ST: Taylor Holdaway wins Canadian Limited Late Model Championship 125 lap feature

After taking the lead following the halfway break, Taylor Holdaway never looked back en route to victory lane as he scored the victory in Thursday night’s Canadian Limited Late Model Championship 125 lap feature at Sunset Speedway. It marks Holdaway’s second straight victory as he won the 100 lap feature on Saturday night to cap off Sunset’s regular season.

The evening started off with time trials, as customary with long distance Late Model races at Sunset Speedway. The top 12 drivers would go directly to the main event, subject to a dice roll as done by the quick qualifier. The rest of the drivers would be split between a pair of consolation races to fight for the last 12 spots of the feature.

For the second straight event at Sunset, Jason Witty would post the quickest time in his No. 19 Larue’s Haulage, Carrot Express, Speedy Auto Machine, Queensville Sod, Matco Tools Late Model with a lap of 14.733 seconds, three hundreths quicker than Holdaway.

There were problems with the scoring board at the time of Thayne Hallyburton’s run, resulting in no time marked in my notes.

The first consolation race would see Dan Wright go around on lap four in turn one after he tried to cut back in line after getting a tap from Mike Westwood. 2014 Barrie Speedway Champion Gord Shepherd picked up the win ahead of Dwayne Baker, Dave Bartlett, Thayne Hallyburton, Westwood and Jason Thom. Dan Wright and Kyle Passer rounded out the field, failing to qualify for the 125-lapper.

The second consolation race would run clean with Travis Hallyburton winning ahead of Joshua Stade, Larry Jackson, Matt Box, Scott Wylie and Ian Bourque. Shawn McGlynn and Gary Elliott rounded out the field, failing to qualify for the 125-lapper.

Come feature time, 2014 Sauble Speedway Champion Jason Parker would start pole in his No. 8 Prestige General Contractors, Saugeen Shores Transmission, MacDonnell Fuels, BAXI / Marathon Industries, Keeprite, Candue Homes, Ron Gibbons Construction and Crabby Joe’s of Port Elgin/Hanover Late Model ahead of Brandon Watson, Nick Goetz, Mike Bentley, Sean Cronan, Taylor Holdaway, Jason Witty, Chris Morrow, Tom Walters, Billy Zardo, Ryan Kimball, Scott Beatty, Gord Shepherd, Travis Hallyburton, Dwayne Baker, Joshua Stade, Dave Bartlett, Larry Jackson, Thayne Hallyburton, Matt Box, Mike Westwood, Scott Wylie, Jason Thom and Ian Bourque.

Brandon Watson would take the early lead in his No. 9 Royal Distributing/Sunrise Toyota Late Model ahead of Parker while Bentley and Holdaway battled for third. Holdaway would grab third on lap two, bringing Morrow through with him. Bentley would continue to slide back as Witty, Goetz and Walters were also able to get by, bumping Bentley back to eighth with Cronan and Zardo rounding out the top 10 as of lap seven.

The top guys began to single-file out to conserve their equipment while battles still took place outside of the top 10, with Beatty and Kimball battling for 11^th. Kimball would get the spot on lap 10, bringing Shepherd through with him. Shepherd would then get alongside Kimball for 11^th while Bentley would catch Walters for seventh. Walters was unable to get the spot, getting passed by Cronan for eighth as Dave Bartlett headed down pit road at lap 15, done for the event.

Zardo would then get alongside and by Walters for ninth at lap 19, with Shepherd following suit on lap 23. Walters now ran 11^th ahead of Kimball, Beatty, Baker, Jackson, Travis Hallyburton and Box. Cronan would continue his climb, passing Bentley for seventh at lap 26 while Scott Wylie brought his ride down pit road at lap 27, done for the event. During that run, fourth place driver Chris Morrow brought his late model down pit road with mechanical issues, also done for the event.

So as of lap 28, Brandon Watson led Holdaway, Parker, Witty, Goetz, Cronan, Bentley, Shepherd, Zardo, Walters, Kimball, Beatty, Baker, Jackson and Travis Hallyburton. Goetz would move up to fourth on lap 32, passing Witty, while Kimball held off Beatty and Baker to keep 11^th. Bentley would get alongside Cronan for sixth at lap 43, completing the pass on lap 46 and bringing Shepherd through with him. Walters would then get alongside Zardo for ninth, completing the pass on lap 51. Outside of the top 10, Baker kept working on Beatty for 12^th, getting the spot on lap 55. He would then grab 11^th from Kimball at lap 57, before grabbing 10^th from Zardo at lap 59. Kimball would follow Baker through to move into 11^th while Shepherd got by Bentley for sixth. Cronan would then get alongside Shepherd for seventh, completing the pass at lap 63. Walters and Kimball rounded out the top 10, ahead of Beatty while Zardo raced Jackson for 12^th. Jackson would get by Zardo to grab the spot just before the competition caution at lap 75.

Under the break, everybody would come down for fuel and adjustments, with the option to change one tire to restart at the back of their group. Everybody also had the option to swap the lefts and rights, if they wanted, without giving up their spot.

With 50 laps to go, Brandon Watson led Taylor Holdaway, Jason Parker, Nick Goetz, Jason Witty, Gord Shepherd, Sean Cronan, Mike Bentley, Tom Walters, Dwayne Baker and Ryan Kimball. Scott Beatty would become the last driver on the lead lap after getting the lucky dog. Larry Jackson ran as the first car one lap down, ahead of Billy Zardo, Matt Box, Travis Hallyburton, Ian Bourque and Thayne Hallyburton. Joshua Stade ran two laps down ahead of Jason Thom and Mike Westwood.

On the restart, Holdaway would put his 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 before the caution flew for Mike Bentley getting into Jason Witty, collecting Nick Goetz as everybody was two, three-wide down the backstretch. Witty would be done for the event with damage, while Goetz was able to continue. With 48 laps to go, Holdaway led Watson, Parker, Bentley, Shepherd, Cronan, Baker, Walters, Kimball, Beatty and Goetz. Jackson would get the lucky dog under this caution.

Holdaway would get a good restart to keep the lead ahead of Watson and Bentley as Parker and Cronan battled for fourth. Cronan would get the spot on lap 78, bringing Walters and Baker through with him. Bentley would get alongside Watson for second at lap 80, grabbing the second spot ahead on lap 82. Walters slipped into fourth with a pass on Cronan, followed by Baker as Shepherd and Parker battled for seventh. Shepherd would get seventh on lap four, with Kimball following suit before the third caution for Jackson spinning Zardo. With 40 laps to go, Holdaway led Bentley, Watson, Walters, Cronan, Shepherd, Baker, Kimball, Parker, Beatty, Goetz and Jackson as Box got the lucky dog.

Holdaway got another good restart to keep the lead ahead of Bentley, Watson, Walters and Shepherd as Cronan and Baker battled for sixth. There’d be contact made between the pair, resulting in Baker getting into the backstretch wall and cutting a tire for the caution at lap 94. Under caution, Baker would retaliate, driving into the back of Croann and lifting the rear-wheels off of the ground. As a result, the officials would blackflag Baker for rough driving. With 31 laps to go, Holdaway led Bentley, Watson, Walters, Shepherd, Cronan, Kimball, Parker, Beatty, Box and Goetz as Zardo got the lucky dog.

Another restart, another nice job by Holdaway as he kept the lead ahead of Bentley with Walters now third ahead of Watson as Shepherd and Cronan battled for fifth. Shepherd would grab the spot on lap 96 as the caution flew for Box getting into the turn one wall. With 29 laps to go, Holdaway led Bentley, Walters, Watson, Shepherd, Cronan, Parker, Beatty, Goetz, Zardo and Kimball as Travis Hallyburton got the lucky dog.

Holdaway would continue his trend of good restarts to stay ahead of Bentley with Watson now back in third ahead of Walters and Cronan as Shepherd and Beatty battled for sixth. Shepherd would keep sixth ahead of Beatty, while Parker, Hallyburton, Kimball, Goetz and Zardo followed. Kimball would get alongside Hallyburton for ninth, completing the pass at lap 101.

At the front of the field, it was all Taylor Holdaway as he took home the victory ahead of Mike Bentley, Brandon Watson, Tom Walters, Sean Cronan, Gord Shepherd, Scott Beatty, Jason Parker, Ryan Kimball, Billy Zardo, Nick Goetz, Travis Hallyburton and Larry Jackson. These results are most likely correct, but also unofficial as they’re pure my notes and not track scoring.