Tim O'Brien
Cashes In At 7th Annual Applefest Shootout
For Immediate Release –
Saturday September 24, 2011
BRIGHTON, ON – By Greg Calnan / OntarioOval.com - After
rain washed away the Friday portion of Applefest Weekend at
Brighton Speedway the teams and fans returned to the track
with the sun finally shining. The main attraction on the
evening was the Goodyear Automotive Services Applefest
Shootout Presented By ImageFactor.ca. With two-time and
defending winner Pete Bicknell not able to race due to
recent back surgery and the other two previous winners not
in attendance it left the door wide open for a new
winner.
A total of 24 cars from
across the province were on hand for the 50 lap event. Mike
Bowman and Cody McPherson would redraw themselves onto the
front row and led the field to the green. Bowman quickly
jumped out to the lead until fellow Merrittville regular Mat
Williamson got by for the top spot. As the field worked
through traffic Travis Braun worked by Williamson for
the lead and led until his car had mechanical issues
under caution. Bowman, Williamson, Tommy Flannigan as well
as brothers Tim and Danny O'Brien all races closely for the
top position through the middle portion of the race until a
spin by Danny O'Brien would bring out the yellow and send
the 'Pocket Rocket' to the tail of the field.
In the closing laps Tim
O'Brien would grab the top spot as brother Danny began to
carve his way through the field and work his way to the top
five. Contact between Danny and Mat Williamson sent the the
#6 into a spin and to the tail of the field. The caution
tightned up the field and set up an epic duel for the win. Tim
O'Brien led the way while Bowman, Flannigan, Danny O'Brien
and Brian McDonald all followed closely in his tire tracks.
The five drivers all had a legitimate shot at winning the
race on the last lap and created a fantastic finish at the
line. Tim O'Brien held on for the victory while brother
Danny narrowly grabbed second from Bowman by inches.
Flannigan finished a very close fourth while McDonald
finished fifth. After finishing second twice to former
winner Pete Bicknell it was finally O'Brien's turn to taste
victory at Brighton. "I've followed Pete enough times
around this place, I learned a few tricks from him"
said O'Brien.
Although the weekend was
cut in half by weather it was still a great success at
Brighton Speedway with some of the best feature finishes of
the season. The speedway has one remaining event on
Saturday, October 1st as they open the gates for the Eve of
Destruction. For more information and complete results visit
http://www.brightonspeedway.com/.
Rresults from Saturday,
September 24th, 2011
Goodyear Automotive
Services Applefest Shootout 50 lap feature:
1. 88T Tim O'Brien, 2. 17D Danny O'Brien, 3. 71 Mike Bowman,
4. 72x Tommy Flannigan, 5. M96 Brian McDonald, 6. 88 Shayne
Pierce, 7. 35 Adam Moore, 8. 19H Brandon Hagen, 9. 28 Gary
Llindberg, 10. 7 Cody McPherson, 11. 72 Brent Bigolo, 12. 52
Jessica Powers, 13. 73 David Austin, 14. 32 Doug O'Blenis,
15. 6 Mat Williamson, 16. 20 Steve Bilow, 17. 77 Lee Miller,
18. R70 Ryan Arbuthnot, 19. 21 Jeff Ciglich, 29. 24B Roger
Levesque, 21. 72M Larry Czinege Jr., 22. 76 Travis Braun,
23. 92 Adam Turner, 24. 75J Joe Banks