Hanley Comes From the Back for Velocity Win
By Clayton Johns (@cjohnsmedia)
Stroud, ON – Jeff Hanley (#70 Raylene Racing Toyota) drove from the back of the field all the way to the winner’s circle in the final event of the Velocity Weekend at Sunset Speedway Sunday night. Hanley started on the pole for the 50-lap feature, but was sent to the back of the field on lap two. The demotion did not seem to hinder Hanley’s efforts as he took the lead from Rob Clarke (#49 London Mechanical/HRP/JBM Leasing Chevrolet) on a lap 34 restart before taking the car to Victory Lane.
“I had a car to win all day. We came here Wednesday, ran 150 laps. It pays to come and practice once and a while,” said Hanley. “This car at Sunset could run on top of the wall. I didn’t have an issue getting back to the front, I knew the car would be there.”
Round nine of the tour got off to a slow start with five cautions coming in the first four laps as the largest field of the season to date, 26 cars, struggled to sort itself out.
The worst of the five cautions came on a lap one restart when Hanley made contact with George Wilson (#77 Port City Racecars/Morollo Racing Engines/Union Cab/Let The Fur Fly Ford) off of turn four coming to the green, sending the #77 barrelling hard in to the inside retaining wall. It was this incident that sent Hanley to the tail of the field. Following the race, Wilson explained that he did not sustain any injuries, but that the car would require a new front clip. As a result, he could not guarantee his attendance in the final two events of the season.
The race was green for 12 laps which saw Derrick Tiemersma (#7 Wayfrieght/Spira Fire Protection Chevrolet) lead a lap before giving way to ‘magic shoes’ Clarke. In the meantime, Hanley had already worked his way back up to the sixth spot.
J.R. Fitzpatrick (#27 Jenco Equipment/Passer Racing Chevrolet), in his OSCAAR debut, held down the third spot throughout the run, which was halted on lap 17. The cause was contact between Shawn McGlynn (#81 Chevrolet) and Tyler Hawn (#42 Backwoods Maple Syrup/Fox’s Bakery/Hosking Racing Engines Chevrolet) in turn four.
Three laps and one caution later, Shawn Chenoweth (#29 KR Communications/Transaxle Parts/Boyder Systems Chevrolet) was looped around in turn four. Chenoweth had been running in the fourth position at the time.
At lap 22, Hanley overtook Fitzpatrick for second and began to chase down Clarke for the lead. The Georgetown, ON native Hanley would be helped by a caution with 16 to go after Wayne Isaacs (#00 Atlantic Auto Body Chevrolet), making his season debut, and Shane Maginnis (#03 Budds GM Collision/Partimer Signs Chevrolet) tangled in turn four, which left debris at the top of the racetrack
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The final restart of the race gave Hanley his best opportunity to retake the lead as he started outside Clarke on the front row. Hanley dueled with Clarke for a pair of laps before pulling ahead of the #49. Hanley would cross the stripe ahead of Clarke, who would not defend his 2011 title at the event.
“I think if we stayed under green we probably could have kept the line,” said Clarke. “Jeff (Hanley) was real stout on the restart and I was tight. I ran in to him on the restart, and I wasn’t going to do that (anymore).”
Jesse Kennedy (#10 Bev’s Auto Body/GRE/Cameron Crane Chevrolet) finished third, to earn his first podium finish since his win at Barrie Speedway in June. With the top-three finish, Kennedy extended his lead in the rookie-of-the-year standings to a substantial nine points over Rob Poole (#45 Visser Farms/Alliston Auto Sales Chevrolet), who finished tenth.
“I’m happy to be on the podium. It’s been a long time,” said Kennedy. “We started 11th, so I was pretty happy.”
Brandon Watson (#9 Shear Metal Products/Barrie Frame and Alignment/Royal Distributing/Knightworks Design) finished eighth to extend his streak of top-ten finishes to nine races. Watson extended his points lead to 33 markers over Wilson, who suffered his first DNF of the year.
In his OSCAAR debut, Fitzpatrick would finish a very respectable fourth. The Cambridge, ON driver intends to run the final two events of the season in the #27 Passer Racing Chevrolet. Early in the race, Fitzpatrick looked to be challenging for the win, but said the team missed the setup slightly.
“It definitely faded. We came here with too much right-rear spring. It just got too free on me, so she became a handful for me at the end of the race. I had a lot of fun and the guys ran me really clean,” said Fitzpatrick.
The OSCAAR Super Late Models are back in action on Friday night for their fourth attempt at the running of the 14th annual Don Biederman Memorial. Further details regarding the event will be available later in the week. The event will run with the same schedule as was originally planned for the event on September 7.
Sunset Speedway – September 22/23, 2012
Results: Velocity 50
1. #70 Jeff Hanley, 2. #49 Rob Clarke, 3. #10 Jesse Kennedy, 4. #27 J.R. Fitzpatrick, 5. #40P Charlie Gallant, 6. #22 Glenn Watson, 7. #7 Derrick Tiemersma, 8. #9 Brandon Watson, 9. #29 Shawn Chenoweth, 10. #45 Rob Poole, 11. #13 Gary Passer, 12. #83 Ian Bourque, 13. #00 Wayne Isaacs, 14. #69 Mike Bricknell, 15. #63 Jim Bowman 44, 16. #23 Tom Milligan, 17. #98 Mike Hilliard, 18. #03 Shane Maginnis (DNF), 19. #64b Chris Burrows (DNF), 20. #42 Tyler Hawn (DNF), 21. #81x Shawn McGlynn (DNF), 22. #51 Dave Taylor (DNF), 23. #5 Quinn Misener (DNF), 24. #77 George Wilson (DNF), 25. #07 Todd Campbell (DNF), 26. #97 Brandon Vanderwel (DNF).
UNOFFICIAL Championship Standings
1. #9 Brandon Watson 598 Points; 2. #22 Glenn Watson 565; 3. #77 George Wilson 561; 4. #7 DerrickTiemersma 558; 5. #40P Charlie Gallant 553; 6. #10 Jesse Kennedy 539; 7. #07 Todd Campbell 496; 8. #29 Shawn Chenoweth 455; 9. #13 Gary Passer 447; 10. #45 Rob Poole 428; 11. #72 Paul Law 366; 12. #70 Jeff Hanley 342; 13. #51 Dave Taylor 341; 14. #49 Rob Clarke 322; 15. #63 Jim Bowman 315; 16. #5 Quinn Misener 310; 17. #14 Kyle Passer 282; 18. #7T Jeff Dunford 268; 19. #04 Rudy Oppersma 245; T-20. #27 Roy Passer 238; T-20. #42 Tyler Hawn 238; 22. #83 Ian Bourque 213; 23. #54 Mike Beyore 197; 24. #98 Mike Hilliard 172; 25. #18 Bruce Gowland 166; 26. #64b Chris Burrows 146; 27. #2 John Owen 127; 28. #03 Shane Maginnis 117; 29. #69 Mike Bricknell 96; 30. #05 Brad Corcoran 61; 31. #00 Wayne Isaacs 57; 32. #16 Rob Bickle 54; 33. #62 Lloyd Ritchie 51; 34. #71 Doug Wilson 50; T-35. #23 Tom Milligan; T-35. #81 Frank Tulipano; 37. #10x Brady Smith 43; 38. #81x Shawn McGlynn 42; 39. #97 Brandon Vanderwel 36.
UNOFFICIAL Rookie-of-the-Year Standings
1. #10 Jesse Kennedy 37 Points; 2. #45 Rob Poole 28; 3. #72 Paul Law 27; 4. #63 Jim Bowman 16; 5. #5 Quinn Misener 15; 6. #10x Brady Smith 2; 7. #71 Doug Wilson 1.
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