8-19 Page 22 | ATD Racing News

Five guys add to their 2025 win totals at Thunder City including Copp, Simpson, Vernon, Kellar and Smith

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO (August 13) - Thunder City Speedway was back in action Wednesday night, August 13, with all five regular WISSOTA Dirt Track Series classes in competition.

Winners at the end of the night included Brandon Copp, Rick Simpson, Tyler Vernon, A.J. Kellar and Spencer Smith.

Smith started on the pole of the WISSOTA Hornet feature, taking the lead from the get-go and driving on to a nearly 7-second, near half-lap advantage ahead of multi-time feature winner Selena Owen. Curtis Oleksuk, Jesse Owen and Jimmy Owen were top-five finishers.

Last week’s winner Michael Shalley held the lead through the first 12 laps of the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature, but was under pressure from national point leader Tyler Vernon before the midpoint of the race. After several laps of thrilling side-by-side racing, Vernon made the pass with a handful of laps left in the event and captured the victory, his 21st of the season. Ninth-starter David Simpson picked his way forward and supplanted Shalley in the final lap to third, while Matthew Mitchell and 11th-starter Rob Groom completed the top five.

Simpson led from flag to flag in the WISSOTA Super Stocks Wednesday, scoring the victory about 1.5 seconds ahead of a charging Cole Chernosky. Chernosky, who started eighth, finished second ahead of Shawn Polonoski, Larry Both, and Danny Young in the top five.

Copp shot off the front row and secured the lead right away in the WISSOTA Modifieds. He led the distance, taking the win by more than 2 seconds ahead of a four-car battle for second. Curtis Stieh improved four spots to take second. David Simpson, John Toppozini and Cole Chernosky rounded out the top five.

In a caution-plagued feature, Keller captured the WISSOTA Street Stock victory from his second-row starting spot, holding off the charge of 13th-starter Trey Hess for the win. Hess had to settle for second just .054 seconds behind Keller in a photo finish. Kolton Brauer, Brendan Makkinga and 16th-starter Darren Wolframe completed the top five.

During the first lap of the race Steven Piilo rolled several times down the backstretch, but was reported to be okay.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 22-Brandon Copp[2]; 2. 32C-Curtis Stieh[6]; 3. 70-David Simpson[3]; 4. T23-John Toppozini[4]; 5. 33C-Cole Chernosky[8]; 6. 9M-Riley Matthews[1]; 7. 27-Scott McKinnon[9]; 8. 15-Adam Dennhardt[14]; 9. 40-Tanner Henderson[7]; 10. 07-Jeremy Britten[11]; 11. 97-Mark Earl[12]; 12. (DNF) 51-Joel Cryderman[5]; 13. (DNF) 73-Jeff Helget[13]; 14. (DNF) 007-Shawn Liddicoat[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 70-David Simpson[2]; 2. 51-Joel Cryderman[4]; 3. 9M-Riley Matthews[1]; 4. 32C-Curtis Stieh[5]; 5. 27-Scott McKinnon[7]; 6. 07-Jeremy Britten[3]; 7. 73-Jeff Helget[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Chernosky[5]; 2. T23-John Toppozini[2]; 3. 40-Tanner Henderson[4]; 4. 22-Brandon Copp[7]; 5. 007-Shawn Liddicoat[6]; 6. 97-Mark Earl[3]; 7. (DNF) 15-Adam Dennhardt[1]

WISSOTA Super Stocks:

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 77-Rick Simpson[1]; 2. 33C-Cole Chernosky[8]; 3. 316-Shawn Polonoski[2]; 4. 19-Larry Both[4]; 5. 37A-Danny Young[6]; 6. 24-Joshua Oleksuk[5]; 7. 15G-Andrew Groom[9]; 8. 498-Tanner House[11]; 9. 0-Jeremy Britten[10]; 10. 51-Aaron Sacek[12]; 11. 22R-Nathan Roy[3]; 12. 2-Carson Bamford[14]; 13. 207-Tj Lynch[15]; 14. (DNF) 36-Tyler Kostecki[7]; 15. (DNF) 518-Mike Plas[13]; 16. (DNS) 37-John Garrity

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Rick Simpson[1]; 2. 37A-Danny Young[4]; 3. 36-Tyler Kostecki[7]; 4. 24-Joshua Oleksuk[6]; 5. 15G-Andrew Groom[8]; 6. 498-Tanner House[5]; 7. 518-Mike Plas[3]; 8. (DNF) 37-John Garrity[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33C-Cole Chernosky[1]; 2. 22R-Nathan Roy[3]; 3. 316-Shawn Polonoski[5]; 4. 19-Larry Both[7]; 5. 0-Jeremy Britten[4]; 6. 51-Aaron Sacek[6]; 7. 2-Carson Bamford[8]; 8. 207-Tj Lynch[2]

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 41-Tyler Vernon[4]; 2. 70-David Simpson[9]; 3. 8X-Michael Shalley[1]; 4. M17-Matthew Mitchell[2]; 5. 17-Rob Groom[11]; 6. 86EH-Tanner Ulakovic[6]; 7. 89-Kolby Reed[3]; 8. 17K-David Kivi[10]; 9. 10D-Patrick Davis[18]; 10. 32C-Curtis Stieh[16]; 11. 6-Joel Macleod[8]; 12. 15K-Jeff Kelly[12]; 13. 3D-Kevin Monteith[19]; 14. 00-Trenton Woodbeck[5]; 15. 95-Connor Moro[7]; 16. 14C-Colby Petrunak[15]; 17. 44-Bryce Melanson[13]; 18. 26-Paul Hari[21]; 19. 3DJR-Kyle Monteith[20]; 20. 267-Bill Jeffers[14]; 21. (DNF) 22R-Nathan Roy[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 00-Trenton Woodbeck[3]; 2. 86EH-Tanner Ulakovic[1]; 3. 17-Rob Groom[7]; 4. 10D-Patrick Davis[6]; 5. 27B-Dave DeVente[8]; 6. 99D-Ben DeFoy[9]; 7. 56-Keith LaPlante[4]; 8. 16-Brad Bohonis[2]; 9. 5JR-William Milne Jr[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Tyler Vernon[1]; 2. 95-Connor Moro[3]; 3. 15K-Jeff Kelly[7]; 4. 22R-Nathan Roy[5]; 5. 88-Andrew Opas[8]; 6. M20-Travis MacArthur[6]; 7. 317-Austin Polonoski[2]; 8. 222-Brian Hari[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. M17-Matthew Mitchell[2]; 2. 6-Joel Macleod[4]; 3. 44-Bryce Melanson[1]; 4. 32C-Curtis Stieh[8]; 5. 67-Glen Brown[3]; 6. 57JR-Robert Squitti[5]; 7. (DNF) 32S-Connor Stieh[6]; 8. (DNF) 18-Hunter Brink[7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 8X-Michael Shalley[4]; 2. 70-David Simpson[6]; 3. 267-Bill Jeffers[1]; 4. 723-Wayne deBruin[8]; 5. 3DJR-Kyle Monteith[2]; 6. 3D-Kevin Monteith[7]; 7. E87-Emerson Maxwell[5]; 8. 222H-Bob Hammond[3]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 89-Kolby Reed[1]; 2. 17K-David Kivi[3]; 3. 14C-Colby Petrunak[2]; 4. 99J-John Coppock[5]; 5. 26-Paul Hari[4]; 6. 47-Don Craig[7]; 7. 46B-Addy Beerthuizen[8]; 8. (DNF) 2-Dan Tocheri[6]

B Feature 1 (8 Laps): 1. 32C-Curtis Stieh[2]; 2. 10D-Patrick Davis[1]; 3. 3DJR-Kyle Monteith[5]; 4. 99D-Ben DeFoy[6]; 5. 18-Hunter Brink[13]; 6. 47-Don Craig[8]; 7. 88-Andrew Opas[4]; 8. 99J-John Coppock[3]; 9. 317-Austin Polonoski[9]; 10. 222-Brian Hari[11]; 11. 5JR-William Milne Jr[12]; 12. (DNF) 57JR-Robert Squitti[7]; 13. (DNF) 46B-Addy Beerthuizen[10]

B Feature 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22R-Nathan Roy[1]; 2. 3D-Kevin Monteith[7]; 3. 26-Paul Hari[5]; 4. 67-Glen Brown[4]; 5. 27B-Dave DeVente[3]; 6. 222H-Bob Hammond[11]; 7. 56-Keith LaPlante[8]; 8. 723-Wayne deBruin[2]; 9. M20-Travis MacArthur[6]; 10. E87-Emerson Maxwell[9]; 11. 16-Brad Bohonis[10]; 12. (DNF) 2-Dan Tocheri[13]; 13. (DNS) 32S-Connor Stieh

WISSOTA Street Stocks:

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 54X-AJ Kellar[3]; 2. 4-Trey Hess[13]; 3. 34J-Kolton Brauer[7]; 4. 426-Brendan Makkinga[8]; 5. 96W-Darren Wolframe[16]; 6. 77-Kyle Bolt[6]; 7. 9E-Cameron Ellis[15]; 8. 555-Johnny Staal[11]; 9. 24-Andrew Piilo[4]; 10. 21-Nate Owen[19]; 11. 1JT-Justin Tougas[17]; 12. 35-Nathan Henny[1]; 13. 32-Cory Ward[14]; 14. 22-Tyson Waller[9]; 15. (DNF) 07-Colt Germain[2]; 16. (DNF) 19-Paul Krawec[20]; 17. (DNF) 25-Kathryn Stieh[5]; 18. (DNF) 49-Derek Ross[10]; 19. (DNF) 23-Steven Piilo[12]; 20. (DNF) 88-Steven Hitchman[18]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 54X-AJ Kellar[6]; 2. 77-Kyle Bolt[2]; 3. 22-Tyson Waller[7]; 4. 4-Trey Hess[3]; 5. 1JT-Justin Tougas[1]; 6. 17A-David Mitchell[8]; 7. 16-Teagan Britten[4]; 8. T53-Sacha Torkkeli[9]; 9. (DNF) 6R-Spencer Reid[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Andrew Piilo[2]; 2. 426-Brendan Makkinga[1]; 3. 49-Derek Ross[6]; 4. 32-Cory Ward[8]; 5. 88-Steven Hitchman[7]; 6. 19-Paul Krawec[9]; 7. 3B-BJ Kapush[5]; 8. 12K-Chase Kivi[3]; 9. (DQ) 203-Rob Ranttalo[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 34J-Kolton Brauer[2]; 2. 25-Kathryn Stieh[4]; 3. 555-Johnny Staal[1]; 4. 9E-Cameron Ellis[8]; 5. 317-Austin Polonoski[6]; 6. 9-Jack Williamson[9]; 7. 21-Nate Owen[3]; 8. 50S-Amanda Smith[7]; 9. (DNF) 27-Chris Daze[5]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 35-Nathan Henny[5]; 2. 07-Colt Germain[3]; 3. 23-Steven Piilo[1]; 4. 96W-Darren Wolframe[7]; 5. 2-Charlie Merkley[2]; 6. 55-Carter Wieringa[6]; 7. 17-Don Mitchell[4]; 8. (DNF) 12SB-Scott Gregory[8]

B Feature 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1JT-Justin Tougas[1]; 2. 21-Nate Owen[6]; 3. 17A-David Mitchell[3]; 4. T53-Sacha Torkkeli[7]; 5. 16-Teagan Britten[5]; 6. 50S-Amanda Smith[8]; 7. 317-Austin Polonoski[2]; 8. (DNF) 9-Jack Williamson[4]; 9. (DNS) 6R-Spencer Reid; 10. (DQ) 203-Rob Ranttalo[10]

B Feature 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Steven Hitchman[1]; 2. 19-Paul Krawec[3]; 3. 2-Charlie Merkley[2]; 4. 12K-Chase Kivi[7]; 5. 12SB-Scott Gregory[8]; 6. 55-Carter Wieringa[4]; 7. 3B-BJ Kapush[5]; 8. 17-Don Mitchell[6]; 9. (DNS) 27-Chris Daze

WISSOTA Hornets:

A Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 57-Spencer Smith[1]; 2. 34-Selena Owen[3]; 3. 205-Curtis Oleksuk[2]; 4. 22-Jesse Owen[6]; 5. 23-Jimmy Owen[5]; 6. 26B-Rick Breukelman[11]; 7. 5-Hunter Marshall[13]; 8. 10K-Kathleen Speaker[9]; 9. 09-Joshua Kruzel[12]; 10. 11-Carrie Allen[15]; 11. 21D-Dayla Haliuk[10]; 12. 37-Connor Danylko[14]; 13. M11-Merissa Currie[16]; 14. (DNF) 95-Kristina Moro[8]; 15. (DNF) 26-Martin Bolt[7]; 16. (DNF) 6JR-Taylor Scaffeo[4]; 17. (DNF) 69-Tucker Oleksuk[17]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 95-Kristina Moro[2]; 2. 57-Spencer Smith[4]; 3. 23-Jimmy Owen[1]; 4. 6JR-Taylor Scaffeo[3]; 5. 10K-Kathleen Speaker[6]; 6. 26B-Rick Breukelman[7]; 7. 5-Hunter Marshall[5]; 8. 11-Carrie Allen[8]; 9. (DNF) 69-Tucker Oleksuk[9]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 22-Jesse Owen[3]; 2. 26-Martin Bolt[2]; 3. 34-Selena Owen[4]; 4. 205-Curtis Oleksuk[6]; 5. 21D-Dayla Haliuk[1]; 6. 09-Joshua Kruzel[8]; 7. 37-Connor Danylko[7]; 8. (DNF) M11-Merissa Currie[5]