TRENTON, Ont. – May 30, 2016 – Charlie Sandercock broke through a tough field of competitors for his first win of the season on Saturday night at Brighton Speedway. The driver of the Bellevue Fabricating/Deerhaven Farm and Garden No.57 took the lead on a lap 12 restart, surrendered it momentarily, but led the final 16 laps on his way to victory.
“It was really good. There’s been lots of hard work all year by the crew and the sponsors. We haven’t really been struggling, but we’ve been trying some things and working stuff out. We finally went back to our old stuff and it worked out for us,” Sandercock said following the victory.
The night started with a second-place finish in his heat and resulted in a mid-pack starting position for the 30-lap main event. After moving through the field, Sandercock found himself outside Kyle Sopaz on a lap 12 restart. Sandercock won the drag race in to turn one, but Sopaz beat the No.57 off turn two. Entering turn three, Sopaz tried to go the top lane of the race track, but wasn’t completely clear of Sandercock. The two made contact and Sopaz spun off the end of the track, handing the lead to the No.57 team for the final restart.
“As we made contact door-to-door, I lifted so we both didn’t run off the racetrack. As a result of me lifting and him still sliding to the top side, the back of his car caught the front end of mine and he ended up spinning off the racetrack,” Sandercock said. “Neither one of us tried to get each other. It was no one’s fault. It was just a racing deal.”
Over the final 18 laps, Sandercock had to navigate his way through lapped traffic while holding off a determined Adam Turner. The No.57 improved as the race wore on, however, and claimed the victory by over three seconds as the checkered flag waved.
“Obviously we all want to win every race we enter, It was nice to get back to Victory Lane. Hopefully we can continue moving forward from here,” Sandercock said. “We went back to basics and did what we knew that worked. We’re going to stick with that for a little bit and then keep trying to go forward from there.”
With Brighton’s handicapping procedure in mind, Sandercock knows a repeat performance to start the week of June will be a tough challenge. He will start no better than 10th for the main event. The Trenton native knows the level of competition this year at Brighton will make it a challenge to race forward.
“We’ll have to start deeper in the field next week, so we’re going to have to be able to work the racetrack wherever we need to,” he said. “There’s a lot of good competition this year. Everyone’s stepped up their game. It makes it a lot harder when there’s no cautions and everyone’s on top of their game. Everyone’s just that much better.”
While the team is still looking to improve, Sandercock knows his team is on the right track to finding the same success that led to a 2015 track championship.
“In looking at lap times we’ve been putting down this year, we’re in the ballpark, if not better than last year,” Sandercock added. “Everyone else is also that much better as well.”
Follow Charlie Sandercock’s Pro Late Model team all season long at www.charliesandercock.com and on social media by liking his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CharlieSandercockRacing or by following @57Sandercock on Twitter.
Charlie Sandercock’s 2016 season is proudly supported by the following corporate sponsors: Bellevue Fabricating, Deerhaven Farm and Garden, Newham Enterprise, Image Landscape Contracting, Excel Tower Service, Jeff Harrison Farms, Eibach Springs, MCR, Bullet Signs and Graphics, Victory Motorcycles, CCS Industrial Supply, C Smith Automotive Machine Shop, Klotz Sythetic Lubricants Canada, KD Transmission, Stampkrete Contracting, Auto Add-Ons Belleville and Image Factor.ca Motorsports Designs.
Prepared By Clayton Johns Media (@cjohnsmedia)
Email: claytonjohns@hotmail.com
Photo Attachment: Charlie Sandercock drivers through turn two at Brighton Speedway. (Dale Calnan/Image Factor Media photo).
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