AYR, Ont. (August 25, 2015) – JR Fitzpatrick turned in another impressive performance with the Dickies OSCAAR Outlaw Super Late Models presented by London Recreational Racing on Saturday at Sunset Speedway.
Fitzpatrick drove his Meineke Car Care/Transaxle Parts No.84 to a second-place finish, falling just short of his first career victory to Kevin Cornelius. The Ayr, Ont. driver was running third early on and in a battle for position with Cornelius at the front of the field.
“I got by him and moved up to third. Derrick Tiemersma got a little loose under Glenn Watson. I was right behind him and had to check up, so Cornelius got by me. Then the caution came out,” Fitzpatrick explained. “I was catching him at the end, I just ran out of time.”
The bottleneck at the front of the field led to a multi lap battle with Glenn Watson for the second position. The two drivers raced side-by-side for over 10 laps without contact.
“He got me a little bit down the straightaways and I had to fender it in there real deep to stay with him. We cornered a bit better than he could and it was an awesome race,” Fitzpatrick explained.
“I trusted him being out there and I’m sure he trusted me being on the bottom. A guy that’s as experienced as Glenn and has won as many championships as him, I can see why. He’s such a class act.”
The runner-up result was Fitzpatrick’s second in a row and the team believes they are on the cusp of their first career win.
“Ever since we went to Sauble with that crazy plan, everything’s working out. I’ve got crew chief Deon and he’s a smart cookie. Right now, it’s just so smooth and so fast. It’s crazy and I love it,” Fitzpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick tested a built motor before the Sunset event, but elected to remain with the Crate engine. The team appears to have made the right decision.
“We were fast, but not as consistent because you burn the right-rear tire off so quick. I decided I didn’t want to ruin what we had going so we put the Crate back in,” Fitzpatrick said. “The thing I like about the Crates, you can just mash the gas. I can’t kick the throttle hard enough and it obviously suits my style. I’m an erratic driver and it makes me a lot smoother.”
The series now shifts to Flamboro Speedway for the Don Biederman Memorial on Saturday, August 29. A first-career OSCAAR win in the Biederman Memorial would be a top accomplishment in Fitzpatrick’s career, he said.
“It would be pretty big. Not a lot of people know this, but Don Biederman used to hang around out shop a lot when I was a kid because he and my dad were buddies,” Fitzpatrick explained. “I don’t really remember much of him because I was pretty young, but it would be pretty cool to put my name on that trophy when a lot of good drivers have won that. I think we have the car to do it.”
Complete event details can be found at
www.oscaar.ca and
www.flamborospeedway.com.
---
Follow JR Fitzpatrick’s inaugural OSCAAR Super Late Model season on social media by ‘Liking’ his official Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/FitrzpatrickJR and by following @J_R_Fitzpatrick on Twitter.
JR Fitzpatrick’s 2015 OSCAAR Super Late Model season is presented by a number of dedicated sponsors, including: Meineke Car Care, Transaxle Heavy Truck & Trailer Parts, Cambridge Rigging, Equipment Express, Jenco Equipment, Bert, McColl Racing Enterprises, Creative Edge Signs, Wix Filters, Permatex, Driven Steering Wheels, Spray Nine, Deon Racecars, Clayton Johns Media and ImageFactor.ca Motorsport Designs.
Media Contact: Clayton Johns Media
claytonjohns@hotmail.com
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=21813.msg114322#msg114322
