PETERBOROUGH, Ontario — Unfortunately, the Autumn Colours Classic would not go as Jade Franklin hoped as he would post a DNF due to an engine issue.
Franklin started off the weekend by finishing fifth in his first heat on Friday night. He then went out and ran the Youngguns Showcase later that night, running up near the front till a clutch issue took him out of the race with five laps to go. Returning to the track on Saturday, he completed his Autumn Colours qualifying effort with a third place finish.
With a fifth and third in his heats, Franklin would start Sunday’s 50-lap feature from the 14th position. The early laps would see Franklin made some contact with a couple cars through turns three and four, resulting in a couple pieces of the body falling off nine laps into the event.
Restarting from the just outside of the top-12, Franklin would continue to battle hard, though found himself in the midst of more contact. That contact would result in Franklin going for a spin at lap 15 on the backstretch. The race starter would not throw the yellow flag for the spin, with Franklin returning to the track deep in the field. As of the caution at lap 20, he was running 16th.
Shortly after the restart, Franklin would head down pit road, done for the event with mechanical issues.
“We were pouring oil all over so motor is probably done,” Greg Franklin, Jade’s dad and crew chief said. “Very disappointed but that’s racing. Nothing much you can do about that.”
Thanks to Destination RV, Discover Dream Homes, Adco Tire, Nitro Industrial Sales, Elite Graphics & Marketing, North River Motorsports and King’s Marine for the continued support.
