Dwayne Baker wins Inaugural Bruce Gowland Memorial at Sunset Speedway

Starting near the back of the field, Dwayne Baker would make his way through the field and out-dueled Andrew Gresel in the closing laps to score the victory in the inaugural Bruce Gowland Memorial at Sunset Speedway.

Jesse Kennedy would win the first heat ahead of Jeff Hanley, Glenn Watson, Dave Doucette, Craig Stevenson, Ron Hollis and Rob Reimer. Dave Taylor was in this heat, but would pull off partway through with mechanical issues.

Baker would win the second heat ahead of Kelly Balson, Mike Beyore, Corey Jones, Rob Poole, Tyler Hawn and Charlie Gallant.

Points leader Gresel won heat there ahead of Todd Campbell, Kevin Cornelius, Kyle Passer, Chris Burrows and Shane Gowan.

Kennedy went for the daily double ahead of Hanley, Doucette, Watson, Taylor, Stevenson and Reimer.

Baker went for the daily double as well, scoring the win ahead of Poole, Gallant, Jones, Beyore, Balson and Hawn.

Cornelius would win the final heat ahead of Gresel, Passer, Gresel and Campbell.

Come feature time, Todd Campbell would start pole ahead of Dave Doucette, Glenn Watson, Kevin Cornelius, Jeff Hanley, Andrew Gresel, Jesse Kennedy, Kyle Passer, Rob Poole, Kelly Balson, Corey Jones, Mike Beyore, Chris Burrows, Charlie Gallant, Shane Gowan, Tyler Hawn, Dwayne Baker, Dave Taylor, Ron Hollis, Rob Reimer and Mike Westwood.

It wouldn’t take long for the action to start that would make up this feature as Watson would go around for the spin in turn two right off the drop of the green flag, virtue of contact from Hanley. Shane Gowan also got a piece somewhere, heavily damage the front of his car, ending his night prematurely. Both Watson and Hanley would be sent to the back for the complete restart.

The second restart would go off well with Dave Doucette grabbing the lead from Campbell. Doucette would lead till lap three, when Gresel would make his way by to take over the top spot through the shuffle. The caution would then fly a lap later for Burrows spinning in turn two. With 47 laps to go, Gresel led Doucette, Passer, Cornelius and Campbell.

Gresel would get a good restart, clearing Doucette as he was ready to set sail. Behind them, the battle was intense and the string would break on lap five with Passer going for the spin. With 45 laps to go, Gresel led Doucette, Cornelius, Campbell, Kennedy, Poole, Balson, Jones, Beyore, Hawn, Gallant, Hanley, Watson, Baker and Taylor.

Gresel got another good restart and pulled ahead of the field, while Doucette and Campbell would find themselves being passed with the stronger cars making their way through. Behind the front group, the battle was just as intense, and their string would break on lap nine for the fourth caution. Jones would get into Hawn on the frontstretch, with Hawn going for the spin in turn one. With 41 laps to go, Gresel led Cornelius, Poole, Kennedy, Doucette, Campbell, Jones, Hanley, Beyore, Baker, Watson, Gallant, Taylor, Burrows, Westwood, Tolton, Hawn, Hollis, Stevenson and Balson.

Gresel would get another good restart, but it wouldn’t be the same story mid-pack as Hanley and Jones would get together, both getting sideways, collecting Taylor, Watson and Burrows. Jones would be done for the night with heavy front end damage, while the rest of the drivers were able to continue. Watson’s crew should definitely get the ‘hard worker’ award of the night as they were pulling and banging all four corners of that car to get it back out for the restart. The top six remained the same post-incident, with Baker moving up to seventh, followed by Beyore, Gallant, Burrows, Hawn, Hollis, Hanley, Passer, Balson, Westwood, Stevenson and Watson.

The second attempt at a restart would go great for everybody with Gresel clearing Cornelius a couple laps after to maintain the lead. Gresel would get a small gap over Cornelius in the laps that followed, but Cornelius was able to maintain the gap to stay right there with him. By lap 19 when Hollis brought his car down pit road blowing up, Cornelius was back on Gresel’s bumper, looking for a way by. Cornelius would try to get underneath a couple of times, but was unsuccessful and then would lose chance to when they got into lap traffic.

As seen in previous races thus year, the lap traffic wasn’t as “abiding” in getting out of the way for the leaders, resulting in the leaders being stuck in some sticky situations. Gresel got himself clear relatively smoothly, while Cornelius would get stuck behind a battle for a spot in the teens amongst those a lap down. With Cornelius slowed up in traffic, it allowed Baker to close the gap. Baker had methodically worked his way up through to move into third, finding himself on Cornelius’ bumper for second. The pair would get side-by-side for second, and then made it three-wide down the frontstretch and into turn one with the lap car of Passer. Everybody was able to keep it straight without incident, with Baker grabbing second spot.

Baker would then begin working on tracking down Gresel, and would get some help with the sixth caution flying with 10 laps to for debris on the track surface. With 10 laps to go, Gresel led Baker, Cornelius, Kennedy, Hanley, Poole, Campbell, Beyore, Doucette, Gallant, Passer, Balson, Burrows and Watson.

The restart would bring the perfect opportunity for Baker as he would get by Gresel for the lead – only to have the seventh caution on lap 42 for Poole slowing down the frontstretch. Poole was going slow, as a result of contact with Hanley a lap before as Hanley slid up the track on the frontstretch, causing Poole to hit the wall. With eight laps to go, Baker led Gresel, Cornelius, Kennedy, Beyore and Campbell.

The next two restarts would not be a go as there were defiantly games being played amongst the top-two in trying to gain the advantage, resulting in some jumped starts. Baker and Gresel would be warned that if they did it again, they’d be shown the black flag. Needless to say, the third attempt went well as they both went off from the restart line, per the rules.

They’d run side-by-side till the caution flew once again for Poole slow on the frontstretch. Poole would have heavy right front damage and right front flat tire after contact with Passer; that would end Poole’s night as he’d take the car to the pits. Poole’s team was hoping for a good run, after having to change the clutch in practice. With six laps to go, Gresel led Baker, Cornelius, Kennedy, Hanley, Beyore, Campbell, Doucette, Balson and Taylor.

The final restart would go as Dwayne Baker hoped as he was able to clear Andrew Gresel and take the checkered flag. Gresel would hold on to second, holding off a late race challenge from Kevin Cornelius. Jeff Hanley and Jesse Kennedy rounded out the top five. Mike Beyore finished sixth, followed by Dave Doucette and Todd Campbell.

About the Author

Ashley McCubbin

Joining OnPitRoad.com mid-2013 season, Ashley McCubbin is now the Managing Editor and contributes to each racing division as needed. Since studying journalism at the University of Guelph-Humber, Ashley has published articles on a couple of different websites, while serving as a public relations representative for different short track teams. Born in North York, Ontario, Ashley currently lives in Bradford, Ontario and spends her weekend at the local short tracks in the area. She has spent her entire life at the short track level, falling in love with the sport at the age of five. Beyond her love of short track racing, she also has grown an interest for both NASCAR and the IndyCar Racing Series. She also enjoys taking photos and working on websites, while playing a couple rounds of Candy Crush afterwards.

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