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Not Exactly the Weekend He Had Planned
By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications
It was a pair of races he’d been looking forward to since the start of the 2008 season. The Lucas Oil Canadian Dirt Challenge was scheduled for Friday, August 1st and Saturday, August 2nd at Autodrome Edelweiss and Brockville Ontario Speedway respectively. Having run at each facility all year, Bobby Herrington anticipated two very strong finishes.
Friday, August 1st – Autodrome Edelweiss
With his current position – top 5 in track points – Herrington knew he’d have a ‘provisional’ to fall-back on, if he was unable to make the field through his qualifying event. 39 of the top DIRTcar 358 modifieds from Quebec and Ontario signed-in to do battle and were scheduled to run 4 heats, where the top 6 would advance. Herrington staged the #25 Old Forester/Stover Bus Lines/Kingston Paint and Decorating/Len Corcoran Excavating/Independent Insurance & Investment Group-Marty Stover Bicknell on the line for his qualifier and when the checkered flag fell, he was in 6th place. Exactly the finish he needed to advance to the dance.
The 100 lap feature brought 31 starters to the line, with Herrington starting 25th. The yellow flags flew often. The first was on lap 9, as series point’s leader David Hebert and Pierre Dagenais made contact in turns 1 and 2. An Autodrome Edelweiss regular, Bobby Herrington was content to bide his time and wait for the field to thin itself out. By contrast, his friend and fellow Brockville Speedway runner Todd Stewart was quickly working his way through the pack. The hard charging strategy may have been Stewart’s downfall. While running just outside the top 10 on the 20th circuit, he was collected in a wreck triggered by series regulars Alex Boisvert and Michel Chicoine. Stewart was finished for the night and credited with a 29th place run, while Boisvert held-on to a 17th at the checkers, with Chicoine 27th.
The main event continued with Yan Bussierre and Kayle Robidoux swapping the lead back and forth. A spin by Eric Landry on lap 77 also involved Herrington and put the Elginburg, Ontario racer on the sidelines for the night – with a 19th place finish.
Saturday, August 2nd – Brockville Ontario Speedway
There may have been a full moon hanging over Brockville Speedway Saturday night, but no one could see it. With the night’s program delayed by rain, things continued to go downhill and everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
49 small block modified teams were on hand, but because of the weather the pre-race time-trial session was scrapped. The plan for the night was to start 30 cars. Lucas Oil tour officials decided to run only 4 qualifying heats, with 6 drivers advancing from each 10 car event. What ensued was a greed-inspired slam fest. Lap after lap, teams were going through and in some cases, over each other to get toward the front. One of the 10 lap heats had so much carnage, it took more than a half-hour to complete. Bobby Herrington started and finished 9th in the first heat race – outside of a qualifying position.
Once the qualifying was concluded, a new problem presented itself. The field was already at 24 and the guaranteed starters – the top 5 from track points and the top 5 from tour points – still weren’t in the line-up for the 100 lap main event. After a 45 minute pit meeting, tour staff decided to scrap the planned consolation races and add the provisionals to the starting field. That would mean 34 cars would start the feature, with Bobby Herrington watching from the grandstands. After all the deliberation, the modified feature was started after midnight. The teams completed 4 laps before a wreck on the front stretch blocked the track – then, the rain started again. The show will be picked-up with 96 laps remaining Saturday, October 18th.
Brockville Speedway promoter Paul Kirkland issued an apology to track fans Sunday morning. It can be found at www.brockvillespeedway.com.
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