Taylor Holdaway edges Morrow for feature victory at Sunset Speedway

On Saturday night at Sunset Speedway, it’d be Taylor Holdaway edging Chris Morrow at the line to score the feature victory in the 100 lap Late Model feature. Meanwhile, Dwayne Baker would cross the line third to secure the 2014 Sauble Falls Tent and Trailer Park Championship.

The night would start off with time trials, with the top 12 drivers being thrown into the random draw for feature starting spot while 13^th on back would sent to the consolation race to determine their starting position. Jason Witty, who entered the night second in points, would post the quickest time at 14.633 seconds in his No. 19 Larue’s Haulage, Carrot Express, Speedy Auto Machine, Queensville Sod, Matco Tools Late Model, five hundreths ahead of Sean Cronan.

The consolation race would be cancelled due to about an hour long rain delay, so as a result 13^th place qualifier Dwayne Baker and 14^th place qualifier Travis Hallyburton would be thrown into the redraw invert while 15^th thru 20^th would start as they qualified.

When the redraw was complete, it’d be Jason Witty starting on pole ahead of Billy Zardo, Taylor Holdaway, Chris Morrow, Scott Beatty, Dwayne Baker, Thayne Hallyburton, Ernie Fumerton, Tom Walters, Mat Box, Sean Cronan, Mike Bentley, Nick Goetz, Brittney Gresel, Travis Hallyburton, Paul Maltese, Kyle Passer, Ian Bourque, Gary Elliott and Mike Wilkinson.

Witty would take the early lead on the drop of the green while Zardo and Morrow battled for second. Zardo would grab second on lap two, with Holdaway getting alongside Morrow for third. Beatty ran fifth, followed by Baker and Walters as Cronan and Fumerton battled for eighth. Cronan would get by Fumerton and bring Bentley through with him, while Holdaway would grab third ahead of Morrow.

Witty began to stretch his lead out with five laps on the board ahead of Zardo, Holdaway, Morrow and Beatty while Walters got alongside Baker for sixth. Walters would get by Baker on lap six, bringing Cronan and Bentley through with him. Meanwhile, Morrow got back by Holdaway for third and then got alongside Zardo for second on lap 10. He would make the pass on lap 11, bringing Holdaway through with him.

So now at lap 15, Witty still held the lead but now ahead of Morrow, Holdaway, Zardo and Walters as Beatty and Cronan battled side-by-side for sixth. Cronan would take the spot on lap 16, bringing Bentley through with him. Beatty now ran eighth ahead of Baker and Fumerton to complete the top 10. Box and Goetz ran side-by-side for 11^th with Box getting the spot on lap 19. The pass wouldn’t count for Box, though, as the caution would fly for Thayne Hallyburton going up in smoke. With 81 laps to go, Witty led Morrow, Holdaway, Zardo, Walters, Cronan, Bentley, Beatty, Baker, Fumerton, Goetz, Box, Bourque, Travis Hallyburton, Passer, Gresel, Maltese and Wilkinson.

On the restart, Witty held on to the lead while Morrow and Holdaway battled for second. Behind them, Walters would secure fourth on lap 21 with Cronan and Zardo battling for fifth. Morrow would hold off Holdaway for second, clearing him on lap 22 while Cronan would get by Zardo on lap 23. Holdaway would get back alongside Morrow for second at lap 24, completing the pass two laps later to take the spot. Morrow now third ahead of Walters and Cronan while Zardo and Bentley battled for sixth. Zardo would hold off Bentley, clearing him on lap 27 while Beatty and Baker battled for eighth. Beatty would hold off Baker’s charge, clearing him on lap 28 while Goetz rounded out the top 10.

The second caution would then fly on lap 29 after Fumerton went for the spin in turns three and four. Fumerton had made considerable contact with the wall a couple laps prior and that lap into the turn he slowed abruptly, resulting in Travis Hallyburton making contact with him to turn him around. With 72 laps to go, Witty led Holdaway, Morrow, Walters, Cronan, Zardo, Bentley, Beatty, Baker, Goetz, Bourque, Passer, Box, Elliott, Hallyburton, Gresel, Maltese, Fumerton and Wilkinson.

Witty would get the advantage ahead of Holdaway on the restart while Morrow and Walters battled for third ahead of Cronan, Zardo, Beatty, Baker, Bentley, Goetz, Bourque, Passer and Hallyburton. The pair would battle all the way till lap 35 when Walters would be able to clear Morrow for third spot. Morrow would get back alongside Walters at lap 38, though found the third caution two laps later when Gresel went for a spin after contact with Maltese. Feeling that he didn’t have the car to win, Morrow made the decision to give up fourth to head down pit road for some adjustments. With 61 laps to go, Witty led Holdaway, Walters, Cronan, Zardo, Beatty, Baker, Bentley, Goetz, Bourque, Passer, Box, Hallyburton, Morrow, Maltese, Gresel, Elliott and Wilkinson.

Witty would once again get another good restart ahead of Holdaway, Walters, Cronan and Beatty while Zardo and Bentley battled for sixth while Baker and Bourque battled for eighth. Bourque would clear Baker for eighth on lap 44, bringing Goetz alongside Baker for ninth. Further up towards the front, Bentley would get ahead of Zardo for sixth at lap 46, allowing Bourque to get alongside Zardo for seventh. Zardo would hold off Bourque’s charge, getting back alongside Bentley for sixth. Bentley was able to hold off Zardo to keep the spot, allowing Bourque to get back alongside Zardo once again. As they continued to battle hard, contact would be made with Zardo getting into Bourque and then Goetz getting into Zardo, however everybody was able to hold on to their cars and continue.

Just past halfway at lap 53, Witty led Holdaway, Walters, Cronan, Beatty and Bentley as Baker and Bourque battled for seventh. Baker would get by Bourque with Bentley getting alongside Beatty for fifth. While they continued to battle, Holdaway would get to Witty’s back bumper and begin to look for a way by. At lap 57, Holdaway got a little close, getting into Witty’s bumper as they weaved their way through traffic, however Witty was able to keep it straight and keep the lead. Walters still ran solidly in third ahead of Cronan, Bentley and Beatty as Bourque and Baker battled for seventh. Bourque would get the seventh spot on lap 59 ahead of Baker, Morrow and Goetz. Baker would get back alongside Bourque at lap 60, completing the pass four laps later. Morrow would then get alongside Bourque to follow Baker through to grab the eighth spot. Morrow’s climb back to the front continued with him getting alongside Baker at lap 68, completing the pass two laps later to move into seventh.

The battle for the lead would heat up at lap 73 with Holdaway finally finding a way to get alongside Witty for the lead while Maltese headed down pit road. Taylor Holdaway would continue to roll the bottom, clearing Witty for the lead at lap 75 to put the No. 41 Holdaway Automotive, Image Factor.ca, Sunshine Super Wash, BG Products, Ontario Oval.com, Wix Filters, Castrol Canada Late Model out front of the field. Witty would slip back to second ahead of Walters and Cronan as the caution flew for Wilkinson and Goetz going around in turn four. Wilkinson would go around off of the front bumper of Bentley with Goetz going around behind them. Sunset Speedway rules state that when the caution flies, you go to the last completed lap. So as a result with 26 laps to go, Jason Witty would be back out front of Holdaway, Walters, Cronan, Beatty, Morrow, Baker, Bourque, Goetz, Box, Zardo, Bentley, Passer, Gresel and Hallyburton.

The restart would bring forth another battle between Witty and Holdaway with Taylor Holdaway taking the lead at lap 76 as Walters got alongside Witty for second. Walters would slip past to grab the spot on lap 77, bringing Cronan and Morrow through with him. The fifth caution would then fly a lap later when contact between Cronan and Walters would result in Walters going for a spin. Walters would then retaliate under caution before taking his spot at the back of the field for the restart. With 21 laps to go, Holdaway led Morrow, Witty, Beatty, Bourque, Baker, Goetz, Box, Bentley, Zardo, Walters, Cronan, Gresel, Passer and Hallyburton.

The first attempt at a restart would turn into a disaster as Morrow would jump, causing the officials to cause it off. When they called it off, the field checked up on the frontstretch with the back of the field not slowing as quickly as the front of the field. As a result, Walters and Passer would make contact before Wilkinson would go for the ride of his life up and over the right side of Walters’ car. Everybody would be okay with Walter’s team patching the side of his car so he could continue and both Passer & Wilkinson retiring from the event.

The second attempt would go much smoother with everybody getting off the line as expected and Chris Morrow putting the No. 11 CRS Rentals, Advance Landscapes, Duraflo Ventilation, Halls Service Center, Morrow Electric Late Model out front ahead of Holdaway, Beatty and Baker as Witty and Box battled for fifth. However, there’d be another restart as the seventh caution would fly on lap 82 for Goetz stalling just past turn four. With 19 laps to go, Morrow led Holdaway, Beatty, Baker, Box, Witty, Zardo, Bourque, Bentley, Walters, Cronan and Hallyburton.

The restart brought forth an intense battle for the lead between Morrow and Holdaway as Baker and Beatty battled for third behind them. Baker would grab third on lap 85 ahead of Beatty and Box while Witty battled Zardo sixth. With an apparent possible motor problem, Witty would quickly fade through the field, running 11^th by lap 89.

With 10 laps to go, Morrow would finally clear Holdaway for the lead ahead of Baker while Beatty and Box battled for fourth. Holdaway wasn’t about to go down without a fight, though, as he got back alongside Morrow with six laps to go. His attempt wouldn’t go through as Morrow was able to clear him with five laps to go as Baker ran third ahead of Box, Beatty, Walters, Zardo, Cronan, Bentley, Bourque and Witty.

Holdaway kept the gap close between him and morrow, continuing to look underneath off of each corner to see if he could make it stick. With two laps to go, he’d make it stick to get his late model underneath Morrow.

The pair would battle back and forth the entire final two laps of the feature with Taylor Holdaway edging Chris Morrow at the line to take the victory. Dwayne Baker would finish third to clinch the 2014 Limited Late Model Championship with Mat Box and Tom Walters rounding out the top-five. Scott Beatty finished sixth, followed by Sean Cronan, Billy Zardo, Mike Bentley, Ian Bourque and Jason Witty.

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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