Guelph, ON’s Mike ‘Lights Out’ Bentley (No. 51 Dave Bentley Motorsports Chevrolet) led all but a single circuit in Saturday’s 30-lap A-Main, overcoming two-weeks of poor fortune and controversy to capture his illusive first career Sunset win.”We started off the season not the way we wanted to”, said Bentley “getting into Gary Elliott’s gear oil on opening night and destroying our car.”
The second-generation driver then touched on the highly debated incident that stole the show on May 12th, in which Bentley and fan favourite Chris Morrow came together on the final lap of the evening’s 30-lap feature event, resulting in an annihilated front-end for Morrow and a 12th place finish for Bentley after racing at the front of the field for the entirety of the event.
“Last week, we were denied a win, I think I had that win outright and due to certain circumstances we were sent to the back” shrugged the 2011 Oktoberfest winner. But we capitalized tonight.”
Bentley would ward off a mid-race challenge from defending track champion Kevin Cornelius (No. 17 Halton Crushed Stone/Lee Sand & Gravel Chevrolet).
“I was kinda taking it easy through the mid-way portion of the race, so when my spotter informed me that [Cornelius] was coming up on me, I stepped it up a bit.”
In Super Stock action, 2008 division champion Herb Walters (No. 88 Splashcon Excavation/Innisfil Machine & Welding Camaro) snatched his second victory of the 2012 season, slipping back into the points lead entering week-4.
Walters inherited the lead after a lap-25 tussle involving accomplished veteran Shawn Chenoweth (No. 89 KR Communications/Transaxle Parts Camaro) and 12-year old Rookie of the Year contender Cayden Lapcevich (No. 34 Tim Hortons Monte Carlo).
Lapcevich, son of NASCAR Canadian Tire Series regular Jeff Lapcevich, had led from the drop of the green flag, and was working feverishly to ward off Chenoweth’s advances with 5 laps remaining. Unfortunately, contact made between the two exiting turn-4 resulted in Lapcevich spinning towards the outside retaining wall, and Chenoweth being sent to the tail of the field as an involved car.
“I thought for sure Cayden was going to get away from [Shawn]. That car was working so well on the outside. But he got a little loose off of turn-2, and that let Shawn get underneath him down the back-straightaway, I thought I’d be safe if I stuck to the outside and I’m glad I did.”
The win would propel Walters past early-season rival Nick Roth in the point standings, though the former champion was quick to dismiss the immediate correlation between early season success and championship results,
“Not yet,” laughed ‘The Cheque Casher’, “I think we’ll wait until there’s about 5 weeks left in the season and then we’ll start worrying about points.”
Walters would close his time in victory lane out by thanking his sponsors Splashcon Excavation, Graham Landscape Ltd., Paint By Watson, Innisfil Machine & Welding, RB Graffix and Custom Steering.
Milton, ON’s Eric Yorke (No. 51 Milton Napa Auto Parts/J&D Tires Nissan) would claim his second-straight Mini Stock feature victory to close out the evening. The trip to victory lane would secure the points lead for the 21-year old entering the 4th week of the season.
RESULTS
LIMITED LATE MODELS
HEAT 1: ‘Hollywood’ Taylor Holdaway Orillia, ON
HEAT 2: Stompin’ Tom Walters Bradford, ON
HEAT 3: Mike ‘Lights Out’ Bentley Guelph, ON
HEAT 4: Kevin Cornelius Orangeville, ON
A Main:
1) Mike ‘Lights Out’ Bentley Guelph, ON
2) Kevin Cornelius Orangeville, ON
3) Jason ‘Bam Bam’ Witty Queensville, ON
4) Sean Cronan Barrie, ON
5) Stompin’ Tom Walters Bradford, ON
SUPER STOCKS
HEAT 1: Lane Zardo Brampton, ON
HEAT 2: Nick Roth Baden, ON
HEAT 3: Lane Zardo Brampton, ON
HEAT 4: ‘The Cheque Casher’ Herb Walters Stroud, ON
A MAIN:
1) ‘The Cheque Casher’ Herb Walters Stroud, ON
2) Lane Zardo Brampton, ON
3) Paul Geniole Jr. Keswick, ON
4) Nick Roth Baden, ON
5) Dan Archibald Barrie, ON
MINI STOCKS
HEAT 1: Eric Yorke Milton, ON
HEAT 2: Mike Robinson Jr. Barrie, ON
HEAT 3: Rob Krystal Holland Landing, ON
HEAT 4: Eric Yorke Milton, ON
HEAT 5: Terry Clodd Holland Landing, ON
HEAT 6: Tyler Dickson Toronto, ON
A MAIN:
1) Eric Yorke Milton, ON
2) Rory Collett Holland Landing, ON
3) Rob Krystal Holland Landing, ON
4) Tyler Johnston Holland Landing, ON
5) Mike Robinson Jr. Barrie, ON
From Spencer Lewis / Sunset Speedway
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