By: OSCAAR Racing
June 26 2018
With last weekend’s event getting rained out, it’s no secret that the OSCAAR Modified teams are excited to get to the track this weekend. Knowing the talent that will be in the field, it also wouldn’t surprise anyone if the open-wheel stars put on the feature of the year this weekend at Sunset Speedway to celebrate Canada Day.
Though if anyone is going to win this weekend, they’ll probably have to find their way by OSCAAR Modified multi-time series champion Gary McLean. Dating back to 2013, he has won the past eight straight feature events, including Spring Velocity in May.
Gary Elliott should be a driver a watch this weekend. Despite the last two events not going away, he has been a solid competitor in the past, with only two finishes outside of the top-10 in his last 14 starts. Historically, Sunset Speedway has been a good track for him statistically with three top-six finishes in seven starts, including a runner-up.
David Balych enters this weekend looking for his first top-10 of 2018 after finishing 14th for his first top-15 dating back to July 2017. He has performed well at Sunset Speedway before, posting two top-nines in five appearances.
A.J. Emms enters this weekend with momentum following a runner-up at Jukasa Motor Speedway. Consistency is the name of the game for him, with only two finishes outside of the top-eight in his past 13 series starts. The driver of the No. 14 Modified has had success at Sunset previously, scoring a track-best fifth in May.
Sault St. Marie native Mike Hearty has been competing on the full slate thus far this season, and hopes to break into the top-five following three top-10’s to start this season. He will be looking for his fifth straight Sunset top-10, hoping to improve upon a track-best fourth in September 2015.
Cory Horner enters this weekend with confidence following six consecutive top-six finishes. He know how to get around Sunset Speedway, posting three podiums in five starts.
Chris Milwain has shown a ton of speed in OSCAAR competition, as displayed with three straight top-fives to start off the 2018 campaign. He could get the job done at Sunset Speedway, following a runner-up in May.
With Luke Gignac out with a hand injury, ADAMS Motorsports has called upon Darryl St. Onge to be their interim driver of the No. 99 Modified this weekend. While he may be new to modified competition, he is a past Barrie Speedway Thunder Car Champion.
John Harper will be looking to keep his solid year going, following three straight top-four finishes to kick off 2018. He has been solid at Sunset Speedway in the past, posting no finishes worse than seventh with a track-best third in May.
Dale Reinhart is hoping to build off the past two weeks, as he enters this weekend with a top-10 in 13 of his last 14 starts. Sunset Speedway has treated him well in the past, with a fourth-place finish at the Velocity 250.
Jase Cornell hopes to get back to finishing in the top-10, as he has scored a pair of 11ths and 16th in the first three races this season.
After picking up a career-best ninth at Sauble Speedway last year, Wally Wilson hopes to repeat that performance this weekend after starting off the year with three straight weeks of bad luck. Notably, his best previous Sunset Speedway finish was a 16th at the Velocity 250.
Chad Strawn may not be running the full schedule, but keep an eye on him this weekend as he scored a fourth-place finish at Sunset Speedway in 2015.
Marshall Schrenk hopes to improve upon his start to the 2018 campaign, following a pair of finishes just outside of the top-10.
Duane Cinnamon will hope to have some good luck this time around after failing to finish the event at Jukasa Motor Speedway. Prior to his 18th-place finish there, though, he posted an eighth at Sunset and 10th at Kawartha.
Kelly Balson showed that he has good speed, leading laps before being spun late at Kawartha. After posting a seventh-place finish at Jukasa, he’ll be looking to be a part of the top-five at the checkered this weekend.
Bullen Racing announced recently that they’ve bought a modified, with Branden Bullen set to contest some OSCAAR events this year before Melissa takes the reins full-time in 2019. The team has yet to confirm their schedule yet, but they were testing at Sunset Speedway this past week.
One of the big stories to watch this season has been the rookies, as they’ve each found their own highlights through the first three races this season.
Jason Keen is no stranger to Sunset Speedway, having visited victory lane there multiple times in the Canadian Vintage Modified ranks. He showed that in May with an impressive sixth-place finish in his OSCAAR debut, and has since backed it up with a pair of top-10’s.
Jason Bowden also knows his way around the speedway, given his experience in Vintage Modified competition as well. He finished ninth in his OSCAAR debut at Sunset in May, backing it up with an impressive fifth at Kawartha for three top-11 finishes this year.
Jeff Showler started off the OSCAAR season solidly with a 12th and 15th in his first two starts, before surprising everyone with a third-place finish at Jukasa two weekends ago.
Tyler Di Venanzo made his OSCAAR debut two weekends at Jukasa Motor Speedway, scoring a solid 17th-place finish.
Beyond those mentioned here, there are other drivers that may show their face so be sure to be in attendance to see these cars in action.
The OSCAAR Modifieds will be racing at Sunset Speedway on Sunday, July 1 alongside the OSCAAR Hot Rods, OSCAAR Pro Sprints, and the Ontario Outlaw Super Late Model Series. Full details and pre-sale tickets can be found at http://www.sunsetspeedway.ca.
Fans are encouraged to check out the OSCAAR website at http://www.oscaar.ca, while following the series across social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.