THOROLD, Ontario (June 22, 2019) – Dylan Westbrook was in a familiar spot at the conclusion of the Gary Cunningham Memorial at Merrittville Speedway on Saturday night; the two time Southern Ontario Sprints champion took the feature win at the unique 1/3 mile D-shaped track.
Jake Brown and Steve Lyons made up the front row for the 25 lap feature race, with Brown taking the early lead. Dylan Westbrook wasted no time moving forward from his third row starting position and took third place away from Cole Macdonald on lap two. Westbrook then executed a slide job on Lyons to take the second position, and took the lead from Brown in traffic on lap seven.
Westbrook stretched his lead over Brown and Lyons, who was being pressured by fourth row starter Mitch Brown for third. Mitch moved into third on lap 18, while Ryan Turner passed Lyons for fourth on lap 19. Westbrook went on to take the win by more than six seconds, while Ryan Turner snagged the runner-up spot.
Mitch Brown, Jake Brown finished third and fourth respectively, while Jim Huppunen drove the Glenn Styres-owned 0 into the top five from the sixth row. Steve Lyons, Todd Hoddick, Ryan Susice, Cory Turner, and Jamie Turner rounded out the top ten. Chris Jones, Mitch Brown, Jim Huppunen, and Dylan Westbrook took heat race wins.
Notes:
-Westbrook’s win was his second in the Gary Cunningham Memorial event, which was run under the SOS sanction for the first time. The Gary Cunningham Memorial is held annually at Merrittville in honour of the renowned engine builder who passed away in 2010 at just 61 years of age. Gary’s competitive spirit lives on in the hearts of many local racers including his son Travis, an accomplished Sprint Car and Modified driver.
-Feature winner Dylan Westbrook drew the number 24 after the race, awarding a brand new American Racer tire from Grisdale Racing Products to 24th place finisher Mike Ferrell. Three more winners will be drawn at SOS races this season, with previous recipients ineligible to win again.
-The win was Westbrook’s 17th SOS victory, moving him within one of third place Keith Dempster on the all-time SOS win list.
-The 25 lap feature went green-to-checkered without incident in just over seven minutes, with all 25 starters still running at the finish, and ten cars on the lead lap.
-Everyone from the Southern Ontario Sprints would like to thank the management and staff at Merrittville Speedway for another great night of racing. The SOS tour will return to Merrittville on September 7 for the 2019 SOS Championship race.
-The Southern Ontario Sprints tour will return to competition for round five of the 2019 season on Saturday, July 6 at Brighton Speedway in Brighton, Ontario. Visit www.southernontariosprints.ca and www.brightonspeedway.ca for more information.
UP NEXT:
Brighton Speedway – Brighton, Ontario – Saturday, July 6, 2019
About the Southern Ontario Sprints: Founded in 1996, the Southern Ontario Sprints series is a traveling winged 360 Sprint Car tour based in Ontario, Canada. 2019 marks the 24th year of operation for the Southern Ontario Sprints tour. The 2019 schedule consists of 12 events at three different race tracks in Ontario; each SOS tour event pays a minimum of $1,200-to-win and $240-to-start. Visit www.SouthernOntarioSprints.ca for more information.
Website: www.SouthernOntarioSprints.com
Twitter: @SOSsprints
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/SouthernOntarioSprints
Instagram: @southernontariosprints
YouTube: www.YouTube.com/user/SOSsprints
The Southern Ontario Sprints would like to thank their 2019 partners, including Brighton Speedway, Merrittville Speedway, Ohsweken Speedway, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum, www.ImageFactor.ca, and Grisdale Racing Products.
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