Peterborough, ON – Gary McLean (No.8 McLean Industrial Design) started on the pole for the second consecutive weekend and led all 30 laps at Peterborough Speedway on Saturday night for his third win this year.
“It feels good that the car was that good,” said McLean following the victory. “The guys did a little bit of work on it. It didn’t push too bad in the heats, but man did it come alive in the feature.”
McLean jumped out to an early lead while Brent McLean (No.7 Bowmanville Home Building Centre) settled in to the second spot after starting outside the front row. The win hands Gary the pole position for the Autumn Colours Classic on Thanksgiving weekend for the second consecutive year.
His win at Peterborough on Saturday night was his third in four starts with the OSCAAR tour.
The race was slowed three times for caution periods, including one red flag. The first caution of the night came on lap six when Dave Osborne (No.11 O’Neil Farm Supply/Ohsweken Speedway) spun in turn four and Branden Bullen (No.67jr Alliston Transmission) got turned around as he avoided the incident.
The second caution came following a 13-lap green fag run, when Osborne made contact with Dean Scott (No.19 Little Tracks Petting Zoo) at the exit of turn four, sending Scott spinning on to the infield grass.
Scott and Osborne would come together to on the front stretch under caution to exchange words, and emotions got the better of the two drivers as they both made contact with the outside wall. The contact ended the night for both drivers.
The ensuing restart would see the worst incident of the night. Brent McLean made contact with Brad Pearsall (No. 1B Plaza Kia) at the exit of turn four which pushed Pearsall on to the bottom lane with two tires in the grass.
Pearsall got sideways after touching the grass and came back across the track towards the outside wall just as the field was accelerating towards the start line. Pearsall had restarted third. Josh Gruntz (No.31 Dent Dynamics/Rockstar Energy Drink) had nowhere to go when Pearsall came across the track and hit the passenger side door of the No.1B with full force just below the starter stand.
John Harper (No.79 Transaxle Parts/Grisdale Racing Products) hit the back of Gruntz, but largely avoided damage. Pearsall and Gruntz got the worst of the incident, causing the red flag to fly.
“The only thing I saw out of the little side mirror was Pearsall getting down in to the grass and coming back up across,” said Gary. “I had to focus on where I was, but it looked like a mess. It’s a terrible thing to see because we had some good guys, some good cars and they’re all tore to heck.”
Gruntz took some time to get out of the car after being shaken up, but after the race said he suffered only bruising to his right hand and elbow. The car, however, was not so lucky. Gruntz estimated after the race the car was a near right off and would require a new front and rear clip.
Once the mess had been cleaned up, with Gruntz’s car being cradled off the track, Gary McLean was 11 laps shy of his third win of the season.
Shane Stickel (No.39 MSD Machine Tool) lined up outside Gary for the final restart of the night, but couldn’t challenge the eventual race winner. Stickel, however, maintained his runner-up spot to earn his first career OSCAAR Modified podium finish. Stickel’s strong run will put him outside the front row for the Autumn Colours Classic, alongside Gary. Brent McLean was third across the stripe.
With the win, Gary McLean has now led 60 consecutive feature laps on tour to earn two consecutive victories.
“I like this track, it’s a fun place to run these cars,” said Gary of the tight 1/3-mile oval. “It’s lost some grip in the second lane, so you can’t get out and run two-wide as good as we used to. But it’s still a lot of fun to go that fast.”
The series shift to Kawartha Speedway next Sunday August 11 for the tour’s only stop at the Fraserville, Ont. facility. A 4:00pm start time is on tap for the OSCAAR Modifieds 25 lap A-Main, and will be joined by the OSCAAR Super Late Models and Brighton Speedway’s Vanderlaan dirt Pro Late Models for an exhibition race.
By Clayton Johns (@cjohnsmedia)
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UNOFFICIAL Results: Peterborough Speedway – August 3, 2013
1. 8 Gary McLean; 2. 39 Shane Stickel; 3. 7 Brent McLean; 4. 79 John Harper; 5. 67jr Branden Bullen; 6. 62 Darryn Wright; 7. 91 Mike Westwood; 8. 1B Brad Pearsall (DNF); 9. 31 Josh Gruntz (DNF); 10. 11 Dave Osborne (DNF); 11. 19 Dean Scott (DNF); 12. 14 Davey Terry (DNF); 13. 47 Brian McLean (DNF).
*Results are UNOFFICIAL, pending an official review of the finish.
The OSCAAR Modified 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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