Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
On Saturday night, Nic Montanari made his way to the front of the field and battled out the best in the division to score the victory in the Signs of Innovation Mighty Mini feature. It marks his second career feature victory following a win on opening night.
The night didn’t start off smoothly as Nick St. Onge would spin Lisa DeLeeuw on the first lap of the first heat. St. Onge would then stall on the restart, before heading off to the pit area. Bob Phinnemore picked up the win ahead of Richard Butler, Randi Seguin, Melissa Bullen, Treyten Lapcevich, Doug Wilman, Thomas Dunn, Josh Inglis, Wendy Adams, DeLeeuw and James Campbell. Campbell headed to pit road on the last lap.
The second heat wasn’t much cleaner as Stefan Semeraro would get loose, before making contact with Jerry Noble. Both drivers would then make contact with the backstretch wall, resulting in night-ending damage to both machines. Fred Jordan picked up the win ahead of Montanari, Glenn Lloyd, Mike Robinson Jr., Cameron McGlashan, Eric Rainey, Stefan Woyslaw, Chris Allard, Chandler Bos, Dylan Holmes, Scott Brooks and Peter Wakeling.
Come feature time, Melissa Bullen would start pole in the No. 67 The Canadian Grill, Smoochies Cakery, Dale Farren & Son, Wix Filters, Blissful Bloom Birth Doula, Redline & Permatex Mustang ahead of Robinson Jr., Seguin, Woyslaw, Butler, Lapcevich, Rainey, Bos, Adams, McGlashan, Dunn, Montanari, Wilman, Jordan, Lloyd, Phinnemore, Allard, Inglis, DeLeeuw, Holmes, Campbell, Brooks, St. Onge, Wakeling and Jeremy McLean.
The beginning of the race would bring a battle for the lead between Bullen and Robinson Jr., with the pair remaining side-by-side till the caution flew for St. Onge spinning in turn four. According to timing and scoring, Robinson Jr. held the lead at the time of the caution behind the wheel of the No. 95 Georgian Hot Tub, Skate Zone, Dale’s Transmission, Oro Electric, Green Valley Electric, Ideal Supply, NAPA Auto Parts and Morrison Motorsports Mini Stock.
Robinson Jr. would get a good restart to maintain the lead while Bullen battled Seguin for second. However, the field would go back under the yellow flag as St. Onge went around again in turn three.
The restart once again gave the advantage to Robinson Jr. with Seguin sliding into second as Montanari and Bullen battled for third. Montanari would get the advantage for the spot, and was able to catch Seguin to battle alongside her for second. He would quickly make his way by with ease. The climb to the front continued for the second generation driver as he quickly caught Robinson Jr. for the lead, making his way by to put the No. 98 Select Delivery/Dr. Jay Petrott Dental Surgeon Mini Stock in the lead. His lead would be slowed, though, as the caution would fly with about five laps to go as Holmes would go up in smoke.
The restart would bring out the fourth caution of the event as Campbell went around off of turn four.
Montanari would get a good restart to hold the advantage ahead of Robinson as Jordan made his way into the third spot ahead of Phinnemore.
The good restart would be all that Nic Montanari needed as he would go on to take the victory. Fred Jordan would finish second for his second straight runner-up finish, while Bob Phinnemore backed up last week’s win with a third place finish. Mike Robinson Jr. finished fourth for his first top-five of the year, followed by Seguin with her first top-five. Melissa Bullen finished sixth, followed by Cameron McGlashan, Stefan Woyslaw, Richard Butler, Treyten Lapcevich, Chandler Bos, Eric Rainey, Josh Inglis, Thomas Dunn, Doug Wilman, Chris Allard, Wendy Adams, Scott Brooks, Lisa DeLeeuw, Nick St. Onge and Peter Wakeling.
