The checkered flag waved on the 2025 race season at Riverside International Speedway Saturday evening with lots of winners at the Back to School Spectacular presented by NAPA Auto Parts Antigonish-New Glasgow-Port Hawkesbury.
In Auto World Sportsman Series action, it was Brady Creamer for win in the NAPA/Henry’s AUTOPRO 100 while Matt Vaughan clinched the Maritime Allstar Series Sportsman Series title with his second-place finish. Dennis Nickerson was third. Sara Thorne and Harry Ross White rounded out the top five finishers in the race. Thorne’s fourth-place put her in second-place in the season-long standings, the highest-finish ever for a female racer in the Maritime Sportsman Series. Creamer and Dan Cameron won the qualifying heat races.
The Whispering Winds Campground Mini Stock Series saw Kody Quinn in Victory Lane for both ends of the Fastrac Machining Twin 25s, clinching the series championship. Quinn dominated, as he did much of the Mini Stock Series season. Deveau and Quinn won the qualifying heat races.
Patty Lawrence beat Chris Dingle by a fender to visit Hot Rod Classics Victory Lane for the first time this year in his new-for’25 Don Biederman tribute vintage race car. Lawrence and Chris Dingle ran two-wide for most of the 30-lap feature. Jeff Ainslie made it to the podium with a third-place finish. Ainslie and Dingle won the qualifying heat races.
Together with Riverside International Speedway, the Hot Rod Classics honoured Maritime racing legend Greg Sewart in a ceremony celebrating Sewart’s remarkable racing career being acknowledged this year on the vintage series with a tribute car built and driven by Stacey Clements. Sewart did three laps around Riverside in the tribute #99 car, a thrill for his many fans in attendance.
Dylan Partridge took home the winner’s trophy in the Enduro race – the first of its kind at Riverside in the modern era of the facility. Colton Noble was second and Dennis Nickerson did double-duty on the night finishing third. Partridge overtook Nickerson in the closing laps after Nickerson led most of the race before the brakes started to fail on his car.
The show started with popular Kiddies Rides where hundreds of youngsters got to ride in race cars for a few laps around Canada’s highest banked oval.
And a lucky fan, Jordan Avery, won $1,349.00 in the Antigonish Jr. B Bulldogs 50/50 raffle, bring the season take-home total to over $26,000.00 with an additional $6,500.00 donation from the Bulldogs to the IWK Foundation from the IWK 250 sales.
There were two hard hits in crashes during the show, one in the Hot Rod Classics feature and one in the Sportsman feature. Both Brad Melendy and Dan Delorey exited their wrecked race cars without assistance.
Management at Riverside International Speedway send a sincere thank you to all of the fans, racers, sponsors, racing series, staff, and service providers that worked together to create a fantastic season. Focus now turns to planning 2026, the 57th season at the facility.
Fans should stay tuned to Riverside’s website (www.riversidespeedway.ca), newsletter (subscribe on website), social media (Facebook, X, and Instagram) for the latest news about from Riverside.
About Riverside International Speedway:
For 56 years, Riverside International Speedway has been recognized as a premier stock racing facility in Canada. The 1/3-mile high-banked asphalt oval roars to action several times each year for special events. It is the largest outdoor entertainment venue in eastern Canada and the home of the IWK 250 – widely known throughout North America as a “bucket list” event for racers and fans alike. It also hosts the NASCAR Canada Series in its only stop on the East Coast. Located in James River, between New Glasgow and Antigonish, the facility is easily accessible at exit 30 on Trans-Canada Highway 104. For more information, please visit www.riversidespeedway.ca or call 902-863-2410 (May to September) or 902-404-7049 (October to April).
