Jade Franklin had a strong run going, but it was unfortunately cut short as a result of a wreck during the 30-lap feature.
Franklin started off the night with a seventh place finish in his heat. Due to the APC Auto Parts United Late Models of Ontario Tour being on hand, Sunset Speedway officials made the decision to forego running the fast chance qualifier race and the consolation races. As a result, all drivers would make the feature, with their starting spots determined via their heat finish and the redraw.
Franklin would do well in the re-draw, drawing the third place starting spot for the feature. He would slip back to fourth on the drop of the green with a pass by Johnny Morrison. Dan Archibald would look to go to Franklin’s inside to challenge for the spot but wasn’t able to as the caution flew for a spin deep in the field.
On the restart, Archibald once again looked to challenge for the spot, but Franklin would get loose off of the corner. The result would be contact between the pair and a spin by Archibald for the caution. Cautions and wrecks seemed to be the name of the game as another restart, another caution for an incident deep in the field as Franklin continued to hold down the fourth spot.
The next restart would go much smoother, but still brought forth heavy racing three-wide through the field as Franklin found himself three-wide with Weeda and Lapcevich for fifth. The teenager handled the situation with poise, making no contact across the board. With the quicker, more experienced drivers making their way through the field, Franklin would drop back to the ninth spot by the time the next caution flew at lap 13 for a spin by Dustyn Mombourquettte.
Franklin would continue to stay out of trouble over the next run, holding his line and position solidly till the caution flew for a spin by Ric Watson at lap 19. the restart brought heavy racing, especially in the back half of the top 10. Johnny Morrison would drill the back of Chris Howse with six laps to go, turning him sideways in turn three. This would leave Franklin nowhere to go as he’d make heavy contact with the side of Howse. The contact would bring Franklin down pit road and done for the race with heavy front end damage.
Special thanks to Destination RV, Alco Tire and King’s Marine for their continued support.
Franklin and team will be hard at work this week making repairs in hopes to have Franklin back out on track for the fourth week of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competition. Be sure to join the team at Sunset Speedway on May 30th for the event that will feature a pre-race autograph session on track. Details about the event can be found on the speedway website at http://www.sunsetspeedway.ca.
