Junior Farrelly Joins List of APC United Late Model Winners at Sunset

The APC United Late Model Series started its 10th season in dramatic fashion on Saturday night. Junior Farrelly notched his first career win in the series, holding off Dale Shaw and Blair Wickett in the closing laps for the victory.

Farrelly took the lead from Shaw on lap 40 of the Dayco 100, but faced several challengers over the final 60 laps. Whether it was defending Shaw, defending series champion Kyle Steckly or Wickett, the action was non-stop.

The longtime Ontario racer has made more than 40 starts in the APC United Late Model Series, but prevailed in a physical fight to the finish on Saturday for the first win.

“We’ve been at this a long time, man,” said Farrelly. “It is so, so, so sweet. I just can’t even tell you how good it feels. We’ve struggled and struggled. The Shaws, man, their cars are 1-2-3.”

Farrelly even traded paint with Wickett in the closing laps. Farrelly admitted the battle for the win got a little rough, but that he was willing to push the envelope to score the win.

“I got a little more dirty with Blair than I wanted to, but it was for a win, man. His girlfriend was spotting for me, too, to complicate things even more. I’m so proud of everyone on this team. They deserve it, they’ve stuck with me.”

An emotional Dale Shaw, the series’ inaugural champion in 2015, was thrilled to finish second after a year away from the series and to see the podium consist of Shaw Motorsports cars.

“This is a dream, you know what I mean? It was weird. I let Farrelly by and took the bottom. My car started hitting the ground and I couldn’t keep up with him. It’s the weirdest thing. You want him to win, you want him to win, but you sure darn want to win for yourself.

“I guess if somebody’s got to win, it’s got to be Junior. I’m really proud of him. He ran an awesome race fending off the 22 [of Steckly] and the 97 [of Wickett]. I’m just glad I don’t have a lot of work to do this week, so that’s good.”

Meanwhile, Wickett settled for third after letting Shaw by in the final laps. He may have been on the losing end of the late battle with Farrelly, but said it was a fun battle.

“We were just riding around until 30 to go when Steckly and the 72 [of Farrelly] were starting to heat up. I was like, ‘I’ve got to go, that’s my opportunity’ and then a caution came out.

“I thought I chose the right lane on the restart. We got around Steckly there. I got past Farrelly and made the mistake of pinching down on him. He did move me a little bit, but it was all clean, fun racing. I hope you guys enjoyed it.”

Taylor Holdaway finished fourth, with Jo Lawrence rounding out the top five. Steckly, Danny Benedict, Shae Gemmell, Erik Dalla Riva and Ray Morneau completed the top 10.

The next stop for the APC United Late Model Series is Flamboro Speedway on June 8.

-Photo credit: Sunset Speedway on X

APC UNITED LATE MODEL SERIES AT SUNSET SPEEDWAY
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS