The 2017 Box Stock season has been dominated by two drivers, Seth Standley in the Standley Bros. Hot Rods #25 and Rylinn Renaud in the Race City Injector #16 kart. While Standley has had the kart to beat in Time Trials all season, Renaud has been the driver to beat in Main Event competition. He now has 12 wins on the season, and has extended his points lead going into the final four races of the season.
The Main Event got started with a bang as we had a big pileup in turn one on the opening lap. Contact between the drivers in the first two rows sent all four of them spinning as everyone else tried to avoid the mayhem. The drivers involved in the accident were Hank Simmons (#95), Connor Grasty (#21), Landon Tangreen (#10T), and Rowdy Gramps (#14). When the dust settled it was rookie driver Luke Hayes who had the race lead. Hayes was fresh off his first Trophy Dash win earlier in the night and looked poised to pick up the win. A mechanical failure though during a yellow flag would cause him to drop out of the lead and to the infield. A heartbreaking end to an excellent night for the young driver. Once Hayes dropped out, Rylinn Renaud inherited the race lead and did not look back as he went on to win his 12th race of the season. Seth Standley picked up his 13th top five finish of the season as he finished in the second position. Kevin Franck made a rare appearance in his #H20 kart and picked up a third place finish. Brayden Williams made his first start of the season a good one as he crossed the line in the fourth spot and picked up Hard Charger honors as he started in the 11th position and charged forward seven positions. While Connor Grasty rebounded from a lap one accident to finish in the fifth position.
The Points Standings in the Box Stock class have opened up a bit this week, as I have implemented all of the point averages for substitute drivers this season. Rylinn Renaud will now carry a 51 point advantage over Seth Standley into the final four races of the season. As long as they continue to show up to the racetrack, the Championship will come down to the two of them. Rowdy Gramps sits third in the standings, a distant 304 points out of the lead. Jennifer Osborne is hanging on to the fourth spot at the moment. She is 375 points out of the top spot. While Hank Simmons sits fifth in the standings at 407 markers back. Luke Hayes, despite missing two points races early in the season is sixth in the standings, 490 markers out of the lead. All of the drivers from 7th on down the list have been mathematically eliminated from Championship contention as there just aren't enough points available throughout the rest of the season for them to mount a charge in the closing races. Keep in mind the points listed here will not necessarily reflect the points listed online, as these standings have Driver Point Averages factored in for Substitute drivers.
We will take this weekend off, and return on Saturday August 19th, 2017 for the 20th Annual QRC Cup Perpetual Trophy Night! This is sure to be one of the biggest nights of racing of the season as everyone wants a shot to take home the big trophy for the year. Hot Laps will begin at the normal time of 5:30PM for the Open Cars, with qualifying to follow for all divisions. For ticket information and/or directions to the track please visit our website at www.cyclelandspeedway.com.
POINTS RACE #15 QUICK RESULTS
TIME TRIALS: SETH STANDLEY – 12.020 (14)
HEAT RACE: HANK SIMMONS (2)
TROPHY DASH: LUKE HAYES (1)
MAIN EVENT: RYLINN RENAUD (12)