Stroud, ON (June 24, 2017)- Despite starting off the night on a rough note, Spencer-Walt Motorsports ended Saturday night in victory lane with a victory in the third feature at Sunset Speedway.
Following last weekend’s runner-up, Spencer-Walt started 11th in the first 35-lap feature. Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out well as the field would stack up, with Spencer-Walt going around in turn four.
Restarting at the tail of the field, he would begin to make up ground, running 11th as of the second caution at Lap 15. He would continue making up ground to move up to eighth by the next caution with 16 laps to go. Restarting inside the top-10, he’d move up to sixth on the restart, moving into fifth when a competitor ahead of him had a flat tire with 11 laps to go.
Restarting inside the top-five, he would look to move up to fourth as he’d get alongside Brittney Gresel for fourth with five laps to go. Unfortunately, contact happened, resulting in Spencer-Walt going around for another spin. Restarting in 16th, he was able to make it back up to 13th by the checkered flag.
“I think we were probably one of the best cars on old tires, just nowhere to go,” Spencer-Walt said. “I think everybody saw how quick we were in the first overall feature here tonight – the make-up feature. We were really good. We got spun out early, came from the back again all the way up to fourth, and then the 50/50 deal down here. We ended up backwards with Gresel.
“It sucks for both of us, because we had a top-five going. If it was my fault, sorry to hear. It sucks for both of us. We could’ve had three top-fives tonight.”
Looking to turn things around, he would lay down a lap of 15.110 seconds to qualify third for the second feature. He’d run fourth through the early stages, getting alongside Mike Bentley for third at Lap 8. He was unable to complete the pass, though, and ended up falling back a couple spots to fifth by Lap 12.
The battle would get interesting at Lap 14, with Spencer-Walt, Thayne Hallyburton and Morrow going three-wide for fourth. Hallyburton backed out, with Morrow getting by Spencer-Walt to take the fourth spot two laps later. Billy Zardo was then able to get alongside Spencer-Walt for sixth, but was unable to completing the pass just before the caution flew for an incident ahead of them.
With 23 laps on the board, Spencer-Walt restarted in sixth, but avoided contact ahead of him in turns one and two to move up two spots to fourth. He would move past Billy Zardo on the restart to move up to third, where he’d cross the finish line with a solid top-five.
The re-draw saw him start fourth for the final feature on the night, with him battling side-by-side with Taylor Holdaway for third off the start. He would clear Holdaway easily, before passing Danny Benedict to move up to second by Lap 4. He was then able to track down Nick Goetz for the top spot, getting alongside him for the lead at Lap 9.
He would clear Goetz for the lead on Lap 12, and from there on, he set sail leading the rest of the way en route to checkered flag despite a dicey moment with some lap cars.
“I don’t mean to sound cocky at all, but when we got inside of five laps there, I knew we had a car that would win that race,” Spencer-Walt said. “Nick is very good; he ran a good race. I had newer tires, and you know, I got beat in the first one by newer tires by both Hallyburtons as they had a couple more new ones on than I did.
“The fans don’t get to see that stuff down in the pits. When you see a couple cars struggle out here, it may not be the car or driver – it could just be tires at the end of the day, because we’re on a tire program and you can’t burn them off. There are a lot of built motors here, so you gotta manage your stuff.”
The victory continues to add to this season’s results, though, marking the fifth podium finish in 10 features this season. Spencer-Walt will be back at Sunset Speedway on July 1, hopeful for his fifth feature victory of 2017.
Walt Motorsports is proud to be supported by Gohydrovac.ca, Jim Wilson Chevrolet, Frame Shop Huntsville, Auto Trim Design, Heidis RV, HOTC, Greensteelroof.ca, Crowe Bros, RCP Dyno and Tuning, Speedy Auto Machine, Bent by Kent, SportsClip, Pizzaville Alcona, Speedy Glass Orilla, EPIC Racewear, Buyer’s Equipment, and Orser Technical Services.
Keep up with Rick Spencer-Walt and Spencer-Walt Motorsports by liking their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Walt-Motorsports/524817640964689?fref=ts and following Rick Spencer-Walt on twitter at https://twitter.com/Rwalt31.
Press Release by Ashley McCubbin/AM Marketing – ashleymccubbin17@gmail.com.
Discussion about this post