Stroud, ON (June 6, 2017)- Despite a rough start to the evening, Rick Spencer-Walt capped off Saturday night on a high with his third feature victory of 2017.
“Just so proud of this team,” he said. “Never stop working, never stop adjusting – we made some big changes on the car for feature two and it paid off. Nothing better than a win.”
Kicking off the night with time trials, he put up a lap of 15.363 seconds to qualify 14th for the first 35-lap feature. Starting deep in the field, the event didn’t start off well as he was involved in the first caution at Lap 9, resulting in having to start at the tail of the field. Restarting 17th, he began to make up ground immediately, running 15th as of the next caution at Lap 16. He continued to run 15th through the middle portion of the event, though was able to use the second half of the event to make-up ground.
By the fifth caution of the event, he had put himself up to 13th, followed by a pass on Michael Wilkinson for 12th with 10 laps to go. He continued moving forward, passing Brittney Gresel to move up to 11th with seven laps to go. Ultimately, he was unable to make up anymore ground in the final laps, picking up an 11th place finish.
Starting ninth for the second feature, he immediately began to move forward, moving into the fifth spot by Lap 7. He continued his climb forward, getting alongside Thayne Hallyburton for fourth, with the caution coming out a lap later on Lap 9. The leader would jump the next two restarts, allowing Spencer-Walt to move up another spot to third. The restart saw him run side-by-side with Hallyburton for the spot, clearing him for third on Lap 14. Before he was unable to make a move for second, the fourth caution flew.
Another restart brought another side-by-side battle with Thayne Hallyburton for third, with Spencer-Walt getting the spot a lap later, and getting alongside Paul Maltese for second at Lap 21. Spencer-Walt got the spot on Lap 23, before getting alongside Morrow for the lead at Lap 26. With six laps remaining, Spencer-Walt would clear Morrow for the lead.
It seemed he was set to clear sail en route to victory, but that wasn’t meant to be the case tonight with another challenge remaining. Going into turn three, Nick Goetz got alongside Spencer-Walt for the lead. Down in turn one, Goetz cleared Spencer-Walt for the lead. When the pair got down to turn three, Spencer-Walt got to Goetz’s back bumper, giving it a small bump with four laps to go and passing him for the lead.
Spencer-Walt then led the final two laps en route to picking up his third NASCAR Whelen All-American Series / Sauble Falls Tent and Trailer Park Late Model victory of 2017.
“We had a very fast car and so did the 24 (Goetz),” he said. “Just glad we could make it exciting for the fans, and both Nick and I could laugh about it after. He tried the bump and run on me, and we returned it for the win. That’s short track racing there!”
The Spencer-Walt Motorsports team will now put their focus towards the second APC Auto Parts United Late Models of Ontario Tour event this weekend at Flamboro Speedway where they hope to improve upon the eighth-place finish from the season opener last month at Sunset Speedway.
“With the week off, we’re headed to Flamboro with the Pro car to learn some more and try to compete for another top 10,” he said. “Our transmission issues are fixed up and we are ready for a solid run!”
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, 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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