Here are the three feature recap articles that I wrote from this past weekend that I normally post at my site http://newsfromthepits.com
KEVIN CORNELIUS WINS THIRD LATE MODEL FEATURE OF SEASON AT SUNSET SPEEDWAY
After having two bad finishes in a row, Kevin Cornelius and the KDR Motorsports team were not going to go racing this weekend. However, a late night decision on Friday night, followed by putting the motor back together after last week’s tear down, had the No. 17 Halton Crushed Stone Lee Sand and Gravel, Hanson Pipe, Sandbox Tech Child Care, Alliston Transmission, Ed’s Automotive and Fierce Wraps Late Model at the track. The team’s effort was rewarded at the end of the night as he would win the feature, 0.01 seconds ahead of Mike Bentley with a last lap pass.
Points leader Tom Walters would take his No. 47 Late Model to victory lane in the first heat for his sixth heat win of the year. Cornelius would finish second, followed by Dario Capirchio, Ernie Fumerton and Bruce Rankin.
Mike Bentley would win the second heat in his No. 51 Late Model for his fifth heat win of the year. Chris Morrow would finish second, followed by Gary Elliott, Sean Grosman and Taylor Holdaway.
Walters would go for the sweep as he would win the third heat, followed by Scott Beatty, Cornelius, Jason Witty and Keith Maiato.
Morrow would win the final heat behind the wheel of his No. 11 Morrow Electric and CRS Rental Late Model for his fourth heat win of 2012. Sean Cronan would finish second, followed by Bentley, Holdaway and Grosman.
Virtue of his points position and qualifying effort, Bruce Rankin would start his No. 55 Rankin’s Automotive Late Model on pole for the 30-lap feature. Ernie Fumerton would start second, followed by Gary Elliott, Sean Grosman, Dario Capirchio, Taylor Holdaway, Scott Beatty, Chris Morrow, Sean Cronan, Kevin Cornelius, Mike Bentley, Tom Walters, Keith Maiato, Jason Witty, Billy Zardo, Frank Davey and Kyle Mombourquette.
Rankin would grab the early lead on lap one, ahead of Fumerton, Elliott, Grosman and Capirchio. Elliott would make his way by Fumerton on lap two, taking the lead from Rankin on lap three. So at lap four, it was Elliott leading Rankin while Fumerton battled with Capirchio for third.
Beatty would make a three-wide move on lap five, passing both Fumerton and Capirchio to move into third. Though the caution when then come out when Chris Morrow would stall on track with a distributor problem. After going back a lap in scoring, Elliott held the lead in his No. 36 Quaker State, JDS Insurance, Lincoln Electric, Auto Spa, Timber Green Landscape and Grind Stone Landscape Late Model, ahead of Rankin, Beatty, Capirchio, Fumerton, Holdaway, Grosman, Cronan, Bentley, Walters, Cornelius, Witty, Maiato, Zardo, Davey and Mombourquette.
On the restart, there’d be another caution as Fumerton would spin on the front stretch and make contact with the inside wall after contact from Holdaway. This would put Holdaway to the back as an involved car.
On the second attempt at a restart, Elliott would jump out ahead of the field, well Beatty looked to pass Rankin for second. Beatty would complete the pass on lap eight for second past Rankin, ahead of Grosman while Capirchio and Bentley battled for fifth. Bentley would make the pass on Capirchio on lap nine while Grosman looked for a way by Rankin for third on lap 10.
At lap 12, it was Elliott continuing to lead, now ahead of Beatty, Grosman and Bentley while Walters battled Rankin for fifth. Walters would complete the pass on lap 13, with Cornelius looking for a way around Rankin for sixth. Though that same lap, the caution would come out as Kyle Mombourquette would stall his car.
On the restart, Elliott would once again to jump out to the lead well Beatty and Grosman battled for second. Though the caution would come out the next lap as Walters would try to make the battle for second three-wide going into turn three, causing contact between the three cars with Beatty going for a spin. As a result, all three cars were put to the back of the field as involved cars. This would allow Bentley to move up to the second position behind Elliott. Cornelius was now up to third, followed by Cronan, Rankin, Capirchio, Witty, Zardo, Davey, Holdaway, Fumerton, Maiato, Beatty, Walters and Grosman.
On the restart, Bentley would make the pass on Elliott for the lead while Cornelius looked for a way around Elliott for second. Though the caution would then come out as Davey would go for a spin.
The restart would go off cleanly and with 13 laps to go, it was Bentley leading Cornelius, Elliott, Cronan and Capirchio. The field would stay in that order all the way till a caution with two laps to go for Rankin getting into the frontstretch wall.
On the restart, Kevin Cornelius would keep alongside Mike Bentley and they would stay that way all the way to the checkered with Cornelius winning by 0.01 seconds at the line. It’d mark the third feature win of the season by the defending series champion. The driver dedicated the win to the team for their hard work so far this year.
“The guys had put so many hours, (car owner) Dick had put so much money into trying to get this right, trying to work with Mike McColl to get it right, still fighting it,” Cornelius said in victory lane. “Actually have been fighting it since the end of last year.”
Following an 18th and 14th in the last two features, the KDR Motorsports was ready to park the car for the season.
“But come Friday night, the guys got antsy so the boys worked their butts off and jammed it back together and worked late into Friday night to get it done,” Cornelius said. “This is for all them.”
Coming into the night, Cornelius sat 51 points behind Walters for the lead in the points. With that being said, the plan for the No. 17 team from here on out is come out and enjoy these final races of the season as the driver officially announced he will not be running a full schedule next year.
Bentley would finish second for his seventh feature top five of 2012 with Gary Elliott getting third for his third feature top five. Sean Cronan would finish fourth for his seventh feature top five with Jason Witty rounding out the top five.
RANDY RUSNELL WINS SECOND STRAIGHT FEATURE IN A ROW AT SUNSET SPEEDWAY
Randy Rusnell is known as the Rocket and in his last seven feature starts (five regular points nights, 1 M.R.E Pro Series and Sauble Speedway’s Dash for Cash), Rusnell has now picked up six feature victories behind the wheel of his No. 72 Travis Ind. Maintenance, Dreamdoodles.net, Cournoyeas Poodles, Speedy Auto Service Burling, Spira Fire Protection, J&K Converters Ltd, Partimer Signs, Chetty’s Hot Sauce, Brant Transmission and McCordick Glove & Safety Monte Carlo.
The win on Saturday night marked his fourth regular points night victory and second in a row. It also marked his seventh overall of the year as along with the four regular night victories, he has two M.R.E Pro Series victories and one Sauble Dash for Cash victory.
Matt Bentley would drive his No. 21 Bentley Motorsports Nova to victory in the first heat for his sixth heat win of 2012. Marty Monette would finish second, followed by Lane Zardo, Steve Cashmore and Donny Brandon. Stephen Wilson would get a mechanical blackflag during this heat for a flat tire.
Rusnell won the second heat for his seventh heat win of 2012, followed by points leader Nick Roth, Herb Walters, Dan Archibald and Cayden Lapcevich.
Paul Geniole Jr. would win the third heat behind the wheel of his No. 81 Canadian Tire – Port Perry, Brown Brow Roofing, Priggen Automotive, Terry Puckett & Royal Lepage, Trillium Propane and Welding Supplies and Marilyn’s Flowers Georgina Camaro for his third heat win on the year. Zardo finished second, followed by Bentley, Chris VanDusen and Paul Maltese.
Roth would win the final heat behind the wheel of his No. 17 JR Motorsports Camaro for his 10th heat win of 2012. Lapcevich finished second, followed by Rusnell, Walters and Archibald.
In the feature, Richard Butler would start his No. 3 Linde Group Monte Carlo on pole virtue of his qualifying effort and points position, ahead of Mike Weeda, Paul Geniole Jr., Lane Zardo, Paul Maltese, Steve Cashmore, Cayden Lapcevich, Matt Bentley, Herb Walters, Dan Archibald, Randy Rusnell, Marty Monette, Steve Perry, Nick Roth, Donny Brandon, Chris VanDusen, Bob Phinnemore, Donny Beatty, Brian Wilson Jr., Stephen Wilson, Mike Hearty and Rob Morrison.
Right away, Geniole Jr. would jump from the third position to battle with Butler for lead, taking sole position of it on lap two, ahead of Zardo with Butler back to third. Maltese would pass Butler for third on lap four, with Butler falling outside the top eight on lap five.
On lap eight, it was Geniole Jr. leading ahead of Zardo, Maltese, Lapcevich, Rusnell, Walters and Archibald. Rusnell would get under Lapcevich on lap 10 for fourth, completing the pass on lap 11. Hearty would bring his car down pit road on lap 14.
At the halfway mark at lap 15, it was Geniole Jr. leading ahead of Zardo, Rusnell and Lapevich while Archibald and Maltese battled for fifth. Archibald would complete the pass on lap 16, with Bentley also passing Maltese for sixth.
On lap 17, Rusnell would get alongside Zardo for second, completing the pass on lap 18. Rusnell then got alongside Geniole Jr. for the lead on lap 20, completing that pass on lap 22.
Randy Rusnell would lead the final eight laps through lap traffic to pick up the feature victory. Paul Geniole Jr. would finish second for his second top five of the season while Lane Zardo finished third for his seventh top five. Cayden Lapcevich finished fourth for his fourth top five with points leader Nick Roth rounding out the top five. Dan Archibald finished sixth, followed by Matt Bentley, Herb Walters, Paul Maltese and Marty Monette.
BRANDON MCFERRAN SCORES FIRST SUNSET SPEEDWAY MINI STOCK FEATURE VICTORY
At the end of the 25-lap feature for the Mini Stocks, it’d be Flamboro Speedway regular Brandon McFerran taking the feature in his No. 64 Peter D. Laird Transport and John McFerran Trucking Ford to victory lane.
Brian Love would win the first heat in his No. 04 Fox’s Bakery and Deli, Tire Depot and Hanson Lawncare Civic for his second heat win of the year. Last week’s feature winner Rob Krystal would finish second, followed by Ken Townsend, James Low and Clyde Doucette.
Points leader Eric Yorke would drive his No. 51 Can-Alignment Motorsports, Milton Napa Auto Parts, J & D Tire, Solex Steel and McKeown Collision Nissan to victory lane in the second heat for his eighth heat win of 2012. Last year’s Mini Stock Champion Nicole Podewils finished second, followed by Dan Britt, Mike Robinson Jr. and Terry Clodd.
McFerran won the opening night of the night for his second heat win of 2012, followed by Warren Paxton, Ryan Goddard, Gehrig Haliday and Wendy Adams.
Krystal would drive his No. 99 Taurus Property Maintenance, Grass Pro Plus and Dan’s Scrap Civic to victory in the fourth heat for his seventh heat win of 2012. Love would finish second, followed by Low, Tyler Johnston and Townsend.
Podewils would drive her No. 79 Fox’s Bakery and Deli, Central Appliance, Barrie ChemDry and Permatex Mustang to victory lane in the fifth heat for her first heat win of 2012. Yorke finished second, followed by Britt, Trevor Hemingway and Robinson Jr. On lap six, Brandon Chamberlain spun Robinson Jr.
Paxton would win the final heat in his No. 33 Blue Mountain Honda, J.F. Kitching & Son Haulage, Georgina Auto Glass, CB Services and Team Adam – Racing for Autism Awareness Civic for his 10th heat win of the 2012 season. McFerran finished second, followed by Tyler Dickson, Goddard and Haliday. Adams would spin on lap nine.
In the feature, it’d be Ron Goodall leading the opening lap in his No. 43 Georgian Martial Arts Academy Barrie, Don's Produce Kitchener, Queensway Auto Parts Niagara Falls, McLogistics, PJS Produce Toronto and Smiths Market Sudbury Nissan, ahead of Trevor Hemingway, Brandon Chamberlain, Wendy Adams, Gehrig Halliday and Ken Townsend. The top three would remain the same on lap two while Haliday battled for fourth with Townsend as Adams fell back out of the top five.
Trevor Hemingway would take the lead with his No. 65 Burrows Racing Ent. Civic on lap four, ahead of Chamberlain and Goodall while Townsend, Low and Halliday battled for fourth. The caution would then come out as Halliday would go for a spin.
On the restart, Hemingway and Chamberlain would battle for the lead, with Warren Paxton passing both of them on lap six to take the lead. Hemingway now ran second while Chamberlain battled with James Low for third. Low would make the pass on Chamberlain, looking for second around Hemingway. Well they battled side-by-side, Brandon McFerran made the pass to go by them both, now second behind Paxton.
The caution would then come out on lap eight as Low would spin Hemingway, collecting Chamberlain, Tyler Dickson, Dan Britt, Tyler Johnston, Adams and Terry Clodd.
On the restart, Paxton jumped out to the lead over McFerran while Low battled for third now with Eric Yorke. Yorke would pass Low for third on lap nine, followed by Rob Krystal as Low was now back to fifth, battling for position with Nicole Podewils.
With 10 laps down and 15 to go, Paxton led McFerran, Yorke, Krystal, Podewils, Low, Townsend, Clyde Doucette, Brian Love, Britt, Ryan Goddard, Johnston, Eric Rainey, Goodall, Mike Robinson Jr., Lisa deLeeuw, Melinda Thomas and Adams.
On lap 12, Krystal would get alongside Yorke for third, though Yorke would hold him off till the lap 16 caution for Paxton spinning Adams as Paxton was trying to put her a lap down. Paxton would be allowed to keep his position as the leader as it was deemed the wreck happening due to the lap car now yielding to the leaders.
On the restart, Paxton would pull out ahead of McFerran while Krystal and Yorke battled for third.
On lap 18, McFerran would make the move alongside Paxton for the lead and they’d battle side-by-side for three laps before McFerran would complete the pass.
Brandon McFerran would lead the final two laps to take the checkered flag first and score his first Sunset Speedway feature victory. Warren Paxton would finish second seventh top five of 2012 while Krystal got third for his seventh top five. Points leader Eric Yorke finished fourth for his 10th top five with Nicole Podewils rounding out the top five. James Low finished sixth, followed by Clyde Doucette, Ken Townsend, Brian Love and Dan Britt.