Stroud, ON – Rob Clarke won his second OSCAAR feature of the season on Sunday night at Sunset Speedway as part of Sunset’s year-end Velocity 250 event. Clarke started the feature in the sixth position, to the outside of #70 Jeff Hanley. Clarke was very happy with the win, and with such a short schedule, Clarke certainly made the best of it winning both events he entered. The other win came at Delaware Speedway on August 19th.
“There’s a lot of great drivers in this series. Fortunately I have a great crew and they gave me a great car. It makes my job a lot easier,” explained Clarke. “Glenn (Watson) ran me clean and Jeff Hanley is a great driver. There’s a ton of them. Maybe our equipment is just a bit better than some of them, but we really maintain it, so that’s (the difference).”
The race got off to a quick start as Lloyd Ritchie jumped in to the lead in his #62 machine past pole sitter #7T Jeff Dunford. Ritchie, fresh off his first ever OSCAAR win two weeks previous at Peterborough, led the first two laps before Todd Campbell made a power move to the outside of Ritchie on lap three. Campbell would lead until lap 6 when he fell off the pace because of engine troubles, ending his night.
Ian Bourque’s night came to an end just two laps in after a spin in turn two brought attention to a larger problem, leaving Bourque to finish in the last position. Tyler Hawn would also pull his machine behind the wall under the first caution of the night.
Lap 6 saw a spin in turn one involving the #13 of Gary Passer, #00 Chris Burrows, and #48 Dwayne Baker. Jesse Kennedy skidded to a stop to avoid the accident and was not deemed an involved car. The ensuing restart caused the worst event of the night when Gary Passer hit both the inside and outside retaining walls on the back straightaway, destroying the front of the car and ending Passer’s night.
The restart allowed Rob Clarke to take the lead on the outside past Lloyd Ritchie, and Jeff Hanley and Glenn Watson moved up one position each as well as they pinned the #62 to the bottom of the race track.
On lap 11, Al Thomson was spun around in turn two and decided to end his night due to an ill handling racecar. CRA Super Series regular Rick Brown was in attendance in his #44 machine
running his car with the Outlaws. Brown, however, decided to call the test of his brand new car complete and pulled it in to the main pits to end his night.
The restart on lap 11 allowed Hanley to use the outside to his advantage and Glenn Watson passed Clarke for second two laps later on lap 13. Brandon Watson began his surge back to the front of the field after spinning on lap two, separate from the Ian Bourque incident. Watson had the entire nose cone torn off the front end of his Chevrolet and didn’t hold anything back. By lap 15 he was battling the #51 of Dave Taylor for sixth position. However, on lap 19 Charlie Gallant could not check-up in time exiting turn four, causing Watson to spin Roy Passer in the #27 and all three cars were sent to the back.
On the restart it was two of the series’ top drivers side-by side in Jeff Hanley and Glenn Watson. Watson had the edge on the top side and gained the lead, and Clarke followed suit passing Hanley up high.
On lap 22, another caution flew as Jeff Dunford was off the pace and Charlie Gallant spun to avoid contact after approaching the car on full speed, not realising it was off the pace. Gallant was returned to his previous spot, as OSCAAR officials agreed he had spun to avoid causing a major incident. Jeff Hanley came pit side during the caution to change what was thought to be a flat tire. Hanley would restart in thirteenth position.
After just one lap, the caution would fly again as Kyle Passer spun alone in turn four to slow the pace. On the restart, Clarke and Watson raced side-by-side and Watson held the edge out of turns two and four.
Eleven laps of green flag racing allowed Jeff Hanley move up to the sixth position after his pit stop. Kyle Passer, however, lost control of his car out of turn two, causing him to spin a very loose racecar and bring the race under yellow once again.
The parity between the top two cars became evident as Watson and Clarke ran side-by-side on the restart for two more laps until Lloyd Ritchie drove his car in to turn two too hard and spun without any assistance, sending him to the end of the lead lap.
The ensuing restart had Brandon Watson move the #9 in to the top five and Dave Taylor passed Hanley for third. Hanley explained that is was simply a matter of circumstance that he was not able to finish better than fourth.
“Yeah we were pretty good at the start then on the one restart I got in to Glenn and I thought the tire was down. I guess I didn’t clean it off good enough. We came back through and I figured we would have got second. “
The next to last caution was in turn two when Brandon Vanderwel got some help in spinning from Lloyd Ritchie and Dwayne Baker in a battle for the tenth position. Vanderwel would restart in the fifteenth position behind the
other two involved cars.
On the restart, Brandon Watson challenged Jeff Hanley for the fourth position on the inside, but the #70 managed to hold on for a few more laps, before finally surrendering. Taylor looked to have locked up the third position before slipping up in turn two with five to go, allowing Watson and Hanley to slip by unscathed.
Clarke and Glenn Watson continued to battle side-by-side, neither able to gain an advantage with Clarke`s 49 on the high side of Watson’s #22.
Kyle Passer would bring out the final caution of the night with a spin out of turn four, ending his night as a result of his third infraction.
It was on the final restart of the night that the most exciting racing yet this year was delivered, as Watson and Clarke raced door-to-door for the final three laps, touching a few times as a result of hard racing. At the line, it appeared to be dead even/ Clarke looked to have an advantage exiting the turns, but Watson would pull even down the straightaways as nephew Brandon watched from the third position.
As the white flag flew, it was a two-car drag race, door to door. Out of turn four it was anybody’s guess as to who would win, but ultimately it was Rob Clarke at the line by a matter of inches. OSCAAR officials conferred before declaring Clarke the winner, as he won by less than the nose of the car in front of the front wheels.
Clarke had nothing, but praise for the only driver besides himself to win three OSCAAR championships.
“Glenn was giving it his all, I was giving it my all. We touched a couple of times, but that’s just racing. I trusted him on the outside and he trusted me. My throttle started acting up on me and I touched him. I just let him get the front, because that’s not the way I race. Glenn ran me as clean as can be, and I had a lot of fun, but man I worked hard.”
Glenn Watson concurred with Clarke. Although Watson did not get the win that would have allowed him to sweep the 2011 OSCAAR schedule at Sunset, he did offer a lot of credit to Clarke.
“More on the restarts than anything else. If we got out in front we could run pretty good and not have to work as hard. Rob kept us honest and the rest of the guys did too. It was a lot of fun tonight. I had fun racing with Rob and all the other guys. We had to work to come up from the middle of the pack tonight.”
With the second place finish, Watson has clinched his fourth consecutive championship, with the OSCAAR Super Late Models (an OSCAAR record), bringing him within one of Rob Clarke’s record of five OSCAAR championships. Watson offered comment on another championship.
“Yeah it was a good night, we needed that. That’s pretty much locked it up for us now. It looks like that is a done deal, so four in a row is pretty awesome.”
Watson also gave credit where credit was due.
“First and fore most, my crew. They put in hours and hours on this thing. Of course the sponsors: Rival Office Solutions, Race2way.ca, Klotz Synthetics, Topshops, they really pour the fuel for us here. The whole crew and the whole family.”
Brandon Watson was very strong and accomplished an amazing feat in finishing third without the nose of his car. He gave an explanation of the racing as it was on the track.
Said Watson, “I guess it was a bit of a rough night. I got in to a bit of trouble and I think people used me as a wall kind of. I got run in to three or four times in the back. My crew did a great job getting me back out after ripping the nose off. They tightened my car to get it back out and hopefully get to the front.”
Chris Burrows was running as a double driver for Wayne Isaacs in the #00, who was away for personal reasons. Burrows spoke with OSCAAR prior to the race.
Said Burrows, “Well I want to make sure it’s in one piece. I want to do the best for Wayne, being a double driver tonight for him. It’s a lot different than my car and hopefully I can keep it together and do well for him.”
The OSCAAR Super Late Models will be back in action in two weeks’ time on Thanksgiving weekend as part of the 19th annual Autumn Colours Classic. Qualifying heats will take place on Saturday, October 8th and the 50 lap feature on Sunday, October 9th. The Classic is the ‘Superbowl of Stock Car Racing’ in Canada and features almost every division of racing all rolled in to an event no racing fan should miss. Stay tuned to www.oscaar.ca and www.peterboroughspeedway.com for up to date information on everything to do with the Autumn Colours Classic.
By Clayton Johns
Photo’s by Dan Little & Amanda Downey
| OSCAAR – Feature |
| Finish | Start | Car | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | 4 | 49 | Rob Clarke | London , On | 305.00 | |
| 2 | 1 | 22 | Glenn Watson | Barrie , On | 300.00 | |
| 3 | 7 | 9 | Brandon Watson | Stayner , On | 280.00 | |
| 4 | 5 | 70 | Jeff Hanley | Georgetown , On | 275.00 | |
| 5 | 13 | 51 | Dave Taylor | - | 260.00 | |
| 6 | 9 | 48 | Dwayne Baker | Stayner , On | 250.00 | |
| 7 | 19 | 40P | Charlie Gallant | Pefferlaw , On | 240.00 | |
| 8 | 12 | 27 | Roy Passer | Innisfil , On | 230.00 | |
| 9 | 14 | 00 | Wayne Isaacs | Brampton , On | 220.00 | |
| 10 | 11 | 62 | Lloyd Ritchie | Southampton , On | 215.00 | |
| 11 | 17 | 10 | Jesse Kennedy | Oneida Nation, On | 200.00 | |
| 12 | 15 | 39 | Shane Gowan | Waterford , On | 190.00 | |
| 13 | 8 | 97 | Brandon Vanderwel | Port Elgin, On | 180.00 | |
| 14 | 18 | 58 | Mike Hilliard | - | 170.00 | |
| 15 | 16 | 39X | Kelly Hallett | - | 160.00 | |
| 16 | 25 | 14 | Kyle Passer | Innisfil , On | 150.00 | |
| 17 | 26 | 81 | Frank Tulipano | Toronto , On | 140.00 | |
| 18 | 6 | 7T | Jeff Dunford | Callander , On | 130.00 | |
| 19 | 23 | 34 | Al Thomson | Uxbridge , On | 120.00 | |
| 20 | 21 | 44 | Rick Brown | - | 110.00 | |
| 21 | 2 | 13 | Gary Passer | Innisfil , On | 100.00 | |
| 22 | 3 | 07 | Todd Campbell | Guelph , On | 95.00 | |
| 23 | 20 | 42 | Tyler Hawn | Oro Station, On | 80.00 | |
| 24 | 10 | 83 | Ian Bourque | Newmarket , On | 70.00 | |
| 25 | 22 | 04 | Rudy Oppersma | Oshawa , On | 0.00 | DNS |
| 26 | 28 | 18 | Bruce Gowland | Grand Valley, On | 0.00 | DNS |
| 27 | 27 | 67 | Rob Reimer | - | 0.00 | DNS |
| 28 | 24 | 89X | Shawn Chenoweth | Ayr , On | 0.00 | DNS |
| OSCAAR – Qualifying Heat B 3 |
| Finish | Start | Car | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | 3 | 9 | Brandon Watson | Stayner , On | 10.00 | |
| 2 | 5 | 48 | Dwayne Baker | Stayner , On | 9.00 | |
| 3 | 1 | 13 | Gary Passer | Innisfil , On | 8.00 | |
| 4 | 2 | 97 | Brandon Vanderwel | Port Elgin, On | 7.00 | |
| 5 | 9 | 89X | Shawn Chenoweth | Ayr , On | 6.00 | |
| 6 | 4 | 39 | Shane Gowan | Waterford , On | 5.00 | |
| 7 | 7 | 04 | Rudy Oppersma | Oshawa , On | 4.00 | |
| 8 | 10 | 14 | Kyle Passer | Innisfil , On | 3.00 | |
| 9 | 6 | 34 | Al Thomson | Uxbridge , On | 2.00 | |
| 10 | 8 | 67 | Rob Reimer | - | 1.00 |
| OSCAAR – Qualifying Heat B 2 |
| Finish | Start | Car | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | 1 | 22 | Glenn Watson | Barrie , On | 10.00 | |
| 2 | 2 | 70 | Jeff Hanley | Georgetown , On | 9.00 | |
| 3 | 5 | 83 | Ian Bourque | Newmarket , On | 8.00 | |
| 4 | 4 | 62 | Lloyd Ritchie | Southampton , On | 7.00 | |
| 5 | 9 | 10 | Jesse Kennedy | Oneida Nation, On | 6.00 | |
| 6 | 3 | 51 | Dave Taylor | - | 5.00 | |
| 7 | 7 | 40P | Charlie Gallant | Pefferlaw , On | 4.00 | |
| 8 | 6 | 39X | Kelly Hallett | - | 3.00 | |
| 9 | 8 | 81 | Frank Tulipano | Toronto , On | 2.00 |
| OSCAAR – Qualifying Heat B 1 |
| Finish | Start | Car | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | 3 | 7T | Jeff Dunford | Callander , On | 10.00 | |
| 2 | 2 | 49 | Rob Clarke | London , On | 9.00 | |
| 3 | 1 | 07 | Todd Campbell | Guelph , On | 8.00 | |
| 4 | 5 | 00 | Wayne Isaacs | Brampton , On | 7.00 | |
| 5 | 4 | 27 | Roy Passer | Innisfil , On | 6.00 | |
| 6 | 8 | 44 | Rick Brown | - | 5.00 | |
| 7 | 7 | 58 | Mike Hilliard | - | 4.00 | |
| 8 | 6 | 42 | Tyler Hawn | Oro Station, On | 3.00 | |
| 9 | 9 | 18 | Bruce Gowland | Grand Valley, On | 0.00 | DNS |
| OSCAAR – Qualifying Heat A 3 |
| Finish | Start | Car | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | 1 | 13 | Gary Passer | Innisfil , On | 10.00 | |
| 2 | 3 | 97 | Brandon Vanderwel | Port Elgin, On | 9.00 | |
| 3 | 7 | 9 | Brandon Watson | Stayner , On | 8.00 | |
| 4 | 4 | 39 | Shane Gowan | Waterford , On | 7.00 | |
| 5 | 8 | 48 | Dwayne Baker | Stayner , On | 6.00 | |
| 6 | 5 | 34 | Al Thomson | Uxbridge , On | 5.00 | |
| 7 | 10 | 04 | Rudy Oppersma | Oshawa , On | 4.00 | |
| 8 | 2 | 67 | Rob Reimer | - | 3.00 | |
| 9 | 9 | 14 | Kyle Passer | Innisfil , On | 2.00 | |
| 10 | 6 | 89X | Shawn Chenoweth | Ayr , On | 1.00 |
| OSCAAR – Qualifying Heat A 2 |
| Finish | Start | Car | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | 8 | 22 | Glenn Watson | Barrie , On | 10.00 | |
| 2 | 4 | 70 | Jeff Hanley | Georgetown , On | 9.00 | |
| 3 | 7 | 51 | Dave Taylor | - | 8.00 | |
| 4 | 6 | 62 | Lloyd Ritchie | Southampton , On | 7.00 | |
| 5 | 1 | 83 | Ian Bourque | Newmarket , On | 6.00 | |
| 6 | 9 | 39X | Kelly Hallett | - | 5.00 | |
| 7 | 5 | 40P | Charlie Gallant | Pefferlaw , On | 4.00 | |
| 8 | 2 | 81 | Frank Tulipano | Toronto , On | 3.00 | |
| 9 | 3 | 10 | Jesse Kennedy | Oneida Nation, On | 2.00 |
| OSCAAR – Qualifying Heat A 1 |
| Finish | Start | Car | Driver | Hometown | Points | |
| 1 | 2 | 07 | Todd Campbell | Guelph , On | 10.00 | |
| 2 | 3 | 49 | Rob Clarke | London , On | 9.00 | |
| 3 | 6 | 7T | Jeff Dunford | Callander , On | 8.00 | |
| 4 | 4 | 27 | Roy Passer | Innisfil , On | 7.00 | |
| 5 | 8 | 00 | Wayne Isaacs | Brampton , On | 6.00 | |
| 6 | 7 | 42 | Tyler Hawn | Oro Station, On | 5.00 | |
| 7 | 5 | 58 | Mike Hilliard | - | 4.00 | |
| 8 | 9 | 44 | Rick Brown | - | 3.00 | |
| 9 | 1 | 18 | Bruce Gowland | Grand Valley, On | 2.00 |
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