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Pat O’Brien wins the Lucas Oil Canadian DIRT Challenge at Cornwall
By Martin Bélanger
CORNWALL, On – Sunday July 29, 2007 – It was the third race of the Lucas Oil Canadian DIRT Challenge as the modifieds had a 100 lap event on their schedule on Goodyear night at the Cornwall Motor Speedway. It was a perfect night for racing, the skies were clear, the pits was full of cars. Another great car count in the modified category with 36 drivers that signed in for this great happening.
Clément Therrien grabbed the lead on the first lap with Danny O’Brien is second place, Therrien got in traffic by lap 8 as O’Brien followed him closely, the first caution came on lap 9 for Perry Francis who in turn 1 and 2. Therrien kept the lead on the restart, and led for the next 5 laps when a 6 car crash occurred in front of the grandstand and bringing the second caution of the race. Therrien was still the leader on the restart but had O’Brien on his tail on the high side, O’Brien uses the outside lane to pass Therrien but he is not giving up on O’Brien. The leaders got into traffic and it gave up some good racing action. O’Brien went too high in turn four on lap 46 and spun out to give the lead to Therrien after getting 32 consecutive laps on the green. Therrien set a fast pace over the field over the restart but another caution came on lap 48 for Boisvert. Therrien was first again on the green and was now followed by Pat O’Brien, at the halfway point, the top 5 was, Therrien, O’Brien, Lee Ladouceur, Mark Hitchcock, David Hébert. Pat O’Brien used the same lane has his brother to challenge Therrien for the lead and O’Brien was the new lead on lap 63 has Therrien got a little too high in turn 2. O’Brien started to pull away on lap 80, and had a half-track lead over third place runner Brian McDonald on lap 90. O’Brien lead the last 37 laps to capture his second feature in a row after winning last night race at Brockville, Therrien finishes second, McDonald third, Mario Clair fourth and rounding out the top 5 was David Hébert. The last 52 laps were ran without a caution and total race time was only over 26 minutes. Kyle Dingwall, Mark Hitchcock, Alain Boisvert and Laurent Ladouceur were the heat winners while Roy Tarbell won the concis and Kyle Dingwall was the fast timer with a time of 13.214 second.
In the pro-stock feature, 22 cars started has Ricky Thompson took the lead ont the initial green. Thompson led for the first ten laps when Mitchell Jock slowed in the backstretch and brought the first caution of the feature on lap 8. Ricky Thompson kept the lead on the restart but Chris Wilson got his car out of hand in turn 2 on lap 11 to bring back the field together. On the restart, Thompson was the leader but Dave Bissonnette passed him on the following lap to grab the lead but another caution for a tangle in turn 3 on lap 13 slowed the field down. Bissonnette stayed in front on the green but Thompson manage to regain the lead but a caution came on lap 15 for the 92 car of Joey Ladouceur who spun out in turn 4. Thompson kept the lead but Bissonnette was charging him on the outside lane and they got into a good battle for the lead and it was finally Bissonnette that won the feature over Thomson, PJ Peters finished third, while Ron Valade and Stéphane Lebrun rounded out the top 5. The heat winners were Lebrun, Thompson and Joey Ladouceur
Another good field of semi-pro with 22 cars for the 15 lap feature as Eric Alexander took the lead but a caution came out on the first lap for a few cars that had stopped in turn 3. Alexander was still the leader on the issuing green but his car got out of hand in turn 1 and brought the second yellow in this feature, the new leader was now Mathieu Aubin. Aubin took a few car lengths on Derek Cryderman but Cryderman pulled in on Aubin for a good battle for the lead. A tangle in turn 3, brought the third caution of the race on lap 6. Aubin was still the leader but Cryderman did a good inside move in turn 2 over Aubin to take the lead and Stuart Mullin was now second but Kevin Jodoin slowed down in the backstretch and the yellow came out. Mullin grabbed the lead over the restart but a five car tangle in the backstretch brought the field together. Back to green, Mullin kept the lead and another tangle came in turn 3 on lap 11. Mullin still led the feature and two laps later another a yellow slowed the field down to give a two lap dash for the win. On the restart, Mullin lost control of his car in turn 1 and brought the yellow, Steve Herrigan was the new leader and he led the last two laps to win the 15 lap feature who will celebrate his birthday in fashion. Kurtis McPhee finshed second and Marc Lalonde completed the top 3.
In the rookie expert feature, 13 cars took the green flag as Andrew Russell pulled away on the first lap, Gage Morin left some liquid on the front stretch and it brought the first caution on the third lap. Russell kept the lead on the restart, and led for the next 6 laps until Corey Wheeler passed him in turn 3 and 4 on lap number nine. The second caution came on lap 10 for Adam Caldwell. Wheeler kept the lead on the green and led the last two laps to win his first feature the year over Russell and Bob Ray who completed the podium. Andrew Russell and Eli Gilbert had won the qualifying heats.
Jean-Marc Larose took the lead on the initial green in rookie novice feature and took a great lead over the field of 9 cars. A red occurred for Albert Scharf flipped his car in turn 3 on lap 1. Larose kept his lead on the issuing green and led for the next 4 laps until a caution came on lap 5 for Denis Seguin who on the backstretch. Larose pulled away on the green and led the last seven laps to win the feature race over
Another great night of racing as the track dried up and gave a slick surface and gave for some excellent racing in the all the features. After 3 races in the Lucas Oil Canadian DIRT Challenge, Laurent Ladouceur lead the points with 274, Clément Therrien his second with 261, he is followed by Brian McDonald with 246, Mario Clair with 241 and Danny O’Brien completes the top 5 with 222. The series goes back to Drummond and Granby for a doubleheader on Monday August 6 and Tuesday August 7. Time trails will start at 6:30 at both track while the first heat is schedule to start at 7pm.
Next week at Cornwall, it is the Benson Auto Parts Holiday Classic with a 50 laps Syracuse qualifier for the modified plus a complete racing program. Racing will start at 7pm, admission price is $15 for adult general admission. It is always a great show and the crowds are usually great for this holiday classic.
FEATURE RESULTS:
Modified Feature ( 100 L):
1) Pat O’Brien, 2) Clement Therrien, 3) Brian McDonald, 4) Mario Clair, 5) David Hébert, 6) Kyle Dingwall, 7) Mark Hitchcock, 8) Lee Ladouceur, 9) Danny O’Brien,
10) Kayle Robidoux, 11) Yan Bussière, 12) Stéphane Lafrance, 13) Laurent Ladouceur,
14) Roy Tarbell, 15) Michel Dusseault, 16) Perry Francis, 17) Fred Gamache, 18) John Lazore, 19) Lance Willix, 20) Sébastien Gougeon, 21) Andre Gauthier, 22) Alain Boisvert, 23) Jasmin Léveillé, 24) Carey Terrance, 25) Bill Mullin, 26) Dave Heaslip,
27) Dany Bilodeau, 28) Pierre Dagenais, 29) Roy Delormier, 30) Chris King,
Modified heat 1: Kyle Dingwall, Brian McDonald, David Hébert
Modified heat 2: Mark Hitchcock, Danny O’Brien, Lee Ladouceur
Modified heat 3: Alain Boisvert, Dave Heaslip, Pat O’Brien
Modified heat 4: Laurent Ladouceur, Clement Therrien, Michel Dusseault
Concis: Roy Tarbell, Frederic Gamache, Carey Terrance
Pro-Stock Feature ( 20 L)
1) Dave Bissonnette, 2) Ricky Thompson, 3) PJ Peters, 4) Ghyslain Valade, 5) Travis Back, 6) George Renaud, 7) Louie Jackson, 8) Clayton Benedict, 9) Gilles Godard, 10) Stéphane Lebrun, 11) Dion Oakes, 12) David Papineau, 13) Denis Gauvreau, 14) Roch Aubin, 15) Steve Johnston, 16) Chris Wilson, 17) Joey Ladouceur, 18) Jocelyn Roy, 19) Mitch Jock, 20) Daniel Leduc, 21) Donald Leduc
Semi-Pro Feature ( 15 L)
1) Steve Herrigan, 2) Kurtis McPhee,3) Marc Lalonde, 4) Patrick Levasseur, 5) Michel Desjardins, 6) Stuart Mullin, 7) Robert Delormier,8) Wes Bilmer, 9) Mathieu Aubin, 10) Stéphane Carrière, 11) Kevin Jodoin,12) Derek Cryderman,13) Marco Lalonde, 14) Jeremy Levac, 15) Robert Gagné, 16) Sylvain Campeau, 17) Nathan Delormier, 18) Sloane Shuman, 19) Jean-Paul Laberge, 20) Eric Alexander, 21) Robert Hamilton
Rookie Expert Feature ( 12 L)
1) Corey Wheeler, 2) Andrew Russell, 3) Bob Ray, 4) Mike Gaucher, 5) Marc Usereau, 6) Eli Gilbert, 7) Dominic Charlebois, 8) David Sequin, 9) Frank Colpitts, 10) Justin Leroux, 11) Adam Caldwell, 12) Andrew Leroux, 13) Gage Morin, 14) Kevin Dejong
Rookie Novice Feature ( 12 L)
1) Jean-Marc Larose, 2) Steve Barber, 3) Matt Leroux, 4) Chris James, 5) Gary Kyer, 6) Denis Seguin, 7) Jamie McKee, 8) Albert Scharf
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