“Have you ever?” “No I’ve never.”
Some people probably thought they were at Darlington Raceway in 2004 watching Ricky Craven battle Kurt Busch for the victory following the action on Saturday night at Sunset Speedway. Bumping and banging back and forth rubbing the wall along the way, it’d be Daniel Montanari edging Johnny Paradzinski by a bumper at the line to score his first career Mighty Mini feature victory. Notably, Montanari becomes the third different feature winner in three races this season for the division.
Montanari started the night in victory lane by winning the first heat ahead of Dylan Holmes, Thomas Dunn, Jeremy McLean, Robert Toope, Josh Inglis, Scott Brooks, James Levi, Melissa Bullen and Doug Smith.
The second heat didn’t go cleanly as Fred Jordan spun Morgan Robson Jr. on Lap 8 in turn four, with Robson spinning by himself on the restart in turn two.
Last week’s feature winner Paradzinski won the second heat ahead of Doug Wilman, Joe Dunlop, Chandler Bos, Eric Rainey, Lisa DeLeeuw, Billy McLeod, Peter Wakeling, Robson Jr. and Jordan.
Paradzinski went for the daily double, winning the Fast Qualifier’s Dash ahead of Montanari, Holmes, Dunn, Dunlop, Wilman, Bos, McLean, Toope, Rainey, Inglis and DeLeeuw.
Come feature time, it’d be Joe Dunlop starting pole ahead of James Levi, Jeremy McLean, Lisa DeLeeuw, Dylan Holmes, Fred Jordan, Robert Toope, Scott Brooks, Melissa Bullen, Josh Inglis, Doug Wilman, Peter Wakeling, Eric Rainey, Billy McLeod, Chandler Bos, Johnny Paradzinski, Daniel Montanari, Thomas Dunn, Morgan Robson Jr., Doug Smith and Wendy Adams.
Things got squirrely right from the start as Jordan got sideways on Lap 1, but was able to hold on to it and keep going. Meanwhile, Dunlop held a nice lead behind the wheel of the No. 0 Mustang ahead of McLean and Holmes as Toope and Levi battled for fourth.
Toope was able to clear Levi to get the spot, looking to challenge Holmes for second. Unfortunately, there was contact which resulted in the first caution at Lap 4. With 16 laps to go, Dunlop led McLean, Levi, DeLeeuw, Wilman, Bullen, Paradzinski, Brooks, Montanari, Inglis and Bos.
McLean got a good restart to put the No. 88M JUNIORS TIRES, CLOVER AUTO, NORTH BAY SIGNS & DECALS, MANCHESTERS SLEEP CENTER & SPA, DOUG’S RENTAL, MCCABE MASONRY & MUD’S GARAGE Mustang out front ahead of Dunlop as Paradzinski and Wilman battled for third.
Paradzinski got the spot on Lap 6 before the caution flew for Wakeling spinning in turn two. With 14 laps to go, McLean led Dunlop, Paradzinski, Wilman, Montanari, Inglis, Levi, Bos, DeLeeuw, Dunn, Bullen, Rainey, Jordan, McLeod, Toope, Holmes, Robson Jr. and Smith.
Paradzinski got a big restart, putting the No. 4 Stella Auto, Mega Wheelz, Prime Motors, Vinyl Obsessed and Image Wraps Honda Civic out front ahead of Montanari as McLean slid back to third ahead of Wilman and Dunlop, while Inglis and Bos battled for sixth.
Inglis was able to clear Bos for sixth, but would be challenged right after by Dunn on Lap 10. Dunn got the spot a lap later, followed by a pass on Dunlop on Lap 12 to move up to fifth. Bos moved up into sixth ahead of Inglis, Rainey and DeLeeuw. The third caution flew on Lap 14 as Brooks went around in turn two.
Paradzinski got a good restart to keep the lead ahead of Montanari as Wilman moved up into third ahead of Bos and Dunn with McLean now sixth. Dunn got alongside Bos for third at Lap 16, passing him a lap later before the caution flew for an incident on the front stretch involving Inglis and Toope.
The final restart saw the top-two battle for the lead, side-by-side, for both laps back and forth, with contact amongst the battle. As they came to the checkered flag, it’d be Daniel Montanari getting the win by a bumper ahead of Johnny Paradzinski. Thomas Dunn finished third, followed by Doug Wilman, Chandler Bos, Dylan Holmes, Jeremy McLean, Eric Rainey, Melissa Bullen, Lisa DeLeeuw, Billy McLeod, Wendy Adams, James Levi, Fred Jordan, Scott Brooks, Peter Wakeling and Morgan Robson Jr.