July 15, 2013- While the 2013 season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Speedway will end sooner than originally planned, the championship battles could very well come down to the year’s final checkered flag.
With two nights of action remaining on the abbreviated schedule, only the Lucas Oil Pure Stock title appears to be decided. Oshawa’s Willy Howells will most likely head to his second consecutive crown in the 4 cylinder brigade. The driver of the #19 Honda Prelude has a commanding lead in the standings and is more than 50 points ahead of his nearest rival.
Rolling into the Saturday, July 13th event, the closest fight in the track’s three regular divisions had to be in the ranks of the Bob’s Towing Thunder Cars.
Howie Crowe entered the fray with a slight two point lead over Ken Donaldson Jr. and a hard-charging Bob Kish was only 11 markers from the top spot. Donaldson looked to be headed for another strong finish, but contact while passing a slower car dropped him to the tail of the field for a late race restart.
With defending track champion John Baker Jr. finding the race winning set-up, the chase became even tighter and kept officials working overtime to determine the standings at the end of the night. The Thunder Car drivers will have a week off Saturday, July 20th before closing-out the abridged calendar.
While not nearly as tight as their Thunder Car brethren, the Late Model title will be determined in an all-out fight to the finish. Last year’s champ Kyle ‘Wheely’ Donaldson has claimed the last two main events, but hasn’t been able to gain much ground on Stouffville, Ontario’s Darren Kearnan who is 21 points behind the driver of the powerful #53 Chevrolet. Colborne’s Linc Brown sits third, just 10 makers back of Kearnan, while opening night feature winner Mark Gordon of Richmond Hill is 13 points behind the driver of the #99 Dodge.
Although work commitments as a professional firefighter forced Scott Harrison to miss the Saturday, July 6th action, his black and green #12 Chevrolet sits fifthth and has turned in some strong finishes. Despite being mathematically eliminated for the hunt himself, Harrison could still play the role of spoiler in the championship chase.
Saturday at the Park: Action at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Speedway Saturday, July 20th is presented by James Printing & Signs and will include the Lucas Oil Pure Stocks, Late Models and Techtonix Open Wheel Modifieds.
The Saturday, July 27th season finale is a five division show with the Pure Stocks, a 40 lap Bob’s Towing Thunder Car special, Late Models, Open Wheel Modifieds and the Ontario Pro Challenge Series. Racing will have a special early start time, with the night’s first green flag at 5:30.
See www.canadiantiremotorsportpark.com for all the schedule details and follow the track on Facebook or Twitter.
Fans are reminded to catch the Durham Radio Motorsport Minute every Friday afternoon for a preview of action at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Speedway. Check the New Country FM KX96, Durham’s Classic Hits CKDO 107.7 FM/1580 AM and 94.9 The Rock schedules for airtimes.
Prepared by: Jim Clarke – Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media
clarkemotorsports@hotmail.com/ 613.968.6410
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