NEWS RELEASE
SUNSET SPEEDWAY
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Finishing off the summer before everyone goes back to school and the air gets a little crisper at Sunset Speedway, the on-track action was still hot. From Friday to Sunday the track had something going on. Friday was The Allan Lankin Track Walk for Hospice Simcoe, Saturday the Back to School Bash with a kids’ bike race and capping it all off on Sunday was the second annual Allan Lankin Cup with the Mini Stock Invitational.
After a break, the CPS Junior Late Models were ready to kickoff the long weekend at Sunset Speedway with their two heats and 15-lap feature. Both heats saw some fresh faces in victory lane, but while one went off without a hitch, the second one saw some accidents. In heat one third place was Keegan Moat (No. 52), Josh Davenport (No. 30), and in going home in first was Oliver Gibbons (No.10). In heat two Jackson Baker (No. 18) accidentally took turn four a little too hard causing himself to spin in front of Morgan Moore (No. 11), who unfortunately had nowhere to go. A red flag was called.
Both drivers were okay, but only Moore could continue. Once the race resumed, Rylan Kamrath (No. 35) had his lead and was not giving it up. Kamrath went all the way to victory lane for the first time, with Curtis Struyk (No. 2) and Moore following behind him. For the feature race, Moat spun in Turn 2 and lost his third-place position with only four laps to go. After the restart, Ronnie Mason (No. 22) went for a spin in turn four. Wrapping up the race and going home with podium finishes was Gibbons (No. 10) in third, Moat (No. 52) in second, and Davenport (No. 30) once again went home in first.
“It’s a busy weekend as we look to build our points lead here and keep things clean. We head back to Sauble tomorrow to for their final race and hope to win the championship there,” the soft-spoken Davenport said post race. “I can’t thank Mom and Dad and all my sponsors enough. It’s a busy weekend and I can’t do this without their support.”
Moving onto the Junior’s Haulage Bone Stock, both heats went over very smoothly, going from the green flag to checkers with no interruptions. In heat one Chris Allard (No. 76) went to victory lane, with Aidan Harper (No. 42) following on his tail, and Jacob Booth (No. 49) in third. In heat two Jordan Owen (No. 68) was also happy to come back to victory lane, followed by Josh Berry (No. 22), and Ben McPherson (No. 46) in third.
For the division’s Dash for Cash, had an extra fifty dollars added to its usual pot, with it all going to Booth filling in for Calvin Reesor. For the 20-lap feature, it seemed that the two heat winners, Owen and Allard, were too busy fighting for a second that they allowed Harper to run away with the lead. Once again, the race went without any issues, and had Harper return to victory lane for the second time this season. “I had a good feeling coming into Saturday, and when the heat went well and I found out I was starting up front, I knew I had a chance. We've been working very hard trying to get back here. So, when you cross the checkered line with the lead, there’s no other feeling like it. All the hours spent on the car pay off. It feels amazing,” Harper said post race.
Coming back from last weekend’s Battle on the Hilltop, the Seaton Structures Modifieds for not one but two features, one being a make-up race from June 8. Opening the division’s night with their time trial, T.J. Edwards once again came back with the fastest time, being 14.827. For the first feature, Edwards collected the win, followed by Rick Spencer-Walt (No. 99) and Darin Malcolm (No, 7). For the second feature, once again Malcolm in third, Edwards in second, and collecting his first Sunset feature win, Willy Wilson (No. 69).
Wilson said, “This win meant a lot to me, I’ve always said Sunset’s one of my best tracks so I knew I could do it here, but this one was just that extra bit special with it being the same weekend as the Allan Lankin Memorial, he was a really good friend of mine and to be able to win one for him is all I’ve wanted to do.”
Rounding out the Saturday portion of the racing program was the Ontario Outlaw Super Late Models with their 50-lap feature. JR Fitzpatrick No. 84) led from the drop of the green flag. Multi-time champion Glenn Watson (No. 22) followed in Fitzpatrick’s tire tracks in the early going but eventually lost contact with the 84 machine and late in the going hold off challenges from Brad Pearsall (No. 5). When the checkered flag flew the Top 3 remained unchanged with Fitzpatrick scoring his first Sunset win of the season.
“We started to lose the brakes, so I was backing up the corner. If there was a caution Glenn would have got me for sure I just couldn’t get into the corners like I could early on,” Fitzpatrick said post race “Thankful to for my team for working hard it’s been a busy month racing all over the province. Thanks for Glenn for his sportsmanship we wouldn’t be here without parts from him. We look forward to coming back here in a few weeks time.”
For the G.D. Coates Pro Lates, it was a very busy weekend, running both Saturday and Sunday. For Saturday’s time trial, unsurprisingly Jordan Howse came first with a time of 14.545 seconds and came back to victory lane for the fifty-lap feature race. Following Howse into victory lane was Dale Shaw (No. 83) in second, and Danny Benedict (No. 54) for third.
“This car is incredible to drive, we put a ton of work in over the offseason working with Brian MacDonald and it shows every time we unload,” Howse said in victory lane. “This weekend is always special being Allan’s weekend. We will try it again tomorrow and see if we can defend our Allan Cup Late Model win.”
After a night’s sleep, the Pro Lates were back in action on Sunday for the second annual Allan Lankin Cup where it was Dale Shaw who took home the fastest time in time trials, making a 14.604 seconds. Shaw who fought power steering issues on Saturday has those rectified and dominated the race leading flag to flag. Danny Benedict again in second, and Gord Shepard (10S) in third.
The St. Onge Recreation Super Stocks were eager to come back and collect as many points as they could before championship night. Heat 1 saw an intense battle for second place between Jacob Booth (No. 26) and Bailey Jacobs (No. 60) while Johnny Morrison (No. 83) took off with the lead. In the end Morrison took first place for the heat, followed by Miles Tyson (No. 49) and Jacobs in third.
In Heat 2 it was quick with Cole Burrows (No. 63) scoring his first heat win of the season, Paul Pepper (No. 29) in second, and in third Dan Hawn (No. 42). Moving into the thirty-lap feature, Hawn was able to get an early jump on the lead, leaving Jacobs to play catch-up. After a caution in the earlier laps, Burrows, Morrison and Booth had a moment of brief contact, but all three drivers were able to correct with no caution needed. After going door-door for the last three laps, Tyson and Hawn battled for first place, and it wasn’t until the very last lap that Tyson made a dive for first place, pushing Hawn into second.
Tyson shared that this win has taken some weight off his shoulders as he heads into the championship night.
“Coming into the feature, I was stressed; some people don’t understand how stressful points racing is, especially when you’re leading it already and it’s getting down to the last thread. My plan was to just go out and try for a top five finish so I could keep the lead going into championship night.” Following Tyson and Hawn into a third place finish was Jacobs.
Being the stars of the afternoon, it was only fitting that Struyk Energy Systems Mini Stocks closed the night. Mini stocks were a key part of the night to remember former racer, Sunset Announcer, and motorsports enthusiast Allan Lankin. Unfortunately, Lankin passed away from cancer in 2023.
Sunset staff and racers all describe Lankin as a kind friend, colleague and racer, who was always with a smile and a helping hand. In a brief interview, Track Promoter Spencer Lewis explained why the Lankin cup is different.
Lewis said, “When Brendan and I first sat down and wanted to do a special event for Allan, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just the same ol’ sort’ve race that the Mini Stock guys run everywhere. Tacking a few laps onto a race doesn’t immediately make it special - every one of these events takes something a little different to give it a vibe of its own. For ‘the Allan’ it’s about throwing the drivers a curveball. Inverting each feature race means that it isn’t just about having the fastest car. You have to be smart and you have to have some strategy, finesse and technique.
"If you win two of the three rounds because yours is the fastest car in the field - but then you wreck yourself coming from the tail in feature three and get a score of 24, then you’re probably not going to win the whole event. It just makes things different. And it makes things tough, which is the point when it comes to the biggest race of the season. ”
Lewis shared that he considered Lankin to be his best friend, and greatly misses his presence. To keep him close and alive in spirit, Lewis has Lankin’s numbers tattooed on his arm. “I saw Allan for the last time, two days before he passed, and we made plans for me to come back on Friday - which was the day he passed away. Allan was saying that I would forget him when he’s gone; He knew that was ridiculous, but he just wanted to give me a hard time for a laugh. I told him that, not only would I not forget him, I’d get a tattoo to remember him by. Which was a big deal because I was always pretty anti-tattoo. I’d always say I don’t love anything enough to put it on my body for the rest of my life. But, in the end, I loved that kid enough to do it. I put it on my arm so that I can look down and see him. Every road trip, every driver’s meeting, every time I’m in the announcement tower - I remember him.”
For the division’s time trial Jacob Sutcliffe, who had the fastest time of 16.066, was awarded the win a trophy and $100. Following their time of trial, the division had three features for the night, the first two with 25 laps and the last one with 23. At the end of all three features, the number of laps added up to 73, which is known as Lankin’s signature number.
In the first feature, Doug Butler (No. 10) worked from mid pack into second, but was unable to catch Blaise Shaw (No.81), and in third Shawn Taylor. For Feature 2, it was a busy race with a lot of action, including a three-car pile up. In the pile there was Curtis Burnett (No. 52), feature one’s winner, Shaw, and Shawn Taylor (No. 76). Madisson Tienkamp (No. 9) caught part of it but she was able to keep driving after the contact.
Both Shaw and Tienkamp were able to complete the second feature while Taylor and Inglis were not. Once closer to the end of the race, Sutcliffe and Bobby Mercer (No. 2) were busy battling for first place and with nine laps to go Sutcliffe able to fully clear Mercer, taking first place for himself.
Sutcliffe said, “This feature win was definitely a very special one, driving from the back and being able to park it in victory lane is always a really great feeling but being able to do so in the car Allan sold us on his memorial night means the world to me and my team.”
Jordan Howse (No. 67), who was pulling double duty was able to get second, and in third Butler.
After a rough second feature, Shaw was able to come into the third and final feature swinging. Still a bit of carnage, when Tienkamp and Wyatt Sutcliffe (No. 72) got together with Sutfcliffe ending up in the Turn 2 wall. But through all the chaos, Shaw came out on top with no front end and a knocked-out toe. Shaw describes both his wins and the overall night as, “Absolutely incredible! There were a lot of incredible cars and drivers on Sunday, so to come out on top is really special.” An excited Shaw said post race. “My family makes this happen, all the work on the car, all the pointers from Sam, Dale and Jake. I’m still learning but to be going home with The Allan Cup I don’t have words to describe how good that feels.”
As the track and racing community remembers and recognizes Lankin, they also move into the last races of the 2024 season. Off for the first weekend of September the races will be back on Sept. 14 for The Night of Champions.
As it is back to school, races have returned to the 3 p.m. start time for the final night of the regular season. For more information, please click here or check the track’s social media pages.
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