Miles Tyson breaks through with first career Mini Stock victory

After a pair of top fives and opening up the season with some solid finishes, Miles Tyson was able to break into Sunset Speedway victory lane as he scored the victory in the Mini Stock feature on Saturday night.

The heats didn’t start off smoothly as Rory Collett would go up in smoke while leading on lap two as Steve Love pulled off with a problem. Defending series champion and last week’s feature winner Warren Paxton scored the win ahead of Shawn Gerrior, Kendra Adams, Brian Love, Jerry Noble, Candiss Everingham, Wendy Adams and Eric Rainey.

Brandon McFerran scored the second heat win ahead of Connor James, Ken Townsend, Jordan Howse, Gerrit Tiemersma, Jake Watson, Bob Phinnemore, Chris Free, Doug Wilman and Thomas Dunn.

The last heat didn’t go smoothly as Dave Middel would spin in turn two on the second lap. On the restart, Lauren Halliday made contact with Stefan Woyslaw, causing Woyslaw to make heavy contact with the outside turn three wall. The trouble continued when Steve Belanger slowed up on the backstretch, resulting in Miles Tyson going up on the side of Belanger’s car and receiving heavy damage. Spring Derby winner Andy Kamrath survived ahead of Ben Melenhorst, Samantha Shaw, Halliday, Terry Woodley and Middel.

With 29 cars on the property, the drivers would be split into a pair of groups with the top 12 qualifiers going to the ‘Dash for Cash’ while the rest would go to the b-main.

When it came time for the b-main, everybody knew that whoever finished last would miss the main event as Sunset only starts 28 mini stocks each week. The action picked up immediately with battles throughout the field. At the tail end, Middel and Wilman were fighting for last place when Middel would spin on lap 12 in turn four. Under caution, Wilman brought his car down pit road due to mechanical issues, resulting in him being the driver sent packing. At the front, it was all Gerrit Tiemersma as he held off the strong chart from Tyson to grab his first career victory. Billy Melenhorst finished third, followed by Collett, Woodley, Phinnemore, Noble, Belanger, Free, Everingham, Woyslaw, Wendy Adams, Rainey, Steve Love and Middel.

On the flip side, the Dash for Cash ran completely clean with Andy Kamrath beating out Paxton and McFerran in a thrilling battle for the lead all race long. James finished fourth, followed by Shaw, Kendra Adams, Ben Melenhorst, Howse, Gerrior, Townsend, Brian Love and Halliday.

With the draw following qualifying to set the starting line-up, Ken Townsend would start pole in his No. 21 R.S.A. Autoparts Honda ahead of Gerrit Tiemersma, Jake Watson, Shawn Gerrior, Miles Tyson, Brandon McFerran, Rory Collett, Terry Woodley, Lauren Halliday, Billy Melenhorst, Ben Melenhorst, Samantha Shaw, Jordan Howse, Andy Kamrath, Brian Love, Warren Paxton, Connor James, Kendra Adams, Jerry Noble, Bob Phinnemore, Candiss Everingham, Chris Free, Stefan Woyslaw, Wendy Adams, Eric Rainey, Steve Love and Dave Middel. Before the green would even fall, Steve Belanger stalled and had to be pushed off the track.

Once the green flag fell, Gerrit Tiermersma would grab the lead in his No. 20 Mini Stock ahead of Townsend and begin to escape away from the field. Tyson quickly moved into third by lap five followed by McFerran, Collett, Watson, Gerrior, Kamrath, Ben Melenhorst and Paxton. Tyson continued his move to the front, moving into second by lap 10 with McFerran and Collett in toe as Townsend fell back to fifth. Kamrath then broke into the top five, passing Townsend with 10 laps to go.

As Tiemersma fought through the lap traffic, Tyson wrapped both arms around the opportunity and closed the gap between the pair.  Tyson would then make the move with seven laps to go and grabbed the lead behind the wheel of his No. 49 Uxbridge Auto Wreckers, Junior Tire, Automotive Technical Solutions and Praxair Nissan 240SX. McFerran would follow suit as he moved into second.

McFerran would try to track down Tyson in the final laps, though wasn’t able to as Miles Tyson picked up his first career victory. Brandon McFerran would pick up second and was thankful to grab the podium finish after a brake rotor broke on the final lap. Gerrit Tiemersma finished third, followed by Andy Kamrath and Rory Collett. Ken Townsend finished sixth, followed by Warren Paxton, Jake Watson, Samantha Shaw, Billy Melenhorst and Ben Melenhorst.