When Ollie Ferguson joined the Ontario Sportsman Series in 2023, it wasn’t a given that he would have success. The 13 year old had raced only in Junior Late Models, which was a drastic change from OSS racing. However, the Lindsay, Ontario racer proved everyone wrong, and had solid finishes week to week, before finishing 11th in the final standings. Ollie’s start to the 2024 was miserable, as the young racer fell out at Delaware early, due to mechanical issues, but he backed it up with a third place finish at Full Throttle. The teen struggled at Sunset, as they could not get the car right, and finished in 8th place. At Sauble, it was Cory McAllister leading the field to the green, securing another EcoTek Pole Award! Early into the race, Mark Patrick went around off the bumper of Lora Authier bringing out the first caution. Shortly after, it was contact between Patrick and fourth place runner Kevin Trevellin which resulted in the #12 Impala in to the turn two wall, done for the day on lap 33. Ollie started his charge on the ensuing restart, moving from fifth, to third, chasing down Chad McGlynn for second. Ollie battled hard with the 2021 Champion on the high side, eventually getting by. The battle was on for the lead, as Cory started to encounter lap traffic, Ferguson was chasing him down, visibly getting closer each lap, before taking the lead at halfway, and he would never look back. Ferguson would make history, becoming the youngest Ontario Sportsman Series winner at 14 years old. McAllister would hold on to second and extend his points lead, while Derek McCullough, Chad McGlynn and Kevin Trevellin rounded out the top five. Heartbreak would come for the #15 team of Hryniuk-Hall Motorsports, as after their best qualifying in quite some time, the car experienced mechanical issues with under 20 to go, resulting in a DNF. The next race for the Ontario Sportsman Series is July 12 at Delaware Speedway, for the Akal Steel 100.

Photos courtesy of Joline Driedger