Sean Cronan fights his way back to seventh at Sunset Speedway

INNISFIL, Ontario – After being involved in an incident at lap 78 in Saturday night’s 100 lap feature at Sunset Speedway, Sean Cronan would fight hard the final 22 laps to finish seventh.

Cronan started off the night by posting the second quickest lap in time trials at 14.682 seconds, only five hundreths of a second off of Jason Witty’s quick time.

As a result of winning the feature on August 30^th, Sean Cronan would start the feature from the 12^th starting spot. However, Cronan wasted no time, getting by Ernie Fumeton for eighth at lap four. Cronan would then get by Dwayne Baker to move into seventh at lap nine. He would then get by Scott Beatty to move into sixth before the first caution at lap 19 for Thayne Hallyburton going up in smoke.

Cronan would use the restart as an opportunity to get alongside Billy Zardo for fifth, getting by on lap 23. The second caution would then fly on lap 29 after Fumerton went for the spin in turns three and four. Cronan would solidly ride in fifth, saving his tires, all the way till the caution at lap 40 when Britney Gresel went for a spin after contact with Paul Maltese. Under caution, Chris Morrow made the decision to head down pit road, allowing Cronan to move up into the fourth spot.

Still early in the event, Cronan would set in on the restart to continue to ride, saving his equipment for the second half of the feature. As the feature got into the second half, Cronan began to wheel in Tom Walters for the third spot. Cronan wouldn’t get an opportunity to make a pass, though, as the caution flew at lap 75.

The restart brought forth hard battling at the front with only 25 laps to go as Cronan was able to slip by Jason Witty to move into the third spot behind Taylor Holdaway and Walters. Cronan would close the gap between him and Walters, looking for a way by when contact would happen between the pair at lap 78 resulting in Walters going for a spin. Cronan commented post-race that he wasn’t sure as to what happened there as he took his normal approach off of the corner that he had been taking the whole race to date. As a result of being the cause of the caution, though, Cronan would have to restart 12^th with 21 laps to go.

The first attempt at a restart would result in a false start and when the start was called 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, a couple cars found themselves wrecked, though Cronan was able to escape without any damage and move up to the 11^th spot. Cronan would keep himself solidly in 11^th till the next caution at lap 82.

In the final 18 laps of the event, Cronan was able to make some passes and work his way through some of the cars to finish seventh.

Special thanks to The Lockeroom Sports Bar and Grill, McLaren Equipment, Craighurst Auto Pro, Spira Fire Protection, GreenSteelRoof.ca, Simcoe Heating and Air, and Fox’s Bakery and Deli for their continued support.

The Cronan Motorsports team will now focus towards the “short tracks playoff” season, beginning with a 125 lap feature this Thursday night at Sunset Speedway. With a 35 lap Mini Stock feature also on deck, fans are invited to come check out the action that promises to be action-packed. Racing starts at 6pm. Full details can be found on Sunset Speedway’s website at http://www.sunsetspeedway.ca.

Be sure to keep tabs on Sean Cronan and Cronan Motorsports year-round by checking out the website at http://www.cronanmotorsports.com, joining the facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/194634000549656/ and following on twitter at @cronanmotor.

Race Report and Photo by: Ashley McCubbin