With the difference in speed between some of the slower cars to the front runners and the fact that the guys and gals lower in points start upfront in the feature, it forms this thing that we called controlled chaos. Three, four-wide racing every lap with drivers trying to squeeze themselves through the traffic without making contact. Really, imagine rush hour, just a little faster and sometimes, wilder.

Still with that said, I am going to applaud everybody in the Mini Stock division. In the four weeks of racing, we have yet to destroy any cars majorly. Sure, there’s been some spins and some drivers who have met the wall, but nothing that couldn’t be repaired on pit road. Amazing, right? Let’s hope that they keep it that way because based on the last feature of the month, things could get crazier before they get calmer.

Okay, on to more important topics with that said. The month of May also saw the dominance of Warren Paxton shine through. He was able to win three of the four features. Now, this is no surprise to diehard Sunset Speedway fans as Paxton has done this before. Last year, he won three features with 12 top 10s in the 13 starts that he made last year. So he’s tied that mark already and we’re just done month one.

He’s also a known front runner, who always finds himself in feature contention. Blame some bad luck taking him out of the mix a couple times last year. Oh, and by the way, it was revealed in victory lane that Paxton and team are building a new car to debut later this year. Just imagine if it is quicker.

Now don’t hit the panic button just by those words. See, Paxton may be the fastest Mini in town and our points leader, but he can be beat. There are drivers that have shown that they can be quicker than him in the past – say Brandon McFerran and Eric Yorke. Oh, and then there’s the guy that did beat him this year.

Spira Racing driver Billy Swartzenburg is doing a tour of the tracks this year, kind of running where he feels like. Let’s just say that he’s got a great record going on with that tour. If you take out the mechanical issue that took him out on opening night at Sunset Speedway, he has a win at Flamboro Speedway, a win at Sunset Speedway, a win at Sauble Speedway and a second at Varney Motor Speedway. Not bad, right? Anyways, he is the man that has beat Paxton this year, on the second night of the season.

Okay, so with all that said – let’s get into our weekly recaps, shall we?

On week one, Swartzenburg was the fastest qualifier at Sunset Speedway, though would hit pit road on lap three with problems, handing the lead to last year’s champion Yorke. Yorke would lead till he was passed by the Farm Brothers Racing teammates Ryan Oosterholt and Chris Mulders on lap five. Oosterholt and Mulders would cross the line in 1-2 at the end of the 25 lap feature. However, neither would get credited with their finishes as they were both DQ’d in post-race inspection. So with them thrown out, the win was handed to the third place finisher. Who was that? Paxton. Ben Melenhorst was credited with second, ahead of Ken Townsend, Nicole Podewils and Terry Clodd.

With his problems in week one, Swartzenburg would start third in the feature. He wasted no time getting to the lead, passing Steve Belanger and pulling ahead. Swartzenburg would lead the rest of the way to take the victory. Paxton finished second, followed by Yorke, Townsend and Melenhorst.

Paxton would return to victory lane on week three after making a pass on Belanger just past halfway. Yorke would finish second, keeping close with Paxton, but not able to make the pass. Clodd finished third, followed by Melenhorst and Townsend.

The fourth feature would be a little more interesting in the form of how we found our eventual feature winner. Tyler Johnston held the early lead ahead of the field, though was passed by Townsend on a lap five restart. Townsend would lead till lap 12, when he was passed by McFerran. Now McFerran would begin to pull ahead of the field and start passing cars that were one, two, even three laps down. Trying to divulge his way through traffic, Warren Paxton would get to second and begin to close the gap. He closed the gap and going into the last couple of laps, he was right on McFerran’s bumper. In the final corner on the final lap, McFerran would find himself stuck behind lap cars, three-wide, blocked in. taking advantage of the situation, Paxton took the low line and snuck past for the victory. McFerran got second, followed by Podewils, Yorke and Clodd.

Now this is a topic that I’ve heard talked about with the Minis, so I’m going to mention it here. Some could say the two of those three wins for Paxton “gifts”. But there’s another side to this. Paxton is a one of the top Mini Stock drivers and lie previously mentioned, is always upfront. To win, you must first put yourself in position. Therefore you can take advantage of any opportunity that arises to grab the win. Paxton has done that in both scenarios and as a result, deserves the full credit he deserves for those wins.

Best Heat Average of the Month – Warren Paxton at 1.75

You want to know how we can prove Paxton is a great driver? In eight heat races ran this year, Paxton’s average finish is 1.75. You can thank three heat wins, four seconds and a third in those eight races for that.

Yorke had the second best average at 1.875, with five heat wins, two thirds and a fourth.

One of our quick cars that has yet to lead a feature is Melenhorst. He made the switch to Sunset from Barrie Speedway over the off-season. He had the third best average at 2.25 with three heat wins, two seconds, two thirds and a fifth.

Clodd is always quick and that is proven, as he has the fourth best average at 3.75 with no heat wins yet and seven top fives.

Another driver who had an average finish of 3.75 is Gehrig Haliday. The sophomore driver also had seven top fives in the heats so far thus year. He has yet to finish in the top five in the feature yet, though has been consistent, finishing top 10 each week.

Now, wait a second…..oh, these are the best averages for the drivers who have started every week so far this year. Yeah, see, there are two drivers who have a better average than Yorke, but haven’t been around as much.

In the four heats that Swartzenburg has ran this year, he has an average finish of 1.5 with three heat wins and a third.

Oh, but his Spira Racing teammate Samantha Shaw bettered that. She ran Sunset Speedway on May 12th and won both of her heats. She will run Sunset a couple more weeks this year, but is running at Flamboro full-time for the championship.

Best Feature Average Finish – Warren Paxton at 1.25

With a first, second, first and first, this is no surprise that Paxton has the best feature average finish at 1.25.

Melenhorst had the second best average finish at 4.25. He has finished second, fifth, fourth and sixth so far this year. The sixth place finish last weekend that left him on the outside looking in at the top five can be partly blamed due to an early race incident. Melenhorst was deemed an involved car under an early caution and had to start at the rear of the field. He used the second half of the feature to work his way through the traffic.

Yorke tied Melenhorst in this category with finishes of eighth, second, second and fourth. The first feature of the year, he finished eighth, after running the second half of the race with a flat tire due to early contact while battling for the lead.

Clodd had the fourth best average with finishes of fifth, sixth, third and fifth, to give him an average of 4.75.

The last two drivers to join this list are two who are not known for being fast, but they are being consistent this year. Brian Love and Terry Woodley join our list with average finishes of 7.25.

Now, there is one thing that should be noted with this list. Nicole Podewils has an average finish of 3.5 in her two starts this year, which saw her finish fourth and third.

Okay. We have come to the end with all of this said, look forward to seeing you at the track during the month of June so you can see the definition of controlled chaos.