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Herrington’s Hot Streak De-Rails Briefly, But Quickly Gets Back on Track
By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications
Riding the momentum of 2nd and 3rd place finishes at Autodrome Edelweiss and Brockville Ontario Speedway respectively, Bobby Herrington was looking forward to the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series stop Thursday, July 10th at Brockville. That was the event where, in 2007, the youngster from Elginburg, Ontario made history by qualifying for a big block modified event at just 16 years of age. Just as they say at the start of ABC’s Wide World of Sports, sometimes the ‘thrill of victory can lead to the agony of defeat’.
Running a small block modified, against the more powerful big blocks Herrington knew he’d be up against some tough competition. Still, the driver of the Stover Bus Lines/Old Forester/Kingston Paint and Decorating/
Corcoran Excavating/Independent Insurance and Investment Group-Marty Stover Bicknell racer went into the event with a game plan. Just drive the racecar and see what happened. As the first heat race took the green flag, Herrington’s #25 car made contact with the #12 of another Brockville regular, John Mulder. The car was taken from the track on the back of a Kane’s Towing wrecker, and then loaded back into their hauler. Herrington and his crew watched the rest of the show from the grandstand.
Friday, July 11th was an entirely different story. After some long hours getting the car ready, the team headed for Autodrome Edelweiss, in the Gatineau Mountains just outside of Ottawa. Herrington ran the night’s first heat race and finished 3rd. In the main event for DIRTcar 358 modifieds, the 17 year-old came across the line with a fine 4th place run. His recent success has him in 5th place, less than 50 markers behind current leader Pierre Dagenais.
Brockville Ontario Speedway began their show Saturday, July 12th with a sense of excitement in the air. It was fan appreciation night and following the heat races, drivers in all 4 of the track’s weekly divisions would bring their cars onto the racetrack to greet fans and sign autographs. As one of the younger drivers in the modified field, Herrington has a strong fan following and armed with a stack of autograph cards; he wheeled his racer to the track to meet his supporters.
Just as the meet and greet session with the fans was coming to a close, a few raindrops began falling. Within a few minutes of getting the cars back to the pits, the showers picked-up and the balance of the race program was postponed. The modified feature will be made-up as part of the regular program Saturday, July 26th. There will be double features for both the street stock and modifieds that night – as each division will be racing at different tracks Saturday, July 19th. The mods will be part of a Lucas Oil Series show at Autodrome Drummond, while the street stocks will be part of a special event at Brighton Speedway Park.
Photo attachment (by Rick Young): #25 Bobby Herrington and #12 John Mulder get together in turn 1 at Brockville Ontario Speedway – Thursday, July 10th.
Photo attachment (by Jim Clarke): #25 Bobby Herrington in his heat race at Brockville Ontario Speedway – Saturday, July 12th.
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