By Clayton Johns (@cjohnsmedia) – Oro Station, Ont. – Brent McLean (No. 7 Bowmanville Home Building Centre Chevrolet) led start to finish at Barrie Speedway on Saturday night for his third career OSCAAR Modified victory.
Brent led all 30 laps, fending off Gary McLean, to complete the ‘hat-trick’ after he won both of his Klotz Synthetics qualifying heat races earlier in the night.
“The car was not perfect, but it was good,” said Brent following the win. “When you’re out front you have clean air and you can use the whole track. I knew if I stuck on the bottom he wasn’t getting around me because he didn’t seem good enough to go around the outside.”
“My dad was telling me ‘just hit your marks’. That’s what I did. I didn’t look in my mirror or anything,” said Brent. “The last five laps, I’m not going to lie, I was getting pretty nervous that he was going to put the bumper to me, but it turned out well.”
Brent’s heat race wins allowed him to pull the second starting position for the feature with Davey Terry (No. 14 Wasteco Toyota) starting on the pole.
Brent got the early jump, leading the first lap while Terry settled for second. Matt Barton (No. 2 MDB Racecars Chevrolet) held down the third spot in the early laps, but was eager to get by Terry.
The battle for the second-spot culminated in a lap nine caution when Barton got in to Terry out of turn four, sending the No. 14 to the infield grass. Both drivers would be forced to restart at the tail of the field.
The ensuing restart would see Brent McLean leading the field back to green with Gary McLean to his outside. Brent got the better jump off the restart to hold down the top spot, but admitted he was worried the veteran would get around him.
“I was little worried he was going to be able to get by on the outside,” said Brent. “I didn’t know how good he was and whether he was laying back or not. But we held him off and kept it out front.”
With the second-place finish, Gary fell one spot shy of his 10th career OSCAAR victory.
“He had good track position,” said Gary. “He’s got a good bunch of guys behind him telling him what he should be doing and what he shouldn’t be doing.”
Gary attached himself to the back bumper of the No. 7 for the closing laps of the race, but wasn’t able to gain the advantage to power past the third-year modified driver.
“I didn’t expect him to make any mistakes and he didn’t. He hit his marks every time,” said Gary. “I had ample opportunity to use the front bumper and remind him I was there. It would have maybe got him flustered, sometimes you can do that with young drivers, but he’s not so much the same way.”
Gary tagged the outside wall on the backstretch early in the race which, he said, hurt the car’s performance at the end of the race.
“It’s probably going to affect the rest of the week, because we have a whole lot of work to do,” said Gary. “It knocked the rear end over a bit and the rims were warped bad enough it shook like the devil.”
Brad Pearsall (No. 1B Plaza Kia) raced his way up to the front after starting fourth to finish third. Pearsall made his first start of the season and turned in an impressive performance to earn a podium finish.
“Just to have a podium finish in this series to begin with is incredible,” said Pearsall. “To unload and be as fast as we were, I can’t say enough about the people that have helped me out. Jeff Walt, he has been a huge help. He has got the car dialed in for me.”
“I’m looking forward to what he has in store next. If it’s this fast right out of the box, I think we’ve got a lot more speed to find,” added Pearsall.
David McCullough (No. 39M Oaks Auto Chevrolet) had an impressive and consistent run to finish fourth, his best career OSCAAR finish.
Barton rebounded from the early race incident to finish fifth, his second consecutive top-five finish.
The OSCAAR Modified tour is back in action next Friday, June 21 at Delaware Speedway for the first of two trips to the London, Ont.-area oval.
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Results: Barrie Speedway 30-lap Feature (Starting Position in Parentheses)
1. 7 Brent McLean (2); 2. 8 Gary McLean (5); 3. 1B Brad Pearsall (4); 4. 39M David McCullough (7); 5. 2 Matt Barton (3); 6. 14 Davey Terry (1); 7. 11 Dave Osborne (8); 8. 13 Bobby Tolton (11); 9. 47 Brian McLean (9); 10. 91 Mike Westwood (10); 11. 67jr Branden Bullen (DNS); 12. 34 George Woods (DNS).
Klotz Qualifying Heat Winners: 7 Brent McLean (2); 8 Gary McLean (2).
The OSCAAR Super Late Model tour is presented by a number of dedicated sponsors throughout Ontario, including: Knightworks Design, Hoosier Racing Tire, Klotz Synthetics Canada, Race2way.ca, Dave Franks Photos, Dickson Printing, Finishline Fabrication, McColl Racing Enterprises, McGunegill Engine Performance, Stefko Racing Engines, VP Racing Fuels, OntarioOval.com, RaceTime Radio, Inside Track Motorsport News, Jenco Equipment, Midas of Orangeville, Reinhart Trailer Sales, North Toronto Auctions, and South Shore Services.
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