FITZPATRICK ADDS OSCAAR FEATURE WINNER TO RESUME:
This past weekend at Peterborough Speedway was one of the hottest weekends of the summer and the racing action was even hotter on the track.
For the past few weeks the #84 of JR Fitzpatrick had been the bridesmaid in feature competition as the #17 of Kevin Cornelius had a stranglehold on the top spot. Well as they say everything must come to an end and at the conclusion of the 50 lap feature event it was Fitzpatrick celebrating the victory at Peterborough Speedway.
The night started off with the #84 of Fitzpatrick taking the win in heat race #1. Glenn Watson who worked late into the night after finding mechanical issues took the win in heat race #2. Shawn Chenoweth had his #89c looking in fine form with a heat race win in the third qualifying event. Kevin Cornelius showed his competitors he was ready to keep the streak alive by taking the checker flag in the final qualifying event.
The final event of the night was the Dickies, London Recreational Racing fifty lap feature event and leading the field would be the #82 of Corey Jones on the pole and the #39 of Shane Gowan on his outside. These two drivers are great friends away from the track, but when it comes to racing they both want to beat each other bad.
At the drop of the green it was the #39 of Gowan getting the jump on the #82 of Jones and the #39 would lead the field for the nine laps of competition. The caution flag would wave slowing the field as the #39 of Gowan and the #22 of Watson would make contact down the front stretch, sending Watson sliding backwards towards the turn one wall. Managing to get the car slowed down and both making a pit stop, they were able to continue in the event. Just as the field was about to go green the #89c of Chenoweth would slow down the back stretch. With no power and no quick solution to fix the problem the team was sidelined for the night. The hard work and determination that this team puts forth each week will garner them that win before the season is complete.
The restart would see the #84 of Fitzpatrick line up on the pole with the #17 of Kevin Cornelius to his outside. The two would battle side by side before the #84 set sail and would go on to lead the rest of the feature event to record his first ever OSCAAR feature win.
Kevin Cornelius and his #17 team put on a great effort to continue that streak, and I will have to go back in the history books to see if it is a record for consecutive wins. With two events left Kevin has a strong point lead over the #84 of Fitzpatrick, as the battle for the championship nears its end.
Corey Jones, ran a great feature event and brought home his best finish in OSCAAR competition in 3rd position. This is just the shot in the arm this team needs as they suffered through a tough summer , and with the two events remaining Cory could just be the next first time winner. Roy Passer and his #27 team had some mechanical issues in practice, but hard work by his crew and fellow team members got the car running top notch and recorded a 5th place finish. Sean Grosman would round out the top 5 at Peterborough Speedway, and Sean and his team prepare to head back to his home track of Sunset Speedway for Velocity Weekend, he too would love to be the next first time winner in OSCAAR.
The past several weeks has been hard on some of the OSCAAR teams and they have been working long long hours in the shop to return to action. I can verify that the #b10 of Kelly Balson will be back in action at Sunset Speedway. Tyler Hawn and his #42 team have been burning the midnight oil for weeks and will be ready to debut their Brian McDonald chassis at Sunset in a couple of weeks. 2015 OSCAAR Champion #81 Andrew Gressel will be in attendance as well. The #07 of Todd Campbell will be ready to race along with the #63 of Jim Bowman. Rob Gibson and his black #3 will be ready for Velocity and rumour has a second entry out of the Passer stable for one of the top Sunset Speedway late model regulars. I also know of a few others that plan on attending but you will have to wait and follow the website as the announcements are made.
Dickies, London Recreational Racing Feature results: 1st #84 JR Fitzpatrick, 2nd #17 Kevin Cornelius, 3rd #82 Corey Jones, 4th #27 Roy Passer, 5th #29 Sean Grosman, 6th #13 Gary Passer, 7th #22 Glenn Watson, 8th #39 Shane Gowan, 9th #77 Craig Stephenson, 10th #89c Shawn Chenoweth
Top 5 in Championship Points: 1st #17 Kevin Cornelius 558 pts, 2nd #84 JR Fitzpatrick 500 pts, 3rd #22 Glenn Watson 487 pts, 4th #29 Sean Grosman 485 pts, 5th #82 Corey Jones 465 pts
Inside Track Hard Charger: 1st #17 Kevin Cornelius 59 pts, 2nd #84 JR Fitzpatick 33 pts, 3rd #39 Shane Gowan 32 pts, 4th #82 Corey Jones 24 pts, 5th #13 Gary Passer 21 pts.
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