PRESENTED BY:
Connor James continued his dominance since returning to the Ontario Sportsman Series, taking the Mighty 100 win over Derek McCullough and Chad McGlynn. It is James’s third consecutive win since making his return for Cory McAllister at Peterborough. With his win, James officially has confirmed the points championship for the #71 Two Speed Motorsports team, securing the title with Cory McAllister. James won the Ecotek Pole and set his sights on winning once again, pulling away from the field within a short amount of time. Derek McCullough, Kevin Trevellin, and Chad McGlynn would battle in the top five throughout the race. Mike Hryniuk Sr. made his return to the OSS, running the #43 for Len Zimmer, and had a strong start, but was turned early by Ollie Ferguson. Hryniuk would struggle with the car before pulling off the track early with braking issues. Podcaster turned racer Graydon Bunn would make his debut in Sherrah Racing’s #17 Intrepid, but would also pull off track early due to mechanical gremlins. Ferguson, the winner earlier in the season had a strong rebound going until a flat tire resulted in a green flag stop, and while waiting for a caution to head back onto the live track, the car stalled again, possibly a result of a still suffering ignition issue. The season finale will be September 20 at Sunset Speedway, as we officially crown the #71 team of Cory McAllister & Connor James the co-champions for 2024. The battle for third is hotly contested between Chad McGlynn and Kevin Trevellin, while the Special Events Cup will also be decided. Join us on September 20 to the OSS Presented by Gulf Race Fuels Canada one last time in 2024!
The Ontario Sportsman Series Presented by Gulf Race Fuels Canada was back in action at Full Throttle Motor Speedway where two young stars of the series put on a master class in racing, showing their amazing talents. Connor James, of Hamilton, and Ollie Ferguson, of Lindsay, put on a back and forth showing that some have called the “best OSS race they’ve seen”. James was coming off his return to victory lane, after a dominant performance at Peterborough, which saw Ferguson come just behind in second. Ferguson, in only his second season in OSS, continues to showcase his talent for a 14-year-old racer, while keeping the poise of a much older veteran. The racer of the #55 Fusion Corp Developments Camaro now has a win, pole, and each podium spot earned in 2024, coming from 18th in points to just outside fourth, with three races to go. On this night, the duo of James and Ferguson waged battle, back and forth, all night long, before eventually James pulled off the victory in a hard-fought exchange. Veteran Kevin Trevellin continued his strong return to form in 2024, finally breaking his podium drought to finish third, after a heartbreaking motor issue set out third place runner Brendan Patrick. Patrick for his part, has held 2nd in the point standings for the last couple races of the season, and is still aiming for his first win of the season. Tim Tolton returned to the series at Peterborough, but showed off a brand new look for the #3 Monte Carlo, returning to the famed Dale Earnhardt esq black, while sporting the white & blue of the famous OREO car. Tolton and Chad McGlynn would start from the back after their time trials were disallowed! McGlynn would take fourth, while Tolton would settle for fifth. Nathaniel Greenaway posted his best career finish in sixth, and improved mightily on his performance from June, finishing four laps down, while in June he finished 12 laps down. Lora Authier also had her best finish, and improved from 17 laps down to 11! In the Ecotek Triple Track Challenge, James leads Ferguson by 16 as they head to the finale at Flamboro Speedway on August 24. In the Championship Points, the #71 team extends their lead to a whopping 87 points over Brendan Patrick! Kevin Trevellin sits third, only two points ahead of Chad McGlynn, and 11 ahead of fifth place Ollie Ferguson!
The OSS makes its return to Flamboro Speedway on August 24. The last time the series visited Flamboro in 2022, the winners were Michael Hryniuk Jr., Todd Sheppard, and Connor James!
Connor James did not think he would be back in the Ontario Sportsman Series in 2024. In fact, it probably never crossed his mind. The 2019 OSS Champion had a rough exit from the series in 2023, following a tight championship battle with Cory McAllister, where contact and actions on track led to a miserable finish to a rather solid season leading up to that point. James, of Hamilton, made the significant change to running Street Stocks in the USA for 2024, but, received a call on Sunday night from an injured Cory McAllister. He wanted Connor to drive his championship leading #71 Mustang.
James would pull the best super sub role, by sweeping session after session, leading from the start and never looking back. Connor James would take win number seven in his OSS career, putting him in a tie for fifth all time with Brandt Graham and Jay Doerr. James was uncharacteristically nervous before getting in the car, but all that nervous energy led to one of Connor’s best performances in the series. He won this one for his dad Rob, who has had a tough year, battling some health issues. The race at Peterborough continued to showcase the young talent, as Ollie Ferguson and Brendan Patrick rounded out the podium. Tim Tolton made his return to the OSS, and put on a show. Despite only getting 10 laps in qualifying, Tim would start from the back and make his way quickly through field as high as fourth place, before falling back. Contact with Chad McGlynn led to the #3 Monte Carlo spinning in turn one, after a ferocious battle between the two veterans. The bigger news for Tolton was that this car wasn’t together until a couple nights before the big race at Peterborough. Tolton will be back behind the wheel at Full Throttle, to try and get his series leading fourth win at the Varney track. Cory McAllister & Connor James continue to build their lead in the championship, as they now have a staggering 64 point lead on Brendan Patrick who sits second, and a 94 point lead over third place Chad McGlynn. Kevin Trevellin sits fourth, 96 points back, while Ollie Ferguson is 114 back in fifth. Rookies Lora Authier and Nathaniel Greenaway sit sixth and seventh respectively. The OSS will return to action August 10th at Full Throttle Motor Speedway as they compete in the second round of the Ecotek Triple Track Challenge!
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.
