INNISFIL, Ontario — Making the decision to travel to Sunset Speedway on an off-night paid off for Erik Dalla Riva, as he led flag-to-flag en route to his first career Pro Late Model feature victory.
Samantha Shaw laid down the quickest lap in time trials at 14.494 seconds in front of Travis Hallyburton (14.517), Erik Dalla Riva (14.529), Taylor Holdaway (14.584), and Cole Quinton (14.592). Josh Stade qualified sixth, followed by Paul Maltese, Danny Benedict, and Dwayne Baker.
When the field rolled out for the feature, Shaw instead made the trip down pit road, faced with a mechanical issue. The Shaw Motorsports team worked to fix it, though the race went green before they were able to.
Erik Dalla Riva grabbed the lead off of that start, with Hallyburton second in front of Holdaway, as Stade and Quinton battled for fourth. Stade got the spot on Lap 3, with Benedict trying to follow him through. Holdaway got alongside Hallyburton for second a lap later, taking the spot with five laps on the board. Hallyburton ran third in front of Stade, as Baker and Benedict battled for fifth. Baker got the spot on Lap 7, with Quinton and Maltese rounding out the top-eight, as Maltese challenged Quinton for seventh. Baker looked to continue moving forward, getting alongside Stade for fourth on Lap 12, and completing the pass, with Benedict following through as Maltese ran seventh.
With 16 laps on the board, Dalla Riva continued to lead in front of Holdaway, Hallyburton, Baker, Benedict, Stade, Maltese and Quinton. Benedict would challenge Baker for fourth on Lap 22, taking the spot a lap later as the caution came out for Quinton getting into the backstretch wall.
The restart saw a battle for the lead between Dalla Riva and Holdaway, with Dalla Riva holding serve. He would have to do it again, though, as the yellow flag waved for a second time on Lap 26 for Baker and Maltese going around in turn four. Quinton would stall under the caution, done for the event.
Erik Dalla Riva got a good restart, pacing the field the rest of the way en route to winning in front of Tyalor Holdaway, with Danny Benedict getting by Travis Hallyburton on Lap 34 for third. Josh Stade rounded out the top-five, followed by Paul Maltese and Dwayne Baker.
Categories: Race Reports, Sunset Speedway