Ryan Semple Breaks Through For First Victory of Season
After coming close and fighting all sorts of adversity to date this year, everything came together for Ryan Semple on Saturday night at Sunset Speedway, as he scored his first feature victory of 2017.
Semple was quick right from the get go on, winning his first heat, followed by a third-place finish in the second qualifier.
Starting the feature from the seventh position, he began to move forward from the drop of the green flag, battling Stefan Semeraro in the early stages for the seventh position. He would take it with ease, before moving up to sixth on Lap 5. He then got alongside Justin Holmes for fifth on Lap 7, passing him and Chris Allard a lap later to move up to fourth. Semple continued to move forward, getting by Brandon Passer for third on Lap 10, before passing Frank Davey a lap later to move up to second. The caution then flew a lap later for a car rolling to a stop in turn four.
Semple got a good restart, grabbing the lead ahead of the field, and holding on to it till the next caution flew on Lap 18. He got another good restart, once again easily leading the field till the third yellow flag flew at Lap 24. Another well played restart allowed him to get away from the field, but he was unable to simply set it into cruise control as another caution came out with four laps to go.
Semple didn’t let it phase him, though, getting another good and leading the rest of the way en route to scoring the victory.
“The guys – James, Bryan, Shaun, Justin – everybody worked dang so hard on this car, and we finally have it,” Semple said in victory lane. “Like we’ve been fast all year, but we finally have some luck on our side. I’m just so thankful. Half the cheering section is gone as they’re up to Sauble, so sorry they couldn’t be here, but whoever is here – thank you. Thanks to these amazing fans that are here tonight. Thanks to my amazing girlfriend for putting up with it. We got a new house, and yeah, I got to thank everyone.”
So far this season, Semple has been impressive on a weekly basis, with seven top-five’s in 12 races this season. He will look to capture his second feature victory of the year on August 12. Notably, it is a fan appreciation night so be sure to show up early so you can come down on the frontstretch and say hello to Ryan while picking up a hero card.
Semple Motorsports is proud to be supported by Auto Trim Design, Boston Pizza, The Co-operators – Lila J. Sloss & Associates, Hybrid Landscape Management, Hwy 400 Transmission, A Man’s Zone Barber Shop, Streamline Race Products, Canadoor Door Systems, Paul Sadlon Motors, and Big Red Oil Products for the 2017 season.
Be sure to like the Semple Motorsports facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/Semple-Motorsports-64-615482131938462/.
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