Hello once again CRO faithful!!
.. Just a quick report on Night # 13 festivities at the High Line. As the title suggests the LLM 30 lap feature wins went to #02 Shawn Murray of Alliston, who picked up the win in the first segment after starting on the pole, while #19 Keith McLeod of Barrie took the win in the second feature.. Second week in a row with a feature win for the young upstart Murray, while McLeod would gain 7 points on the night on point leader #48 Dwyane Baker of Stayner, narrowing the margin between the two from 51 to 44 heading into action next weekend. Speaking of Baker, he would pretty much get boxed in for both feature races, although he broke free of the pack alot sooner in the 2nd feature in which he managed a 2nd place finish. For only the second time (in my memory) since we went to the double features 2 or 3 seasons ago, both went races caution free, just the first of many zany things to happen but more on that a bit later.
In the feature Murray took the lead from pole, after outside pole sitter #33 Dave Lewis seemed to be "sleepin at the switch" from the drop of the green, as the duo of #57 Ron "The Dominator" Quesnelle and #14 "Hurricane" Thayne Hallyburton were also quick to pass Lewis to the inside between turns 1&2 just a couple laps in. Quesnelle, would quickly look for a way around leader Murray on the high side out of turn 2, but there didnt seem to be much of an outer groove on this night, as Quesnelle was forced to check back into line in 2nd. Approaching lap ten, the best battle on track was the race for 3rd, as #10 Gord Shepherd began to really crank up the heat on Hallyburton for that spot, but Gord was forced to back out of a potential low pass out of turn 4, as the duo came into lapped traffic. Murray, had built up a 3 car length lead over Quesnelle at this point, running laps just a shade over 15 seconds, with Quesnelle again closing in and having one last look on the final lap low in turn 4, but being unable to get around. Give 1st to Murray, 2nd to Quesnelle, 3rd to Hallyburton, 4th to Shepherd, and 5th to #69 Al "Red Rocket" Inglis.
In the 2nd 30, it was the 33 of Lewis who took the lead from the outside pole, with McLeod and Shepherd also making early progression on the outside line to check into 2nd and 3rd, after working around #74 Roy Manary. On lap 4, Shepherd had a solid look inside of McLeod in turn three, but was unable to make a pass stick. Lewis, was still looking cool on the front end, when the pressure from Shepherd would seemingly light a fire under McLeod, who caught up with leader Lewis on lap 11, executing one of the few outside moves on the night in turn 3 to wrestle away the point. McLeod, like Murray in the race before him, was running just a shade over 15 second laps on the front end, with Shepherd still pinned to his bumper, after the 10 disposed of Lewis a few laps after the McLeod pass. Lewis, fell back into the clutches of rookie Hallyburton, and the two waged an impressive and clean dice for 3rd, with Hallyburton eventually picking up the spot just past the midway mark. On lap 19, the man on the move was the 48 of Baker, who worked past Lewis to notch 4th in the running order, eventually running down and getting inside Hallyburton between turns 1&2 a short while later to claim third. At this point in the race, McLeod was now clear of Shepherd by 3 or 4 car lengths, after the 10 got a great run to the inside of the leader out of turn 2, I think perhaps Keith pinched Gord off a bit , forcing him crossways, enabling McLeod to move out to the afore mentioned lead. With 3 laps remaining, Baker pulled alongside Shepherd for the runner up post, with the duo racing door handle to door handle to the checkered, as Baker just nipped Shepherd at the line. McLeod, would drive on to take his 6th feature win of the season. Point leader Baker finished up in 2nd, marking only the 2nd time this season the 48 hasnt one at least one of the feature races, while Shepherd finished a solid 3rd, with Hallyburton and Inglis rounding out the fast five.
Sorry Thunders and 4 bangers but duty calls so can only post results for the time being.
Thunder Car feature was won by point leader #10 Rick Walt, marking his 7th feature victory of 2012. Walt, was chased to the line in a very messy race by #44 Dave "The Deuce" Doucette who finished 2nd at the stripe.. The 44 really seems to be gaining some steam, so I'd look for him to perhaps grab that elusive first feature win in the coming weeks. Rookie #39 Travis Hallyburton finished a strong 3rd, with #12 Jim "Polish Prince" Belesky, and #72 "Pistol" Pete Marquardt rounding out the top 5. First career top 5 for the 72, so that's a real nice accomplishment for that team.
Heat wins went to Doucette with a pair, Rick Walt, and Hallyburton.
Pure Stock 20 lapper went to 2010 track champ #15 Will Davies, who claimed victory for the 2nd week in sucession. #14 Billy Melenhorst, would finish a game 2nd, and was right on Davies tail through the latter half of the race. #9 Charlie Smith would finish a tidy third, while #11 Adam Misener and #57 Ryan Toon rounded out the top 5. My quick match sees Smith retaking the point lead from Misener, with just 2 markers separating the two front runners approaching racing next weekend.. Again thats unofficial, cant really count on my math!!
Heat wins went to Melenhorst with a pair, Smith, and Misener.
That's all I have for now, enjoy the remainder of the holiday weekend folks... Signing out....... FROM THE CHEAP SEATS!!!!!
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=16041.msg103815#msg103815
