Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
On Saturday night at Sunset Speedway, there was a new face in victory lane as Robert Toope picked up his first career victory.
The night didn’t start off pretty as in the first heat, four-wide in turns one and two on Lap 3 resulted in Lisa DeLeeuw making contact with the outside wall. Points Leader Johnny Paradzinski picked up the win ahead of Melissa Bullen, Daniel Montanari, Eric Rainey, Jeremy McLean, James Levi, Wendy Adams and Peter Wakeling.
Chandler Bos won the second heat ahead of Billy McLeod, Robert Toope, Doug Wilman, Kyle Fetterly, Josh Inglis, James Campbell, Scott Brooks and Doug Smith.
Johnny Paradzinski went for the daily double, winning the Dash for Cash ahead of Montanari, Toope, Bullen, Wilman, McLeod, Fetterly, Bos, Rainey, Levi and Inglis.
Come feature time, Scott Brooks started pole ahead of Robert Toope, Eric Rainey, Doug Wilman, Doug Smith, Wendy Adams, James Campbell, Josh Inglis, Johnny Paradzinski, Kyle Fetterly, Morgan Robson Jr., Chandler Bos, James Levi, Jeremy McLean, Melissa Bullen, Daniel Montanari, Peter Wakeling, Billy McLeod, Dylan Holmes, Lisa DeLeeuw and Dylan Holmes.
Toope put the No. 25 The Beach Bar and Grill, Trade Mark Signs, Rikota Mechanical, CCL Landscape Design, Auto Trim Barrie, The Tree Guys, Jimmy Sign (Adcon Enterprize), Revolution Tires, Highway 400 Transmission, The Stump King (Jim Herrington), Atkins Appliance, and South Bound Roofing in memory of Lloyd Robbins Mustang out front ahead of Wilman, Rainey, Brooks, Inglis and Paradzinski. The caution then flew on Lap 3, though, as Smith spun off of turn four.
Toope got a good restart to keep the lead ahead of Wilman, Rainey and Inglis as Fetterly and Brooks battled for fourth. Fetterly moved into the spot on Lap 4, as Brooks went three-wide with Paradzinski and Bullen for fifth. Paradzinski got the spot on Lap 5 ahead of Bullen and McLean.
The caution then flew for an incident on the backstretch involving Campbell, Holmes, DeLeeuw and Inglis. As a result of the incident, Levi was blackflagged for rough driving, sending him off the track. With 16 laps to go, Toope led Wilman, Rainey, Fetterly, Paradzinski, Bullen, McLean, Brooks, McLeod, Montanari, Bos, Wakeling, Robson Jr., DeLeeuw, Smith, Campbell, Holmes and Adams.
Doug Wilman got a good restart to put the No. 14 Rama’s Original D’s Smoke Shack, Muskoka Bay Clothing, and Cabral Racing Promotions Acura out front ahead of Toope and Rainey. Toope wasn’t going to be denied, though, getting back alongside Wilman for the lead a lap later. Toope then retook the top spot on Lap 7 ahead of Wilman as Rainey ran third.
The battle for the third spot heated up, though, with Paradzinski getting alongside Rainey on Lap 8. Paradzinski completed the pass a lap later, with McLeod getting alongside Rainey for fourth at Lap 10. McLeod then took the spot a lap later, with Fetterly and Bullen following him through. Bullen then got alongside Fetterly for fifth with three laps to go, bringing Montanari through with her.
Robert Toope led the rest of the way en route to picking up the win ahead of Doug Wilman, Johnny Paradzinski, Billy McLeod, Melissa Bullen, Daniel Montanari, Kyle Fetterly, Eric Rainey, Chandler Bos, Lisa DeLeeuw, Josh Inglis, Dylan Holmes, Scott Brooks, Morgan Robson Jr., Doug Smith, Wendy Adams, Peter Wakeling and James Campbell.
