Brandon Watson Wins the Hy-Grade 100 at Peterborough
PETERBOROUGH, ON – Round three of the 2018 season for the APC United Late Model Series Presented by Grisdale Racing Products saw the tour head East for its lone stop at the track dubbed Canada’s toughest 1/3 mile oval, Peterborough Speedway. A stellar field of Pro Late Models was on hand for the Hy-Grade Steel Roofing 100 to put on a show for the near capacity crowd.
All drivers were targeting the current series track record of 13.356 in Bennett GM Pole Qualifying as they looked for the best starting position possible for the 100 lap event. Treyten Lapcevich would earn his first career APC Series Bennett GM Pole Award and earn himself an official track record with a blistering time of 13.274, bettering Brandon Watson’s time of 13.283. JR Fitzpatrick, Ryan Kimball, and Rick Spencer-Walt rounded out the top five qualifiers.
The Hy-Grade Steel Roofing 100 started with Rick Spencer-Walt and Shae Gemmell on the front row after the invert as they led the 24 car field to life off of turn four. On lap four, the first caution flag was displayed as Jake Sheridan made contact with Jerry Artuso sending him for a spin. The restart allowed Treyten Lapcevich and Brandon Watson to enter the top five after they started deep in the top ten.
Treyten Lapcevich, the new track record holder, advanced to the second position on lap 12 and set his sights on race leader Rick Spencer-Walt. After having several looks to the inside and offering several bumps to the leader, Lapcevich sent the leader for a spin on lap 21 and the two tangled with Lapcevich driving over the hood of Rick Spencer-Walt car. The caution brought a whole whirl of activity to the pits, including new second place runner Andrew Gresel.
The restart saw Brandon Watson in control after the front two tangled with a hungry field chasing behind. After a 10 lap run, the yellow was shown again on lap 32 after Jerry Artuso was sent for another spin on the back straightaway. Just after the restart, on lap 37, JR Fitzpatrick moved into the top three with Rick Burbridge following behind him. Lap 37 also saw another yellow flag, the fourth of the race, as contact between Matt Pritiko and Patrick Freel resulted in a cut tire on Freel’s machine, sending him for a spin in turn three.
Jerry Artuso was turned for the third time in the race on lap 40, this time ending his race with his #5a machine overheating. Jake Sheridan entered the top five at the caution as Ryan Kimball entered the pits, forfeiting his second running position. Kimball’s pit stop also allowed JR Fitzpatrick to move to the runner-up position beside race leader Brandon Watson.
Contact by Jade Franklin sent Rick Spencer-Walt around on lap 54, bringing out the yellow for the sixth and final time. The race would get into a rhythm to the end as Junior Farrelly moved into second and began to track down the race leader with Jake Sheridan trailing him after lap 64. Brandon Watson was able to use the lapped traffic to his advantage and slip away from Farrelly and Sheridan to score his second victory in three races to start the 2018 season. Farrelly was able to hold off multiple charges from MacMaster of Orangeville Rookie of the Year Contender Jake Sheridan to score a career-best runner-up finish. Sheridan, Andrew Gresel, and JR Fitzpatrick rounded out the top five spots.
After a week off the tour heads to Delaware Speedway for its lone Friday night event on June 29th for the Spectra Premium 100, a Canada Day weekend celebration featuring fireworks. The event gets started at 7:30 pm and advance tickets and camping can be purchased on www.DelawareSpeedway.com. More event information can also be found on www.APCRacingSeries.com
Sources: Ryan Dyson – APC Series PR
Photos by Dave Franks Photography