@Sunset_Speedway • Innisfil, ON (August 11, 2015)- It looked as though the Walt Motorsports team would pull off a pair of top-five finishes on Saturday night. However, in both features, things didn’t go as Rick Walt hoped with a pair of spins taking him out of contention.
He started off the night by posting a 14.742 second lap in time trials, setting him up to start second for the first 35-lap feature. Starting on the outside of the front row, Walt would put the No. 31 Cindy Snow ReMax, Rust Check Canada, Eisses Pumping Services, Jim Wilson Chevrolet in Orillia, Oro Collision, Simone Autosport, HOTC, Walt Fab, Seaton Structures, Pizzaville, Redline Graphics and Apparel, Innovative Plumbing Solutions, Red Castle Performance, and Trackside Innovations Late Model out front on lap one ahead of Taylor Holdaway and Jason Witty. He would lead the field all the way till the first caution at lap eight.
On the restart, Holdaway would get the better of him, taking the lead, as Walt fell back to second. He would continue to run second over the next series of laps, through the cautions and restarts, till lap 14 when he’d fall back to third courtesy of a pass by Witty. He would then fall back to fourth at lap 21, courtesy of being passed by Tom Walters. Gord Shepherd would then catch Walt for position, with the pair battling hard back and forth. There would be contact between the pair of drivers, resulting in Walt going for the spin in turn two and the caution. As a result, he would have to restart at the tail end of the field with five laps to go.
Despite the lack of laps, Walt battled hard, going three-wide left and right through traffic, to finish solidly in the 14th spot – known as the “lottery” number. For the second feature on the night, Sunset Speedway inverts the top-14 from the first feature. As a result, Walt would start the second 35-lap feature from the pole.
Walt would grab the early lead ahead of Shepherd and Thayne Hallyburton, stretching the lead out a little. Despite a series of seven cautions and challenges by Shepherd, Walt was able to hold the lead solidly all the way till the restart at lap 16. He would get another solid restart, holding the advantage. Taylor Holdaway, who started deep in the field, had made his way into the top-five by that time and at lap 20, Holdaway would pass Walt for the lead. As a result, Walt would fall back to the second spot.
Despite falling back a spot, Walt was able to stay in second till he got loose on the restart with 10 laps to go, which allowed both Travis Hallyburton and Shepherd to get by, bumping Walt back to fourth. Zardo would then get alongside him for position, but the caution would fly for a car spinning in the back half of the field. Walt would continue his battle with Zardo for fourth on the restart, with contact being made off of the corner, causing Walt to spin on the backstretch for the 11th caution with five laps to go. Walt would then pull off of the track, done for the night.
Rick Walt and Walt Motorsports thank Cindy Snow ReMax, Rust Check Canada, Eisses Pumping Services, Jim Wilson Chevrolet in Orillia, Oro Collision, Simone Autosport, HOTC, Walt Fab, Seaton Structures, Pizzaville, Redline Graphics and Apparel, Innovative Plumbing Solutions, Red Castle Performance, and Trackside Innovations for the continued support.
Looking for a change in scenery, Walt will head to Peterborough Speedway this weekend, in search of success. It’s Toonie Night so make sure to head out and take in the action. The full schedule can be seen at http://www.peterboroughspeedway.com.
Keep up with Rick Walt and Walt Motorsports by liking their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Walt-Motorsports/524817640964689?fref=ts and following Rick Walt on twitter at https://twitter.com/Rwalt31.
From: Ashley McCubbin
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