By George Strang
June 13, 2007 - The OSCAAR Outlaw Super Late Models return to action this Saturday, June 16th at Barrie Speedway. The tough 1/3 mile tri-oval will play host for what is race #3 of 13 on the 2007 schedule for the OSCAAR tour. This date marks the only appearance of OSCAAR at Barrie this season.
Last year's schedule saw two appearances at Barrie, both of which had their own unplanned turn of events. The June event last year saw fresh pavement and blistering hot temperatures combine to cancel most of the allotted practice sessions because of slick track conditions and fear that the supers would tear up the new racing surface. That, and the fact that drivers hadn’t driven on the reconfigured tri-oval before lead to a lot of questions and tense nerves come racing time. In the end the full racing card was completed with the #61 of John Fletcher taking home the checkers.
The September event saw the proceedings split up over two days due to rain moving in after the heat races were in the books. The feature was run the following day and Fletcher completed the sweep of Barrie grabbing the checkers again and taking a stranglehold on the season points standings.
Barrie was also a coming out party of sorts for the #22 of Glenn Watson last year. In only his second outing in a super late model, he dominated the field for most of the race until brake failure in the last few laps ended his shot at the win. The team followed up that performance with a strong second place finish in the fall Barrie event.
But this is the ’07 season, and with two races in the books, it’s Watson who’s carrying the series points lead back to his home track, and the pressure is on. He’s got the likes of 5 time series champion Rob Clarke hot on his heels in second, followed by reigning series champion John Fletcher, who is undefeated on the new track configuration, and the always fast Shane Maginnis is right in the mix too in fourth. If anyone has a bad night, it’s going to hurt in the points standings. Whoever wins carries that momentum into Cayuga and the Don Biederman Memorial.
The 2007 Rookie Class will be a factor in Saturday night's race. #7 Derrick Tiemersma leads the rookie points and sits 5th in the season standings. Looking to challenge Tiemersma and make up ground against his competitors is #99 Tim Watson. Barrie fans will recognize the familiar blue with red flames body but this time it will be on Watson's Outlaw car rather than the Limited Late Model he drove over the last two years. OSCAAR also looks forward to the first OSCAAR race for #51 Mark Ruigrok among others in a stellar class of rookies.
June 16th. Barrie Speedway. Spectator gates open at 5:30pm with green flag racing at 7pm.
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