Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
Each day of the week, the column will highlight a division from Sunset Speedway, highlighting five drivers and mentioning things that you should know going into the next week of racing.
On Saturday night at Sunset Speedway (Innisfil, Ontario), the fans were treated to a special victory – the sight of a first time winner in victory lane. For the first time in his career, Nick Goetz was able to score a victory at Sunset Speedway in the Limited Late Model division. He did it in fashion, too, as he battled back and forth with Taylor Holdaway throughout for the lead.
It wasn’t his first win, though, as he won the Chase for the Colors event last year. After that victory, though, Goetz said that he was proud – but still wanted more. He wanted to be able to win at Sunset Speedway as he felt that Sunset Speedway boosts the strongest competition in the province. Looking at the driver roster, that is no lie, either, as many past champions now call Sunset Speedway their home track.
Last season marked Goetz’s first year at Sunset Speedway and throughout, he got better as the year went on, placing himself in contention for a victory. Late in the season, there was a night where he led a good chunk of laps and looked poised for the win. It was only a matter of time before it happened, and that time was on Saturday night.
Now with his first win under his belt and that pressure off the table, along with the fact that the NG Motorsports team has the No. 24 Late Model rolling well, this could be the start of a special season for Goetz.
Last weekend, Gord Shepherd answered those that wondered how he would adjust to Sunset Speedway with a victory and a second. This past weekend, he added some extra insurance just in case there were some still questioning. The Ridge Road Racing driver posted a seventh in the first feature, before scoring the victory in the second feature.
With that said, in the first four events of the season, he has an average finish of 3.75. Easily that places him at the top of the board as the early season championship favourite without a doubt. If his competitors want to have any hope of catching him, they best turn up the wick immediately, or hope that Shepherd finds a bit of trouble.
It’s goes without saying that every season, a champion will go through at least one night filled with adversity. However, it’s about minimizing the blow when that happens. Dwayne Baker did that last season with a worst finish of ninth. The question will be whether that adversity finds Shepherd, what night it finds him and how he handles it. Given that he is a past multi-time Barrie Speedway Champion, it’s something that he should be able to handle just dandy.
For now, though, the Ridge Road Racing will go into the two-week break relishing their strong start to the season.
While they haven’t visited victory lane, there’s another two drivers that fans should keep their eyes on moving forward in the coming weeks. In making the transition to Sunset from Barrie, Al Inglis has started off the year on a high note with four top-10 finishes. He finished 10th and third on week one, before finishing ninth and eighth on week two. Inglis joins Shepherd and one other driver as the only ones to have finished in the top-10 in each of the races thus far this year. The third driver? Defending Sunset Speedway Champion Dwayne Baker as he finished seventh and fifth on opening night, while finishing fifth and ninth last week.
It’s mark a surprise for many with regards to Inglis and Shepherd on the list since this is their first full seasons at Sunset, but the pair had run the track in the past through the invitationals. However, it makes sense, too, as all three drivers have had practice with the double feature format at Barrie. They all know how to balance equipment and aggression between the pair of the events to make a good night as a whole.
While those above are having a great start to the season, the same can’t be said for the rest of the field. One of the drivers who wishes he could redo his start to the season is Tom Walters as in the first four feature events, he only has one top-10 (sixth in the first feature on opening night) despite time trialing ninth and fourth quickest in the first two events of the season. The reason? Bad luck.
Walters went for a late race spin courtesy of contact from Nick Goetz in the second feature on opening night, before going for a spin on the last lap courtesy of contact from Travis Hallyburton in the first feature on the second night. If you finish at the back of the first feature, that sets you up to start at the back of the second feature as the second feature starting line-up is determined by the first feature finishing order with a top-14 invert. Unfortunately, Walters dropped out of the second feature early with mechanical problems.
It goes without saying that the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Famer wants to get back to Sunset Speedway victory lane. If he is able to, it’ll mark his first feature win since 2013 as he was unable to reach victory lane last year. The want for a victory is high, and the speed is there in the No. 47. Now it’s time for the pieces to fall together with the right luck to make it happen.
