This weekend, the OSCAAR Modifieds will take their battle to the beach….Sauble beach that is as they take on Sauble Speedway. With action that has impressed fans so far this year, it is no doubt that Sauble will just add to that.
In the series’ inaugural visit to Sauble Speedway, it was Steve Smith taking the victory. Smith did attempt to make a start at Delaware Speedway earlier this year, however did not start the feature due to mechanical problems. Whether Smith will have those problems fixed and be at Sauble is yet to be seen.
Coming into the season, the question was whether anybody could beat Gary McLean. Well, so far, Brent McLean has accomplished that feat.
Brent McLean has won two features (Barrie June 15th, Sunset June 29th) and leads the points, seven ahead of Gary. In the three races that Brent hasn’t won, he has finished second twice and eighth. Sauble was good for Brent last year as he finished second behind Smith.
Gary, meanwhile, didn’t have the best run at Sauble last year as he finished 13th out of 14 cars after being involved in an incident on lap 21 on the backstretch. Gary is having a solid season so far, finishing first, second, second and fourth in the first four races. However, he did run into problems at Sunset on June 30th after suffering damage on the first lap in an incident that involved Davey Terry and Brian McLean.
Speaking of Davey Terry, despite making heavy contact with the inside front stretch wall on Sunday June 30th, Terry has announced that he will have his modified back together in one piece and ready to go for Sauble. After having a solid rookie season last year that included a fourth place finish at Sauble, Terry came into the year as one of the favorites to possibly grab his first feature victory.
Terry started off the year well with a fourth and a sixth, however has come across some problems in the three features that followed. At Delaware Speedway, Terry had an eventful evening that included a fire at one point, before bringing home a 10th place finish in the feature. At Sunset Speedway, Terry ran into mechanical problems, cutting his feature short on Saturday, followed by the wreck on Sunday on the opening lap. Will he be able to turn the season around at Sauble? That’s what the Erin, Ontario native is hoping.
Matt Barton had a solid run last year at Sauble Speedway as came home with a fifth place feature finish. Barton has ran strong so far this year up front each week, currently sitting fourth in points. That is also with missing an event this year as he missed the Sunday June 30th Sunset Speedway feature due to the damage done to his modified on Saturday’s feature (ninth place finish).
Rookie Branden Bullen will be looking for his second straight top five after finishing fourth at Sunset Speedway on June 30th. The fourth place finish for Bullen marked a solid finish after some struggles to start the season.
Rookie Bobby Tolton has been hard at work on fixing his modified after being involved in a last lap crash at Sunset Speedway that caused heavy damage to the side of his modified. The Tolton Motorsports driver hopes to be out at Sauble Speedway.
Rookie Shane Stickle made his OSCAAR Modified debut at Sunset Speedway last month, where he finished seventh and fifth across the two days. He will look to continue his string of success this weekend.
Brad Pearsall was quick both days at Sunset Speedway, finishing second on night one while finding trouble on night two. Pearsall has three top fives in four OSCAAR starts so look for him to run upfront. Pearsall finished seventh at Sauble last year.
Barry Newman has also been fast this year, finishing third on night one at Sunset while like Pearsall, finding trouble on night two. Newman has two top fives in three OSCAAR starts so he is another one to watch.
If the No. 34 team brings their modified to Sauble Speedway, look for Brandon Watson to once again be behind the wheel, looking for another top 10 finish to go with his seventh and third at Sunset Speedway.
David Mccullogh missed Sunset Speedway on June 29th and 30th, but did finish seventh at Delaware Speedway last month to go with a fourth at Barrie Speedway and fifth at Sunset in May. If he makes it to Sauble Speedway, look for him to challenge for a top five finish.
Dave Osbourne continues to learn his new modified with each week and hasn’t missed a week yet so he will be another one that will be attendance this weekend.
Brian McLean has struggled so far this year, running upfront at times but struggling other times, so it’ll be interesting to see whether he can work out the corks with his ride. He finished sixth last year at Sauble.
With regardless of who shows up and the details written here, it promises to be a good show as the modifieds never disappoint with their 30 lap features. Make sure to join us at Sauble Speedway for racing at 7pm, with a 6:20pm autograph session.
