Jeff Locke would lead all 75 laps at Sunset Speedway to take the victory in the ISMA Super Modified feature at Sunset International Speedway in Innisfil, Ontario, Canada.
“First of all, great facility; great place,” Locke said afterwards. “I really appreciate Sunset Speedway for having us. I hope we put on a good show for the fans. A good turn-out. Starting out front was a good thing; track position was key. It was really hard to pass. Once you get a lot of laps on the tires, you start slipping and sliding a little bit and we were able to keep it up front and here we are.”
In speaking of the biggest challenge of racing the Super Modified, Locke said, “Trying to maximize your horsepower without driving the tires off of it. Trying to save your tires to the end because you have so much power with these things, it’s hard to keep it stuck to the race track. Trying to balance between the two is the most difficult.”
Locke started the afternoon by winning the first heat ahead of Jon McKennedy, Mike Lichty, Johnny Benson and Ryan Litt.
Lou Cicconi won the second heat ahead of Ben Seitz, Alison Cumens, Tim Ice and Dan Bows. Cicconi also set the quickest time of the day in this heat when he ran a lap of 12.099 seconds, setting a new track record.
Ryan Coniam won the final heat ahead of Moe Lilje, Mark Sammut, Rob Summers and Dave McKnight.
Come feature time, Jeff Locke would start on pole followed by Alison Cumens, Mark Sammut, Ryan Coniam and Lou Cicconi.
The field would start two-wide with Locke grabbing the early lead ahead of Cumens, Mike Litchy and Ryan Coniam. They would quickly sort out to single-file with everyone nose-to-tail, trying to pass. In the process, Litchy and Coniam made contact, resulting in Litchy being done for the night due to leaking fluid. At this point, Locke led Cumens, Coniam, Cicconi, McKennedy, Seitz, Sammut, Ice, Benson, Summers and Lilje.
They would restart single-file with everybody pretty much staying in line all the way as the leader Locke worked his way by the lap car of Bowes. Cumens would start to close the gap between herself and Locke as the laps wound down and would get her shot at passing when a caution flew with eight laps to go for Cicconi stopping in turn two. Locke would restart in the lead, followed by Cumens, Coniam, McKennedy, Seitz, Ice, Sammut, Benson, Summers and Bowes.
Locke would get a good restart, pulling ahead of Cumens and Coniam while Seitz and McKennedy battled for fourth.
Jeff Locke would lead the final seven laps to win the feature for his first ISMA Super Modified feature victory of the season. Alison Cumens would finish second, followed by Ryan Coniam, Ben Seitz and Jon McKennedy. Tim Ice finished sixth, followed by Rob Summers, Moe Lilje, Ontario native Mark Sammut and Bowes.
Lou Cicconi would finish 11th after his problems while Johnny Benson finished 12th after pulling off due to mechanical problems. For Benson, the 2008 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion, this marked his final career ISMA Super Modified start as he is retiring from racing. Dave McKnight finished 13th followed by Ryan Litt and Mike Lichty. Both Litt and Lichty were hoping for better showings with being from Ontario.
