes it interesting and exciting. Such was the case this afternoon in yet another run for the Steve Copp Construction sponsored Winter Series Enduro race for Hornet Cars. Twenty cars lined up for two hours or two-hundred laps of racing on a cool day with light showers for most of the race that didn't seem to slow the drivers down by a whole lot. Phil Lagan, who has won two such events, held the pole flanked by George Newell as the green flag fell on the field. Lagan gained the early advantage jumping quickly into the lead with Cody Aumen and Howie Mace moving up to run second and third after only seven laps. On lap ten, Mace moved into the second spot sending Aumen into third while Brandon Carlson moved up to run fourth and Midgley moving into fifth from his eleventh starting spot two laps later. For several laps Lagan, Mace, Aumen, Carlson, and Midgley were running bumper to bumper until lap twenty-one when a car spun in front of the leaders spreading this pack out a bit. Aumen dropped back to fifth while Midgley moved up to fourth and Carlson took over the third spot in this brush up. Another close call, on lap twenty-eight, shook up the front runners again and this time Aumen regained the third spot, Rob Newell jumped into fourth, Midgley dropped to fifth and Carlson dropped to sixth. On lap thirty-two Midgley took over the fourth spot and then moved quickly to run third two laps later shoving Carlson to fourth and Aumen into fifth. Darren Yates quietly made his way into the fifth spot on lap forty-five sending Aumen back to run sixth. On lap fifty-one, Mace entered the pits with a blown tire after running second for several laps. This gave the second spot to Midgley with Yates in third Carl Jones fourth and Aumen back to run fifth. Mace was only in the pits for a short time and was able to get back to racing only losing a couple of spots in the running order. The three top runners didn't change much over the next several laps but Aumen, Jones, and Mace waged a good fight for positions every lap. On lap eighty-nine Aumen entered the pits ending his great run. The front runners were still Lagan, Midgley, Yates, Jones, with Mace now moving into the fifth spot. Over the next several laps, Lagan had Midgley in his rear view mirror trying everything to get by. On lap one-hundred and four Yates entered the pits due to a flat tire on his #91 car. This allowed Jones to take over third Mace fourth, and now Kevin Knight into fifth spot driving the #14 car. On lap one-hundred and six Midgley used a great pick and took the inside of Lagan through the chicanes on the front stretch to take over the lead. Once Midgley got the lead he worked it into the biggest advantage that anyone had had all afternoon. On lap one-hundred twenty-eight, Mace took over the third spot sending Jones back to fourth. On lap one-hundred thirty three Midgley received a stop and go penalty and as he reentered the race had only given up one spot and that was the lead to Lagan. Yates returned to racing and made his way back to the top five by lap one-hundred and forty-nine while up front the cat and mouse game was still on with Lagan, Midgley, with Mace still in the chase. On lap one-hundred seventy-eight, Knight dropped out handing the fifth spot to George Newell. Over the remaining laps Midgley and Lagan continued to run very close with sometimes a pretty good space between the two drivers while other times bumper to bumper. At one point in the last few laps it looked like a clear win for the old veteran Lagan as Midgley lost a bit of ground to the leader. On the very last lap Midgley got to the inside of Lagan setting up a drag race for the checkered flag down the frontstretch. By a mere few inches Midgley got the win in one of the best races of the Winter series. As mentioned Midgley runs for the fun and doesn't accept the trophies but as also mentioned he does create some excitement. At victory square Lagan said: "I slowed up to make it interesting" and that he did. Thoughout the whole day, Midgley, Lagan, and Mace put on a great show as at one point all three were side by side in the waining laps giving up very little precious inches to the other. Lagan took home the first place trophy with Mace second and Jones the third place trophy. There is only one more event in the Winter Series scheduled for March 21st. Opening night for the regular season of racing begins on April 3rd with the Demo Cars, Demo Trucks, Mini Vans, Bombers, and the Figure 8's. We will see you there for another exciting season of racing at Western Speedway; Canada's oldest track. Posted: 03/07/10 MIDGLEY IN A BREEZE    Langford, B.C., February 21, 2010 Submitted by: Ken Keating Sunny skies, warm temperatures, and a dry track greeted twenty drivers and teams for another Enduro race in the Steve Copp Construction sponsored Hornet Series held at Western Speedway Sunday afternoon. Phil and Jean-Luc Lagan held the front row for the start of two hours or two hundred laps of racing with Phil taking the early lead. On lap four, Ken Featherby moved into the second spot followed by Darren Yates, from the WilRoc Sprint Car Series, moving into third, Cody Laughran into fourth followed by Steve Sager into fifth. On lap seven, Cody Aumen took over the fifth spot and then moving to fourth on lap eleven. Phil Lagan still led up front while Yates took over the second spot on lap thirteen dropping Featherby back to third. On lap nineteen, Darrell Midgley moved from his seventh place start to take over the fifth spot then taking fourth on lap twenty-five passing Aumen. On lap thirty, Phil Lagan entered the pits handing the lead to Jean-Luc for two laps as Featherby passed for the lead on lap thirty-two followed by Alex Carey and Midgley now in the top three positions. For the next thirty laps Featherby, Carey, Midgley, Jean-Luc, and Aumen ran in a file while the rest of the field tried to play catch up. On lap sixty-one, and leading, Featherby slid a bit nailing the tires on the chicane flipping his car completely upside down bringing out the red flag. Weatherby was unhurt in this spectacular crash, but his day was finished. On the restart, Midgley moved into the lead followed by Carey, Jean-Luc, Aumen, with Curtis Williams, from Agassiz, moving into the fifth spot. On lap seventy-one, Jean-Luc took over the second spot dropping Carey back to third. Carey again took over second and kept Jean-Luc at bay until lap eighty-nine when Jean-Luc went by again to regain the second spot. Meanwhile, Phil Lagan moved back into the top five three laps earlier then taking fourth on lap ninety. Over the next several laps Midgley remained in the lead driving almost flawless as Jean-Luc, Aumen, Lagan, and Williams chased him. On lap one hundred and seven Lagan moved up to third dropping Aumen back one spot. This formation lasted several laps until Williams moved up to fourth and Carey moved back into the fifth spot on lap one hundred fifty-one. Phil Lagan passed Jean-Luc on lap one fifty-eight to take over the second spot and chasing Midgley. On this day no one had anything for Midgley as he drove a new car to a three lap victory over Phil Lagan, Jean-Luc Lagan, Curtis Williams, and Richard Carey the top five positions. This race lasted one hundred and ninety laps as the two hour time limit took effect before two hundred laps were complete. The race featured a few yellow flags for debris or stalled cars but ran mostly clean of major interruptions. Several drivers experienced mechanical problems and over heated motors with only about eight cars taking the checkered flag well behind the winner. Midgley, as so often happens, elected to pass the rewards to the other drivers in the field. Again, several new drivers tested the waters in this fast growing series just "To have some fun" as some put it and the support still seems to be consistent with twenty cars or so showing up for the winter schedule. The next race is scheduled for March 7th starting at one o'clock in the afternoon and promises to be another great race. Posted: 02/21/10 RORY SMITH WINS ENDURO - WESTERN SPEEDWAY    Langford, B.C., February 7, 2010 Submitted by: Ken Keating On a cool grey day, twenty cars took to the track for another of the two hour or two hundred lap enduro race for the Steve Copp sponsored Winter Hornet Series held at Western Speedway in Victoria, BC. Steve Copp and Jeff Hamstra shared the front row as the green flag dropped for the start of racing with well known drivers such as Scott Aumen, Brandon Carlson, Phil Lagan, and a host of other drivers from several series filling out the field on the Langford oval. Copp led the first seven laps followed closely by Darrell Midgley who jumped from his sixth starting position very quickly. Copp slipped wide going into the curves on turn one giving up the lead to the Northern Provincial Pipelines Champion for 2009 and current track manager at Western Speedway. Cody Aumen moved up to run second with former Hornet Car Champion Daryl Crocker running third. Copp entered the pits shortly thereafter ending his day with car trouble. On lap fifteen, Midgley entered the pits when the engine started knocking in his machine thus ending his run. Crocker then took the lead followed by Cody Aumen, Rory Smith, and George Newell. This threesome stayed pretty well intact for several laps while positions and drivers changed in running order quite regularly behind them. Kevin Knight moved into the fourth spot on lap thirty-eight while Joe Demmors rounded out the top five positions. On lap forty-nine, Terry Barton moved into the fifth spot and ran there for several laps. On lap sixty-six, Smith took over the second spot dropping Aumen back to the third position and Barton moving up one position as Daniel David moved into the fifth spot. On lap seventy-five these two drivers exchanged spots and still chased Crocker, Smith, and Aumen. Long before this the race took its toll as men and machines were forced to the pits with many different mechanical problems with only nine cars still running by lap eighty. On lap ninety-one, Smith finally passed Crocker to take over the lead as Aumen remained in third, David in fourth, and Paul Larouche now running fifth. On lap one-hundred seventy-eight, Aumen got by Crocker and into the second spot but no one had anything for Rory Smith on this day as he completed one-hundred and ninety-one laps taking the checkered flag as the two hour limit ran out. Aumen took second with Crocker, David, and Larouche rounded out the top five positions. The race featured many spins, hits, and bounces off the tires forming the chicanes around the track. Car counts remain constant as the Winter Series rolls on despite wet and cool conditions. The next scheduled race for this series is February 21st, and we can expect the same intense and competitive runs as we have been accustomed to with the Winter schedule as well as the regular Hornet Car Series witnessed throughout the summer evenings. Posted: 02/19/10 CLEAR AS DAY AND KNIGHT - WESTERN SPEEDWAY    Langford, B.C., January 10, 2010 Submitted by: Ken Keating Once again, the Steve Copp sponsored winter series for the Hornet cars entered the track, at Western Speedway, for another two hour or two hundred lap Enduro race. Phil Lagan has won three similar events and is tough to beat over the gruelling race and he lined up on the pole with Rory Smith, Steve Copp, Cassandra Musfelt, and Darrell Midgley occupying the top five spots. Lagan took charge on the first lap but slipped on the wet surface spinning out leaving Smith in the lead followed by Copp and Midgley after just three laps. On lap seven, Midgley took over the lead with Smith in second and Jim Schuss going into third. These three drivers stayed relatively close for several laps with Smith going back to the lead on lap eighteen dropping Midgley back to second with the #22 car running third. The two cars wearing number 22 was Aumen and Robbie Haslam and in this area both cars were running pretty close however I believe Haslam had the edge from here to the end of the race. Jake Spring moved into the top four by lap twenty-six behind the #22 car, Midgley, and Smith. On lap thirty-three, Midgley again went back into the lead with Copp and Smith in close pusuit with the #22, Spring and Schuss still in the mix. This line up stayed pretty much intact with lots of drivers changing positions mid pack. On lap fifty-three, Smith again grabbed the lead as Midgley went to the pits with an over heating motor thus ending his day. Up front, on lap fifty-seven, Copp had the lead followed by Smith, the #22 car, Kevin Knight, and Lagan now back to fifth. On lap sixty-five the caution flag came out showing Smith in the lead with Copp now running second and #22 third and Knight fourth. On the very next lap, Smith came to the pits with a hot engine thus ending his day. By lap eighty-three Copp still had the lead followed by Knight and Lagan. On lap one hundred, the field fell under a yellow flag as the whole field would be subject to a direction change and would now run on a reverse course just to make things ineteresting. After just a few laps in this order, Copp got tagged going through the tight chicane on the backstretch and was forced into the curb breaking a tie rod thus ending his run on lap one hundred and six. By lap one fifteen, Knight was in charge up front followed by Lagan the #22 car and Schuss. The battle up front was intense as Lagan battled Knight bumper to bumper and side by side with neither driver giving in. Several drivers got bunched up in the chicane including Lagan who lost several positions as cars righted themselves. Knight hung on to the lead holding off many challenges from several drivers and took the checkered flag. Lagan ran second with Schuss finishing third in the run for the trophies however, other cars did finished ahead but had changed drivers during the event. Twenty cars lined up for this run as support for the winter series still draws the interest of many drivers. Several fans also with stood the cooler temperature to watch the race. The next event is scheduled for February 7th with racing at 1:00 PM. in the afternoon. Dress warm and come out to watch the show presented by Steve Copp Construction. Posted: 01/10/10 |
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