For the second straight week, the Capitol Renegade United Racing Club found a first-time winner at the end of the feature event. Jordan Thomas lead all 25 laps en route to his first URC triumph with the 70 yr old club.
With a field of 21 cars on hand at the Orange County Fair Speedway, three heat races were determined to set the lineup for the 25-lap feature event. Heat race wins went to the 22 of Troy Betts who picked up his first heat race win of 2017 and finally had some luck go his way. Heat race 2 win went to the 67w of Justin Whittall who showed his rookie season for cruising to the heat race win. Finally, heat race three win went to the 79 of Jordan Thomas.
With this being a combined show with the Patriot Sprint Tour, the redraw was created by the top 9 in passing points. Jordan Thomas drew the pole and Scott Flammer drew the outside pole for the feature event. Also in the redraw was the 33b of Bill Unglert, 22 of Troy Betts, 5G of Curt Michael, 67w of Justin Whittall, the 89 of Robbie Stillwaggon who drove from 7th to 2nd in his heat race and the 56c of Chris Coyle.
With the 81 of Derek Jonathan not making the call, the 79 of Thomas and the 1F of Flammer lead the 20 car field to the green flag. Multiple tries were used and once one lap was down the field went single file. Chris Coyle had a flat tire, the 4 of Jimmy Stitzel pulled in with motor issues and the 30 of Scott Goodrich showed some damage on his nose wing all before the feature we 4 laps old.
With the lap 4 restart, Thomas continued to gain control with Flammer close behind. By the end of lap 4, the 5G of Curt Michael was up to 4th and pressuring the 33b of Unglert. By lap 11, the 5G of Michael overtook Unglert for the 3rd position and just 1 lap later Patriot Sprint Leader Jared Zimbardi pulled into the pit area after running 7th from his 11th starting position.
By lap 18, the 5 of Curt Michael was into the 2nd position but was a full 8 seconds behind the leader Thomas who by this time was navigating traffic at a torrid pace. By lap 22, the 5G of Curt Michael was feeling pressure from young hot shoe Justin Whittall after Whittall passed the 1 of Flammer a few laps earlier.
Thomas lead the 35-lap feature wire to wire and picked up his first United Racing Club win, following Thomas to the line was the 5G of Curt Michael, 67w of Justin Whittall, 1F of Scott Flammer and the 33b of Bill Unglert who continues to show that he can run with the 360 elite.
URC Tidbits: This was Justin Whittall’s best 360 finish of his career. Davie Franek was not in attendance, electing to attend the Selinsgrove race. Derek Jonathan had a heartbreak of an evening, what looked with the engine and possibly a rear end let loose with the 81 leading heat race 1 and just 1 lap to go. Jonathan failed to make the call for the feature event. Michael continues to strengthen his lead towards a record 10th URC Championship. Chris Coyle had a good night go bad with a flat right rear tire just 2 laps into the feature event.
Up next for the United Racing Club, after a weekend off the Club will return to the Williams Grove Speedway on Friday September 1st, followed by Saturday night September 2nd at the Selinsgrove Speedway and rounding out the weekend at Path Valley Speedway on Sunday September 3rd.
Sprint Feature: 1) #79 Jordan Thomas, 2) #5G Curt Michael, 3) #67W Justin Whittall, 4) #1F Scott Flammer, 5) #33B Bill Unglert, 6) #89 Robbie Stillwaggon, 7) #47 Kyle Drum, 8) #22 Troy Betts, 9) #56 Billy VanInwegen, 10) #67 Steve Collins, 11) #10 Joe Kata, 12) #08 Jason Clauss, 13) #71 Chris Allen Jr, 14) #30 Scott Goodrich, 15) #1Q Thomas Radivoy, 16) #706 Mark Sasso, 17) #17Z Josh Azzi, 18) #35 Jared Zimbardi, 19) #4 Jimmy Stitzel, 20) #56C Chris Coyle
- Timothy Moran on Sep 09, 2017
- Article Date: 9/9/2017