Oyster Bed Speedway Surf & Turf “Season Finale Part II”

In part two of the Season Finale Edition we look at the remaining two divisions set to battle for the points Championship on the final night of racing in the 2017 season at Oyster Bed Speedway. The first Green flag drops at 6PM.

The Late Model Division will cap off the night with their Final Super Series 60 lap Feature Event.

#48 Mark LeClair will take the points lead into the weekend for one more time this season, hoping he will still be there by nights end. LeClair will take a 43 point lead into the trio of races to end the season. LeClair has been at the top of his game all season long and he only relinquished the division lead for one weekend this season. His 7 total wins and 20 top three finishes are also tops in the Division. A model of consistency with podium finishes in 70% of his races run this season inclduing 3 Feature wins. A couple of top 5 finishes should be more than enough to cap off a Championship finish. If LeClair manages to secure the title prior to the start of the 60 lap event it will turn the finale race into a free for all fastest car maybe wins, we have months to fix ‘er, go for broke, if your not first your last kind of finish. And with a field this tight anything can happen.

#5 Matt Palmer

Certainly a lot would have to happen in order to give second place driver Matt Palmer a chance at his second Late Model Championship and make up the 43 point deficit. Certainly a win or two is a must and Palmer has had a knack for winning the longer races as 4 of his 6 have come by way of a feature. Regardless of what may happen in points this driver has put up a very courageous second ½ of the season which saw him capture two feature wins Since late August and now has a 24 point lead over rival Randy Millar for second.

#77 Randy Millar

Millar is still searching for that elusive Feature win but the talented veteran driver has been able to find plenty of top three finishes. 15 in fact, the same amount as Palmer. Millar may not be a favorite to win the Feature don’t count him out of your top three. The two former Champs have been neck and neck over the last few weeks in that battle for second and will now have to contend with another as Troy Burke has edged closer to the Dynamic Duo. Albeit, a long shot for second but if Millar runs into any trouble the Division Rookie may just edge out the Veteran for third.

The Dynamic Duo Matt Palmer, Randy Millar

Division Notes: Troy Burke will take home ROY honors in the division. Keep in mind this has nothing to do with age. Victory Lane only feels like the fountain of youth because of all the adrenalin leaving your body. Since making the jump to the division the Speedway Veteran has amassed 5 total wins including a feature.

Editors Note: I look forward to the seeing what the future holds for this class. In more ways than one. There is a lot of talent fresh into the division that are mixing nicely with the current Veterans and it will be just a matter of time before we can grow it. Maybe not only trying to figure out how to get some drivers to come back to the division we should be looking closer at asking the 30 plus drivers from the opening two divisions how we could make it easier for them to make the jump up. This is why we grow the opening two classes so that they eventually feed the top two. Never easy answers but on the flip side I am not sure what everyone is worried about, this division has had some of the best close precision racing and as well the best finish of the season in a single Feature. Seems like every race there is eight cars all coming out of the final corner and across the finish line with a second or two of each other.

00 Jamie Stewart Following his first Division Feature Win in his Rookie Season

Kendall Palmer looks poised to capture an unprecedented third Outlaw Championship. He will take a 30 point lead over Division rookie Devin Gallant and a 37 point lead over Son Coady Palmer. After collecting zero points on Aug 26 the former two time champ had to claw his way back to the top. With 25 top three finishes in the 30 races he has started he will be tough to knock off that perch on the final weekend. Focus has never been a problem for the cagey veteran a Champion in multiple sports.

One trophy Devin Gallant is assured of receiving is the Rookie of the Year Trophy. In a division that features many veterans a feature win, top five in points and ROY honors would be a pretty good accomplishment in your first season.

Both Coady Palmer and Harley Cornish and Shaun Morrison round out the top 5. All have had tremendous seasons and the future in this division looks bright with multiple cars running strong to round out the season. Former Mini-Stock Champion Harley Cornish has begun to round into form in the second half of the season. He will have one more shot tonight to grab that first Feature win.

Good luck to all drivers and teams tonight. May the drivers in the Championship races be the cars to the decide the Championship Points. I have no doubt some things will happen as the Championship contending cars head towards the front, but hopefully no driver will go out of their way to get in front of them. Racing gets underway at 6PM under the lights at the Oyster Bed Speedway. Trust me you will not want to miss this.

Written By Track Announcer Jeremy MacDonald

Jeremy can be reached at fatcatsports@hotmail.com for story ideas or comments