Brad Forward captured the Ontario Regional Driving Championship at Grand River Raceway thanks in part to a three-win performance in the eight-race challenge.
Forward spent the night going back and forth on the leaderboard with Paul MacDonell before pulling away in the final leg of the competition. Forward racked up 73 points and MacDonell finished with 70.
Both drivers will now head to the national competition at Fraser Downs on March 21, 2009.
"It will be great going to British Columbia, I've never been there before," said winning driver Brad Forward. "I drove every leg like it was the last leg."
The top two finishers from the Quebec, Atlantic and Western Regionals will also advance to the national competition at Fraser Downs. Here are the venues and dates for the remaining regional events:
Quebec Regional
October 28 at Sulky Trois Rivieres
Atlantic Regional
November 8 at the CDPEC
Western Regional
December 13 at Fraser Downs
Here is a recap of tonight's Ontario Regional from Grand River Raceway:
Leg 1
Paul MacDonell drew first blood winning the opening leg with heavily favoured Georgia Peach in a time of 1:57.1. MacDonell marched his charge to the top and didn't look back en route to the victory over Milliondollarjen (Jody Jamieson) and Intended To Fly (Paul MacKenzie).
Ontario Regional Championship - Race 1
Leg 2
Brad Forward kept the ball rolling with Sauble Jackson, who stepped to his fifth consecutive victory. The gelding, who was forced to come first over, stopped the clock in 1:59 en route to winning a three-horse photo over Getting Lucky (Paul MacKenzie) and Killean Sweep (Scott Coulter).
Ontario Regional Championship - Race 2
Leg 3
Paul MacDonell notched his fourth victory on the card, and his second in the competition thanks to a powerful gate-to-wire score with Rock Rico. The trotter, who halted the teletimer in 2:00.2, defeated Mackcrest (Brad Forward) and Winzel (Robert Shepherd).
*Ontario Regional Championship - Race 3*
Leg 4
Brad Forward reclaimed the top spot in the standings thanks to a 2:01.1 victory with St Lads Race, who lit up the board at odds of 18-1. Rustlers Ambition (Bruce Richardson) set the pace and stayed for the runner-up spot. Third prize went to Rambaranonbroadway (Scott Coulter).
*Ontario Regional Championship - Race 4*
Leg 5
Paul MacDonell finds himself deadlocked atop the leaderboard with Brad Forward thanks to his wire-to-wire victory with A And Gs Astreos, who rolled to a 1:58.2 win over Cabinet Shuffle (Bruce Richardson) and Vijay White (Scott Coulter).
*Ontario Regional Championship - Race 5*
Leg 6
Gord Brown got into the win column for the first time in the competition thanks to a front-stepping victory with Shellace, who froze the teletimer in 1:59. Kesons Avaia (Jody Jamieson) was second and Pantecostal (Paul MacDonell) was third.
*Ontario Regional Championship - Race 6*
Leg 7
Scott Coulter broke through for his first win in the competition by guiding race favourite Countess Stormont to a 2:01.4 triumph over Live In Love (Jody Jamieson) and Whatever Lolawants (Mike Saftic).
*Ontario Regional Championship - Race 7*
Leg 8
Brad Forward took the final leg of the competition thanks to a 1:58.1 victory with pacer Lyons Geoff. Intrepid Hero (Jody Jamieson) was second and Kerrs Light (Paul MacDonell).
*Ontario Regional Championship - Race 8*
Leaderboard
1. Brad Forward (73 pts)
2. Paul MacDonell (70 pts)
3. Jody Jamieson (61 pts)
4. Scott Coulter (56 pts)
5. Gord Brown (44 pts)
6. Bruce Richardson (41 pts)
6. Paul MacKenzie (41 pts)
8. Mike Saftic (30 pts)
9. Robert Shepherd (28 pts)
To view Monday's results, click here.