It’s about to get into the busy part of the season for the OSCAAR Modifieds with back-to-back events on tap for the ground pounders in their summer stretch. The open-wheel cars will first take to Kawartha Speedway on Friday July 21, followed by Full Throttle Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 23 and Flamboro Speedway the following weekend.
The Kawartha Speedway event has been circled on the calendar for many of the series competitors, with 25 drivers confirming their attendance for the event. That stated, the Sunday event at Full Throttle Motor Speedway should be well-attended as drivers continue to chase after points this season.
Although Kawartha is on the initial focus of opportunity, it is worth noting that United States modified stand-out Andy Jankowiak will be behind the wheel of Dan Price’s modified on Sunday at Full Throttle Motor Speedway, hoping to back-up a previous winning performance there.
With the important tidbits out of the way, here are the drivers to watch out for when it comes to both events this weekend at Kawartha and Full Throttle.
Gary Elliott will head to Kawartha Speedway fresh off his trip out west with his late model, hoping to post a solid performance following a 10th-place finish in June. Elliott has ran well at the Fraserville, Ontario oval previously, finishing second in 2014. When it comes to FTMS, though, he has ran equally well there with a pair of top-fives in his last two appearances.
John Harper hopes to avoid the problems which plagued him in June as he was leading with a win in his sights when the motor let go, sending him around in a spin. Coming off a sixth-place finish at Sauble Speedway, he could use a strong run on Saturday night. It’s worth noting that any momentum heading into FTMS would be nice, as he placed 13th in his lone previous appearance there.
AJ Emms enters this weekend with momentum, following a top-five finish in each event so far this year, including a fifth-place finish at Kawartha in June. When it comes to FTMS, he was successful there in 2015 with a pair of top-five performances.
Chris Milwain will hope to score his second OSCAAR victory following his first trip to victory lane in the series earlier this year at Flamboro Speedway. He was solid at Kawartha in June with a third-place finish, but has placed 13th and 10th in the last two series events.
Luke Gignac will also be searching for his second career victory after scoring the feature win at Flamboro Speedway last month. He was solid at Kawartha in June with a fourth-place finish. When it comes to FTMS, though, he has no previous experience there as both events were rained out last season.
David Balych continues to work towards his first career victory, having posted three top-10’s in four races this season, including a seventh at Kawartha in June. By the way, he knows his way around FTMS, too, as he has won a couple heats there despite no feature success.
Dale Reinhart hopes to build upon his eighth-place finish in the first appearance at Kawartha this season, as he has only posted one finish outside the top-10 in his OSCAAR career to date.
Cory Horner knows how to get the job done as he picked up his first career victory in the June event at Kawartha Speedway. Since then, he placed fifth at Flamboro, followed by another win at Sauble Speedway. By the way, you can’t count him out at FTMS, either as he posted a runner-up in 2015.
Mike Hearty is set for the long haul from Sault St. Marie to be part of the action, making his second start of the season following a sixth-place finish at Kawartha in June.
Tim Tolton has continued to get stronger each week, posting his first career top-five at Sauble Speedway with a fourth. He now looks to improve upon his June performance at Kawartha when he missed the top-10, finishing 12th.
Wally Wilson will continue his learning curve behind the wheel of his modified, hoping the mechanical gremlins from Flamboro are behind him so he can improve upon his 14th-place finish from Kawartha in June.
Dave Hodgkinson will hope to score his second straight top-10 finish, following a ninth at Sauble Speedway. He placed 16th in his first appearance at Kawartha in June.
Jase Cornell will hope to have his mechanical issues in the rearview so he can make his first appearance at Kawartha Speedway, as those problems resulted in him failing to make a lap in June.
After scoring an Ontario Modiifed Racing Series victory earlier this year at Peterborough Speedway, Brad Stevenson hopes to spoil the party on Friday night at Kawartha Speedway. He has ran with OSCAAR previously, posting a third-place finish last July at Peterborough.
Connor James will be making his second OSCAAR start this weekend as he tackles his rookie campaign behind the wheel of a modified. Notably, he finished 11th in his last appearance at Kawartha Speedway.
Max Beyore is set for his second start of the season, hoping to breakthrough to victory lane following a runner-up at Kawartha in June.
Adam Hagen is hopeful for his third start of the 2017 campaign, following a top-10 at Flamboro in June.
Josh Gruntz will make his first OSCAAR start in a couple seasons, hoping to rekindle the success he experienced previously.
Cole Powell will make his first start of the season, following a runner-up at Delaware Speedway in his lone appearance in 2016. Powell knows his way around Kawartha, having scored a late model victory there previously.
Stu Robinson Jr. is coming off a win at Peterborough Speedway, in hopes of breaking through for his first career OSCAAR modified victory this weekend.
Ryan Dick is making his first start of 2017, after scoring four top-10’s last year with a season-best fourth-place finish at Flamboro.
Marty Monette hopes the mechanical gremlins are behind him so he can score his first top-10 of the rookie campaign this weekend.
Linc Brown will make his OSCAAR debut this weekend, hoping to build upon previous success at Kawartha.
Another driver making his 2017 debut is Cole McFadden, who showed his way around Kawartha in June with his Legend.
Duane Cinnamon will make his 2017 debut after scoring a pair of top-10’s last season, including an eighth-place finish at Peterborough Speedway.
Since jumping behind the wheel of a modified, Late Model veteran Mark Gordon has proven to be fast and will be someone to keep an eye on Friday night.
There is always a possibility for more than the drivers listed here to be in the field at any of the events coming up this season. So be sure to be in attendance to take in this great show in person.
Also, in regards to the Kawartha Speedway show on Friday night, this is your friendly reminder that a $5 off general admission coupon can be printed off either the OSCAAR website or facebook page.
Details on the event at Kawartha Speedway this weekend have been posted throughout the past couple weeks on the OSCAAR facebook page, with key notes available here – https://www.facebook.com/oscaarracing/posts/756714087786854.
Details on the event at Full Throttle Motor Speedway this weekend have been posted at http://www.fullthrottlemotorspeedway.com.
By: Ashley McCubbin
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