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[/media-credit]At the end of the 30-lap feature for the Ontario Pro Challenge series as part of Velocity 250 weekend, it’d be Tim Norris taking the victory to cap off his second straight championship in a row.
In the first heat, there’d be trouble right away as Tim Shanahan would go for a spin in turn four on lap one after contact from Matt Marshall. Then on lap three, Justin Billington would spin in turn four while leading. That would hand the lead over to Ken Lillycrop. On lap six, Rick Seeley would go for a spin in turn two.
Then on lap seven, the fourth caution of the 10-lap heat would come out when Dario Valente would spin Owen Smith, followed by Kyle Batty also spinning. In the end, it’d be Lillycrop taking the victory, ahead of Patrick Freel, Valente, Dale Wilson, Marshall, Billington, Seeley, Smith, Batty and Shanahan.
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[/media-credit]In the second heat, the race would start with Ken Crowhurst stalling and as the field slowed up for the caution on the front stretch, Josh Nicholson would spin, collecting Dennis Thomson. In the end, it’d be Norris taking the victory, ahead of Mike Taylor, Ken Nicholson, Tim Forbes, Andrew Sloot, Chris McIssac and Crowhurst.
Once it came feature time, it’d be Ken Lillycrop starting on pole, followed by Patrick Freel, Dale Wilson, Justin Billington, Tim Norris, Dennis Thomson, Mike Taylor, Ken Nicholson, Tim Forbes, Josh Nicholson, Patrick Seeley, Kyle Batty, Owen Smith, Tim Shanahan, Andrew Sloot, Chris McIssac and Dario Valente.
Lillycrop would grab the early lead ahead of Freel while Norris and Billington battled for third. Norris would get by Billington, and then also get by Freel to move up to the second spot. So on lap three, it was Lillycrop leading Norris and Dennis Thomson while Freel battled with Ken Nicholson for fourth. Nicholson would clear Freel on lap four while both Thomson and Norris would slip past Lillycrop in turn three, putting them side-by-side for the lead.
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[/media-credit]Thomson and Norris would run side-by-side for the lead till lap eight, when Norris would grab the lead ahead of Thomson while Nicholson battled with Lillycrop for third. Nicholson would clear Lillycrop on lap nine, leaving Lillycrop to battle with Taylor for fourth. Lillycrop would hold off Taylor on lap 10, allowing Josh Nicholson to get alongside Taylor for fifth. They would run side-by-side till lap 13, when Josh Nicholson then moved up to fourth ahead of Taylor and Lillycrop.
So at the halfway mark at lap 15, it’d be Tim Norris leading Dennis Thomson, Ken Nicholson, Josh Nicholson, Mike Taylor and Ken Lillycrop.
On lap 17, Kyle Batty would make his way down pit road.
The first caution of the 30 lap feature would come out on lap 21 when Andrew Sloot would go for a spin.
Then on the restart, there’d be another caution when Dale Wilson would spin in turn two after entering the corner three-wide with two other competitors.
With eight laps to go, it’d be Norris continuing to lead Thomson, K. Nicholson, Taylor, J. Nicholson, Lillycrop, Forbes, Billington, Seeley, Smith, Freel, Valente, McIssac and Valente.
After the restart, the top five would mostly run single-file, except for J. Nicholson passing Taylor, and then Taylor slipping back past J. Nicholson on lap 25 when Nicholson got loose. That’d only be the start of the problems for J. Nicholson as he would bring his car down pit road on lap 26.
In the end, it’d be Tim Norris taking the win, ahead of Dennis Thomson, Ken Nicholson, Mike Taylor and Tim Forbes. Lillycrop finished sixth, followed by Billington, Seeley, Smith and Freel.
