PREVIEW: Limited Late Model Autumn Colors Classic 75 at Peterborough

After a thrilling season all year, the Limited Late Model drivers are set to come together this weekend to put on a big show.

The past two years, Dwayne Baker has found the right route to scoring the crown. He may not dominate, but he is able to put himself at the front near the end and score the victory. Last year, Baker didn’t lead till three laps to go en route to scoring the victory. Coming off winning the championship this past year at Sunset Speedway, Baker has some momentum on his side. However, he has yet to perform up to expectations in the playoff events, suffering a wreck at the 125 lap event at Sunset Speedway, and struggling to find the handle at Velocity. It’ll be interesting to see if he can put the pieces together this weekend, once again.

Jason Witty is hoping to score his first career Autumn Colors crown this weekend as he comes off a solid season at Sunset Speedway that saw him pick up multiple feature victories. He hasn’t had the best luck in the playoff races, suffering a wreck in the 125 lap feature and did not perform up to standards at the Velocity. He has shown speed in the past at Autumn Colors, as he was running third last year late in the event when he’d go for a spin, finishing 13^th.

Nick Goetz will be starting this year’s event from the pole after winning the Chase for the Colors event back in August. So far, he has ran solid in the playoff events, finishing 11^th in the 125 before finishing seventh at Velocity. Whether Goetz will fare well or not will depend whether he can avoid being involved in a wreck, as that how his race ended last year. However, in 2012, he was able to post a solid seventh place finish.

Peterborough feature winner Amanda Connolly hopes to score an Autumn Colors Classic feature victory this weekend, driving the car previously piloted by Kelly Balson to a sixth in 2012 and a 10^th in 2013.

Sauble Speedway stand out Josh Stade is hoping to do well this weekend after posting a 10^th place finish at Velocity. Stade has gotten better with each passing year, pushing himself further up the late model food chain with each race.

Thayne Hallyburton will be making his third Late Model appearance at Autumn Colors this weekend, after finishing 10^th in 2012 and sixth in 2013. The Hillsdale Hurricane enters this weekend with a lot of momentum, following a sixth place finish at the Velocity 250. 2013 Sunset Speedway Late Model Rookie of the Year Travis Hallyburton will also be in attendance, heading into this weekend with momentum on his side after finishing seventh at the Velocity. He has been strong in previous Autumn Colors appearances, running in the top-two in last year’s Thunder Car event before an incident with John Baker Jr. took him out of contention for the win.

Shaun McWhirter will be jumping behind the wheel of his Streamline Race Products house car in hopes of having success. The car was previously piloted earlier this year by Mike Bentley at Sunset Speedway and last year at Sunset by Andy Kamrath, with both drivers experiencing success.

Alvin McNicol will be looking for success in this year’s event, as well, as the Full Throttle Motor Speedway pilot hopes to improve on his 12^th place finish from 2012.

2014 Barrie Speedway Champion Gord Shepherd is hoping to score the crown jewel this weekend and his chances look really strong. After scoring the championship at Barrie, Shepherd finished sixth in Sunset’s 125 lap feature, before finishing second at the Velocity 250. He has also had success in the past at Peterborough, finishing fourth in 2013 and sixth in 2011. He also has three straight top-eight finishes in the Pro Late Model feature event.

He’ll have to be able to beat Tom Walters, who surprisingly went winless at Sunset Speedway this year, unable to score a feature victory. The Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame member went through a lot of frustration this year with several incidents taking him out of contention. The playoffs so far have welcomed a change of ways for him, though, as he has had a pair of strong runs with a fourth at the 125, followed by a fifth at Velocity. Though with bad luck fighting his way all year, he hopes that he doesn’t repeat his past two AC finishes of 21^st in 2012 and 15^th in 2013.

Though of all drivers, Jason Parker has the most momentum on his side as he scored the victory in the Velocity 250 after taking the lead from Taylor Holdaway just past halfway. The 2013 Sauble Speedway Champion has been strong in the past at Autumn Colors, finishing ninth in 2011 and 2013, but posted a 20^th place finish in 2012.

Holdaway had an awesome close to his season at Sunset Speedway, finishing second in points after rattling off four straight top-three finishes. He then went on to win Sunset’s 125 lap feature, before finishing second to Parker at Velocity. Holdaway has done well in the past at Autumn Colors, finishing third last year despite going for an early race spin.

After finding the wall last year, Steve Foster hopes to best his 10^th place finish from 2011 in this year’s Autumn Colors Classic.

2014 Peterborough Speedway Champion Ryan Kimball will be doing double duty this weekend in hopes of scoring an Autumn Colors Classic victory. Last year didn’t pan out so well as he finished 14^th after suffering a mid-race incident.

His fellow Peterborough Speedway driver Chris Mitchell will also be doing double duty, hoping to repeat his 2011 success that saw him score the victory in the Autumn Colors Classic event. Last year didn’t go as planned, though, as he finished 15^th.

2011 Autumn Colors Classic Thunder Car Champion Rick Walt hopes to carry that success into the late model division this year after scoring nine feature victories at Barrie Speedway. The Velocity 250 didn’t go as he would’ve hoped, as a couple team errors resulted in a poor finish. Walt will hope to repeat, or better his fourth place finish from the 2011 event.

Billy Zardo hopes to improve on last year’s 11th place finish this year after having a solid season at Sunset Speedway. He also enters the weekend with momentum after finishing ninth at the Velocity 250.