Hi gang this is the 20 min rundown.. Great night of racing saw Guelph resident #51 Mike Bentley, representing Sunset Speedway come home the victor in the first ever Garry Reynolds Memorial 100 lapper. Bentley, took the lead from #48 Dwayne Baker after a lap 40 incident in which the 48 brushed the inside retaining wall entering turn 3, losing two positions along the way, as Bentley filed past along with the #69 Al "Red Rocket" Inglis, who eventually went on to finish 2nd at the checkered.

As mentioned first start at Barrie for Bentley since the 2005 season, when in a Lucas Cup race, he led for the initial stages only to secumb to mechanical failures later on in the 75 lap event. Mike ran really well on that day also claiming a heat win, and perhaps BSW owed him one. While it would of been nice for a Barrie driver to bag this initial race, we couldnt ask for a better champion. What a nice and well spoken young man the driver of the 51 is.. I'm sure he made the Reynolds family, and all in attendance proud with the clean and sportmanlike way he drove and presented himself in the post race interview, a trait Garry Reynolds exhibited each and every time on the racetrack.

Ok onto the race itself, and I'm gonna try and keep this as concise and accurate as possible, as there was alot going on to try and keep track of. Top qualifier #95 Kerry Micks elected to start at the back of the pack to make for a better show, with Micks offering if he won from "shotgun" to donate $1000.00 of his potential winnings to cancer research in Garry's name.. Class move there, one of many on this night. Micks, would roll a 8 for the inversion draw putting #90 Dave Lewis (sporting a retro and vintage Garry Reynolds paint scheme) on the pole, from where he outduelled #25 Brandon Watson after the first couple laps door handle to door handle. Fast on the move was current point leader #57 Ron Quesnelle, as he would get to the inside of Watson in 1&2 to overtake 2nd, leading the way for Bentley to progress to 3rd in the running order.

On lap 5, Quesnelle would take control at the front, with an inside pass on Lewis in 1&2. The Quesnelle lead would be short lived however, when on lap 9 Bentley put his name to the top of the leader board, making an inside pass of Quesnelle on the exit of turn 4. Bentley, began to settle in and look comfortable at the front, running laps in the 14.7 sec. range, stretching out the lead to now 3 car lengths over Quesnelle in the super fast Peter Schotanus owned and prepared borrowed ride.
Approaching lap 20, the best battle on track was forming for 5th, as Inglis began to crank up the heat on #54 Randy Bull for that position, with the ever ominus black #48 of Dwayne Baker tucked in the pocket behind that duo. Baker, who looked to have one of the fastest rides throughout the qualifying heat races, would careen past Inglis on the outside to enter the top 5, and quickly caught the 4th place car of Watson, even giving him a nudge along the backstretch. The first caution would appear on lap 26, when two visiting drivers got together along the backstretch, as #76 Tyler Williams and the Streamline Ford of #88 Gary McLean collided.. I didnt fully see this one myself, but Williams ran the entire race up to this point on the outside, and I think the tires went away, causing him to brush the wall on exit of two and come down the track to collect the 88 of McLean, as the Varney Modified star appeared to be a victim of circumstance. On the restart, Bentley would power to the point, gaining the advantage on Quesnelle, as Lewis and Watson fought tooth and nail for 3rd in behind.

On lap 30, a little further back in the pack #2 "Hometown" Mike Brown would drift high out of turn 2, losing several positions along the way. Just a couple laps later, the 54 of Bull and 25 of Watson would get tangled up, bringing about the 2nd caution. On the restart, the man to watch was the 48 of Baker, as he would move to 3rd on the outside of Lewis when another quick caution appeared on lap 33, with the 95 of Micks coming to a halt in turn 2, as he was lightly tapped during this course of events as #37 Rick Walt (he too in a borrowed ride) stopped to avoid Micks, but lightly got into him. All this after Micks had just claimed 5th from Inglis, executing a bump and run type move, while further ahead Baker had just relieved Quesnelle of the runner up spot. Micks was able to continue however, I heard the tachometer fell right in his lap while driving!!LOL How true I just don't know??

This is the only point in the race Bentley would lose the lead, as Baker relieved him of that position on the restart, after getting a great run to the high side exiting turn 2. On lap 40, Baker would have the afore mentioned brush against the inside retaining wall in turn 3, losing the lead to Bentley, with Inglis also slipping past the 2007 track champ on the high side exiting turn 4.

The race would hit the competition caution at midway, just as Inglis was all over the back bumper of Bentley, searching for a way past. Baker, Quesnelle, and #28 Robin Jongen would make up the remainder of the fast 5 as the drivers his pit road for a fuel stop.

Once the race resumed, it was Bentley again out front as Inglis found the inside line, after trying Bentley to the outside for a solid 4 laps. All the while the battle was just as fierce for 3rd, as Baker and Quesnelle locked themselves in a door to door for that position, a duel eventually won by Baker. Approaching lap 60, the best battle was taking place just outside the top 5, with the 90 of Lewis in sixth place, but under heavy pressure from #10 Gordie Shepherd to the inside, while Micks (now back running mid pack) put on a staunch challenge to the outside. Micks, would eventually slide into 5th by lap 70, after disposing of both Lewis and Jongen, as Inglis looked for his customary inside pass in 1&2, attempting to wrestle the lead from Bentley on sucessive laps. The cool and collected Bentley held firm at the front of the field however, running laps right at 15 flat, the pace suprisingly not slowed very much from the beginning of the race. On lap 82, the 25 of Watson would spin in turn 4, and on the restart first time Barrie starter #03 Dario Caprichio was forced pitside with a flat right front.

Over the closing stages, the only real position change came on lap 85, when Micks took 4th from Quesnelle, with a brilliant inside pass entering turn 1. But it was clear victory on this night belonged to the deserving Bentley, as the promising upstart would hold Inglis at bay, taking the win by 2 car lengths at the checkered.. As mentioned 2007 track champ Baker would finish 3rd, after a win last season about this time at Barrie in the 75 lap McColl series race. Kerry Micks would have a super impressive run in the #95 school car, coming from the back twice to finish 4th at the line.. Current point leader #57 Ron Quesnelle, the holder of 11 feature wins already this season rounded out the fast five.. Pretty clean race as I counted 6 cautions (nothing too major except for Williams/McLean tangle up) and there was 5 lead changes, covering 4 different drivers who led laps..

WHEW that was alot of typing!!!!LOL And the Late Model rundown is complete!!! Gonna add the Thunder and Pure Stock rundowns in a short while, but for now I need a morn coffee and ciggy break.. Hope you enjoy and appreciate the read folks.... FROM THE CHEAP SEATS!!! Congrats once again to Mike Bentley for the biggest win of his budding race career!!!