Gary McLean goes back-to-back in Autumn Colours Classic OSCAAR Modified Feature
He won the Chase for the Colors to earn the pole for the Autumn Colours Classic. He won the Rick Wooler Memorial at Sunset Speedway on Velocity 250 weekend. He won his second straight OSCAAR Modified Championship. Gary McLean kept it rolling as he would lead all 50 laps on his way to winning the OSCAAR Modified Autumn Colours Classic feature.
As previously mentioned, he started pole with Shane Stickel beside him. The rookie survived the Chase for the Colors event to finish second back in August. Matt Barton would qualify third followed by Mike Westwood, Justin Jones, Darren Kearnan, Brent McLean, Rod Sauder, Dave Osbourne, Nick Kozak, Tim Burke, Brian McLean, Davey Terry, John Harper, Dean Scott, Justin Demelo, Tommy Robb, the 4, Bobby Tolton, Dustin Jackson, Ryan Dick and Andy Jankowiak.
The cautions started early as on lap three, Jankowiak would spin on the front stretch. Jankowiak was smoking a couple laps prior. It was sight nobody wanted to see after the Boston native drove six hours to be there for the Monday feature. With 47 laps to go, Gary McLean led Barton, Stickel, Kearnan, Brent McLean, Jones, Osbourne, Kozak, Burke, Demelo, Terry and Harper.
The restart wouldn’t go that way as Osbourne would end up in the grass. The second restart went well and Gary McLean escaped the field till the third caution at lap nine for Burke going into the grass. The fourth caution came six laps later for Scott spinning in turn four. With 35 laps to go, Gary McLean led Barton, Brent McLean, Stickel, Demelo, Kearnan, Jones, Harper, Kozak, Robb, Terry, Brian McLean, Sauder, Osboure, Burke, Jones, Dick, Tolton, the 4 and Scott.
The restart went wrong as Kozak spun, collecting Dick, Jones and Osbourne. The three of them would get stuck together and after a red flag delay, Dick and Osbourne continued while Jones was done. It marked the second start for 13-year-old Jones after winning the Factory Stock Championship at Laird International Raceway.
The second restart was no better as Kozak once again found trouble, hitting the outside wall. Jankowiak, Scott, the 4 and Harper used the caution as an opportunity to head down pit road. Still with 35 laps to go, Gary McLean led Barton, Brent McLean, Stickel, Demelo, Kearnan, Jones, Robb, Terry, Brian McLean, Westwood, Burke, Tolton, Osbourne, Dick, the 4, Scott and Jankowiak.
The third attempt at a restart produced the scariest incident of the night as going into turn one, Burke got into Terry. Terry would slide up, knocking the driver’s side of his modified off of the tractor tire, before flying off the edge of the hill at the turn one track opening and landing down below. Terry was okay and looking over the No. 14 Wasteco Modified, there wasn’t much damage sustained. Due to the race going over its scheduled time limit, caution laps were now being counted.
The restart would come with 28 laps to go and they’d make a pair of green flag laps before the seventh caution for Demelo spinning.
With 22 laps to go, the field saw green again and Gary McLean escaped the field and began opening up his lead ahead of Brent McLean, Matt Barton, Shane Stickel, Darren Kearnan, Tommy Robb, Justin Jones, Brian McLean, Bobby Tolton, Tim Burke, Mike Westwood, Dave Osbourne and Andy Dick. The top four remained the same over the next 11 laps with Robb making his way by Kearnan for fifth ahead of Jones and Brian McLean.
They wouldn’t make it to the end without another caution as on lap 43, the eighth caution flew for Jones spinning Kearnan.
The restart would come with five laps to go, though quickly found the ninth caution as Westwood spins, collecting Osbourne. With five laps to go, Gary McLean led Brent McLean, Barton, Stickel, Robb, Jones, Brian McLean, Tolton and Burke.
The second attempt at a restart brought forth another caution as Tolton spun Brian McLean.
The third attempt was success as Gary McLean led the five laps on the way to picking up the victory. Brent McLean finished second followed by Matt Barton, Shane Stickel and Tommy Robb. Justin Jones finished sixth followed by Tim Burke, Darren Kearnan, Brian McLean, Bobby Tolton and Ryan Dick.
Andrew Gresel wins OSCAAR Super Late Model Autumn Colours Classic
For the fourth time this year, Andrew Gresel was victorious, driving his No. 81 Sauble Falls Tent and Trailer Park, Canadian Union of Skilled Workers, Overland Heating and Cooling, McRobert Fuels, Spira Fire Protection, Shoreline Property Management, London Recreational and HY-Grade Roofing Super Late Model to victory lane on Monday.
Virtue of winning the Chase for the Colors event, 2013 OSCAAR Super Late Model Champion Brandon Watson would start pole. Watson also won both of his heats during Saturday’s qualifying action. Gresel would start second virtue of finishing second to Watson at the Chase for the Colors. Virtue of his heat win, J.R. Fitzpatrick started third followed by Derrike Tiemersma, Brad Corcoran, Brent McLean, George Wilson, Jesse Kennedy, Jeff Dunford, Shane Gowan, Dwayne Baker, Glenn Watson, Shane McGlynn, Tyler Hawn, Todd Campbell, Ed Bowlby, Jim Bowman, Cory Jones, John Owen, Quinn Misener, Craig Stevenson and Gary Passer.
Brandon Watson grabbed the early lead and led till the first caution at lap seven for Bowlby spinning on the front stretch, thanks to contact from Owen. Bowman and Stevenson used the caution as an opportunity to come down pit road.
Watson once again grabbed the lead on the restart and led till the second caution at lap 14 for Dunford being spun by Owen. Misener, Bowman, Jones, Wilson, Hawn and McGlynn used the caution as an opportunity to head down pit road. With 36 laps to go, Watson led Gresel, Corcoran, Tiemersma, Fitzpatrick, Glenn Watson, McLean, Gowan, Passer, Kennedy, Baker, Campbell, Dunford, Owen, Bowlby, Wilson, Jones, McGlynn, Hawn, Bowman, Misener and Stevenson.
The first attempt at a restart brought forth the third caution when Tiemersma and Corcoran got together, collecting McGlynn, Bowlby and McLean with them.
The second attempt would be a go as Brandon Watson grabbed the lead ahead of Gresel while Glenn Watson slipped in front of Fitzpatrick for third before the lap 17 caution for Campbell being spun by Owen. Under the caution, McLean and McGlynn headed down pit road.
Once again, there’d be trouble again on a restart as the fifth caution was displayed for Tiemesma being spun by Dunford. Wilson used the caution to come down pit road for adjustments.
The green would go back in the air and at halfway, it was Brandon Watson leading Gresel, Baker, Glenn Watson, Passer, Fitzpatrick, Owen, Gowan, Campbell, Kennedy, Corcoran and Tiemersma. Six laps later, the sixth caution was displayed when Dunford and Gowan got together. Under the yellow, Bowlby pitted while Bowman got the lucky dog due to just going a lap down to Watson. With 19 laps to go, Brandon Watson led Gresel, Baker, Glenn Watson, Passer, Fitzpatrick, Owen, Campbell, Kennedy, Corcoran, Tiemersma, Wilson, Hawn, Misener, Jones, McGlynn, Dunford, Bowman, Gowan and Bowlby.
Bowlby was the only car a lap down but he’d get the lucky dog at lap 32 when Misener spun while Passer spun after the seventh caution was displayed. McGlynn, Dunford and Gowan used the yellow as their opportunity to pit.
Also under the same yellow flag, Brandon Watson came down pit road to fix bumper damage as his bumper was hanging half off due to contact on the previous restart. While on pit road, Watson’s team elected to change tires. In return, this handed the lead to Gresel. So now with 18 laps to go, Gresel led Baker, Glenn Watson, Passer, Fitzpatrick, Owen, Kennedy, Campbell, Tiemersma, Corcoran, Wilson, Hawn, Jones, Bowlby, Gowan, Dunford, Bowman, Brandon Watson, Misener and McGlynn.
The restart brought forth the eighth caution when Bowlby would spin off of turn two. Wilson and McGlynn pitted under the yellow. The field would get two more laps in before the ninth caution for Fitzpatrick spinning, collecting Campbell and Corcoran. The 10th caution flew at lap 39 for Wilson spinning off turn two. Under the yellow, McGlynn, Wilson and Bowman pitted.
At this point with 11 laps to go, Gresel continued to lead, while Brandon Watson had worked his way back up to the second position. Baker ran third followed by Glenn Watson, Passer, Owen, Tiemersma, Campbell, Corcoran, Hawn, Gowan, Fitzpatrick, Kennedy, Jones, Bowlby, Misener, Dunford, Bowman and Wilson. As the field was getting ready to go back green, Misener would hit Dunford, resulting in Dunford being done for the day due to heavy front end damage.
The caution laps would be counted now due to the race being over its scheduled time limit and the field would go back to green on lap 43, though saw another caution at lap 46 for Misener around in turn four while Owen was around in turn three. In the three laps that were ran in the process, Brandon Watson was able to slip by Gresel and grab the lead while Baker continued to run third ahead of Glenn Watson and Passer.
With the race being inside of the final five laps, cautions laps were no longer counted and the restart came with four to go, bringing the 12th caution for Tiemersma and Corcoran getting together, collecting Misener, Bowlby and McGlynn.
Once the field went back to green, Brandon Watson held Andrew Gresel off in the final four laps. However, upon further review by OSCAAR, Watson will be stripped of the win and credited with a last place finish due to breaking the tire rule. The tires that he put on under the lap 32 caution were sticker tires that were not registered with OSCAAR, and therefore illegal.
As a result, Andrew Gresel picks up his first Autumn Colors Classic victory. Glenn Watson gets credited with second followed by Dwayne Baker, Gary Passer and Todd Campbell. Shane Gowan finished sixth followed by Tyler Hawn, Jesse Kennedy, J.R. Fitzpatrick and George Wilson. Derrike Tiemersma finished 11th followed by Cory Jones, Jim Bowman, Brad Corcoran and John Owen.
Parker Kilgerman Weighing in on His 2014 Options
Parker Kligerman has driven Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) No. 77 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series full-time during this 2013 Season but what lies ahead for the 23-year-old in 2014?
“The intention for doing Nationwide and Trucks is to get to Cup. That’s the top, that’s where we all want to be and obviously if there’s opportunities up there you’ve got entertain them,” Kligerman said. “We’ll see the coming weeks, the coming months if that’s a possibility.”
Kligerman has failed to be successful through the 2013 NNS season. He’s had opportunity’s to stand the victor but silly mistakes have cost him that. For example, in Kansas 2-weeks ago Parker had the car to beat but a late race restart error disallowed him to contend for the win.
“We’ve had just too many mistakes this year to put ourselves where we’d like to be, which is about fifth in points,” Kligerman said. “We’re on a smaller budget than a lot of teams are on, there’s still maybe three or four teams that are on a higher budget than us, but to really overachieve you can’t have the mistakes that we’ve made this year.”
The options are narrow for Kligerman heading to 2014, and like any young driver sponsorship will easily be the difference maker. Also, Kligerman isn’t sticking out in many minds because of the raw talent that’s coming up the NASCAR ranks.
Without a contract signed for 2014 Kligerman is weighing in on his options, should he attempt to find a NSCS ride or continue another year in the NNS. Next weekend in Texas Kligerman will drive in the NSCS for Swan Racing’s No. 30 which could be a team he is looking into for 2014.
Another possibility for Kligerman could be a 4th car at Joe Gibbs Racing in the NSCS if sponsorship is allowing. This would be a good case scenario for Parker as he’d be teammates with Kyle Busch who is his NNS team owner. This might be going out on a limb, but we don’t know the future for Brian Vickers at Michael Waltrip Racing (due to his health) and I bet they could possibly consider putting Parker in the No. 55 Toyota.
The future is foggy for Parker but we sure know a win could clear that fog quickly. The Westport, Connecticut native isn’t going to throw in the towel now, not after making it two the 2nd highest stage in NASCAR, he’s going to keep on digging.
