Andrew Gresel Wins Electric City 167 at Peterborough

On a day full of twists and turns, Andrew Gresel overcame an early incident to win the Electric City 167 on the final day of the Autum Colours Classic at Peterborough Speedway.

Gresel had been involved in an incident with 92 laps to go, as his No. 81 machine was squeezed against the turn three wall in an attempt to avoid an incident involving Sean Walker and Travis Hallyburton.

Gresel took the lead on lap 123 and maintained the top spot the rest of the way to win the Electric City 167. It was a huge change of fortunes compared to the race’s halfway break, as his crew worked tirelessly on damage to his car as he was nearly outside of the top 10.

“We struggled here the last couple of days, too,” said Gresel. “I’ve just got to thank everybody that helped me here. We came in, made those adjustments. Our toe was out about three-quarters of an inch. We couldn’t have gotten it done without these guys.”

Despite the early hiccups, patience and perseverance paid off for Gresel. He quickly worked his way through the field and dodged a handful of incidents to stand atop the podium at day’s end.

“It was difficult, you know. The longer races, you just try to really save. That’s what we were doing the whole time. It’s Peterborough Speedway, you never know what you’re going to run into here. Just to come out with a win here after being up in the wall about halfway through is incredible.”

Dustyn Mombourquette finished second and struggled to find the words to describe his runner-up effort. He moved into the second position just four laps shy of the finish.

“I’m not sure, honestly,” said Mombourquette. “I’m speechless. This is insane. I can’t believe what we went through on Friday. I can’t thank all my crew enough for fixing it up, and it held together. I couldn’t be happier.”

Dan McHattie finished third in the event, but potentially could have won the event. He took the lead on lap 17, losing the top spot to Ryan Kimball on lap 95. McHattie was challenging to retake the lead before he was involved in a lap 110 incident negotiating lapped traffic.

“I made the mistakes,” said McHattie. “I gave Ryan [Kimball] the room to get by me to start with. I thought when I got back to the inside the 46 would pull over and give us room, and then I got into the back of him, which was my second mistake. Beyond that, we just fought hard to get back to where we finished. Third sucks, but we’ll take it.”

Kimball would later be involved in a separate incident, ending his chance of winning the Electric City 167. Kimball expressed frustration with McHattie and several other competitors following his retirement from the race.

“The car was really good,” said Kimball. “Guys like Dan McHattie are an absolute idiot. That guy, he’s been racing here all season, he hits every car on the track, you know what I mean? It is what it is.

“The 81 got me, the 39 on the start there drove right down on the right-front on me. I don’t know what these guys are doing. They’re just looking to get punched out or something. Then McHattie slides all the way into three and doorslams me. I get it, but Jesus Christ, though. McHattie will be in for a front clip next year.”

Kelly Balson finished fourth, with Brandt Graham rounding out the top five.

Electric City 167 Unofficial Results