Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
STROUD, Ont. – June 15, 2016 – TJ Marshall was near flawless over a busy weekend with the Lucas Oil Canadian Vintage Modifieds as the Rockton, Ont. native swept trips to Delaware Speedwayon Friday night and make-up date at Sunset Speedway on Sunday.
“it was different getting to race twice in one weekend. There was a bit of extra work, I’m not used to that, but everything went well,” said Marshall. “I struggled (at Sunset) last year, so it’s hard to tell (if we are where we need to be).”
On Friday night at Delaware, Mike Williams and Mike Westwood took the green flag for the 25-lap feature. A couple of early cautions slowed the pace early, but led to a long green flag run. The sixth-starting Marshall quickly mounted a charge towards the front of the field at the big half-mile. Marshall took the point from the polesitter Williams on lap nine, four laps after he took second from Mike Podd.
As Marshall and Williams distanced themselves from the rest of the field, the best battle on the speedway was for the third spot. A four-car challenge developed between Podd, Brian Atkinson, Jason Keen and Steve Trendell. The four drivers ran nose-to-tail until lap 15 when Trendell used the outside lane to drive to fourth. A crossover move saw him take third from Podd in the bottom lane on lap 19. That was close as Trendell and the rest of the competitors would come as Marshall hit cruise control and claimed the win by 3.1 seconds over Williams, Trendell, Podd and Keen, who completed the top-five.
Marshall also won the only heat race of the night for a perfect evening at the London-area oval.
When the series returned to action on Sunday at Sunset Speedway for a make-up following a May 14 rainout, Marshall was again the class of the field. Westwood and Williams were on the front row for the second time in three days, but couldn’t stop an eager Chris Milwain who led the opening lap.
The race was quickly slowed on lap two when Atkinson and Westwood tangled in turn four. Milwain continued to lead on the ensuing restart, but couldn’t pull away from Marshall, who sat second by lap five after starting sixth. The lead he had was erased on lap nine and again on lap 10 for a pair of yellow flags.
Marshall capitalized on the single-file restart and took the point with 15 to go. Two laps later, Trendell slid past Milwain for second on the bottom of the racetrack. A restart at the halfway point saw Trendell challenge Marshall for the lead on the outside. Two laps later, however, Trendell bobbled in the top lane, allowing Keen to slide in to second behind Marshall.
At the white flag, Keen drove to the inside of Marshall for the lead. Keen looked to have completed the pass, but the caution waved coming to the checkered flag. As a result, the race ended yellow and returned to the previously scored lap to determine Marshall as the winner for the second straight race.
“Keen had a better car, but he raced me clean, so that was nice,” Marshall said following the race. “It was a good race and it was entertaining up front.”
In heat race action, Jason Keen paced the first heat in a spirited battle with Brian Atkinson and Chris Milwain. Mike Williams thwarted a challenge from Mike Westwood in heat two as Amanda Stoner claimed third.
The Lucas Oil Canadian Vintage Modifieds will take a one week break before returning to action on June 25 at Flamboro Speedway alongside the OSCAAR Super Late Models.
The Lucas Oil Canadian Vintage Modifieds 2016 season is presented by a number of dedicated sponsors, including: Lucas Oil Products, Creative Edge Signs & Graphics, MacMaster Buick GMC, Georgetown Printing, Flamboro Machine Shop, Oakville Trailers & Auto Service, Wiersma Trucking, Grisdale Racing Products , B&B Decals, Oktane Productions, Oakville Auto & Diesel Machine Shop and Clayton Johns Media.
COMPLETE RESULTS – LUCAS OIL CANADIAN VINTAGE MODIFIED 50th SEASON
DELAWARE SPEEDWAY – JUNE 10, 2016
Feature: 1. 15 TJ Marshall, 2. 7 Mike Williams, 3. 57 Steve Trendell, 4. 5 Mike Podd, 5. 18 Jason Keen, 6. 92 Brian Atkinson, 7. 12 Darren Dryden, 8. 19 Mike Westwood, 9. 25 Cassidy March (DNF), 10. 11 Amanda Stoner (DNF), 11. 29 Daryl Henwood (DNF), 12. 33 Ian Burney (DNF). Time: 15:50.185.
Heat 1: 1. 15 TJ Marshall, 2. 7 Mike Williams, 3. 5 Mike Podd, 4. 18 Jason Keen, 5. 57 Steve Trendell, 6. 92 Brian Atkinson, 7. 29 Daryl Henwood, 8. 12 Darren Dryden, 9. 19 Mike Westwood, 10. 11 Amanda Stoner, 11. 25 Cassidy March, 12. 33 Ian Burney (DNS).
SUNSET SPEEDWAY – JUNE 12, 2016
Feature: 1. 15 TJ Marshall, 2. 18 Jason Keen, 3. 57 Steve Trendell, 4. 21 Chris Milwain, 5. 03 Ron Easton,
Heat 1: 1. 18 Jason Keen, 2. 92 Brian Atkinson, 3. 21 Chris Milwain, 4. 15 TJ Marshall, 5. 57 Steve Trendell, 6. 03 Ron Easton, 7. 25 Cassidy March, 8. 19 Mike Westwood, 9. 92 Brian Atkinson, 10. 33 Ian Burney, 11. 11 Amanda Stoner, 12. 09 Adam Misener.
Heat 2: 1. 7 Mike Williams, 2. 19 Mike Westwood, 3. 11 Amanda Stoner, 4. 33 Ian Burney, 5. 25 Cassidy March (DNS).
Prepared By Clayton Johns Media
