JAMES RIVER, NS (September 14, 2012) – Chris Reid and Cole Butcher visited Victory Circle at Riverside International Speedway Friday night on night one of the Wilson Equipment 300 NASCAR weekend. Reid won the Highland Home Building Centres 100 for the Napa Sportsman Series season finale, and Butcher won the second to last race of the year for the Maritime League of Legends.
Chris Reid makes his victory lap.
Reid, originally from Cape Breton now residing in Alberta, passed Russell Smith Jr. for the top spot with just 15 laps to go and held on for his first feature win on the series. Smith finished second – good enough to win the series championship. Ross Lewis was third, followed by John Biron in fourth and JJ Cusack in fifth on the 28-car field.
The race saw 15 cautions and took over two hours to complete. There were four different leaders (Cusack, 26 laps; Lewis, 51 laps; Smith, nine laps; and Reid, 15 laps).
Cusack, Lewis, and Biron won the sportsman qualifying heat races.
Smith claimed the title by 29 points over Biron in second who beat out Jeff Dillman by just one point overall; Dillman held the point lead entering the event but saw his championship hopes dashed with an 18th-place finish for his car Friday night.
Cole Butcher celebrates his win.
In Legends action it was NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver JR Fitzpatrick finishing second behind Butcher, with Emily Meehan in third. Paul Blenkhorn and Jerry Austin round out the top five, respectively. Paul Blenkhorn and his son Dylan Blenkhorn won the Legends heat races.
The Wilson Equipment 300 NASCAR weekend concludes Saturday with the NASCAR Canadian Tires Series on deck for their only annual trip east of Quebec. It is the series second-to-last event of the year so the Riverside race will prove pivotal in overall standings. The grandstand area and box office opens at Noon Saturday, followed by afternoon practice; time trials to set the starting grid are at 4:30 p.m.; the popular autograph session is at 5:30; pre-race ceremonies start at 6:25; and the Wilson Equipment 300 is set to go green at 7 p.m.
The Wilson Equipment 300 will conclude Riverside International Speedway’s 2012 season.
