Jake Sheridan Battles Brandon Watson to ACDelco 159 Victory

After a fierce and contentious late-race battle, Jake Sheridan scored his third consecutive victory with the APC United Late Model Series on Saturday night in the ACDelco 159 at Delaware Speedway.

It was a roller-coaster evening for Sheridan on his way to victory lane. He first took the lead on lap 58, but later spun from the third position on lap 90. After driving back through the field, he reclaimed the top spot with 30 laps to go after a physical battle with Brandon Watson that saw the two cars make contact multiple times.

While Sheridan soldiered on to the win, with Watson recovering for a runner-up finish, neither driver came away from the exchange pleased with the other.

"I'm sick of getting right-reared here for the lead," said Sheridan after the win. "There's 14 cars. I got right-reared on the frontstretch, then he right-rears me going into three. He's going to get mad I got loose in one and two, but me getting loose after he does that, that's just too bad.

"I didn't want to use him up at all. I think he had a good car. He was going to battle us. Good job, good for him, good racing there."

"We both had good cars," Watson said. "That was a bonehead move by him. He's gonna get it back twice as hard, I think. He says he got loose in the corner, that's fine. He kept his foot in it and drove me into the wall. I almost had to let off. I gave a little bump on the backstretch, obviously, and he just drove it into the corner. We've got lots of year left. Let's see what happens.

'We had pretty even race cars. We could have had a good race. Like I said, [expletive] bonehead move."

Regardless, Sheridan came away with the win, the seventh of his career with the APC United Late Models. The win continues a hot streak for Sheridan, but he's focused on taking the season one race at a time.

"I just treat every race like its own, you know what I mean? I don't have too much else to say. I'm here to win and really, really thankful for everyone's support. Happy to have a good race car."

Behind the fierce battle for the win, Shae Gemmell fought to a third-place finish. Gemmell faded to seventh early in the race with an ill-handling car, but a big adjustment in the pits helped turn his evening around.

"This car was way off there at the beginning of the race," said Gemmell. "We fell way, way back there. The boys made a hell of a change there to tighten this thing up in the center. I picked them off through the field and I'm glad to be back up here on the podium. Third-place is half decent, we always run good here at Delaware, and we showed that coming from the back of the field."

Marshal Schrenk finished fourth, with Junior Farrelly rounding out the top five.

The next stop for the APC United Late Model Series is Flamboro Speedway for the London Recreational Racing 125. That event is scheduled for Saturday, July 11.

-Photo credit: United Racing Series

ACDelco 159 Unofficial Results