Courtney O’Blenis makes history grabbing Martin’s
Home Heating Sportsman 125 checkered flag
MAIN PHOTO: Courtney O’Blenis raises her arms in celebration of her Sportsman 125 feature win. (Healey photo)
GEARY, N.B.: On a historic night, two racers from East Hants found the podium in feature-length racing action Sept. 5 during night two of SpeedWeekend at Speedway 660, located just outside Fredericton.
Braden Langille of Shubenacadie took both ends of a Legend car feature, good enough to capture the title win, while Nine Mile River’s Colton Noble had a good enough average to find himself third on the podium.
Race officials split up the Legend feature into a 20 lap and 30 lap feature, with the top three finishing positions being based on average finish between the two.
“It’s awesome,” said Langille of the win.
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He said after a night of racing at Scotia Speedworld on Sept. 4, he went back home to Shubenacadie and worked on the car until about 2 a.m. They loaded up and headed to the Geary Woods about 6 a.m. and missed the first practice as they made sure everything was bolted together tightly.
“We fired off fast in the second practice, and there were a couple other good cars here, so I knew I was in tough,” said Langille. “(Craig) MacDonald put up a whale of a fight out there at the end, but we came out on top.”
Langille said the car was good right off the hauler.
“I was pretty close to where I thought it should be, we had to make a couple of small adjustments,” he said. “It was bang on. I’m sure we will enjoy it tonight (Sept. 5).”
Noble never imagined he’d have a podium finish in the Eric Noble Trucking/C.A. O’Brien Plumbing-sponsored Legend car.
“This is amazing,” he said. “I never thought I’d be standing here in the legend car.
“We had a pretty good car today.”
He said there was a lot of help in the pits.
“I had a lot of help today and stayed out of trouble on the track,” said Noble.
In a historic first, Courtney O’Blenis of Boundary Creek, N.B. became the first female to take home the checkered flag in the Martins Home Heating 125. O’Blenis bested Curtis Collins and Kenny MacKenzie Jr. to the line for the victory, pending post-race tech.
“I want to tell you this is the best car I’ve had here,” said O’Blenis to the track announcer. “I can’t thank my guys, my sister enough, for all they do. My sister, she’s my crew chief. She makes sure the car is ready to go.”
She spoke of the early battle she had with Richard Atkinson, who finished sixth a lap down.
“We had a great battle,” she told the announcer. “I didn’t really want to run as hard as I did but he was putting on a show let me tell you. He was there.”
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When asked if the magnitude of the victory was sinking it yet, O’Blenis said it was starting too.
“This is by far the biggest win of my career,” said O’Blenis. “When my sister is the first woman to win in a lot of things here, it’s great that I’m finally starting to get some of those.”
Official results for the Sportsman and Legend, along with other classes from Sept. 5:
1st – #48C Courtney O’Blenis
2nd – #27 Curtis Collins
3rd – #85 Kenny MacKenzie Jr
4th – #10 Brady Creamer
5th – #54 Clark Moore
6th – #40 Richard Atkinson
7th – #52 Destiny Enkel
8th – #11V Jordan Veinotte
9th – #41 Robert Raynes
10th – #94 Ryan Raynes
11th – #43 Hudson Weston
12th – #31 Mark Harris
13th – #7 Byron Bartlett
14th – #11 Luc McLaughlin
15th – #87 Nick Cudmore
16th – #14 Matt Rodgers
17th – #53 Laurie Cormier
18th – #29 Matt Maillet
19th – #74 Alexandra O’Blenis
Heat Winners: Richard Atkinson, Courtney O’Blenis and Hudson Weston
Legends:
| Position | First Feature | Second Feature | Event Finish |
| 1st | #51 Braden Langille | #51 Braden Langille | #51 Braden Langille |
| 2nd | #27 Austin MacDonald | #8 Craig MacDonald | #8 Craig MacDonald |
| 3rd | #8 Craig MacDonald | #03 Colton Noble | #44 Nathan Blackburn |
| 4th | #12 Sam Rogers | #44 Nathan Blackburn | #12 Sam Rogers |
| 5th | #44 Nathan Blackburn | #13 Wyatt McCulloch | #13 Wyatt McCulloch |
| 6th | #38 Darren Sherwood | #38 Darren Sherwood | #38 Darren Sherwood |
| 7th | #13 Wyatt McCulloch | #71 Chase MacKay | #03 Colton Noble |
| 8th | #68 Michael Cormier | #12 Sam Rogers | #27 Austin MacDonald |
| 9th | #88 Kody Quinn | #77 Dylan Dowe | #68 Michael Cormier |
| 10th | #03 Colton Noble | #68 Michael Cormier | #71 Chase MacKay |
| 11th | #77 Dylan Dowe | #88 Kody Quinn | #88 Kody Quinn |
| 12th | #71 Chase MacKay | #27 Austin MacDonald | #77 Dylan Dowe |
| 13th | #02 Paul Miller (DNS) | #02 Paul Miller | #02 Paul Miller |
