THOROLD, Ontario — It may have been the day to celebrate Queen Victoria, but there were a pair of drivers fighting to be the king at Merrittville Speedway on Monday, May 18.

Gary Lindberg was the man to beat when it came to the Commercial Auto Electric 358 Modifieds, as he turned a fourth-place starting spot into a dominating performance. He wasted no time taking the lead, and from there on, drove away from the field to stretch out his advantage by almost a straightaway. A late-race caution tried to end his plans of winning, but that did not happen as he did not hold back on the restart.

Mike Bowman charged his way through the field from 11th to finish second ahead of pole sitter Pete Bicknell, James Friesen, and Tommy Flannigan. Bicknell, Lindberg and Bowman were the heat race winners on the night.

It may be a new season, but Cody McPherson is proving to still be the man when it comes to the Semenuk’s Esso / Baron Roofing DirtCar Sportsman division. Matteo Panunte dominated the feature and appeared to be headed towards victory lane, but McPherson was able to run him down as the laps neared the end. A late-race caution was all it took for McPherson to get the advantage on the restart and pick up the checkered flag. Brett Senek was third ahead of Tyler Puchalski and Martin Polhill.

It was one of the strongest attended divisions on the night, with a b-feature having to be run to set the back half of the field that sent six cars to the trailer before the feature even began. Bill Gill won the B-Main, with Madyson Rouse, McPherson, and Senek winning the heat races.

Starting on the pole, Charlie Sandercock was able to get the lead off the drop of the green flag and cruise to the victory in the Dirt Crate Late Model division. Brandon Mowat was second ahead of Kyle Sopaz, Brian McDonald, and Jonah Mutton. Sopaz and Brandt Graham were your heat race winners.

Sandercock did not just pick up a single checkered flag on the night, but rather two of them as he was able to use the high side to his advantage to make the last lap pass to snag the victory in the DirtCar UMP Modifieds. Mason Lobb was second after pacing 24 laps ahead of Ken Schrader, Greg Belyea, and Brittany Moon. Sandercock won the lone heat on the night.

The Allstar Concrete Four Cylinders proved that the ladies are here to play this season as it was Sierra Robinson and Cierra Keus leading the field to the green flag. Neither of those girls were the ones that picked up the checkered flag, as Hana Rothwell took advantage of the lap traffic to get by them both. She then led the rest of the way en route to the victory ahead of Clinton Barrick, Jeremy Cooper, Robison and Brendan LeFrancois. Keus, unfortunately, failed to finish as a result of mechanical issues. Robison, Cooper, and Rothwell picked up the heat wins in a field that saw 29 cars in attendance.