THOROLD, ONTARIO — Pete Bicknell, nicknamed Mr. Small Block, kicked off his 50th racing season in a familiar place, victory lane at Merrittville Speedway. Bickel won the Corr-Pak Merchandising 358 Modified feature as JNE Recovery and DDL & Co presented the Spring Sizzler Saturday night.
Jake Brown won the opening round of the e Southern Ontario Sprints.
James Friesen won the Right Choice Auto & Leisure DIRTcar Sportsman feature.Â
Dave Bailey won the Hoosier Stock feature while Tyler Lafantaisie claimed the Vansickle Pet Valu/PV On the Lane 4 Cylinder feature.Â
In the 358 Modifieds, Bicknell took the lead from Ryan Susice mid race and held him off during multiple restarts to get the victory.
Brown set the pace early in the 25-lap Southern Ontario Sprints and held off Ryan Turner to score his first victory at Merrittville in the first SOS at the track since the beginning of the pandemic.
Friesen got the early jump in the DIRTcar Sportsman go, and was never challenged.
The finishes:
Southern Ontario Sprints:Â JAKE BROWN, Ryan Turner, Jake Dykstra, Mitch Brown, Glenn Styres, Aaron Turkey, Brayden Cooley, Todd Hoddick, Holly Porter, Kyle Phillips, Shone Evans, Baily Heard, Shawn Sliter, Chris Jones, Jim Huppunen, Warren Mahoney, Cory Turner, Derek Jonathan, Paul Pekkonen, Jamie Turner, John Burbridge Jr
CORR-PAK Merchandising 358 Modifieds:Â PETE BICKNELL, Ryan Susice, Chad Chevalier, Fred Carleton, Scott Wood, Boyd MacTavish, Shayne Pierce, Derek VanMil, Glenn Styres, Brandon Gruhl, Gary Lindberg, Tanner Podwinski, Luke Carleton, Dave Flannigan Jr, Brad Rouse, Todd Gordon, Jarrett Herbison
Qualifying Heats: Chad Chevalier, Scott Wood