Wilson Takes Midas of Orangeville 50 at CTMP
Bowmanville, ON – George Wilson (#77 Port City Racecars/Morollo Racing Engines Ford) won for the second time in as many starts at the Midas of Orangeville 50 on the OSCAAR Super Late Models’ only stop at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) in 2012. The ‘Steel City Outlaw’ took the lead for the first time on lap five from Glenn Watson (#22 Rival Office Solutions/Shane Michaels RV/Williamson Uxbridge Chevrolet) before an intense battle with points leader Brandon Watson (#9 Shear Metal Products/Royal Distributing/ Knightworks Design Chevrolet) brought him to the checkered flag. The win comes after Wilson won the last points event at Sauble Speedway two weeks ago.
“I thought for sure a few times at the start when I was running the car hard I thought the car was going to go away. With the bumps in one and two, I thought we would cut a right-rear,” said Wilson.
The first caution of the night came at lap 12 as Kyle Passer (#14 Jenco Equipment Chevrolet) looped at the exit of turn two. OSCAAR Officials docked the leader Wilson one position for passing before the start-finish line on the initial start, subsequently handing over the lead to Brandon Watson. Wilson was frustrated with the decision, but would end up no worse for wear.
On lap 13, Glenn Watson fell off the pace and crawled to a stop in turn two as the veteran had cut a right-rear tire.
“Just had a flat on the right rear. I wasn’t sure what was going on so I just pulled up out of the way, tried to stay out of trouble,” said the defending champion. “It would have been nice not to have the flat and contend for the lead at the end. It is what it is.”
Watson, who started outside the front row, would go on to finish fifth after restarting at the tail.
Wilson would retake the lead on lap 15 after an aggressive move entering turn one saw him make contact with Brandon Watson before he completed the pass exiting turn four. The two drivers have become very familiar with one another this season, locking in to side-by-side battles in each event this season.
“George didn’t run me as clean as I would have liked,” said Watson in a post-race interview.
“I got a little heated underneath the helmet and got in to his door. I was really appreciative of Brandon and how good he was to me after that,” explained Wilson. “I ran a little hot in to one and I apologize for that. I’m glad he didn’t cut a tire and I’m glad he didn’t wreck. I’ve got total respect for him.”
The third and final caution of the night came on lap 18 as Passer spun on the frontstretch and would pull his ill-handling car behind the wall to end his night. It was a night of misfortunes for the Passer racing stable as Gary Passer blew a motor in afternoon practice and Kyle fought handling issues all evening.
Wilson and the younger Watson wold break away from the rest of the pack in a two-car tandem over the final 32 laps, eventually lapping all but the top seven cars. Watson challenged the leader on a number of occasions, looking for the bottom lane down the front-straightaway, but could not secure the inside line enough to make the pass. Over the final ten laps, Wilson extended his lead to as many as five lengths over the Stayner, ON teen as it appeared the #9 had begun to fade.
“My spotter was telling me Brandon was working so I just tried to correct and roll through the centre. I just hoped he didn’t get a good run on me. It’s nice to not just run away with it,” said Wilson.
“We kept up with him, we had the faster car. Held on for a while then the last ten laps it just faded away,” said Watson after the race.
Derrick Tiemersma (#7 Wayfreight/Spira Fire Protection Chevrolet) made a hard charge to the front after starting 10th to claim the third spot and finish on the podium. The finish was a medicine of sorts for the Holland Landing,ON driver who slid through a muddy infield at Sauble and finished outside the top-10.
“We’ve had a couple bad runs in a row, just racing bad luck and that gets you down a little bit. You need a good run once and a while. We started tenth, deep in the field, finish up third and with a straight race car. I’m happy with that tonight,” said Tiemersma.
Although the #7 was quick, Tiemersma didn’t feel he would have been able to catch the leaders even with extra laps.
Said Tiemersma, “You were using up all your stuff to get to the front. You’re spread out. We ran 30 laps green and it’s hard to catch somebody. We needed a caution to get back up there.”
Dave Taylor (#51 Napa Auto Parts/Elliot Auto/Ron Lee Sceptic/Cottage Country Paving Chevrolet) finished seventh after running as high as third. Taylor looked quick in his third consecutive start before the car appeared to fall off in the closing laps.
Charlie Gallant (#40P South Shore Services/East Point Marina/Pefferlaw Lawn Care Chevrolet) continued his strong campaign with a fifth consecutive top-ten finish, wrapping up the night in sixth. Gallant has yet to crack the top-five this season, but appears to be on the brink as the team has not experienced any incidents through five races. The Pefferlaw, ON pilot fell one spot to fifth in the championship standings.
Shawn Chenoweth (#29 KR Communications/Transaxle Parts/Boyder Systems Chevrolet) ran his third fifty lap feature in 24 hours Saturday night at CTMP. Chenoweth won the NOS Energy Drink 100 in his Super Stock at Delaware Speedway on Friday night before running at CTMP Saturday. Chenoweth moved up three spots to 10th in the championship standings after an eighth-place finish.
Paul Law (#72 Midas of Orangeville/Ron Little Trucking/Pawn Shop Orangeville Chevrolet) finished 10th in his return to CTMP, where he is a former late model regular. Acting as the title sponsor for the night, Law was quick in heats and drew the top spot in the invert draw to start on the pole, but was not able to maintain his top-five spot through the end of the race.
Brandon Watson won both of his Klotz Synthetics qualifying heats while George Wilson and Glenn Watson also picked up heat wins.
The OSCAAR Super Late Models are back in action in two weeks on Saturday August 4 at Peterborough Speedway to close out the first half of the schedule with another 50-lap A-Main. On the same night, the OSCAAR Modifieds will join the ISMA Super Modifieds at Delaware Speedway for a 25-lap feature.
By Clayton Johns (@cjohnsmedia)
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