WHITBY (June 18, 2014) – Mike Beyore evaded a last lap incident to earn a fifth-place finish at Barrie Speedway on Saturday night. It hasn’t taken Beyore long to regain success with the OSCAAR Super Late Model tour in 2014. The Whitby, Ont. native’s top-five finish comes just two weeks after he finished seventh in his season debut at Kawartha Speedway.
Beyore fought a tight racecar throughout the 50-lap main event at the Oro Station, Ont. track. The car handled less than perfect, Beyore said, but he is happy with the result.
“We brought the car home and it only had a couple of marks on it. Everything ran well,” explained Beyore. “We finished fifth and I can’t complain.”
The No.54 rolled from the eighth starting position and Beyore immediately began to battle for a top-five spot.
In the early laps, Beyore felt he had a car to contend for a podium finish. A caution just after the halfway point of the race changed the handling, Beyore said.
“At about halfway, I was starting to make up time, but then all of a sudden we had a caution,” he said. “After the caution, I had a bad push. I had a left front tire going soft. I fought it most of the time.”
In the final 20 laps, Beyore was engaged in a three-car battle with Jesse Kennedy (No.10) and Corey Jones (No.82) for fifth. Beyore settled in seventh as he watched Kennedy and Jones go wheel-to-wheel. His patience was rewarded in the end.
“They got in to each other on the last lap. When they got together, I went around on the outside coming off four to the checkers,” said Beyore of the minor incident.
“I thought I was going to get squeezed, but they all seemed to stay to the bottom. I came out of there like nothing.”
The last corner pass pushed Beyore in to the top-five for the first time this season. In addition to fighting the handling issue, Beyore was amazed at the difficulty Barrie Speedway presents, particularly in turn four.
“If you’re off a bit you’re done,” he said. “Coming off of four, I touched the wall a couple of times.”
After a pair of top-ten finishes, Beyore is happy with where his program is heading for the 2014 season. More importantly, Beyore has not dealt with the carbon monoxide poisoning he had in 2013.
“I haven’t felt sick in the car or anything,” said Beyore, following the Barrie event. “It’s a big change for me. Usually the next day I’ve felt like crap also, but I’ve been feeling really well.”
Beyore debuted a new paint scheme for his No.54 Stemac, Millenium Crane Chevrolet for the 2014 season at Kawartha. The new design features the same white car with much brighter numbers.
“I had to change it up. I went back to the all-white colour with the yellow interior and the fluorescent green numbers. I just did that for something to do,” he said.
Beyore will return to action with the OSCAAR Super Late Model tour for the two-day Don Biederman Memorial event at Sunset Speedway on June 28 and 29.
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Follow Mike Beyore’s OSCAAR Super Late Model campaign online all season long on Twitter via @54buck and at www.beyoreracing.ca.
Mike Beyore’s 2014 OSCAAR tour is supported by Stemac, Millenium Crane, CNC Custom Machining, Praxair, MGS Performance, Don’s Auto Shop, Crossby Dewar, Mayhew Graphics and Metals Plus.
By Clayton Johns (@cjohnsmedia)
