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Alain Boisvert wins the 50 lap Syracuse Qualifier at Cornwall
By Martin Bélanger
CORNWALL, On – Sunday August 5, 2007 – It was the Benson Auto Parts Holiday Special as the modified had a 50 lap feature race, which the winner received a guaranteed starting spot for the 358 Championship race at Syracuse in October. As always, another great crowd and an excellent car count of 90 vehicles in the pits was on hand on this beautiful Sunday night.
In the 50 lap Syracuse Qualifier feature for the modified, points leader Alain Boisvert was on the pole and got the lead on the initial green and led for the three first laps when Tim Kerr hit the wall in turn 4 to bring the first caution of the feature. On the restart, Boisvert kept his lead with Lee Ladouceur in second, battling with Clement Therrien. Therrien passed Ladouceur for the second spot on lap 7. Yan Bussière and Mitch Jock brought the second caution when they stopped outside of turn 2 on lap 11. Boisvert stayed first but Kyle Dingwall brought the third caution when he stopped on the backstretch on lap 12. Boisvert got another good start over Therrien but Dagenais spun out in turn 1 on lap 13. Boisvert was still first with Therrien in second and Stéphane Lafrance in third, the three of them got away from the field. The leaders got quickly into traffic and at the halfway point; the top 5 was Boisvert, Therrien Lafrance, Carey Terrance and Perry Francis. The fifth caution of the race came when Jeff Sykes and Bill Mullin got sideways in turn 2 on lap 29. Boisvert picked a great lead over Therrien on the restart; he had a 10-car length over him. On lap 40, Boisvert had about a half-track advance on the fifth place car of Mark Hitchcock. Boisvert led all 50 laps to win his first feature race over Therrien, Stéphane Lafrance was third, Carey Terrance was fourth and Mark Hitchcock rounded out the top 5. By winning this feature, Boisvert is automatically qualified for the Syracuse 150 for the 358 modifieds race in early October. Boisvert had also won the first heat; Lee Ladouceur and Clément Therrien won the other ones.
Jocelyn Roy used the outside lane to jump into the lead on the initial green in the 20-lap feature for the pro-stock. Joey Ladouceur used the same groove to do the same thing to Roy and grabbed the lead on lap 3 and pulled away from the field. At the halfway point Ladouceur was still first, Roy was second, Dion Oakes third, Ghyslain Valade fourth and Clayton Benedict fifth. Ladouceur built himself a big lead over Roy. The first caution came on lap 18 when Travis Back spun his car in turn 4 which brought back the field together. Ladouceur kept his lead on the restart and led the last two laps to win the feature, Jocelyn Roy got his best finish in his career with a second place, and Benedict was third, followed by Oakes and Valade. Roch Aubin, Dion Oakes and Ricky Thompson won the qualifying races.
Eric Alexander grabbed the lead on the first green in the 15-lap semi-pro feature and led the first two laps when Derek Cryderman lost a wheel on the backstretch and brought out the first caution of the race. Alexander stayed in front on the restart, and led the next 7 laps and had problems with his cars and Michel Desjardins took this opportunity to grab the first spot. Another caution on lap 8 slowed the field. Desjardins was the leader but Mullin out powered him on lap 9 to take the lead. Mullin pulled away using the middle lane and led the last laps to win his third feature, Desjardins followed him and Marc Lalonde completed the podium. Derek Cryderman, Michel Desjardins and Mullin were the winners in the qualifying heats.
Andrew Russell took the lead on the initial green in the rookie expert feature when a two-car tangle occurred in the backstretch. Russell kept the first spot on the restart while Marc Usereau was chasing him. Russell slowed on the front stretch on lap 9 and gave the lead to Usereau but he lost his position when his car got sideways and Bob Ray is now first when the yellow flag came out on the same lap. Ray kept the lead but Gage Morin was coming on strong from the inside and they raced nose to nose and it was finally Bob Ray winning it over Morin and Corey Wheeler finished third. Andrew Russell and Marc Usereau were the heat winners.
In the rookie novice feature, 13 cars took the green flag as Jean-Marc Larose picked up the lead from his 3rd starting spot on the initial green and took a good lead over Gary Kyer. Larose led the first 6 laps when Marc Chartrand slowed down the field. Larose jumped two spots so the officials sent him back to third and Gary Kyer was your new leader. Kyer was the leader on following green, but Larose got back his position during that same lap but Kevin McLelland stopped in turn 4 bringing out the second caution of the feature. Larose picked up another good lead on Kyer on the restart. Larose led the final laps to win his second feature in a row, Gary Kyer followed him in second and Michel Duval finished third. Larose had also won the first heat and Steve Smith won the second one.
Another great night of racing at Cornwall as the five features races, went rather smoothly and very entertaining for the fans. Next week is the race for the children fundraiser; drivers will come in the grandstand during intermission to collect money for the children foundations. A complete race program is on the card. General admission is only 9$ with the first heat race scheduled to start at 7pm.
Feature Results:
Modified Feature ( 50 L)
1) Alain Boisvert, 2) Clément Therrien, 3) Stéphane Lafrance, 4) Carey Terrance, 5) Mark Hitchcock, 6) Perry Francis, 7) Dave Heaslip, 8) Brian McDonald, 9) Lee Ladouceur, 10) Kyle Dingwall, 11) Laurent Ladouceur, 12) Eric Gauvreau, 13) Jeff Sykes, 14) Bill Mullin, 15) Pierre Dagenais, 16) Lance Willix, 17) Roy Delormier, 18) Ron Valade, 19) Billy Cook, 20) Yan Bussière, 21) Robbie Grant, 22) Tim Kerr, 23) Mitch Jock,
Pro-Stock Feature ( 20 L):
1) Joey Ladouceur, 2) Jocelyn Roy, 3) Clayton Benedict, 4) Dion Oakes, 5) Ghyslain Valade, 6) PJ Peters, 7) George Renaud, 8) Roch Aubin, 9) Gilles Godard, 10) Ricky Thompson, 11) Denis Gauvreau, 12) Stéphane Lebrun, 13) Dave Bissonnette, 14) Louie Jackson, 15) Steve Johnston, 16) Travis Back, 17) Daniel Leduc, 18) Chris Wilson
Semi-Pro Feature ( 15 L)
1) Stuart Mullin, 2) Michel Desjardins, 3) Marc Lalonde, 4) Matthieu Aubin, 5) Sloane Shulman, 6) Sylvain Campeau, 7) Robert Gagné, 8) Stéphane Carrière, 9) Bruno Richard, 10) Marco Lalonde, 11) Wes Bilmer, 12) Jérémy Levac, 13) Jean-Paul Laberge, 14) Kevin Jodoin, 15) Kurtis McPhee, 16) Hubert Merkley, 17) Eric Alexander, 18) Michel Hamelin, 19) Kevin Fetterly JR.20) Steve Herrigan, 21) Derek Cryderman, 22) Chris Tremblay (DNS)
Rookie Expert Feature ( 12 L)
1) Bob Ray, 2) Gage Morin, 3) Corey Wheeler, 4) Dominic Charlebois, 5) Kevin Dejong, 6) Eli Gilbert, 7) Matt Leroux, 8) Marc Usereau, 9) Andrew Russell, 10) Mike Gaucher, 11) Justin Leroux, 12) Frank Colpitts, 13) David Sequin, 14) Adam Caldwell, 15) Chris James (DNS)
Rookie Novice Feature ( 12 L)
1) Jean-Marc Larose, 2) Gary Kyer, 3) Michel Duval, 4) Adam Trickey, 5) Joe Banks, 6) Jesse Thompson, 7) Dwight Feltham, 8) Mikael Laberge, 9) Erin Joyce, 10) Stéphane Racine, 11) Kevin McLelland, 12) Marc Chartrand, 13) Steve Smith, 14) Patrick Lacombe
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