Gary McLean Leads Flag-to-Flag in OSCAAR Modified Feature
Taking the lead off the drop of the green flag, Gary McLean led flag-to-flag in the OSCAAR Modified feature at Jukasa Motor Speedway.
“This is a cool place,” McLean said. “So happy with the car – everybody did a great job. To come here to a place where I remember watching races here, but to come back here and win, that’s pretty cool. To get the opportunity to race on this place is spectacular, but to win is even better.”
Kelly Balson won the first heat ahead of A.J. Emms, Gary Elliott, David Balych, Jason Bowden, and Jase Cornell.
The second heat saw Ryan Dick pick up the mechanical black flag. Jeff Showler picked up the win ahead of Gary McLean, Chris Milwain, Mark Gordon, and Duane Cinnamon.
Halfway through the third heat, there’d be a caution as Lane Zardo would make significant contact with the outside wall, ending his day early. John Harper picked up the win ahead of Cory Horner, Mike Hearty, Marshall Schrenk, and Tyler Di Venanzo.
Come feature time, Gary McLean drew the pole starting spot in the re-draw. Once the checkered flag fell, it didn’t take long for him to make it clear that he was the man to beat, taking the lead. Even with a mid-race restart and a challenge, he was unable to be passed, taking the win for his second victory of 2018.
“It was a great battle,” McLean spoke of the battle for the lead. “You know, A.J. had to miss last week due to an injury, and he’s back at it. He’s fast. He’s fast every week. The kid can drive a racecar. A lot of fun. I’d wish we get more guys like that who can drive them.”
After missing Kawartha, A.J. Emms ran second throughout the feature en route to a runner-up finish.
“Gary is doing an awesome job each and every week,” Emms said. “They definitely been the class of the field not just this year, but for a very long time. We’re very fortunate to be up here with him. I’m pretty proud of my crew. The handling went away at the end, but we got something we can work on for next week and we’re definitely proud to be here. To get a second place finish, especially here at Jukasa Motor Speedway – it’s a historic place and it means a lot to run upfront here.”
Jeff Showler scored a career-best third-place finish ahead of John Harper and Chris Milwain. Cory Horner utilized his sixth-place starting spot to turn it into a sixth-place finish ahead of Kelly Balson, Mike Hearty, Jason Keen, and Dale Reinhart.
Jason Bowden continued his strong rookie campaign with an 11th-place finish ahead of Marshall Schrenk, Gary Elliott, David Balych, and Mark Gordon. Jase Cornell finished 16th, followed by Tyler Di Venanzo in his OSCAAR debut. Duane Cinnamon and Ryan Dick ran into mechanical issues en route to their 18th and 19th respective finishes. Wally Wilson only made a couple laps in the feature en route to a 20th-place finish after suffering a crash in practice.
The OSCAAR Modifieds will be back at Jukasa Motor Speedway on June 23 and will be joined by the OSCAAR Hot Rod Series and Ontario Outlaw Super Late Model Series. Event details are located at
https://www.jukasamotorspeedway.com/ .
Fans are encouraged to check out the OSCAAR website at
http://www.oscaar.ca, while following the series across social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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