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Eastern Super Mini Cup

Watson Goes Two-For-Two on Mini Cup Series Season

Series Release

Matt Watson rolled into Oyster Bed Speedway with a new paint scheme on Saturday, but he was in a familiar place when all was said and done. Watson cruised to victory in the 25 lap feature, to pick up his 3rd career win, and extend his streak of consecutive starts with podium finishes to 6. His win was very popular with the fans at his home track.

For the 2nd week in a row, Chris Wilson finished 2nd after battling with Penske South Esk teammate Steven Curtis for a good portion of the race. Curtis held on to pick up a 3rd place finish. Behind them, the most intense battle of the feature came down to the wire, with Jared Tozer edging out Mark Ferguson to round out the top 5.

Kirk Sheasgreen’s luck finally rebounded, as he had a solid day finishing 6th in the feature. But others weren’t as fortunate. A blown tire forced Don Gaudet to pull into the infield, resulting in a 7th place finish for him, while a broken cradle forced rookie Kyle Maher to miss the feature. Derek Goodwin also continues to be snake-bitten in features as mechanical issues caused him to miss the feature as well.

The feature was run caution free. Watson led 22 of the 25 laps, with Sheasgreen leading 3 laps.

By far the most exciting race of the night was the 12 lap semi. As with last week, a pack of cars battled closely, only this time it was for the lead. Chris Wilson and Matt Watson were at the head of the pack, racing hard for the win. Everything changed when the caution came out for Don Gaudet hitting the backstretch wall, setting up a 1 lap shootout. In what may be the closest finish in series history, Wilson beat Watson by mere inches to win the semi; his first checkered flag in over a year. Mark Ferguson picked up a 3rd, which was his highest career finish in ESMCS competition. Jared Tozer and Steven Curtis rounded out the top 5 unofficially.

Watson grabbed the victory in the 10 lap heat race to kick off the evening. Wilson finished 2nd, while Ferguson, Curtis, and Goodwin rounded out the top 5.

The victory keeps Matt Watson on top of points, but Wilson’s strong night kept the margin almost the same as it was entering the night. These 2 drivers will be fun to watch for the rest of the year, as they will battle it for the championship.

The Eastern Super Mini Cup Series now has a little break before we are back and action. Racing resumes on July 18th, with the 2nd and final stop at Oyster Bed Speedway.

Feature Results

  1.     Matt Watson #88
  2.     Chris Wilson #2
  3.     Steven Curtis #12
  4.     Jared Tozer #22
  5.     Mark Ferguson #41
  6.     Kirk Sheasgreen #43
  7.     Don Gaudet #3

Derek Goodwin #24 (DNS)

Kyle Maher #78 (DNS)

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