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Chris Raabe’s Race Winning Runs are the Perfect Championship Clinching Prescription
By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications
Heading into the final weekend of point chasing in the DIRTcar sportsman modified division, Chris Raabe had the possibility of clinching 3 track championships. He was leading the standings at Thunder Alley Speed Park in Evans Mills, New York and at Brockville Ontario Speedway. At Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in Elbridge, New York the 17 year-old from Napanee, Ontario trailed Dan Wiesner by less than 20 points. All 3 venues were part of the “Teenage Tornado’s” weekend agenda.
Friday, August 29th: With remnants of tropical storm Fay cancelling events throughout Canada and the United States, Thunder Alley Speed Park was one of the few tracks to put a complete show in the books. Before the cars had even turned a lap on the track, the entire pit area buzz was about Chris Raabe. The driver of the Scott Industrial Service/TyRoute Communications-Telus/Kingston Hyundai/Kingston RV Centre/Waste Management/ Brunet Plumbing/ Kwik Load Products/McColman Media/Len Corcoran Excavating #01 TEO Pro Car already had 16 wins on the season. Many wondered if he’d ‘play it safe’ or look to add another checkered flag to his resume. After watching Raabe follow 14 year-old Luke Whitteker for a number of laps, they got their answer. He took the lead with a last lap pass, clinching the championship and putting feature race win #17 in the books.
Saturday, August 30th: The final Saturday of the month dawned bright and sunny. A beautiful Labour Day Weekend forecast was the icing on the cake for Raabe’s ‘Championship Saturday Night’ at Brockville Ontario Speedway.
The evening began with Chris Raabe, Randy Gaudet and Cole Dingwall locked in a tight, 3-way battle for the championship. In his heat race, Raabe finished 3rd behind Kenny Polite and Dingwall. At the start of the sportsman modified feature, Dingwall, Gaudet and Raabe started in positions 13th through 15th respectively.
By lap 6, Dingwall was 7th, Raabe 8th and Gaudet 10th. The #01 car had moved to 4th by lap 7 and when a yellow flag bunched the field with 15 laps in the books, Chris was 2nd with Dingwall right on his tail. On the 17th circuit, he took the lead and the fat lady started singing. Chris not only won Brockville’s sportsman modified championship for the 2nd time in his young career, he also racked-up feature win #18 on the season.
Monday, September 1st: After a day off – from racing at least – Chris Raabe and his crew made the tow to Rolling Wheels Raceway Park. While the half-mile at Elbridge, New York may not be his favourite place to race, Raabe approached the night’s 30 lapper the same way he does every event.
After finishing just outside of a qualifying position in his heat race, the #01 team was forced to run the first of a pair of ‘B main’ last chance qualifiers. Wheeling the freshly re-skinned 2006 TEO, Chris took the win in the consolation event and started the feature from 21st spot. His main rival for the Rolling Wheels track championship, Dan Wiesner was 18th at the drop of the green flag. While Raabe charged toward the front, Wiesner appeared to be ‘points racing’. The #66 car ran a careful race, while Chris did everything he could to gain positions. Early in event, he developed a brake problem which made the car hard to control on the bottom of the track. For every 2 spots he’d gain on the straightaways, he’d give back 1 in the corners. At the drop of the checkered flag, Raabe had finished 13th. Wiesner was 20th, earning the 2008 track title by just 4 points.
As they say, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
In the sportsman modified Super DIRTcar Series points, Chris Raabe trails Wiesner by 20 markers – 449 to 429 – but has made 1 fewer start. Jeremy Pitcher is 3rd with 385. He is unbeaten after 3 Lucas Oil sportsman series starts. Leads the way with 720 points in the DIRTcar NE northern region standings and his 18 feature race wins are 7 more than his nearest competition.
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