MILLGROVE, Ontario (October 7, 2020)— Running up front all race long paid off for Jade Franklin, as he escaped the chaos ahead of him to score his first career Pro Late Model feature victory at Flamboro Speedway’s Frostoberfest on Saturday.
“Just not a whole lot I can say – just unreal,” Franklin said afterwards. “I got to thank everybody that made it possible, all of my crew and sponsors – Caldecott Milwright Services, Praxxair Barrie, Red Line Signs & Apparel, Mihgton’s Welding & Mechanical Services. We drove hard, worked on the car, and it turned out good.”
Franklin started off the day by laying down a lap of 15.070 seconds in qualifying to start sixth for the 75-lap feature. He ran sixth through the early stages, making the pass on Jake Gilbert to break into the top-five on Lap 3. He then continued to move forward, getting by Treyten Lapcevich when he was pushed up the track on Lap 16.
He’d remain there until the first caution on Lap 21 for a spin deep in the field. Restarting in the second row, he’d battle with Jake Sheridan for fourth, ultimately fading back to seventh by Lap 34. He’d remain there until a caution 15 laps later for an incident behind him.
Restarting on the fourth row, the leaders ahead of him would go three-wide for the top spot down the backstretch. They seemed to have it sorted out, until contact was made between the leader and second, sending the leader into a 360 spin. As everybody got tied up, slowed up behind them, Franklin used the high side to escape contact, coming out with the lead.
“I mean, I came out of turn four and I didn’t know to expect,” he commented. “I saw cars going every which way there was, and I saw an opening, and took it, and ended up holding on to the lead till the end.”
He then built up a considerable gap, enough to hold on despite being chased down in the closing laps to score the victory.
The victory is the payoff for the Jaded Motorsports team in watching all of their hard work come together, as Franklin has steadily improved each time behind the wheel, including a top-10 at Flamboro earlier this year.
“We’ve been working ever since we started racing – 14 or how many years ever ago,” he said. “To win a Pro Late race is just unreal, and Frostoberfest – it’s just unbelievable. Almost two weeks ago, we didn’t even plan on coming to this race and a week ago we came up with the money and thought, ‘Ah why not? Let’s have some fun,’ and we just worked hard all week on our stuff.”
Thanks to Caldecott Millwright Services, Praxxair Barrie, Mighton’s Welding & Mechnical Services, and Redline Signs & Apparel for their support.
Be sure to also follow Jade Franklin on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/franklin.jade/ and like the JF Motorsports facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JF-Motorsports-543635325682179/ to keep up with the latest information.
Press Release by Ashley McCubbin for AM Marketing – ashleymccubbin17@gmail.com
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