After not being behind the wheel of an OSCAAR Super Late Model for 10 months, Rob Poole won both of his heat races and posted a seventh place finish at Sunset Speedway despite a late race spin.
Poole was running seventh at lap 31 when he’d loop the No. 45 Visser Farms “Pick Your Own” Strawberries, R&W Equipment Ltd, AGNAV, Alliston Auto Sales & Leasing, R.A. Electrical, Progressive Waste Solutions, Essa Rd Chiropractic Health Centre, ERA Tours, Central Industrial Supply, Reliable Waste Management, Multi-Tech Machining & Welding and Triple Crown Auto Super Late around, having to restart at the back of the field. Poole then carefully worked his way up through the traffic to get back to the seventh spot before the checkered flag.
The success is also no surprise as Poole impressed in his rookie season of competition in 2012 with a couple top-fives, before setting on pole for the end of the year event – the Autumn Colors Classic. Based on that, Poole headed into his sophomore season with high hopes of a first career win and contending for the championship.
The early season top five runs heightened the hype, though the wheels would fall off before the season truly got going. An engine failure at the Don Biederman Memorial in June ended up sidelining him for the rest of the season due to no funding for a new motor.
With Poole returning this year and starting off the season with a solid run, the hopes are high once again as with a little bit of work, Poole may be the next driver to find victory lane for the first time. The past Thunder Car Champion has a good chance of either scoring the victory at either Sunset Speedway or Barrie Speedway, simply due to experience. However, sometimes you never know as it could happen anywhere.
For now, the focus shifts to Kawartha Speedway, a track in which Poole has never ran before Poole missed the event in his rookie season due to work and as a result, had NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver Mark Dilley behind the wheel. Poole’s success will depend on how quickly he adapts to the oval and picks up where drivers have in the past. It isn’t strange for first-timers to be successful there, as Andrew Gresel proved that last year with a dominating win in his rookie year.
For those who missed the Sunset Speedway event – or even if you attended, be sure to watch the video below of the feature race as shot from the No. 45 Roof Cam.
