MILLGROVE, ON – When all the chips were laid on the table, one of the hottest young drivers in the province came out victorious in the biggest late model race of the season, as Kyle Steckly won the Gold Rush 123 at Flamboro Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
Steckly wasn’t the quickest man on the property in qualifying, though, as rookie Chase Pinsonneault laid down the fastest lap at 15.139 seconds. Steckly was second quickest (15.143), followed by J.R. Fitzpatrick (15.16), Andrew Gresel (15.171), and Treyten Lapcevich (15.272).
When the green flag flew for the 123 lap $10,000 to win event, Kyle Steckly kept himself inside the top-three throughout, taking over second with just 26 laps on the board. The past track champion remained patient in awaiting his opportunity, finding his way to the lead on Lap 71. He then led the rest of the way en route to scoring arguably the biggest win of his young career.
J.R. Fitzpatrick, who led 45 laps, kept himself within striking distance with a runner-up, followed by Chase Pinsonneault, Treyten Lapcevich, and Andrew Gresel. Cory Luciano continues to show growth in his first year of Late Model competition with a career-best sixth ahead of Billy Schwartzenburg, Kevin Albers, Rick Burbridge, and Cole Quinton.
Flamboro Speedway veteran Shawn Chenoweth struggled with brake issues to 11th, in front of Jake Gilbert. Chad Corcoran, Mark Burbridge, Logan White, and James Horner failed to complete all the laps. Rick Spencer-Walt was hopeful of his chances to win after scoring a feature victory the night before at Sunset Speedway, however saw his dreams of winning end after blowing up in practice.
Jake Sheridan and Ty Cavallin both were hopeful of attending the event, but were unable to after being involved in an incident at Sauble Speedway the night before. Josh Stade and Dario Capirchio also pre-registered and were unable to attend.
Mini Stocks
The dream season continues for Mike Thomson as he picked up another checkered flag by winning the 40-lap invitational. There was no doubt left in anybody’s mind about who was fastest on-track after watching the No. 16 Mustang pace the whole event.
Mike Gilmour was second, in front of Shawn Taylor, Dale Millard, and Ryan Edwards-Kiss. RJ Croteau’s rare appearance landed him sixth, ahead of Mike Hooper, Dave Goodacre, and Rory Markle. Kaitlyn Wallace failed to finish after suffering motor issues.
Pure Stocks
When you are having a special event, you can never count Wayde Thorne out of the contention for the victory. The statement proved true as he led a BT Racing top-two sweep in the 40-lap event for the Pure Stocks. For the driver of the No. 98bt, he paced the entire event en route to winning.
Phil Givens was second in front of Spencer Riddell, Gary Slama, and J.R. Fitzpatrick. BT Racing team owner Kris Lawrence was sixth ahead of Nic Ramsay, Jason Craig, Mike Etsell, and Jo Lawrence.
Chance Rogers was 11th, followed by Adam Jeneroux, Austin Etsell, Keith Parsons, Daphne Sullivan, and Owen Brooker. Cameron Thomson, Brady Cox, Taddum Green, and Alex Stewart failed to finish.
The next event at Flamboro Speedway is taking place on Saturday, August 5 is Kids Ride Night. Prior to the races getting started, kids in attendance will get a chance to climb inside a racecar for a ride around the whole track. Once racing begins, it will feature the Ontario Modified Racing Series, Canadian Vintage Modifieds, Super Stocks, Mini Stocks, Pure Stocks, and Southern Ontario Modified Association.
Thanks to Ingrid Hartman for filming each week. Be sure to check out her videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/petalpower51/videos.
Thanks to Derek Smith (http://www.racepulse.com), Peter Anderson (pandersonphotos@gmail.com), and Zoompics.com for their images of the racing action each week.
