Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
After a solid event to kick of the inaugural tour for the APC Auto Parts United Late Models of Ontario Tour presented by Grisdales Race Products at Sunset Speedway, the series will head to Flamboro Speedway this weekend for round two of the series. While few on the tour had previous experience at Sunset, plenty of drivers on the tour have experience at Flamboro.
Joshua Stade kicked off his season with a solid run at Sunset Speedway, finishing 12th. He now takes the No. 17 Upper Canada Title, FLO Enterprises, Nicol Insurance, Barclay Wholesale, Jim Cavil Fuels, MEI Paving, Bruce Service Sales and Rentals, APC and Kunkel Bus Lines PLM to a track where he doesn’t have the experience of his competitors. A good solid run would do the young star good this weekend.
Matt Lockwood didn’t have the season opener that he wanted, failing to qualify for the first event of the season. He has experience at Flamboro, having ran there last season. Perhaps that’ll translate into him being one of the 26 race starts. Add Shaun McWhirter to the list of drivers looking to qualify this week after failing to qualify at Sunset.
Jamie Cox had a good weekend at Sunset Speedway, finishing second despite the fact that he ran into motor issues during practice the night before the event. He’ll look to carry the momentum through Flamboro this weekend. He’ll be joined by fellow Delaware Speedway stand-out Matt Pritiko, who won the Delaware Championship last year after finishing second in the track’s points standings three straight seasons. He has also shown that he can run well at Flamboro, winning the Grisdale Triple Crown Championship last season. He heads into this weekend with some momentum, following a eighth place finish at Sunset Speedway.
Another Delaware Speedway regulars to watch will be Jay Doerr. Doerr is hoping for a better run after struggling at Sunset Speedway.
Nick Goetz started off Sunset Speedway on a strong note, showing speed early in the event. However, he was taken out by motor issues. He’ll look to bounce back this weekend on a track that he doesn’t have a lot of experience on. Brandon Watson is in the same boat, having ran into mechanical issues at Sunset as well, but knows what it takes to get around Flamboro after finishing second in a Dickies OSCAAR Outlaws Presented by London Recreational Racing event at Flamboro.
Chris Mitchell is among those looking to rebound, but the lack of experience at Flamboro may hurt the Peterborough-based competitor this weekend. Another pair of Peterborough stand outs to watch will be Craig Graham and Linc Brown, esp Brown who is looking to bounce back after struggling at Sunset as well.
Box kicked off his tour in style, posting a third place finish in the first event of the year. It’ll be interesting to see whether that will carry forward to Flamboro, given the lack of experience.
Shawn McGlynn hoped to kick off the schedule in style, but mechanical issue took him out of the fray at Sunset. McGlynn knows his way around Flamboro, given previous experience, and no doubt he’ll want to impress given that the race sponsor is on the quarter panels of his entry.
Terry Baker Racing debuted their new late model at Sunset Speedway with Cayden Lapcevich behind the wheel. Lapcevich was strong, running as high as third, before contact took him out of contention. Terry Baker will be behind the wheel, looking for success in his first trip to Flamboro. He knows how to wheel a car, as evident by his Hoosier OSCAAR Modified victory at Sunset Speedway last year.
Jason Parker went to Sunset Speedway a couple weeks ago, and steadily worked his way to the front of the field throughout the event, posting a fifth place finish. He admitted pre-season that of the tracks on the schedule, Flamboro had him a little worried. It’ll be interesting to see if he finds the magic ticket this weekend. Fellow Sauble regular Marvin Freiburger may or may not be in attendance. It just depends whether he got his car fixed following a heavy, heavy crash at Sunset in the season opener.
Whenever Dan McHattie steps behind the wheel of a pro late model, you need to keep an eye on him. He’s a multi-time Kawartha Speedway track champion and has won multiple features at Peterborough Speedway, including the Autumn Colors Classic. He also posted a solid ninth place finish in the season opener despite a mid-race incident. Could he find victory lane this weekend?
Dwayne Baker had a weekend to remember in the season opening Canusa 100. He ran into ignition issues with his pro late model during initial testing, so spent all Friday night converting the limited late model over and came out swinging, leading the final 20 laps en route to scoring the victory. He’ll try to go back-to-back, but has a tough road ahead of him as Flamboro hasn’t treated him well in the past.
Mike Bentley is hoping to bounce back in a big way this weekend after a mid-race incident took him right out of contention at Sunset Speedway. He’s won at Flamboro Speedway before, scoring a victory at Ocktoberfest. Given the speed he showed at testing, he should be good to go for this weekend.
Andrew Gresel also hopes to bounce back this weekend as he was involved in a mid-race incident that caused heavy damage to his entry. He was able to bounce back somewhat, though, coming out of Sunset Speedway with a 13th place finish. He knows his way around Flamboro, having won an OSCAAR Super Late Model event there two years ago.
The driver to watch for most fans will be 2014 Flamboro Speedway Champion Dale Shaw. The second generation driver is hoping to impress in front of the hometown crowd after starting his year off on a solid note with a seventh place finish at Sunset Speedway.
Trevor Collver made the jump this year from Super Stock to Late Model competition. He’s hoping for better results this weekend after failing to qualify at Sunset Speedway.
Rookie Billy Schwartzenburg impressed many fans at Sunset Speedway, finishing sixth in only his third career PLM start. He has experience at Flamboro Speedway, having won races in a Mini Stock and driven the PLM in two separate events. He’ll hope to keep the positive momentum rolling on Saturday night.
Steve Laking is hoping to bounce back after running into problems at the season opener. While he went into Sunset Speedway without a lot of experience, Flamboro is a whole different ball-game as he has made plenty of laps there.
Shawn Chenoweth is known as one of the best at Flamboro Speedway, having won there in a thunder car and a pro late model in the past. Coming off a strong fourth place finish at Sunset, he’ll hope to carry the momentum through this weekend.
Steve Cashmore and Willie Reyns are both making the jump from Super Stock competition to Late Model competition this season. Cashmore is hoping that this weekend goes much better after failing to qualify at Sunset, and the signs point positively due to past experience at Flamboro. Reyns, meanwhile, did qualify for the show at Sunset, but struggled with mechanical issues. He still managed to come out with a 14th place finish, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens this weekend.
