Milgrove, ON) – On Saturday August 24th, the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup Series arrived at Flamboro Speedway for round seven of the eight-race championship series, with Shawn McGlynn (#81) of Kitchener, in control of the points chase, being trailed by Josh Wood (#66) of London, and Jake ‘The Juicebox’ Ott (#60) of Ayr.
The night started with qualifying, and Jason Meyer (#93) of Tillsonburg set the fast time early, with a lap of 16.758 seconds. The mark would stand for 14 qualifiers until McGlynn went .05 seconds quicker to snatch the top time away. That mark would only last until the next run as Ott climbed on the wheel and ripped off a lap of 16.567 seconds, good enough to take the top qualifier award away, and nail down some bonus points, putting McGlynn second, and Meyer third. Wood was fourth, with Chad McGlynn (#18) of Kitchener fifth.
The Lucas Oil ‘Fast Five’ assembled on the front straight and were all paired up with lucky youngsters, as they drew their starting positions for the 100-lap main. The blind draw put Shawn McGlynn on the pole, with Meyer on the outside of the front row. Chad McGlynn and Wood filled row two, with Ott rolling off fifth.
The field would be slowed by a pair of early yellows, as Meyer suffered enough damage to end his night, and on the next restart it was Shawn McGlynn on the point with Ott giving chase. On lap 14 Ott made the pass for the lead, with Wood coming to second shortly after that. The races third yellow flag flew on lap 42, and on the next restart, Dan Prudhomme (#96) of Thamesford, restarted third. He was able to bypass Wood and move to the runner-up spot before another yellow flew shortly after the halfway point, putting Prudhomme on the outside for the restart.
Prudhomme, a former Flamboro winner, blasted to the front and took command on a lap 56 restart, but he was unable to shake ‘The Juicebox’, as Ott quickly reeled him back in and started to put pressure on Prudhomme. On lap 59, Ott had a run on the inside down the front straightaway and Prudhomme tried to slam the door. The pair made contact and Dan did a tremendous job saving the car as he slid up the banking. Ott would reassume the lead, and started to put distance between himself and the second-place car.
Prudhomme came under assault in the closing laps from Wood, and was unable to hold off the second-place runner in the championship standings, as Josh made the move and took second position, but with no more yellow flags, he was unable to mount a charge on Ott, who had opened up a healthy lead.
Ott took the checkers for his series leading third win in seven events, with Wood second and Prudhomme third.
Doug Cathcart (#48) of Ottawa, overcame a poor 15-place qualifying effort to race his way to a season best fourth-place result, while Tim ‘The Intimidator’ Tolton (#3) of Guelph, rallied from his 11th-place time trial result to a fifth-place finish.
After leading early, championship leader Shawn McGlynn struggled before a flat right front tire sent his ride into the wall. The damage would cause him to lost a number of laps, as he finished 15th, seeing his point lead shrink from 25 to a mere 11 marker advantage heading into the final race of the season.
Ott spoke about his performance, as he led a race-high 84 laps, “It was a great night for us. We came and tested earlier this week and found that we needed a different gear for tonight, and it helped us in the race. I knew we had a good car, and the only time I was really worried was when Prudhomme got past me on the restart. He actually pulled away by a couple of car lengths, but I quickly got in my rhythm and caught him. When I got to him, I could see that his wheels were pointing left and right while he was getting off the corner and that he was really working to stay out front. I was able to roll the corners so much better, and I got a run on him, and got inside. He said after that his spotter made an error and cleared him when he wasn’t clear, and that’s when I got into him. I’m glad he saved the car. After that I just concentrated on rolling the corners and hitting my marks. Josh was able to get close when I was hung up behind some lapped traffic, but after I got clear I was able to put some more distance on him. This is just a great run for our team, and while we’re down in the championship, we’re not quitting. It’s also great to win our third race of the season.”
Wood used his second-place finish to move back into serious championship contention heading into the season finale,
“Jake was fast and we had a second-place car. While it might have looked like we needed a yellow to have a shot at him, my car was better in the long run, and it might have ended hurting us. We didn’t have the fastest car tonight, but we had a good points night. I don’t wish anything bad on Shawn McGlynn, but his bad luck was our good luck tonight, and now we have a much better shot at the championship heading into the final race.”
Prudhomme was pleased with the third-place finish, “We come out to race for fun, and it was a pretty fun night. Our spotter is new and made a little error, clearing me when I wasn’t clear. That’s when Jake gave me a tap, but I don’t blame him for it. We’re not in the championship picture, but that wasn’t what this year was about for us. It’s always fun to be up front, and this is a decent finish for our race team.”
Flamboro Speedway Feature Finish: 1.Ott, 2. Wood, 3. Prudhomme, 4. Cathcart, 5. Tolton.
Points (after 7 of 8 events) – 1. S. McGlynn (708 points), 2. Wood (697), 3. Ott (687), 4. Dan Prudhomme (658), 5. Doug Cathcart (635).
The Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup Series will get over a month off until the last event of the championship chase on Saturday October 5th, as the headliner on Saturday night of Flamboro Speedway’s annual Octoberfest event. The season finale at the Hamilton-area 1/3rd-mile has become a series tradition, and with the championship far from over, an entire season is on the line for three drivers when the buckle up for the final 100-lapper of the season.
For more information on the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup Series, or Flamboro Speedway, please visit www.lucasoilsportsmancup.com, or www.flamborospeedway.net, or contact Series Director Dave Alexander at dalexand@sympatico.ca.
Release by: Jamie Maudsley and www.maudsleymotorsports.com.
{fcomment}
Discussion about this post