Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
Featuring three, four-wide racing through the pack on any given night, the Graham Landscape Mini Stocks have provided the fans with excitement thus far this season at Sunset Speedway. For some, that three-wide racing has produced great benefits in making the way to the front of field after starting mid-pack. For others, though, there have been consequences. Either way, the racing has bee top notch to watch from a fan’s perspective.
Defending Division Champion Brandon McFerran has led the way thus far this year as he’s the only driver to post a top-five in every feature thus far this season, scoring the victory on the opening night of competition, putting himself in the lead on the opening lap to lead the rest of the way. He then finished fifth on second night after getting stuck in some heavy traffic mid-race, before finishing second on May 23. As a result, he has the highest average finish thus far with a 2.67.
He is also one of two drivers to score two heat victories this year, while being one of three drivers to finish in the top-five in both Dash for Cash events. Oh, and he finished third in the Spring Velocity. Needless to say, he hasn’t lost any speed over the off-season.
In total, there are six drivers who have posted a top-10 in each feature thus far this season. None of these drivers mark a surprise, though, based on their past success at Sunset Speedway.
2013 Sunset Speedway Champion Warren Paxton has finished second, third and sixth in the features thus far this season, and finished fourth at the Hoosier Spring Velocity. As a result, his points night finishes give him the second best average at a 3.67.
Looking at the average finishes thus far this year, there are three drivers are tied for the third best average finish at a solid four. 2014 Barrie Speedway Champion Doug Butler has finished third, sixth and third in the features thus far this year, and he has finished in the top-five in both his Dash for Cash appearances. Lastly, 2014 Velocity 250 Presented by McColl Racing Enterprises Mini Stock Feature winner Jordan Howse has finished sixth, second and fourth in each of the features.
The other drivers who have posted a top-10 in each of the features are Miles Tyson and Samantha Shaw. Tyson has done it with finishes of eighth, seventh and fifth. His average finish of 6.67 only places him eighth in the average finish category. Meanwhile, Shaw has finished 10th, ninth and 10th in each of the features, therefore handing her the 10th best average finish thus far at 9.67.
With how the averages break down, there are a pair of drivers who managed to score higher average finishes despite not posting a top-10 each night.
Danny Benedict currently holds down the sixth best average with a 5.67. He struggled the first night of competition, only managing a 12th place finish. He bounced back in the pair of weeks that followed, though, finishing fourth on the second night of competition. He then went and won at Peterborough Speedway when the Mini Stocks were off at Sunset, before returning to finish third in the Spring Velocity. In the last Mini Stock feature of the month, he would take the lead with six laps to go and then edge McFerran at the line after a late-race restart.
Andy Kamrath currently holds down the seventh best average finish with a 6.33. He came out of the box strong, finishing fourth on the first night of competition. He then came back on the second night, took the lead with 20 laps to go and never looked back en route to scoring the victory. He then finished 14th in the final feature of the month as a result of a flat tire in the closing laps due to contact while running three-wide with Tyson and Howse.
The Mini Stock division is the one of the most competitive at Sunset Speedway, by far, and it shows in the average finishes in how close the front running drivers are. Beyond those above mentioned, Billy Melenhorst also holds an average below 10 – currently at 8.67 with finishes of seventh, 11th and eighth. Eric Yorke’s is holding steady at 10 after finishing 14th and seventh
There’s also the odd driver who shows up for the invitationals and makes the field that much stronger. Enter Billy Schwartzenburg. Focused on his Pro Late Model program this year, he still has his Mini Stock and plans to run a couple events throughout the season. One of those events was the Hoosier Spring Velocity. He made the most of it, leading all of the laps in the feature to score the victory. It wasn’t easy, though, as he spent many laps side-by-side with Howse, and had Kamrath right on his tail at the end.
Looking ahead to the next month of competition, any of these drivers could be drivers to watch this month. Perhaps the driver to watch may be Jake Watson. Watson picked up his first career heat win last month, and posted a solid top-10 in the Spring Velocity. Could he break through to front field competition?
There’s also this interesting fact. Over the past four years at Sunset Speedway, there have been five different champions. Doug Butler won the championship in 2010, with Nicole Podewils in 2011, Eric Yorke in 2012, Warren Paxton in 2013 and Brandon McFerran last year. Will there be a sixth straight different champion, or a repeat?
