Brandon McFerran scores Mini Stock feature victory at Sunset Speedway

Riding on the wave of success that he has had this year at Sunset Speedway, Brandon McFerran would make another trip to victory lane on Saturday night as part of the second lag of the “Sauble-Sunset Home-to-Home Series”.

The night didn’t start off smooth with contact amongst the field, resulting in problems for Kevin Bridge and the No. 17 Honda CRX going off the track at lap four. A lap later, the caution would fly as Chandler Bois would spin Kevin Pickford; Bois would pull behind the wall afterwards. On the restart, Kendra Adams went for the spin cycle after going four-wide down the back with Brian Love, McFerran and Gerritt Tiemersma. Adams would be done with a driver misconduct black flag after a disagreement with the officials, while Tiemersma stalled on the second attempt for a restart.

After starting last of the 15 cars, McFerran won the first heat ahead of Jordan Howse, who was making his first start since meeting the fence on Sauble Speedway’s backstretch. Mike Gettliffe finished third, followed by Danny Benedict, Rory Collett, Love, Steve Belanger, Jake Watson, Pickford, Trevor Hemmingway and Tyler Johnston.

The second heat wasn’t much cleaner, with Connor James going for the spin on lap two, with Jerry Noble spinning Candiss Everingham as they slowed to avoid James. Andy Kamrath picked up the heat win in dominating fashion ahead of Gary Jones, Samantha Shaw, Charlie Smith, Warren Paxton, Terry Woodley, Lisa DeLeeuw, Connor James, Lauren Halliday, the 52, Jerry Noble, Candiss Everingham, Morgan Robson and Steve Love.

Ben Melenhorst grabbed the win in the final heat ahead of Billy Schwartzenburg, Miles Tyson, Nick Brown, Cory Young, Terry Woodley, Scott Simmons, Ken Townsend, Eric Rainey, Doug Wilman, Chris Free, Stefan Woyslaw, Chris Burling and Dave Middel.

With over 40 cars on the property, there would be two b-mains used to help set the field. The first b-main didn’t start off well as Steve Love brought his car down pit road on lap three with an apparent motor issue. Scott Simmons picked up the win ahead of Steve Belanger, Lauren Halliday, Eric Rainey, Kevin Pickford, Kendra Adams, Tyler Johnston, Chris Free, Jerry Noble, Chandler Bois and Lisa DeLeeuw.

The second b-main didn’t start off, well, as Chris Burling was supposed to start but wasn’t able to. Kevin Bridge would then pull off on lap five with a problem, while the 52 slipped sideways through turn two but kept going. Connor James picked up his first checkered flag ahead of Jake Watson, Ken Townsend, Gerrit Tiemersma, Doug Wilman, Trevor Hemingway, Candiss Everingham, Stefan Woyslaw, Dave Middel and Morgan Robson.

Come feature time, Mike Gettliffe would get pole on the invert ahead of Billy Schwartzenburg, Gary Jones, Jordan Howse, Ben Melenhorst, Andy Kamrath, Brandon McFerran, Brian Love, Warren Paxton, Rory Collett, Scott Simmons, Connor James, Terry Woodley, Jake Watson, Lauren Halliday, Steve Belanger and Ken Townsend.

Gettliffe would look to put his No. 77 out front, though it’d be Schwartzenburg putting the No. 86 Spira Fire Protection, Lucas Oil, Guelph Wish Fund, Victim Services, Chetty’s Hot Sauce, Inside Track, Wix Filters, Plastikote, Nuco, Pro Treadz, Erb & Erb Insurance, Artic Ice (Cambridge), Conestoga Roofing, Dave Frank’s Photos, Dominion Sure Seal, Eastside Auto Service, Fleet Image, Gunk, Klotz Auto Repair, Process Group, Race Time Radio, R&R Cycle, Roof Trusses & Components Ltd., Vitaulic and Woseley Mustang in the lead with Jordan Howse slipping into second as Gettliffe fell back to seventh by lap two. Schwartzenburg would keep a healthy lead on Howse, while McFerran and Kamrath moved themselves up to third and fourth, respectively, by lap six.

Jones and Melenhorst rounded out the top six solidly when the caution flew at lap seven for James spinning. In the process of the spin, he’d also collect Halliday, Tiemersma and Wilman. With 23 laps to go, Schwartzenburg led Howse, McFerran, Kamrath, Melenhorst, Tyson, Getliffe, the 1, Shaw, Young, Paxton, Woodley, Collett, Simmons, Watson, Nick Brown and Love.

Schwartzenburg and Howse would battle for the lead on the restart, with Schwartzenburg getting the advantage as Howse dropped back to third after being passed by McFerran for second. McFerran would then catch Schwartzenburg for the lead, getting alongside him at lap 12 before completing the pass a lap later to put the No. 64 Peter D Laird, Meisner Construction, Road Ranger, Fast Eddie Racewear, Finish Line Painting and Restoring, absolutewebsite.com, Epic Race Wear Mustang out front in the lead. Kamrath then got alongside Schwartzenburg, completing the pass on lap 16 to move into second, though wasn’t able to escape as Schwartzenburg pulled the cross over to get back alongside. The pair battled behind McFerran till the caution at lap 19 for Terry Woodley spinning.

The restart would see an epic battle with McFerran and Kamrath side-by-side for the lead, with McFerran clearing Kamrath at lap 21 to take sole procession of the lead. Kamrath held down second ahead of Schwartzenburg, Howse, Jones, Melenhorst, Benedict and Paxton as Tyson and Young battled for ninth. Young would grab the spot on lap 22 while Shaw and Collett battled for 11^th behind them. Unfortunately, lap 23 would bring Connor James down pit road with problems following his incident earlier in the feature. That didn’t slow the battles for positions in the back half of the top 10, as Tyson got alongside Young for ninth with three to go, completing the pass a lap later and bringing Shaw through with him.

At the front, it was all Brandon McFerran as he cruised to victory lane ahead of Andy Kamrath, Billy Schwartzenburg, Jordan Howse, Gary Jones, Ben Melenhorst, Danny Benedict, Warren Paxton, Miles Tyson and Samantha Shaw. Cory Young finished 11^th, followed by Rory Collett, Scott Simmons, Jake Watson, Ken Townsend, the 1, Steve Belanger, Brian Love, Kevin Pickford, Kendra Adams, Terry Woodley, Nick Brown and Eric Rainey.

About the Author

Ashley McCubbin

Joining OnPitRoad.com mid-2013 season, Ashley McCubbin is now the Managing Editor and contributes to each racing division as needed. Since studying journalism at the University of Guelph-Humber, Ashley has published articles on a couple of different websites, while serving as a public relations representative for different short track teams. Born in North York, Ontario, Ashley currently lives in Bradford, Ontario and spends her weekend at the local short tracks in the area. She has spent her entire life at the short track level, falling in love with the sport at the age of five. Beyond her love of short track racing, she also has grown an interest for both NASCAR and the IndyCar Racing Series. She also enjoys taking photos and working on websites, while playing a couple rounds of Candy Crush afterwards.

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