Stroud, ON – Gary McLean (No.8 McLean Industrial Design) never relinquished the lead after starting on the pole for the OSCAAR Modified tour 30-lap A-Main at Sunset Speedway on Sunday night. The win at Sunset was McLean’s second this season, and his second victory on the tour in 2013.
McLean never gave anybody in the 16 car field a chance to steal the lead, as the Conn, Ont. native held down the top spot from green to checkers and was challenged only on a couple of occasions.
“The car wasn’t perfect tonight by any means, but it was sure better,” said McLean. “We’ve sorted out a lot of the bugs from the wrecks we’ve had. We pulled it all together tonight and got it done.”
The 30-lap feature saw just four caution periods, with the first coming on lap three. Mike Westwood (No.91 Stryker Chassis) got in to Aaron McLean (No.47 Bowmanville Home Building Centre) in turn two, spinning the No.47 car.
The field ran green for 18 laps following the spin, with Gary leading championship points leader Brent McLean (No.7 Bowmanville Home Building Centre/RN Manufacturing) and Davey Terry (No.14 Wasteco/Castrol).
At the halfway mark, Max Beyore (No.91N Beyore Racing) had worked his way in to the fourth spot with a move around Shane Stickel (No.39 MSD Machine Tool) who ran fifth. Beyore was making his first career OSCAAR Modified start in a brand new Jeff Hanley-built modified.
The second caution of the night came on lap 21 when Ryan Dick (No.88 Johnston Bros. Sand & Gravel) ended up facing the wrong way in turn two.
On the following restart, Terry laid down the power to get around Brent McLean for the second spot on lap 22 and began to chase down race leader Gary McLean for the lead.
Caution came out once more on lap 23 when Lane Zardo (No.38 H&H Off-Road) spun in turn two, capping off a frustrating night for the young Brampton, Ont. driver.
The ensuing restart proved disastrous at the front of the field. Contact was made somewhere between the top five drivers, which resulted in second-place runner Terry and third-place runner Brent McLean spinning in turn three. Fortunately for both drivers, no contact resulted and both drivers were able to continue.
Terry would battle his way back to fourth after the incident, but felt he would have been able to challenge the eventual race winner had he not been a victim of close-quarters racing.
“I’m a little bummed about, but I shouldn’t be. This was one of the best drives we’ve had all year,” said Terry. “I don’t think I would have been able to drive around (Gary), but I would have definitely been able to hold on to his bumper for the rest of the race.”
Gary explained he would have liked to battle Terry for the final eight laps of the race.
“They’ve worked so hard and the kid does a good job,” said Gary McLean. “It would have been a lot of fun. I’m looking in the mirror thinking ‘We’ve got Davey coming here’.”
“That’s a good thing in one way and bad in another,” explained Gary of the ultra-competitive Terry.
The spin involving two of the top three drivers allowed Beyore to jump to the outside of the front row for the restart, with Branden Bullen (No.67jr Alliston Transmission/RB Graffix) third.
Beyore challenged McLean on two final restarts, but the veteran was too strong for the first-time Modified runner.
“I’ve never driven anything that handled that well,” said Beyore. “It was really fast right away. It was just a great car.”
Bullen was able to hold down the third spot despite a late-race surge from Terry and Brad Pearsall (No.1B Plaza Kia) for his first career podium finish.
“It feels really good after the struggles we had the Don Biederman event,” said Bullen who battled back from a heat race incident that damaged most of the cars left-front suspension. “We made our way to the front and took our time. The last caution really helped us out.”
The OSCAAR Modified tour shifts to Peterborough Speedway on Saturday August 3 for the Chase for the Colours. The top two finishers from the event will be locked in to the front row for the Autumn Colours Classic. Stay tuned to www.oscaar.ca throughout the week for information regarding gate times and ticket pricing.
By Clayton Johns (@cjohnsmedia)/ OSCAAR Media and Public Relations
Results: Sunset Speedway 30-Lap A-Main (July 28, 2013) – (Starting Position in Parentheses)
1. 8 Gary McLean (1); 2. 91N Max Beyore (2); 3. 67jr Branden Bullen (11); 4. 14 Davey Terry (4); 5. 1B Brad Pearsall (6); 6. 11 Dave Osborne (12); 7. 7 Brent McLean (2); 8. 91 Mike Westwood (15); 9. 88 Ryan Dick (8); 10. 48 Ted Patterson (14); 11. 19 Dean Scott (DNF) (10); 12. 47 Aaron McLean (13); 13. 39 Shane Stickel (DNF) (4); 14. 38 Lane Zardo (DNF) (15); 15. 79 John Harper (DNF) (14); 16. 13 Bobby Tolton (DNS).
Heat Race Winners: 14 Davey Terry, 8 Gary McLean, 7 Brent McLean, 39 Shane Stickel.
The OSCAAR Modified tour is presented by a number of dedicated sponsors throughout Ontario, including: Knightworks Design, Hoosier Racing Tire, Klotz Synthetics Canada, Race2way.ca, Dave Franks Photos, Dickson Printing, Finishline Fabrication, McColl Racing Enterprises, McGunegill Engine Performance, Stefko Racing Engines, VP Racing Fuels, OntarioOval.com, RaceTime Radio, Inside Track Motorsport News, Jenco Equipment, Midas of Orangeville, Reinhart Trailer Sales, North Toronto Auctions, and South Shore Services.
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