Peterborough, ON (July 05, 2017)- In a busy Canada Day weekend that saw Spencer-Walt Motorsports run three separate features at two different tracks, they would pick up his fifth feature victory of the season.
Starting off at Sunset Speedway on Saturday night, Rick Spencer-Walt qualified fifth for the first 35-lap feature. Off the drop of the green flag, he moved up to the third position. He remained there solidly throughout the entire event, getting alongside Travis Hallyburton for second on the white flag lap, but unable to fully complete the pass resulting in a third place finish.
With the re-draw in place, he would start mid-pack for the second 35-lap feature. He was able to escape the contact at the front of the field on Lap 9, running in the 10th position. He then escaped more contact on the restart to move up two spots to eighth with 24 laps to go.
He continued to run eighth till the second half of the event, where he made his move, getting alongside Gord Shepherd for sixth at Lap 25. While he was unable to complete the pass on Shepherd, he made a move on another competitor to move up to sixth with 10 laps to go. In the final stages of the event, though, he’d slip back a position, crossing the finish line in seventh.
Making the trek up to Peterborough Speedway on the Sunday, the defending track champion started off the event in victory lane, winning the first qualifying heat. He then narrowly avoided an incident in the second heat to cross the finish line in third.
Starting third in the feature, he would battle side-by-side right from the drop of the green flag with Bryan Mercer for second, completing the pass on Lap 2. He then trekked down Jack Horner for the top spot, searching for a way by to take over the lead.
As he was doing that, Horner would get loose off turn four, going around for the spin. Spencer-Walt slowed to avoid, which resulted in Taylor Holdaway giving him a tap on the bumper and sending him around. Fortunately, with the spin being a by-product of Horner’s issue, track officials gave Spencer-Walt back his position, which was race leader now with 52 laps to go.
Throughout the rest of the event, Spencer-Walt was easily able to lead ahead of the field, holding off both Taylor Holdaway and Ryan Kimball in a series restarts throughout the feature en route to scoring the victory in the Chase for the Colours for the second straight season. The win at the Chase will allow him to start the Autumn Colours Classic in October on the pole.
“This car was a bullet from when we unloaded it,” Spencer-Walt said in victory lane. “These guys went to work on it, and man, it was fast today. That last corner, I kind of messed up. I drove down in there and then I figured I better let up a bit because I was going to overdrive it and then (Ryan) Kimball was there. I didn’t know he was that close, but once we got going a couple laps, I could gap him a little bit. Those guys have fast cars, too, so it was good racing.”
As noted, this isn’t anywhere near Spencer-Walt’s first foray at the patch as he took home the track championship last year, and led 73 of 75 laps at the Autumn Colours Classic prior to contact and a flat tire on a late race restart.
“Amanda (Balson) is always strong when she comes out, and I like running against her,” Spencer-Walt continued. “You see (Dan) McHattie out there, and (Mike) Bentley and (Taylor) Holdaway coming up. You’ve also got (Danny) Benedict, plus all the guys that we raced against here last year. I mean, they didn’t make it easy on me here last year, either. Chris Mitchell is a helluva driver, and all the team they got too; I mean, we battled all the way down to the end on the last night of racing.
“The drivers here are no slouches. You’ve got (Tyler) Betts here now, and you can see what he can do in a racecar. Betts is another wheelman that don’t get the credit so I’ll stand here and give him the credit even though I’m the one standing here in victory lane.”
The victory continues to add to this season’s results, though, marking the seventh podium finish in 13 features this season. Spencer-Walt will be back at Sunset Speedway on July 8, hopeful for his sixth 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, Byer’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.
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