Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
In the late stages on Saturday night, Ryan Kimball was able to complete the pass on Paul Maltese, scoring the feature victory at Sunset Speedway.
When the race started, it’d be Jordan Latimer starting pole ahead of Gord Shepherd, Paul Maltese, Mike Wilkinson, Danny Benedict, Lane Zardo, Thayne Hallyburton, Travis Hallyburton, Kevin Cornelius, Ryan Kimball, Dwayne Baker, Taylor Holdaway, Al Inglis, Billy Zardo, Britney Gresel, Mike Bentley, Tom Walters, Sean Cronan, Nick Goetz and Ernie Fumerton.
The drop of the green flag saw a battle for the lead between Latimer and Shepherd, with Shepherd putting the No. 10s PROGRESSIVE WASTE SOLUTIONS, THE DOCK GUY, COOKSTOWN AUTO CENTRE, TORBRAM ELECTRICAL SUPPLY, HAMEL MASONRY, HWY 400 TRANSMISSION, SEASONED PAINTING, NORTHWAY TRUCK STOP, FOX’S BAKERY AND DELI, KREUGER ELECTRIC, TSS TOP SHOPS, DESJARDANS Late Model out front on Lap 4.
Latimer now ran second ahead of Maltese and Wilkinson as Benedict and Lane Zardo battled for fifth, while Billy Zardo made his way down pit road. Travis Hallyburton put himself in the seventh spot at Lap 6, while both Goetz and Cornelius made their way in the infield, done for the night.
Shepherd continued to lead, though Maltese worked his way up to second on Lap 7, as Latimer and Wilkinson ran side-by-side for third, while Lane Zardo and Benedict ran side-by-side for fifth. Bentley headed down pit road on Lap 9 while Wikinson moved into third ahead of Latimer, Lane Zardo, Benedict, Travis Hallyburton, Kimball and Thayne Hallyburton.
The battles on track got interesting at Lap 11 with Benedict, Travis Hallyburton and Kimball going three-wide for sixth. Hallyburton got the spot ahead of Holdaway, while Wilkinson got alongside Maltese for second at Lap 13.
The caution then flew a lap later for Holdaway spinning as he got into turn four. With 22 laps to go, Shepherd led Maltese, Wilkinson, Latimer, Travis Hallyburton, Walters, Inglis, Benedict, Kimball, Thayne Hallyburton, Baker, Gresel, Cronan, Holdaway, Lane Zardo, Fumerton and Billy Zardo.
Shepherd got a good restart to keep the lead ahead of Maltese as Walters and Latimer battled for third. Walters got the spot on Lap 16 ahead of Latimer and Inglis. Inglis then got alongside Latimer for fourth a lap later, completing the pass two laps later.
Meanwhile, Walters caught Maltese, passing him to move up to second at Lap 21.
Maltese now ran third ahead of Inglis as Travis Hallyburton and Latimer battled for fifth. Hallyburton got the spot on Lap 23 ahead of Latimer, Kimball, Holdaway, Wilkinson, Thayne Hallyburton, Baker and Bentley.
The battle for the lead got interesting as Walters was able to track down Shepherd for the top spot. Going into turn three, the pair both went for the same spot, making contact, resulting in both drivers going for a spin. Shepherd was sent to the tail of the field, while Walters headed off the track.
As a result, it’d be Maltese taking over the lead behind the wheel of the No. 28 Presto Appliance, Leitch Performance, Paragon Office Instillations, Eisses Poultry Farms, Delmeade, Ontario Steel Sales, Auto Trim Barrie, OAS, The Landing Strip, Blue Sky Landscaping, Wild Wing Mapleview, Dayco, NGK, WIX, GUNK, Permetex, and Hypercoil Late Model with nine laps to go. Al Inglis ran second, followed by Travis Hallyburton, Latimer, Kimball, Holdaway, Wilkinson, Thayne Hallyburton, Baker, Gresel, Cronan, Benedict, Lane Zardo, Fumerton, Shepherd and Billy Zardo.
The restart saw Maltese hold the lead ahead of Inglis, though the caution flew as Wilkinson spun, with Baker getting collected in the aftermath. Wilkinson was able to continue, while Baker was done for the night.
The second attempt at a restart saw a battle for the lead between Maltese and Inglis, with Maltese grabbing the advantage with four laps to go, as Kimball got alongside Inglis for second. Holdaway ran third ahead of Travis Hallyburton and Cronan. Kimball cleared Inglis for the spot, moving into second with three laps to go.
Holdaway and Hallyburton looked to do the same, though, Holdaway got sideways down the back. Holdaway then got into Inglis, sending him for the spin going into turn three. the caution flew with two laps to go, with all three involved drivers going to the back.
The final restart saw a battle for the lead, with Ryan Kimball clearing Paul Maltese on the last lap to put the No. 3 GTA Racing Design, The Landing Strip, For Your Eyes Only, Spencer Lewis Promotions Late Model.
“Hats off to Maltese and those guys,” Kimball said. “They ran really well. They’ve been struggling for years so that’s good for him. (Jason) Hathaway tried to come here and get a win – we tried and just haven’t had any luck.
“We were going to load it up after practice – tranny and clutch issue the past couple of weeks. I asked DiBello’s crew and Josh called me from Oshawa and I told him if he wanted to come we were pulling a tranny and clutch out. So, we pulled the tranny and clutch out and time trialed the best we ever had. Got a little frustrated coming through the field – got pinched up by a couple guys, and thought we were done. But it came our way.”
Notably, the team has shown strength all year, as Jason Hathaway started the year by posting four top-five finishes with the car. Since then with Kimball behind the wheel, they’ve been fast with top-five runs, but also bad luck in getting caught up in one of the big wrecks and blowing a motor two weeks ago.
“I can’t say enough about my dad, these guys,” Kimball added. “They work on the car all week; I pretty much go to work and don’t do much. Hats off to the Landing Strip and Sean Grosman. I wouldn’t be here without them. They help me pay the bills. GTA Racing for helping put the nose back on.
“I got the easy job. Without these guys, I wouldn’t be here.”
Sean Cronan finished third, followed by Thayne Hallyburton and Gord Shepherd. Jordan Latimer finished sixth, followed by Britney Gresel, Danny Benedict, Lane Zardo, Mike Wilkinson, Taylor Holdaway, Ernie Fumerton and Billy Zardo.
