Event 14 - YAKE AND TIM PHINNEMORE ARE CROWNED MID SEASON CHAMPS
July 19 Report by Brian Watt

Last Saturday night July 19th it was a promoters dream the parking lot jammed with vehicles, the stands full of fannies, the concession stand completely sold out, absolutely perfect weather and the pits full with great looking race cars ready to conquer the 1/3 mile bull ring known as Sunset Speedway. The main event on this evening was the ALSTAR Late Model Super Series the best collection of late models in the province as 24 cars will take the green flag to tame Sunset for 75 green flag laps, always a must see. The night's sponsor was Alliance International Truck & Equipment Sales Inc. and they handed out trophies to all the winners on the night. Alliance also sponsors 2 cars that compete in the series the 47 car of Stompin' Tom Walters and the 88 car of company owner Jim Rodgers, a special thanks to the Alliance group on a great job all night long. It was a great night of racing as we also had our regular classes on hand which made for a full night of racing. When the dust settled the big winners on the night were #5 JR Farrelly in the ALSTAR Late Model event his first win in his rookie year, wily veteran #1 Quick Vic Parsons on a second last lap move to take the checkered flag in the Limited Late Models, #49 Frank Davey made it to victory lane in the Thunder Car division and #21 Rob Deasy brought home the nuclear banana Honda CRX in the 4 Cylinder road runner class. It was great to see promoter Glenn Lloyd with a smile on his face and see that many cars in the pits and all the fans in the stands like the old glory days when that scene was the norm on any given Saturday night At Sunset Speedway.
THE 75 LAP ALSTAR LATE MODEL SUPER SERIES

There were 24 of the finest late models in the province ready to take the green flag as the crowd stood saluted the drivers and the drivers acknowledged them back waving to the crowd. On the drop of the green #30 Jim Molenhuis jumps to the early lead while #88 Jim Rodgers, #5 JR Farrelly, #38 Kirk Hocker and #42 Roger Holmes battled for position in the tightly bunched pack. With one yellow at lap 6 they went 31 green flag laps of hotly contested action as cars were trading paint and jostling their way to the point, there was action throughout the field. On lap 31 #93 Tim Cole loops it in turn 4 and the top 5 remained Molenhuis, Rodgers, Farrelly, Hocker and Holmes but back in the pack the big boys are starting to appear as #27 Glenn Schnurr and #47 Stompin Tom Walters crack the top 10. On the restart they would proceed for another 17 green flag laps with the top 5 in the same order and on lap 35 last years series champion Schnurr receives the black flag mechanical as heavy smoke appears from the rear end. On lap 48 #53 Mike Poulton loops his mount and the field tightens up again. On the restart Molenhuis is on the point but in behind Farrelly is applying heavy pressure to the 88 car of Rodgers as he dogs him lap after lap looking for any bobble to get by and hunt down the leader and finally on lap 57 Farrelly find a crack in Rodgers amour and gets by and along comes Holmes also. The new running order was Molenhuis, Farrelly, Holmes, Rodgers and Hocker while #72 Rob McDonnell, #67 Steve Tiemersma, #7 Derrick Tiemersma and #52 Scott Lyons were moving to the front and on lap 61 #76 Tyler Williams loops his mount in turn 2 to once again tighten up the field for the dash to the checkered flag as we are down to the last 14 laps. It has been a tough night on the perennial favorites as Walters, Schnurr, #57 Brett Murray, #82 Jason Shaw and Williams took turns going to the pits for problems as a matter of fact 3 time winner in 2003 Shaw even missed one of his heats with mechanical problems. The first 61 laps went smooth but we stalled here for a while as tempers got the best of a few of the drivers, McDonnell and #31 Shawn McWhirter got into it with McWhirter receiving the black flag for the night. When we finally got things sorted out the dash for the cash was under way as Molenhuis held the point but Farrelly was starting to apply heavy pressure looking for his first ALSTAR win and the Tiemersma boys are on the move. The running order was Molenhuis, Farrelly, Holmes, Steve Tiemersma, Hocker, Derrick Tiemersma, Rodgers and Lyons. On lap 72 Molenhuis finally succumbed to the pressure and Farrelly took the point and rode it home for his first victory in his rookie year while Molenhuis held off a determined bid by Steve Tiemersma with Holmes, Derrick Tiemersma, Hocker, Rodgers and Lyons following in that order. That was the best ALSTAR race ever staged at Sunset Speedway and should put to bed any doubt that the second groove has appeared with the help of the compound applied several weeks ago as cars could race on the outside all night long. The entire 75 lap race took 57 minutes which is fantastic and all the fans really enjoyed the race. Congratulations to JR Farrelly and the crew on a great feature win and to the rest of the ALSTAR race teams on putting on a great show. The heat winners were #85 Ken Naves, #72 Rob McDonnell, #38 Kirk Hocker, #76 Tyler Williams, #7 Derrick Tiemersma and #47 Stompin' Tom Walters.
THE LIMITED LATE MODEL DIVISION
It was nice to see 2 new drivers out for the night as #26 Dave McLean and #13 Bill Laughlin made their 2003 debuts and we hope to see them out the rest of the year. On the drop of the green flag #71 Brent Travis wheeled to the front as #59 Larry Vitale, #87 Grant Lloyd, #97 Simon Lloyd and #1 Vic Parsons rounded out the top 5. On lap 8 #12 Lambert Yake brings out the first yellow as he cuts a tire and on the restart Travis is still the point man with Lloyd second while Parsons was applying heavy pressure to Lloyd with Vitale and Simon Lloyd as the top 5. At the half way point Travis is the leader with Parsons, Grant Lloyd, Simon Lloyd and newcomer McLean running in the fast 5 positions. As the laps were winding down the wily veteran Parsons begins to apply heavy pressure on the leader and they go door handle to door handle lap after lap and finally with 2 laps to go Parsons gets by Travis and cruises to victory with Grant Lloyd, Simon Lloyd and #22 Chris Morrow in the top 5 positions. The heat winners were Travis and #3 Ken Bemrose. Congratulations to quick Vic and the crew on another great feature win as victories are not easily attained in this late model division. Take a bow gentlemen as your show was as good as the ALSTAR's and I still say our late model division is the envy of all tracks in Ontario and each week it builds in numbers and excitement.
THE THUNDER CAR DIVISION
On the drop of the green flag the early leader was #60 Mike Norris but #23 Paul Maltese soon disposed of him while #49 Frank Davey, #3 Ernie Fummerton, #00 Andrew Cole round out the top 5. While Maltese was on the point there was a tremendous battle for second as Fummerton and Davey battled taking turns for second and third respectively while #45 Rob Poole and #94 Doug Harvey round out the top 5. They went heavy for 11 laps before a yellow appeared as Poole loops it in turn 4 with both Poole and #16 Amanda Connelly summoned to the rear as involved cars. On the restart Maltese still has the point but is under siege by the 49 car of Davey and Davey finally gets the jump on Maltese and takes the point away with Fummerton and Harvey following as Maltese is left out to dry on the outside with #74 Mark Zacchigna and #51 Mark Adams just in behind. As they roared down the front chute to take the checkered flag the running order was Davey, Fummerton, Harvey, Zacchigna, Adams and Maltese. The heat winners were Paul Maltese and Enrie Fumerton. Congratulations to Frank and the crew on a great run and I believe victory number 2 on the '03 season.
THE 4 CYLINDER ROAD RUNNER DIVISION
On the drop of the green flag we went 6 green flag laps before the leaders took each other out as #11 David Henderson and #54 Edward Cole spin and bring out the yellow. The running order is #8 Rob Snow, #80 Jim Carter, #20 Dave Terry, #12 Adam Tracey and #21 Rob Deasy round out the fast 5. At the half way point Carter grabbed the point but he was under heavy pressure from Deasy and Terry while #22 Tim Phinnemore and Snow while in hot pursuit finally Carter relinquished the lead as Deasy was working great on the high side. On lap 18 the yellow came out as Tracey went for the wild ride almost saving it finally the car spun out on the front chute. On the restart Deasy easily took the lead but in behind a great battle was underway as Carter, Phinnemore and Terry were exchanging paint and positions lap after lap. As they came down the front chute to take the green flag from starter Doug the running order was Deasy, Carter, Tim Phinnemore, Terry and #9 Mike Carson. The heat winners were #42 Joe Sherman and Terry. Congratulations to Rob and the crew as it seems that Yellow CRX is dialed in and that bad news for the rest of the 4 cylinders class as they must find a way to stop the banana machine.

Once again we would like to thank Jim Rodgers and his company Alliance International Truck & Equipment Sales Inc. in Oakville for their sponsorship and support for the 2003 race season and we hope the relationship continues into the future. We would like to thank the fine folks of the ALSTAR Late Model Super Series for putting on a great show and we will see you next year could we add another show next year Joe, please.