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Derek McCullough of Glencoe, ON finally finished off his fantastic start to running in the Ontario Sportsman Series by securing the victory in the Iron Man 100, Presented by Akal Steel & London Drive Systems at Delaware Speedway. McCullough, who made his first OSS start at Sunset in 2022, and showed impressive speed right away in his #38 CPE Services Ltd. Dodge Challenger. McCullough and his Payne Bros. Racing team has shown that in 13 starts, he had a staggering five podiums, including a second place finish at Delaware in May 2024. On this night at Delaware, Derek’s #38 car showed fantastic speed, starting off in practice, and qualifying, only to be bested by Michael Hryniuk Jr. in the battle for the EcoTek Pole Award. The two fought side by side on lap one, with Hryniuk Jr. taking the lead, but as the two racers drove into one, McCullough turned in catching the rear of Hryniuk Jr, and Hryniuk spun, with the entire field coming towards them! Unfortunately, Sauble’s winner Ollie Ferguson was unable to miss the #15 car and damaged the left front of the car, ending his day after one lap. On the restart it was McCullough and Brendan Patrick who took off the from the field! Cory McAllister would wage battle with ARCA Menard competitor Amber Balcaen, with Doug Cathcart, Kevin Trevellin and a storming Hryniuk Jr. following. The battle would become intense, with charges by McAllister met with resistance from a persistent Balcaen, aiming for her first podium finish. The race would hit a solid green flag period, with McCullough and Patrick having a ten second lead over third place Balcaen, until 35 laps to go, when Kaden Patrick spun, after a mechanical issue. On the restart, Doug Cathcart took the field three wide into one, turning Balcaen, who slammed the inside wall, before careening into Cory McAllister and the turn one wall. Cathcart would slide up the track too, taking Kevin Trevellin with him. Chad McGlynn would also pick up damage. After a lengthy cleanup, McCullough and Patrick stormed away and while Patrick gave it a solid effort, McCullough was able to hold him off to secure he and Payne Bros. Racing’s first ever OSS win!
This win marked the third straight first time winner in OSS this season, with Brad Robinson and Ollie Ferguson also picking up wins. The Ontario Sportsman Series will head back to Peterborough Speedway next, for the EcoTek Triple Track Challenge! In 2023, Brendan Patrick picked up his first career OSS win! In the points, Cory McAllister loses a little bit of his lead to Patrick, while Chad McGlynn moves past Trevellin into third. Michael Hryniuk Jr. moves back into fifth place, while Ollie Ferguson drops to sixth by one point. Lora Authier makes solid ground up to seventh, and Nathaniel Greenaway stays put in eighth. Derek McCullough made a solid jump into 9th in the standings, despite only making four starts.
We would like to thank Akal Steel and London Drive Systems for their support this past race at Delaware.
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
When Brad Robinson and Robinson Racing drove through the back gate at Sunset Speedway, they had no idea that June 15th would be their breakout race. It was back in 2019 that the Huntsville, Ontario team joined the OSS and made their first start. In just this short amount of time, the #44 Muskoka Jet Ski Rentals team has grown in performance and partnerships. Brad had a solid start, earning his very first EcoTek Pole Award over Cory McAllister, defending race winner at Sunset and undefeated in his last four starts. 2022 Champion Kevin Trevellin continued his hot start to the 2024 season starting third, Todd Sheppard making his return would start fourth, and surprise entry Derek McCullough started fifth. Robinson took the green flag with McAllister and Trevellin hot on his heels, and would eventually relinquish the lead to McAllister early. The name of the race was cautions. Cautions, cautions, cautions, as the field struggled to stay clean throughout the 100 laps, resulting in only Trevellin and Robinson not being involved in one. The name of the game was lap traffic. Robinson had found his way back up to McAllister before the #71 Struyk Energy Systems Mustang bumped the lap car of Mark Patrick, in the Delaware Pump & Parts Chevrolet, causing a flat tire, which led to a spin with 23 to go. A big crash on a restart took out teammates Nathaniel Greenaway & Lora Authier, after Todd Sheppard spun off the front of McAllister. In the end, Robinson had to hold on to a hard -charging McAllister, who was furious in his fight to the front. Brad Robinson scored his very first OSS win, and in victory claimed it was all for his dad, Rob Robinson. Despite an up and down race, Cory McAllister finished second, extending his points lead over new second place in points Brendan Patrick, and Kevin Trevellin, who settled for fourth in the finish, just losing third to Patrick in the closing laps. It was a tough race for the #8 of Chad McGlynn, who struggled all day long, eventually settling in ninth. Next up for the Ontario Sportsman Series is the Burnouts at the Beach 100, at Sauble Speedway!
Round Two of the 2024 Ontario Sportsman Series Presented by Gulf Race Fuels took place this past Saturday at Full Throttle Motor Speedway. The Grey County 100 was presented by West Grey Auto Parts & Farlow’s Home Hardware, marking the third straight season these amazing partners presented the 100 lap event. Qualifying showed us who would be the ones to watch as Cory McAllister edged out Kevin Trevellin for the EcoTek Pole Award, while sophomore driver Ollie Ferguson earned his best career start in third. After a quick green flag run, the caution fell after contact between Lora Authier & Shawn McGlynn led to a multi-car pileup, which resulted in damage to the cars of Michael Hryniuk Jr., Kevin Gallant, & Mark Patrick. On the restart, Hryniuk Jr. and McGlynn tangled ending the night for the Blast Floor Coating #9 Intrepid. Ollie Ferguson would give McAllister a run for the lead on the restart before losing ground and being passed by Delaware’s Brendan Patrick who drove to the inside and past the #55 FusionCorp Camaro. The race would stay green following this, with McAllister dominating to take the win. Brendan Patrick would try to close in, but ultimately, he would settle for second, and Ollie Ferguson achieved his first career podium in third. Chad McGlynn would settle for a quiet fourth place, and outside polesitter Kevin Trevellin would round out the top five. Michael Hryniuk Jr. would win an amazing fight with Kevin Gallant in the battle for sixth, while Gallant, Nathaniel Greenaway, Lora Authier and Chris Sherrah would round out the top ten. The result of tenth was huge for the #17 Intrepid team, marking the first complete race for the Chatham, Ontario driver. Cory McAllister now extends his points lead to 29 over second place Chad McGlynn. Brendan Patrick jumps to third in points, with Kevin Trevellin fourth, and Kevin Gallant sits fifth. The Ontario Sportsman Series returns June 15, at Sunset Speedway for the Summer Scorcher 100, presented by Vaughan Chrysler, RBC Mapleview, and N2Y Tire & Performance
