Connor James did not think he would be back in the Ontario Sportsman Series in 2024. In fact, it probably never crossed his mind. The 2019 OSS Champion had a rough exit from the series in 2023, following a tight championship battle with Cory McAllister, where contact and actions on track led to a miserable finish to a rather solid season leading up to that point. James, of Hamilton, made the significant change to running Street Stocks in the USA for 2024, but, received a call on Sunday night from an injured Cory McAllister. He wanted Connor to drive his championship leading #71 Mustang.

James would pull the best super sub role, by sweeping session after session, leading from the start and never looking back. Connor James would take win number seven in his OSS career, putting him in a tie for fifth all time with Brandt Graham and Jay Doerr. James was uncharacteristically nervous before getting in the car, but all that nervous energy led to one of Connor’s best performances in the series. He won this one for his dad Rob, who has had a tough year, battling some health issues. The race at Peterborough continued to showcase the young talent, as Ollie Ferguson and Brendan Patrick rounded out the podium. Tim Tolton made his return to the OSS, and put on a show. Despite only getting 10 laps in qualifying, Tim would start from the back and make his way quickly through field as high as fourth place, before falling back. Contact with Chad McGlynn led to the #3 Monte Carlo spinning in turn one, after a ferocious battle between the two veterans. The bigger news for Tolton was that this car wasn’t together until a couple nights before the big race at Peterborough. Tolton will be back behind the wheel at Full Throttle, to try and get his series leading fourth win at the Varney track. Cory McAllister & Connor James continue to build their lead in the championship, as they now have a staggering 64 point lead on Brendan Patrick who sits second, and a 94 point lead over third place Chad McGlynn. Kevin Trevellin sits fourth, 96 points back, while Ollie Ferguson is 114 back in fifth. Rookies Lora Authier and Nathaniel Greenaway sit sixth and seventh respectively. The OSS will return to action August 10^th at Full Throttle Motor Speedway as they compete in the second round of the Ecotek Triple Track Challenge!