Two feature wins, 11 top fives and 13 top 10s across the 14 feature races. 14 heat wins and 26 heat top fives in 28 races. Those numbers alone spell success and that was the result of Mike Bentley’s 2013 season at Sunset Speedway. His success culminated with him winning the track’s 2013 Limited Late Model Championship.
Though it’s not that success alone that has Bentley pinned as one of the top drivers in the province of Ontario.
He is a two-time winner of Barrie Speedway’s year end invitational – the Garry Reynolds Memorial. He finished second to Dwayne Baker this year.
He has won Sunset Speedway’s Velocity 250 and worked his way through the field to finish inside the top five despite making a mid-race pit stop.
He won the Ocktoberfest Classic in 2012.
Though beyond that, he is a back-to-back winner of the Autumn Colours Classic 113 Pro Late Model Feature, the biggest event of the Ontario racing season.
Well, now the Guelph, Ontario driver is taking his show on the road as he is heading down to 5 Flags Speedway to run the Snowflake 100, scheduled for December 7th, the eve of 5 Flags Speedway’s legendary Snowball Derby Super Late Model race.
“We’ve had so much success in Ontario these last 3 seasons, I can’t wait to see where I stack up against some of the best talent in North America,” Bentley told Spencer Lewis in an article released by Inside Track last month. “This is going to be our biggest challenge by far, but I’m confident that we can put together a package capable of competing alongside the best.
“We’re headed for Florida with the intentions of representing everyone back home. It’s tough enough just to make it into the show, but we’re heading down with full intentions of becoming the first Canadian team to ever win it.”
Bentley will look to become the first Canadian driver to win the event, driving a Grand American Race Cars-built chassis out of the shop of Mount Forest, ON’s Streamline Race Products.
“My whole team is so excited for this opportunity. Shaun [McWhirter, founder of SRP] and I have spoken a lot about putting something together for this event, and all the pieces are starting to fall into place”, Bentley said.
Sponsorship packages are available for the No. 51 Late Model and those looking to support the Bentley Motorsports team, can contact Mike via twitter – @MikeBentley51.
