TRENTON, Ont. – June 19, 2017 – Charlie Sandercock had one of the most memorable nights of his career on Saturday at Brighton Speedway. The Trenton, Ont. driver competed against the North Carolina-based World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series at his home track and came away with a seventh-place finish against some of the best Dirt Late Model racers in the world.
The high point of the night was Sandercock’s charge to second-place from the eighth starting spot just before the halfway mark of the 50-lap Feature that had the crowd on its feet cheering for the local hot shoe against the band of American professionals.
“It was definitely awesome to run with those guys the way we did,” Sandercock said. “To start with a top-10 starting position and not luck our way out or miss crashes to get to second but full-bore pass six or seven full-time World of Outlaws drivers and champions like Chub Frank and Rick Eckert, and to race side-by-side with them was an honor.”
Sandercock’s mistake came on a mid-race restart when he hopped over the cushion at the top of the track in turn one, allowing three drivers to shuffle past him on the bottom and forcing his No.57 back to the fifth spot. To that point, the outside groove had been Sandercock’s best tool.
“I wanted to get to the outside and everybody was fighting to get to the bottom and it was all I could do to get to the top where it was clear sailing,” Sandercock said of the chaos on the opening few laps. “As I passed those guys on the outside, I showed them what was out there and where to be and these guys jumped up behind me and next thing you know the whole top is burnt off.”
As the inside lane became the place to race, passing was increasingly difficult to come by and Sandercock settled into the seventh spot ahead of full-time Outlaws Frank Heckenast Jr., Shane Clanton, Joey Coulter and Eric Wells.
“After I got to second then jumped the cushion, I didn’t quite have what it took to get back up with those boys,” Sandercock remarked. “You mess up once against them and they’re going to capitalize on it.”
Sandercock was strong all night long with an eighth-place effort in qualifying despite being underpowered against the Outlaw drivers’ 900-horsepower engines. He then turned in a third-place finish in his heat race that gave him the eighth starting spot for the main event.
“I was really hoping for a second-place finish in the heat just to make the redraw on the front straightaway and get the crowd into it,” Sandercock said. “Third was nothing to be ashamed of with a lot of heavy-hitters in the race. We took what we got. Starting eighth was nothing bad at all.”
The top-10 was Sandercock’s best career finish with the Outlaws in a handful of starts. It’s perhaps most impressive considering it was Sandercock’s first race with that particular car and engine combination.
“I can’t thank my crew enough for putting us where we are,” Sandercock said. “A huge thank you to Paul Crouter and the whole 57 Racing team as well as everyone who supports us. It was definitely one of my most memorable experiences running with the World of Outlaws.”
Sandercock will return to weekly action at Brighton Speedway on Saturday, June 24. For additional event information, visit www.brightonspeedway.ca.
SEASON STATS
57 Charlie Sandercock – 7 Starts: 4 Wins, 6 Top-5s, 7 Top-10s
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Charlie Sandercock is proud to partner with several dedicated marketing partners for the 2017 race season, including Bellevue Fabricating, Deerhaven Farm and Garden, Newham Enterprise, Image Landscape Contracting, Excel Tower Service, Jeff Harrison Farms, Eibach Springs, MCR, Bullet Signs and Graphics, Victory Motorcycles, CCS Industrial Supply, C Smith Automotive Machine Shop, Klotz Sythetic Lubricants Canada, KD Transmission, Stampkrete Contracting, Auto Add-Ons Belleville and Image Factor.ca Motorsports Designs.a
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