Sylas Ripley Scores First Career Oxford Championship Series Super Late Model Win
Jul 14, 2024
Shae Gemmell led every lap of the APC United Late Model Series' London Recreational Racing 100 at Flamboro Speedway on Saturday. However, it was anything but an easy win.
Gemmell held off Kyle Steckly, Jake Sheridan and Connor Pritiko in the closing laps of the event, crossing the line just .14 seconds ahead of Steckly when the checkered flag fell.
It was a big bounce-back for Gemmell, who finished 16th in the series' last event at Delaware Speedway after being involved in an early accident in that race.
"The boys, McCall Racing, Mike McCall, they got this thing back top-notch," said Gemmell. "This is where we should be. We should be in victory lane.
"I know we had a strong day all day today. We tested the car yesterday at Delaware. We went back home and made those little, little fine changes that we knew we needed to have here because I have so many laps here."
After their fierce battle for the win, Gemmell had high praise for Steckly, the defending APC United Late Model Series champion.
"I knew he was coming strong," said Gemmell. "He has a lot more to lose than I do. I'm here to win races, he's here for the long haul. This will help us with that. I knew he was going to race me clean. If he had me sideways, he was going to collect me.
"Kyle's one hell of a guy. He's going to go all the way, folks. He's the best guy we've got out there right now. I'm so proud of him and everything he's doing with his racing career."
However, Steckly did not offer similar praise during his post-race interview towards Gemmell, disappointed by what he considered a lack of racing respect from the eventual winner.
"That's not how I want to race. I want to race clean," said Steckly. "You know, he raced me and Connor Pritiko both on those restarts, it was pretty unbelievable. We were just out there and he kept putting us in the wall, and we had to check up.
"Hate it for me and Connor, my team. We had a pretty good car. We just couldn't get around Shae there. He did a lot of blocking."
Jake Sheridan rounded out the podium, his second straight third-place finish with the APC United Late Model Series.
"I guess we're consistent. We struggled today with our car. The thing just kept getting better. Once the sun went down, I think, it went back to the way it was a couple of weeks ago. We had a really good piece, we just neede the race to go a little bit longer.
"I'm a little disappointed in myself at the end. I made some really good moves to get there. I got loose with two to go coming out of [turn] two and lost my position. I had the race all played out to get the 22 and the 3 there. He was complaining about how he was running him, but he never touched him. I thought he'd get a little more aggressive, but it didn't really work out for us."
Josh Stade finished fourth, with Ray Morneau rounding out the top five
The next stop for the APC United Late Model Series is Sauble Speedway on August 3.
-Photo credit: APC United Late Model Series on X
APC United Late Model Series at Flamboro - Unofficial Results
| Fin | No | Driver | Laps | Diff |
| 1 | 3 | Shae Gemmell | 100 | --- |
| 2 | 22 | Kyle Steckly | 100 | 0.140 |
| 3 | 52 | Jake Sheridan | 100 | 0.404 |
| 4 | 17 | Josh Stade | 100 | 0.704 |
| 5 | 30 | Ray Morneau | 100 | 1.450 |
| 6 | 97 | Blair Wickett | 100 | 1.951 |
| 7 | 19 | Connor Pritiko | 100 | 2.184 |
| 8 | 78 | Jo Lawrence | 100 | 2.920 |
| 9 | 18 | Cole Quinton | 100 | 3.367 |
| 10 | 72 | Junior Farrelly | 100 | 3.397 |
| 11 | 97D | Tyler Di Venanzo | 100 | 3.598 |
| 12 | 41 | Taylor Holdaway | 100 | 4.111 |
| 13 | 89C | Shawn Chenoweth | 100 | 5.179 |
| 14 | 0 | Glenn Styres | 98 | 2 Laps |
| 15 | 2B | Rick Burbridge | 86 | 14 Laps |
| 16 | 10 | Kody Ferri | 31 | 69 Laps |
