RIVERSIDE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY: Cory Hall has always wanted to put a checkmark next to the IWK 250.
Now the Jolicure, N.B., driver, who now calls Plymouth, Pictou County home, can do that.
The wheelman of the no. 83 Kings Competition-Mid Coast Excavation-Kris Fournier ReMax Realtor sponsored hot rod led all but one lap in the Fort Garry Industries Maritime Pro Stock Tour’s IWK 250, presented by Steve Lewis, on Saturday night at Riverside International Speedway.
The race saw just two cautions–one for a wreck involving the no. 11V of Jordan Veinotte on lap 14 and the other one for the halfway break at lap 125.
Hall dominated the day not just by winning the race, which comes with a cool $20,000 pay day, but also capturing the Hanley Cup for being the fastest in qualifying.
He also won Wednesday night’s Dash for Cash 75 lap warmup amongst the 15-car field in a different car than the one he raced on Saturday night.
“We’ve been wanting this one for a while,” said Hall shortly after hoisting the revered John W. Chisholm Cup in the air on stage.
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Hall spoke of winning the IWK 250 before but as a spotter on top of the box for Greg Proude when he won it in 2022.
“Obviously crew chiefing with Greg for quite a few years I won it on top of the box with him, to come here and do it myself is really cool,” he said. “We miss him (Greg) and would love to have him back.
“It’s pretty cool to do this.”
The win puts Hall back into the points lead ahead of the 54 of Jarrett Butcher, who now calls Enfield home. Butcher finished fourth.
Ashton Tucker in the no. 2 managed to get by Nic Naugle, who had been challenging Hall for several laps and looked to get a pass on him but got loose and from then on Hall never looked back.
Naugle came home with a third-place finish.
Two-time IWK 250 winner Craig Slaunwhite (Terence Bay, NS) rounded out the top five.
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Hall credited his team for having a car that was a rocket ship right off the hauler.
“What an amazing car,” said Hall in a post-race interview. “I just can’t thank King Competition, Andrew (Hicken) and all the stuff the guys at the shop do. They all had a hand with this car.
“Man was it ever good.”
At the start of the year Hall had six races on his schedule as doing on the Pro Stock Tour, but winning three of the first four races has him thinking differently. He joked in victory lane to a couple people that he thinks those plans have changed.
He confirmed he will be on the entry list for this Saturday’s BJ’s Truck Centre 150 at Oyster Bed Speedway, a track he loves and is particularly good at. Green flag is set for 6 p.m.
“It’s good to get the points lead back,” he said. “We’re moving on to PEI which we really like and go from there.”
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Local racers on the tour finished mid-pack with a couple of drivers wishing for better results given their qualifying efforts.
Braden Langille of Shubenacadie, driving the colourful Chilly Pop Coldstream Clear Distillery no. 26, came home in 15th place, four laps down, in the 25-car field. He qualified seventh for the race.
Enfield’s Gage Gilby in the no. 25G CKG Elevator sponsored machine was third on the grid when the green flag flew. He came home in 14th place, three laps down.
Shubenacadie’s Steve Lively drove the no. 30, with Ritchie’s Renovations & Excavating on the hood, to a 17th place finish, five laps down.
American race car driver Bubba Pollard, the special guest driver this year, wheeled the no. 25 Toromont CAT Car for Kids to a sixth-place finish at Riverside.
The races contingency awards were as follows:
Eastlink Fastest Lap Award: Cory Hall
R&D Performancentre Most Laps Led Award: Cory Hall
Swift Springs Hard Charger Award: Ryan Messer
QA1 Free Pass Award: Dylan Blenkhorn
Fivestar Hard Luck Award: Jordan Veinotte
Lucas Oil Rookie of the Race: Matt Palmer
The Fort Garry Industries Pro Stock Tour heads across the Confederation Bridge this weekend with the BJ’s Truck Centre 150 at Oyster Bed Speedway, the first of two visits for the series to scenic Prince Edward Island. Green flag is 6 p.m.
