Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
After taking the lead just before halfway, J.R. Fitzpatrick didn’t look back, holding off all charges en route to scoring the feature victory at Flamboro Speedway. It marks his second victory of the 2016 campaign.
Fitzpatrick started the night in victory lane, winning the first heat ahead of Shane Maginnis, Charlie Gallant, Glenn Watson and Jim Bowman.
The second heat saw Todd Campbell slow at Lap 7 with a problem, forcing him pit side. Gary Passer picked up the win ahead of Derrick Tiemersma and Roy Passer.
Glenn Watson won the third heat ahead of Gary Passer, Fitzpatrick and Bowman.
Roy Passer won the fourth and final heat ahead of Maginnis, Gallant and Hawn, while Tiemersma pulled off on the final lap with a problem.
Come feature time, Glenn Watson led the opening 19 laps from the pole behind the wheel of the No. 22 Line-X Protective Coatings – Barrie, Race2way.ca, Rival Office Solutions, Williamson Uxbridge GM, TSS Top Shops Auto Body Supply, Klotz Canada, ERA Tours and Port City Race Cars SLM. However, a rear suspension issue resulted in Watson spinning and hitting the turn one wall.
J.R. Fitzpatrick took over the lead on the restart and never looked back, despite challenges from his competitors, behind the wheel of the No. 84 Auto Parts Centres, Meineke Car Care, Transaxle Heavy Truck & Trailer Parts, Cambridge Rigging, Equipment Express, Jenco Equipment, McColl Racing Enterprises, Creative Edge Signs, Wix Filters, Permatex, Driven Steering Wheels, Spray Nine, Deon Racecars, Clayton Johns Media and ImageFactor.ca Motorsport Designs SLM. It marks his second victory and third podium finish in three races this season.
“Obviously I’m happy we won but I’m obviously more happy that we got the car a lot better,” Fitzpatrick said. “We really didn’t do too much to it from the last time we were here. We made some big swing adjustments – all of us as a team talked about and we did and it seemed to worked a little better.”
Todd Campbell finished second for his first top-five of the year with Roy Passer scoring his third straight podium finish with a third. Charlie Gallant and Gary Passer rounded out the top-five.
Tyler Hawn finished sixth, followed by Derrick Tiemersma. Notably, Tiemersma was involved in a pair of incidents past the halfway mark, including a spin at Lap 31.
Jim Bowman finished eighth after having a mechanical problem on the restart at Lap 31 which forced him into the turn one wall. Watson finished ninth, followed by Shane Maginnis in 10th after he pulled off on Lap 5 due to smoke trailing his super late.
The OSCAAR Super Late Models will now head to Delaware Speedway on July 22. Certainly points leader Fitzpatrick is the early favourite with his success so far this year.
“I’m a little worried about the horsepower factor,” Fizpatrick admitted. “We don’t have a lot of horsepower compared to a lot of the guys. Obviously the car handles really well. We keep making it better each time we’re out. I think we will be good there. I have a lot of laps there so I know what I need, but we’ll see what the horsepower does for us there and how many cars show up. It should be a good race.”
