NEWS RELEASE
SUNSET SPEEDWAY
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Saturday’s Bone Stock Hilltop Nationals joined by Innisfil Ribfest night at Sunset had a great night of racing with a side of barbecue, with the Bone Stock division being the star of the night, with 27 racers coming from all over the province fighting to win the $1,000 purse.
This was the first of six races that the Western Great Lakes Legends Series and Eastern Ontario Legend Series were racing together.
The division’s qualifying heat winners were Mitch Wright (No. 21), Dawson Drimmie (No. 66), and Adam Cuthbertson (No. 79). In addition to the three heat races, the Legends also had a six-lap B Main race, which saw Zach Hatch (No. 71) picking up the win and transferring to the main feature. In the feature Mitch Wright would lead the field to green but would be closely followed by Drimmie.
The two would run nerf bar to nerf bar for the bulk of the feature as the two battled for the win with Drimmie attempting to pass a few times but was unable to find the grip he needed down low. Wright would score his second consecutive Sunset win with Drimmie close behind and Jordan Latimer (No. 90) completing the podium.
The CPS Junior Late Models returned to action with Ronnie Mason (No. 22) scoring his first career heat win and Josh Davenport (No. 30) scoring the second heat win to close out qualifying, During the 15-lap feature Davenport and Keegan Moat (No. 52) made some contact, pushing both racers to the back of the pack for the restart.
Within only a couple of laps, Davenport made it back into second place, waiting for his opportunity to take back his first-place position, and as fate would have it in turn four, leader Caleb McConnell (No. 01) suddenly spun out leaving room for Davenport to take the lead. Davenport shared that the cautions were essential but also came as a double-edged sword.
“I used the cautions to my advantage as the toe was knocked out of my car and had a left front tire going flat at some point earlier in the race but it was also because my car was not handling well due to being in a wreck earlier on in the race.”
Accompanying Davenport in victory lane were McConnell in second and Kamrath in third.
Next on deck was the Struyk Energy Mini Stocks. Having two heat races and a 25-lap feature, Chandler Bos (No. 22) took home the first checkered flag for first heat race, but taking home both a heat win and the feature win of the night was Jacob Sutcliffe (No. 27). After following in behind Doug Butler (No. 10) and Ryder White (No. 88) the two leaders for the first few laps of the feature unsuccessfully tried making a pass going into turn one, opening up the field to Sutcliffe.
“Any time you can keep Doug behind you it’s a good night. It’s hard to feel anything but luck and some serious pride in your team in the fact that as a team we were able to prepare a car capable of doing so.”
Sutcliffe said that the cautions were a big factor in how his race played out, including how he was able to gain a lead position.
“After getting the lead position, I was worried for every caution that came out. The No. 80 team of Coleridge Phinnemore works extremely hard on his stuff and is a really fast car every night; there were a few times I thought he had me for sure and was lucky to just get away again," he said.
When asked if Sutcliffe and his team had a plan for Saturday’s race, he said he followed his father’s words after his Plan A didn’t go accordingly.
“Things didn’t unfold that way, so I went to Plan B of following Dad’s rule of improvise, adapt and overcome.”
For the stars of the evening, the Junior’s Haulage Bone Stock division 27 cars from all over the province: Heat winners, all of which were guest racers, were Tyler Weale (No. 85), James Houghton (No. 41) and Matt Boyes (No. 17b), who raced both Bone Stock and Legends. The only Sunset driver to claim a checkered flag for the evening was their very own Aidan Harper (No. 42) during the Exyle Mobile Rags to Riches race. For the division’s eight-lap Dash for Cash race Boyes ended going home an extra $50 richer.
The headliner feature race saw only a handful of cautions and minimal contact, aside from the incident between Calvin Reesor (No. 49) and Kris Khan (No. 48), which resulted in a removed bumper and both racers being moved to the back. Crossing the finish line first was Boyes followed by Houghton in second and Gary Slama (No. 90). The results would be short lived, though, as several drivers failed post-race technical inspection handing the $1,000 payday to Houghton. Craig Cole (No. 92W) was moved to second and Spencer Riddell (No. 17) would complete the podium at the end of the night.
After such an exciting and eventful night, coming up this Saturday night, Sunset will be hosting their Speed is Forever night, honouring all the legends and fan favourites who have been a part of Sunset over the years.
On the card are the Struyk Energy Systems Mini Stocks, GD Coates Used Car Superstore Pro Late Models, LUDUH Hot Rods, Junior’s Haulage Bone Stocks and Outlaw Midgets. For intermission the track is hosting the much-anticipated Power Wheel Drags. All you need is to bring your Power Wheels and helmet to participate. Please refer to Sunset’s website and social media for more information.
Back gates open at 2:30 p.m. for racers and teams with the front gates opening at 4:30 p.m. and the green flag flies at 6 p.m.
— Written by Danielle McPherson
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