In a battle that took place through the second half of the event, Jo Lawrence would score the victory over Brandon Watson in the APC United Late Models Series Spectra Premium 75 at Jukasa Motor Speedway.
Lawrence was the quickest car in time trials with a lap of 18.432 seconds ahead of Brandon Watosn (18.458), Matt Pritiko (18.560), Gary Adriaensen (18.562), and Treyten Lapcevich (18.565). J.R. Fitzpatrick qualified sixth, followed by Josh Stade, Shae Gemmell, Jake Sheridan, and Pete Shepherd III.
Though with the invert in play, it’d be Adriaensen leading the field to green over Sheridan, Stade, Gemmell, and Pritiko. Lapcevich started sixth, followed by Shepherd, Watson, Lawrence, and Fitzpatrick. Ryan Kimball was 11th, followed by D.J. Kennington, Shane Maginnis, Darrell Lake, Mat Box, Lane Zardo, Carson Nagy, and Dale Shaw.
Sheridan would grab the early advantage off the drop of the green flag ahead of Adriaensen, Stade, Gemmell, Pritiko, Watson, and Lapcevich. It wouldn’t last long, though, with Adriaensen getting alongside him on Lap 4. Adriaensen would take over the top spot a lap later, with Watson side-by-side with Gemmell for fourth.
Stade would get alongside Sheridan for second on Lap 7, unable to compete the pass as he fell back in line a lap later ahead of Watson. Stade would try once again a couple times, before Watson was able to get alongside him for third in Lap 10. Watson took over the spot, getting alongside Sheridan for second. Behind them, it’d be Lawrence challenging Stade for fourth on Lap 13.
At the front of the field, Adriaensen led with Sheridan and Watson still side-by-side for second, as Stade and Lawrence battled for fourth ahead of Gemmell. Watson would take over second on Lap 16, with Lawrence following him through two laps later. Stade would get alongside Sheridan for fourth on Lap 19 as Gemmell ran sixth ahead of Shepherd, Fitzpatrick, Pritiko, and Lapcevich.
Shepherd would move into sixth on Lap 24, with Fitzpatrick looking to follow him through. Shepherd looked to continue moving forward, getting alongside Stade for fifth a lap later, when the caution came out for Maginnis slowing with a punctured tire in turn three. With 50 laps to go, Adriaensen led Watson, Lawrence, Sheridan, Stade, Shepherd, Gemmell, Fitzpatrick, Pritiko, Lapcevich, Lake, Kennington, Kimball, Shaw, Zardo, and Box.
Watson would get a good restart, taking over the top spot ahead of Sheridan, with Adriaensen back to third ahead of Lawrence, Shepherd, and Gemmell. Lawrence would then get alongside Adriaensen for third on Lap 29, with Lake and Fitzpatrick side-by-side for seventh a couple laps later ahead of Stade. Adriaensen was able to hold off the challenge, maintaining third ahead of Lawrence, Shepherd, Gemmell, Fitzpatrick, and Lake.
Lawrence would get back alongside Adriaensen on Lap 34, taking over the third spot a lap later. He then continued his charge forward with a pass on Sheridan for second on Lap 37. Behind them, Adriaensen and Shepherd ran side-by-side for fourth ahead of Gemmell, Fitzpatrick, and Lake. Shepherd was unable to complete the pass, falling back in line.
Further back, Stade was able to get alongside Lake for eighth on Lap 42 ahead of Lapcevich, Shaw, Pritiko, Kennington, Carson Nagy, Zardo, and Hudson Nagy. Shepherd, meanwhile, mounted another challenge on Adriaensen on Lap 45. This time, he was able to make it stick, taking over the fourth spot.
Shepherd looked to continue moving forward, getting alongside Sheridan for third on Lap 49, when the caution came out a lap later for Stade stopping in turn two with a tire issue. With 25 laps to go, Watson led Lawrence, Sheridan, Shepherd, Gemmell, Fitzpatrick, Lake, Lapcevich, Shaw, Pritiko, Kennington, Carson Nagy, Zardo, and Hudson Nagy.
Watson would get a good jump on the restart ahead of Lawrence, Shepherd, Gemmell, Lake, and Sheridan. Lawrence would challenge Watson for the top spot on Lap 52, as Fitzpatrick challenged Sheridan for sixth a couple laps later. Lawrence’s challenge wasn’t enough, though, as he fell back in line on Lap 56 behind Watson, with Shepherd third ahead of Gemmell, Fitzpatrick, Lake, Sheridan, Adriaensen, Lapcevich, and Pritiko.
Lawrence would mount another challenge on Lap 60, getting back alongside, as Adriaensen challenged Sheridan for seventh. Behind them, Kennington would give Shaw a nudge for 10th on Lap 61, but he was able to keep it straight and going. Sheridan’s challenge worked, with Pritiko looking to follow him through.
At the front, Lawrence fell back in line behind Watosn once again on Lap 64, with Shepherd continuing to run third ahead of Gemmell, Fitzpatrick, Lake, Sheridan, Adriaensen, and Pritiko.
Lawrence didn’t remain there long, getting back alongside Watson for the top spot on Lap 67. He would have enough speed this time, taking over the lead on Lap 69. While he hoped to escape away, he would not get a chance with the caution coming out a lap later for Di Venanzo stopping in turn two with a flat right front tire.
Jo Lawrence got a good restart, pacing the field the rest of the way en route to scoring the victory ahead of Brandon Watson, Pete Shepherd, J.R. Fitzpatrick, and Shae Gemmell. Darrell Lake finished sixth, followed by Gary Adriaensen, Jake Sheridan, Dale Shaw, and Matt Pritiko.
DJ Kennington placed 11th, followed by Lane Zardo, Shawn Chenoweth, Patrick Freel, Carson Nagy, Shawn McGlynn, Piper Adams, Andrew Gresel, Treyten Lapcevich, and Mat Box. Ryan Kimball finished 21st, followed by Tyler Di Venanzo, Erik Della Riva, Steve Arrand, Danny Benedict, Tom Gibbons, Jason Lidster, Josh Stade, Hudson Nagy, Shane Maginnis, and Ray Morneau.
Categories: Jukasa Speedway, Race Reports, United Late Models of Ontario Tour