2019-09-03

Alex Cuzzilla Scores First Career OMRS Win: JBJ Clinches 2019 Title

Alex Cuzzilla Scores First Career OMRS Win: JBJ Clinches 2019 Title

By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media


Close to a dozen open wheeled teams signed-in for the 2019 Ontario Modifieds Racing Series – powered by Torque Builders Inc. and Gen-3 Electric – season finale Saturday, August 31st at Peterborough Speedway.


With a 25 lap feature event on the agenda to close out the night's action, Randy Hollingsworth and former tour champion Rob Warnes brought the field to the green flag. Warnes took the early lead from his outside front row starting spot, the race pace was brought to an early halt when an incident in the 3rd turn brought out the red flag with just a single lap on the scoreboard.


Back under green, youngster Alex Cuzzilla – who is wrapping-up just his first full season of stock car racing – took the lead, with championship hopeful John Baker Jr. holding-down the runner-up spot. The pair ran a perfect race at the front of pack, with the 16-year-old holding the veteran at bay with every turn of the wheel. Even working through slower traffic near the halfway mark, Cuzzilla never faltered. JBJ followed the #50 machine across the line, with the father and son duo of Rick and Rob Warnes 3rd and 4th. Craig Scott – in what may have been his final run with the tour – was 5th. Bob Franks, Chad Strawn, Hollingsworth, Willow Barberstock and Alex Lees completed the finishing order.


Unofficially, John Baker Jr. is the 2019 OMRS champion by a margin of 15 points over Strawn.


Ontario Modifieds Racing Series notebook: Randy Hollingsworth, Alex Lees, Chad Strawn and John Baker Jr. scored OMRS qualifying event wins…Heading into the show, John Baker Jr. and Chad Strawn were locked in a tight battle for the 2019 series championship. That changed when Strawn suffered a mechanical issue during the opening heat race that sidelined his #77C machine. In a show of good sportsmanship, Josh Gruntz loaned the #31 ride to his friend for the balance of the show. Ironically, Strawn was seen wearing what he called his lucky 'Josh Gruntz Racing' t-shirt earlier in the night.


To learn more about the Ontario Modifieds Racing Series – powered by Torque Builders Inc. and Gen-3 Electrical – schedule, visit the group's social media platform, www.facebook.com/OMRS or look for the newly redesigned web-site www.ontariomodifiedsracing.com.      


For over a decade, Torque Builders Inc. has worked with partners and clients in the construction industry, offering new, general construction services, renovations and retrofits in the industrial, commercial and institutional sector. See www.torquebuilders.com to find out more. The 2019 Ontario Modifieds Racing Series tour is also supported by Complete Mechanical, Borque Transmission, Gen-3 Electrical, Thinkpath Design, Conview Concrete, Sterling Tire and Clarke Motorsports Communications.


Photo attachment: Melissa Smits, www.facebook.com/oneninemarketing


16-year-old Alex Cuzzilla (#50) closed-out the 2019 Ontario Modifieds Racing Series schedule with his first career feature win – Saturday, August 31st – at Peterborough Speedway.


Prepared by Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media


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