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| Gary Hicks Dominates Sportsman Championship As the checkered flag flew on Memtamcook's Luc Bourgeous and his impressive victory in the Atlantic Championship Streetstock event, the curtain fell on the 2003 stock car racing season in the Maritimes. Bourgeous grabbed the lead early in the 50 lap event and never looked back as the 2003 Centre for Speed points champion powered his big, black Ford to victory. The race was extremely fast and exciting with battles raging throughout the large field of competitors from all over the Maritimes and Quebec. Springhill's Mark MacNutt moved up from the Tigercat class to compete in this one and although underpowered, gave an excellent account of himself in his first attempt in the faster class. Gary Hicks, a regular competitor at both Centre for Speed and Riverglade Speedway, grabbed the lead from the outside pole and with the exception of a few early laps led by Halifax's Shawn Turple, was never headed as he assumed the title of Atlantic Sportsman Champion for 2003 over 35 competitors from every track in the Maritimes. This 100 lap event was a caution marred event that took over four hours to complete including a forty-five minute stoppage to allow the sun to disappear from turns three and four which had been blinding the competitors, causing chaos and destruction. In the early going, it looked like Halifax drivers James Graves and Shawn Turple were strong favourites as both were moving freely through the pack but mechanical problems put them both out of contention by the halfway mark. Brad McCabe caught fire in his Monte Carlo from a gas leak creating some very tense moments and one of the deluge of cautions. With eight laps to go in the marathon event, several of the cars began to run out of fuel during a caution, creating a long delay while cars were pushed to the pit area. Springhill's Sandy Livingston Jr was a strong competitor on this day despite having clutch problems that forced him to keep circling the field during the many caution periods. When the caution at lap 92 occurred, Livingston was running fourth and gaining quickly on the leader but the long delay and stoppage forced him to shut down. After several push attempts at refiring, he was forced to the pits, ending his great run. Also running strong was Jason Silliker of Miramichi untill the very end when he was forced to go pitside and had to rejoin at the end of the lead lap. Silliker was the fastest car on the track at the time of his spinout and pit visit. The "Nackawick Nite Train", Brian Gillespie, from NBIS, was a constant threat throughout the affair, finishing second while Jody Harris, also from NBIS brought his battered and bruised Monte Carlo home in third. The Hobby stock division saw some of the most exciting racing of the day with PEI's Kerry Anderson taking the title for the second year in a row while Gary Steward grabbed the championship in the Mini Stock class. |
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