Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
When it was announced that Sunset Speedway was going to become NASCAR sanctioned, a lot of eyebrows of curiosity were waved in anticipation as to what could happen this season. The combination of a full field of cars each week with the level of talent that Sunset has come to expect, along with the interest in running double features each week.
With four features in the books for the year, along with the Hoosier Spring Velocity 75-lap invitational, the Sauble Falls Tent and Trailer Park Late Models are off to a good start this year.
The closure of Barrie Speedway brought a bunch of their drivers to Sunset Speedway’s talent ladder, which only has increased the competition. Leading the group was Barrie Speedway’s defending track champion Gord Shepherd. There were questions whether Shepherd could repeat his success at Sunset, which those were questions that shouldn’t been addressed. Shepherd had ran multiple invitationals at Sunset, and posted top-fives in multiple appearances. Adding him to weekly competition would only increase his focus on having success, and therefore make the car much quicker. The theory has played true so far as Shepherd currently leads the division standings with an average finish of 2.75 in the first four events.
Shepherd came out swinging on opening night, posting the second quickest time in time trials at a 14.802 before battling it out with Taylor Holdaway throughout the entire event, side by side for the lead, scoring the victory. The win resulted in him starting 14th in the second feature, in which he carefully made his way through field, making a bit of contact with others in a wreck, moving his way into fourth with seven laps to go. He was then able to use the last two restarts to make a pair of passes, finishing second behind Joshua Stade.
On the second night of competition, he timed in fifth quickest and ran solidly up front in the top-five during the 35-lap event, before slipping back in the closing laps to finish seventh. The top 14-invert set him up to start eighth for the second feature, in which he carefully carved his way through the field, staying out of trouble to take the lead at the 18th lap. From there on, it was a show of leading.
If Shepherd can continue being this solidly consistent throughout the rest of the season, he’s going to be ultra tough to catch for the championship. However, it’s not out of the question. In total, there are three drivers who have posted a top-10 in each of the four features thus far this season.
Defending series champion Dwayne Baker is playing the same card as he played last year – consistency. He may not win each night, but he’s always there at the end. Boosting the second best average finish thus far with a 6.5, he finished seventh and fifth on opening night, before posting a fifth and ninth a week after. Since then, he has also continued to get his car working better. He finished fifth in the Hoosier Spring Velocity after starting at the rear of the field for the 75 lap feature, and led the final 20 laps to win the APC Auto Parts United Late Models of Ontario Tour presented by Grisdales Racing Products season opening Canusa 100 at Sunset Speedway. When we return to regular competition next week on June 13, expect Baker to be right in the middle of the front pack.
The other driver to have posted a top-10 each week -Allan Inglis. Inglis joins Shepherd in being one of the drivers to make the move from Barrie Speedway to Sunset Speedway. He has been solid in the same regard as Baker, boosting an average finish of 7.5 thus far this season. He finished 10th and third on opening night, before finishing ninth and eighth on the second night. As he continues to adjust to Sunset Speedway, look for him to get stronger.
These three drivers have something in common – they have ran the double-feature format in the past. Barrie Speedway has done double features for the past several years, and Shepherd and Baker each of had success, winning track championships. While Inglis didn’t win a double-feature format championship at Barrie, he came close finishing in the top-five of Barrie’s points. Could their previous success with the format being playing a factor?
While those three drivers are the only ones to have posted a top-10 in each race thus far this season, a total of seven drivers have an average finish under 10 – out of those who have ran each of the four events thus far. It just goes to show you how close the competition has been so far.
Jason Witty has the third best average finish at 6.75 after finishes of fourth, eighth, 12th and third in the features. A lot of people are surprised to have not seen ‘Bam Bam’ in victory lane yet based on his past couple seasons at Sunset Speedway where he vised in victory lane on multiple occasions in the season.
Travis Hallyburton is off to a solid start in his sophomore season, boosting an average finish of 8.75 with finishes of third, 11th, eighth and 13th. Hallyburton improved throughout his rookie campaign in 2014, posting some strong runs in the closing weeks of the season. With that having carried over to 2015, he could pick up his first career victory this season.
Scott Wylie also has an average finish of 8.75 after finishes of fifth, seventh, 17th and sixth; he also posted a second place finish in the Spring Velocity. While this marks Wylie’s first year of competition at Sunset Speedway, he has raced modifieds in New York previously and helped set-up the cars that led Holdaway to victory lane late in the 2014 season. With the fact that he has gotten closer to the set-up that he needs underneath his ride, he could reach victory lane soon.
Billy Zardo is the last driver to make the cut with an average finish underneath 10th as he posted an average of 9.5 with finishes of eighth, 12th, 11th and seventh in the first four events. Zardo is more of a long distance racer, which showed with a third place finish in the 75-lap invitational. If he can get it working stronger under the short races, he could be in for a real good season.
While these drivers have put themselves as part of the championship discussion so far with victories (Shepherd) and consistency (the rest), there are three other names that made valuable things happen in May.
Josh Stade is a regular at Sauble Speedway, but he had been coming to Sunset Speedway, saying that he wanted a win among the best in the business. He got his wish, scoring the victory in the second feature on opening night. It was perhaps the best feature of the season thus far, too, with the side-by-side battle that he had with Larry Jackson for the lead throughout.
Nick Goetz also got to make his first trip to Sunset Speedway’s victory lane, as well. He won the first feature on the second night as he enters his second season of competition at Sunset Speedway. Goetz has shown a ton of speed thus far this season, time trailing third and first on the pair of nights. He was able to keep his nose clean the second night starting on pole, out-battling Holdaway for the victory. However, the other events haven’t gone as planned with bad luck resulting in poor showings. If he can get some luck on his side, he could go on a string of success.
Speaking of Taylor Holdaway, he scored the victory in the Hoosier Spring Velocity 75. After taking the lead at lap 20, he never looked back as he dominated the rest of the event for the victory. He has shown that speed that led to the victory on regular nights, but hasn’t had the best of luck to go with it. Starting off quick qualifier on opening night, he experienced clutch issues which resulted in a poor result in the first feature, and DNS for the second feature. He then bounced back a week later, though, finishing fourth in the pair of the events. If he can keep the pieces together and rolling, he could also be on for a string of success.
