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By Chris Marquart, DIRT 358-Modified Series Reporter
Cornwall, ONT — September 4, 2005 — Lining up for the consolation event, eventual
race winner Pete Bicknell wasn’t sure what to expect. His car couldn’t turn in a
40-acre field in qualifying, and the car wasn’t a whole lot better in the heat.
Due to Advance Auto Parts Modified Super DIRT Series and Elite 11 commitments, Alan
Johnson and DIRT MotorSports’ 358-Modified Super DIRT Series other top point-getters
were in action at Cayuga County Fair Speedway (Weedsport, NY). Bicknell stood to
make monster point gains in Cornwall Motor Speedway’s Jiffy Lube 100 Sunday night.
But an evil race car was making those gains seemingly impossible.
“The car was a handful,” Bicknell said. “We just kept working on it and working on
it. We were starting way back and there was no cruising out there.”
The clouds parted for Bicknell as he won the consolation event, yet that didn’t mean
it was all sunshine and rainbows: he was starting 20th. But, after searching the
speedway and finding a very fast high groove, Bicknell powered to the victory. It
was his first 358-Mod touring win of the 2005 season. “We had a long way to go,”
Bicknell said with a smile.
The event started with local stars Stephane LaFrance and Laurent Ladouceur bringing
the field to the green. After five laps on the point Brian McDonald hit the
afterburners and blasted around LaFrance. He kept his no. 151 mount on the point,
stretching out big straightaway-plus leads through three caution periods in the
first 25 laps. First, Lee Ladouceur spun off turn two. McDonald hammered away to a
straightaway or more in just two laps. Yellow brought the field back to McDonald on
lap 23 after Roy Tarbell flipped several times, ultimately drawing the red flag.
Tarbell went into a barrel roll, sailing through the chain link fencing and landing
just 15-feet from the grandstands in turn one. As he came to rest, safety crews
found a piece of fence post through the cage of the car, within inches of his head.
The impact bent the seat and folded the rear clip of the car around the fuel cell;
Tarbell walked back to the pits uninjured.
Dale Planck was looking exceptionally racey when the field came back to green; he
held third and challenged LaFrance for second. “I didn’t know how long I had, but
that car was pretty good,” Planck said, shaking his head with bewilderment. “The
engine lost a cylinder on lap 13 so it was going away the whole race.”
Despite being down power, Planck used the longest green flag run of the event to
catch McDonald in open track and then race for the lead in lapped traffic. “There’s
a mutual respect there, and it makes the racing fun. You know you’re not going to
get run over if you make a move,” Planck said.
McDonald was equally complimentary, saying, “If he has a hole, I know he is going to
go for it and not hang back. But, if I have a hole, I know I can go for it and Dale
will give me room. It’s nice to have that but lapped cars still made it tough. I
lost the brakes over the last 35 laps, so I had to lift around the start finish line
and not drive into the corners like I was earlier.”
With Planck and McDonald both ailing, and the track coming to Bicknell, the finish
was developing into a barn-burner.
Planck and McDonald raced side-by-side through the halfway point, with Planck
inching ahead on lap 56. There were close to seven unofficial lead changes; Planck
would ride into the first corner on the high line and drive off with the lead, swap
low and McDonald would reclaim the top spot at the line. The dramatic battle was
accented as it happened mired in lapped traffic.
The pace slowed on lap 66 when Stephane LaFrance lost a right rear. Only four laps
before that, Bicknell took the high line to third by LaFrance.
“I wanted to just cruise, but there was no relaxing,” Bicknell said. “And even
though we made all those changes, I was still in trouble until we found that middle
groove. Pierre Dagenais came up on me on the top, and I knew I had to get up there.
It was time to go, but if we didn’t find the middle after that, I don’t know what
would have happened. I wasn’t sure of anything.”
Bicknell kept pressuring McDonald through a pair of cautions on lap 66 and 74.
After LaFrance lost his shoe, the race resumed on lap 70 as caution laps counted
after lap 50. Four laps after returning to green, Rick Richner slowed in the third
turn. Bicknell blasted under McDonald to take the lead when the green was again
unfurled.
“Under green, I could get into a rhythm,” McDonald said. “But I had no control going
in. I would go in and just hope I didn’t fall off. I can’t say if the green would
have helped, but I know the lapped traffic was tough to get through with no brakes.”
With heavy traffic ahead, McDonald was forced to ease up and Bicknell motored away.
The green lamp stayed lit for only six tours before Dale Planck’s motor finally
locked up on lap 83. “I knew it was smoking, but I was thinking it might just smoke
for another 20 laps,” Planck said. “We had 80 in, and I was thinking we had a sure
top-five.”
The race resumed on lap 89, and Yannick LeDoux found new life. Picking his way past
fifth and fourth-place runners Dave Heaslip and Pierre Dagenais, LeDoux began
pressuring McDonald.
Remember those clouds that never really faded from Bicknell’s sky? They let loose a
threatening shower over his parade: a lap 97 caution brought both McDonald and
LeDoux to his rear bumper. The event was forced to a green-white-checkers finish
after 104 laps.
“I was thinking, ‘here we go again,’” Bicknell explained, referencing his mistake at
Canandaigua in the last tour race. Bicknell drove over the berm and spun with less
than 10 to go, sacrificing a top-five finish. “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t
trip over myself again. We were pushing and in hot laps I was pulling wheelies. We
made changes after every time out, but we didn’t want to do anything erratic. It’s
good to get this win. It was a good points night for us. This place is different
than what we are used to.”
Being as cautious as a wide-open small-block can be, Bicknell slipped away with the
win as the race went beyond the century mark with McDonald finishing ahead of LeDoux
to claim the Syracuse qualifying spot. “We couldn’t go early,” LeDoux said, making
his best effort at English. “But as the race went on, we got better. Then the track
got slippery and it became good for us.”
Bicknell, McDonald and LeDoux visited the frontstretch announcer for interviews
while fellow top-five finishers Dave Heaslip and Pierre Dagenais reported to tech
inspection; all passed without incident. Mark Hitchcock jumped the final restart and
was penalized two spots at the finish.
DIRT MotorSports 358-Modified Super DIRT Series – Cornwall Motor Speedway (Cornwall,
ONT) Jiffy Lube 100 Event Summary
[Official Box Score posted on www.DirtMotorSports.com and can be viewed by first
selecting 'DIRT NorthEast' on the Corporate Homepage, then clicking '358-Modified
Series' link on the top left.
FEATURE
FIN CAR# DRIVER
1 42 Pete Bicknell/St.Catharines,ONT ($4,000)
2 151kb Brian McDonald/Cornwall,ONT
3 66L Yannick LeDoux/Granby, QUE
4 84 Dave Heaslip/Smiths Falls,ONT
5 124 Pierre Dagenais/Gatineau,QUE
6 95 Mark Hitchcock/Kingston,ONT
7 11 Chris Jones/Demorestville,ONT
8 19 John Lazore/Hogansburg,NY
9 66x Carey Terrance/Hogansburg,NY
10 21 Yan Bussiere/Drummondville,QUE
11 3TRS Bill Mullin/Iroquois,ONT
12 44 Sebastian Gougen/Drummondville,QUE
13 23 Laurent Ladouceur/Alexandria,ONT
14 83 Danny O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
15 m70 Billy Cook/Akwesasne,NY
16 115 Stephane LaFrance/Casselman,ONT
17 14W Donnie Wetmore,Jr./Weedsport,NY
18 19M Michel Pelletier/Soreil, QUE
19 66 Kyle Dingwall/Brockville,ONT
20 26 Rick Richner/Niagara Falls,NY
21 23X Dany Bilodeau/Victoriaville,QUE
22 55 Perry Francis/Akwesasne,NY
23 77x Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
24 12 Lee Ladouceur/Maxville,ONT
25 10x Richie Pratt,Jr./Sewell,NJ
26 31C Richard Chauvin/Drummondville, QUE
27 6 Pat O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
28 18 Pierre Berthaiume/Joliet, ONT
29 007 Roy Tarbell/Hogansburg,NY
30 99J Tammy Jalbert/Cornwall, ONT
31 37 Kyle Jacobs/Hogansburg,NY
EVENT SUMMARY:
LAP LEADERS: LaFrance 1-5, McDonald 6-56, Planck 57, McDonald 58-77, Bicknell 78-104.
CAUTIONS: Lap 14, RED: Lap 23,
HEAT WINNERS: La. Ladouceur, Heaslip, McDonald, Terrance.
CONSI WINNERS: Jones, Bicknell.
SYRACUSE SUNOCO/APLUS 150 QUALIFIER: McDonald.
HALFWAY LEADER: McDonald.
BERT HARD CHARGER: Bicknell.
QUICK QUALIFIER: Dale Planck (12.990 sec/69.284mph) - New Track Record
TOTAL PURSE: $20,200
CARS ENTERED: 37
NEXT EVENT: Lebanon Valley Speedway - West Lebanon, NY (Saturday, Sept. 10, 2005)
Did Not Qualify
9 Ken Cosgrove/St.Catharines,ONT
37p Francisco Pereira/Etobicoke,ONT
48too Dave Rauscher/Waterloo,NY
82 Doug Haldane/Cornwall,ONT
85 Jim Lazore/Hogansburg,NY
99R Ron Valade/Glen Robinson, ONT
Qualifying:
FAST AVE
TIME MPH CAR# DRIVER
1@ 12.990 69.28 77X Dale Planck/Cortland,NY
1@ 13.08 668.77 124 Pierre Dagenais/Gatineau,QUE
3 13.148 68.45 23 Laurent Ladouceur/Alexandria,ONT
4 13.215 68.10 95 Mark Hitchcock/Kingston,ONT
5 13.245 67.95151KBBrian McDonald/Cornwall,ONT
6 13.248 67.93 66X Carey Terrance/Hogansburg,NY
7 13.345 67.44 115 Stephane LaFrance/Casselman,ONT
8 13.365 67.34 84 Dave Heaslip/Smiths Falls,ONT
9 13.402 67.15 12 Lee Ladouceur/Maxville,ONT
10 13.413 67.09 21 Yan Bussiere/Drummondville,QUE
11 13.426 67.03 11 Chris Jones/Demorestville,ONT
12 13.434 66.99 6 Pat O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
13 13.437 66.97 3T Bill Mullin/Iroquois,ONT
14 13.441 66.95 83 Danny O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
15 13.460 66.86 44 Sebastian Gougen/Drummondville,QUE
16 13.475 66.79 23X Dany Bilodeau/Victoriaville,QUE
17 13.482 66.75 19 John Lazore/Hogansburg,NY
18 13.486 66.73 66L Yannick LeDoux/Granby, QUE
19 13.523 66.55 007 Roy Tarbell/Hogansburg,NY
20 13.532 66.50 18 Pierre Berthaiume/Joliet, ONT
21 13.556 66.39 99T Tammy Jalbert/Cornwall, ONT
22 13.562 66.36 48T Dave Rauscher/Waterloo,NY
23 13.566 66.34 85 Jim Lazore/Hogansburg,NY
24 13.567 66.33 42 Pete Bicknell/St.Catharines,ONT
25 13.589 66.23 14W Donnie Wetmore,Jr./Weedsport,NY
26 13.623 66.06 82 Doug Haldane/Cornwall,ONT
27 13.630 66.03 31C Richard Chauvin/Drummondville, QUE
28 13.682 65.78 55 Perry Francis/Akwesasne,NY
29 13.688 65.75 19M Michel Pelletier/Soreil, QUE
30 13.690 65.74 9 Ken Cosgrove/St.Catharines,ONT
31 13.716 65.61 M70 Billy Cook/Akwesasne,NY
32 13.831 65.07 66 Kyle Dingwall/Brockville,ONT
33 13.841 65.02 37P Francisco Pereira/Etobicoke,ONT
34 13.865 64.91 10X Richie Pratt,Jr./Sewell,NJ
35 13.956 64.48 99 Ron Valade/Glen Robinson, ONT
36 14.019 64.19 37 Kyle Jacobs/Hogansburg,NY
37 NT 26 Rick Richner/Niagara Falls,NY
**Top two locked in to feature.
Qualifying Races
Heats (10 laps, 4 transfer to feature; top 2 redraw)
#1: La. Ladouceur, LaFrance, Tarbell, Gougeon, Jones, Chauvin, Valade, Ji. Lazore,
Cook.
#2: Heaslip, Hitchcock, Bilodeau, Francis, Bicknell, P. O'Brien, Terrance,
Berthiaume, Jacobs.
#3: McDonald, Le. Ladouceur, Jo. Lazore, Mullin, Pelletier, Jalbert, Wetmore,
Richner, Pereira.
#4: Terrance, Bussiere, D. O'Brien, LeDoux, Pratt, Rauscher, Haldane, Cosgrove.
Consolations (10 laps, 3 transfer to feature)
#1: Jones, Pelletier, Chauvin, Jalbert, Cook, Ji. Lazore, Pereira, Valade, Richner,
Wetmore.
#2: Bicknell, P. O'Brien, Pratt, Berthiaume, Dingwall, Rauscher, Jacobs, Haldane.
358-Modified Super DIRT Series Point Standings
(Unofficial through Sept. 4, 2005):
Plc-Car-Driver (wins)- Pts-Off lead-Off Next
1 42 Pete Bicknell 486
214J Alan Johnson 485 -1-1
3 4 Brett Hearn 410 -76-7
4 22 Stewart Friesen 374(112-3
528s Matt Sheppard 367(119-7
677x Dale Planck 345(141-2
710x Richie Pratt Jr. 322(164-2
8 6 Pat O'Brien 306(180-1
9 26 Rick Richner 300(186-6
10 55 Perry Francis 283(203-1
11 37 Kyle Jacobs 272(214-1
12 3 Donnie Wetmore Jr268(218-4
13 19 John Lazore 234(252-3
14m70 Billy Cook 225(261-9
1566x Carey Terrance 223(263-2
16151kBrian McDonald 217(269-6
17 38 Scott Wood 195(291-2
18 21 Yan Bussiere 189(297-6
19 7z Danny Johnson 170(316-1
20 62 Todd Burley 169(317-1
2148T Dave Rauscher 166(320-3
22124 Pierre Dagenais 160(326-6
23rp23Larry Lampman Jr.153(333-7
24 84 Dave Heaslip 145(341-8
25 83 Danny O'Brien 139(347-6
26 11 Chris Jones 124(362-1
27 93 Richie Vinson 118(368-6
2837p Francisco Pereira116(370-2
29 95 Mark Hitchcock 116(370 0
30 44 Brian Stevens 113(373-3
31 3 Chad Brachmann 102(384-1
32 46 Kayle Robidoux 100(386-2
33123 Robbie Krull 100(386 0
34 3 Bill Mullin 100(386 0
35 23 Laurent Ladouceur96 (390-4
36 7x Steve Paine 95 (391-1
37 7 Sam Crogan 94 (392-1
38 4 Andy Bachetti 90 (396-4
39 72 Mike Bliss 90 (396 0
4066L Yannick LeDoux 90 (396 0
41 66 Kyle Dingwall 85 (401-5
42007 Roy Tarbell 83 (403-2
4315J Tim Jones 81 (405-2
44 5 Don Spatorico 72 (414-9
45 2b Ron Cartwright Jr68 (418-4
46 41 Boyd MacTavish 68 (418 0
4726g Scott George 60 (426-8
48 22 Eric Gavureau 58 (428-2
49 69 Rob Pietz 58 (428 0
50 44 Sebastian Gougeon58 (428 0
Pit Notes
*The tight confines of the 1/4-mile Cornwall oval are overshadowed by the 15-degrees
of banking that envelop the tracks 43-ft wide turns. Planck, the 2004 and '05 track
champion, solved the layout in a 358-Mod track record 12.990 seconds for an average
speed of 69.284 mph. The old track record was in the 13.05 range. The time was only
a matter of hundredths off the big block track record, which sits at 12.95-seconds.
The difference from Planck’s record-setting lap to 36th-place timer Kyle Jacobs was
1.092 seconds (5.085 mph); the average lap was a 13.515 seconds at 66.613 mph. The
average lap would have placed 19th in the 37-car field. Rick Richner, a tour
regular, was late arriving and did not take a qualifying pass.
*Regarding track champions, Laurent Ladouceur stole the 2003 honors at Cornwall. He
also won the first of four qualifying heats. Dave Heaslip (95, 84, 83 champ),
McDonald and Terrance also won qualifiers. Each were first-time heat winners on the
tour this year. Other track champions include Joel Doiron, who rang up the 2002
crown. Bill Mullin won in 2001; he started the feature 17th. Danny O’Brien won three
straight track titles from 1998 to 2000; his first came in 1993. Pat O’Brien won in
1997 and 1994; his first came in 1988. Doug Carlyle (78, 85-87) also rang up
multiple titles.
*Pete Bicknell and Pat O’Brien were forced into the second of two consolation races;
they finished first and second, respectively. Chris Jones won the first consolation
event. Kyle Jacobs, Donnie Wetmore,Jr. and Rick Richner were added as touring
provisionals, while Tammy Jalbert, Pierre Berthiaume were added as fourth-place
qualifiers from the consolation. Home-track additions went to Billy Cook and Kyle
Dingwall, who filled out the 31-car field.
*Points leader Alan Johnson – along with top-point getters Brett Hearn, Stewart
Friesen and Matt Sheppard were missing from the Cornwall Qualifying order. Each are
members of the Advance Auto Parts Modified Super DIRT Series’ Elite 11, meaning they
were competing at the Cayuga County Fair Speedway in Weedsport, NY.
*The Jiffy Lube 100 was the first 100-lap main the touring 358-Modified stars have
seen this year. A dozen cars finished on the lead lap and 18 were running at the
finish.
*Danny O’Brien has an unprecedented 13 top-five finishes since his fourth-place
effort in the 1990 installment of the Jiffy Lube 100; his brother Pat won the Mr.
DIRT 358-Mod title that same year. Danny’s lone win came in the fall of 1998 and
pairs with a remarkable six second-place runs, three third-place showings, two
fourths and a fifth. O’Brien had a string of four-straight top-three showings from
2000 to 2003. He also went on a torrent of top-fives through the mid-1990’s, placing
in the top five eight times in nine races between 1993 and 1999. Included in that
was a stretch of three consecutive second-place finishes in 1993-94.
*There have been 17 different winners in 23 touring events. The Speedway has held 23
touring shows, but has had 26 358-Modified DIRT-Sanctioned events since the division
was established in 1983. The track held three special-event shows for the small
block mods in the early 1980s; wins went to Marcel LaFrance (1983) and Dave Heaslip
(1984, 1985).
*Pat O’Brien has three wins and is the only driver to win in consecutive years
(Summer 1993, 1994, Fall 2000). 1993 was the first of four years where the tour was
visited twice. From 1998 to 2000, the series was at the track twice in the same
season.
*Steve Paine has three wins as well, winning every other year (1995, 97, Fall 99)
with Tim McCreadie taking wins in 1996 and the Summer of 98. Pete Bicknell (Summer
98, 96) also has a pair of wins.
*The track has seen 23 events since 1986. In 12 of those races, the driver who went
on to become the touring champion was not counted among the top five finishers. In
the other 11, the would-be champion placed fifth or better at Cornwall; and four
times won both the race and the overall crown (Bicknell-91, Fuller-93, Paine-99,
Johnson-00).
*Pat Ward’s fifth-place showing was the first time a would-be champion placed in the
front five since 2000. Six of the first nine 358-Mod Super DIRT Series titlists were
regulars at Cornwall Motor Speedway.
Get Out the Word First: RACEceiver is the Official Driver Communicator of DIRT
MotorSports. A compact radio receiver that conveniently fits into a driver’s pocket,
a RACEceiver allows each driver to hear directions from series officials, which
greatly enhances the safety and timeliness of events. A similar version available to
fans will allow RACEceiver users to hear what information series officials are
relaying to the drivers. For more information about RACEceiver, visit
www.raceceiver.com, call 866-301-7223, or look for their sales trailers at various
events.
Another perfect score: In DIRT MotorSports™ ongoing effort to assist every
sanctioned track with presenting the best possible race programs, DMS has teamed
with AMB i.t. which is now recognized as the Official Timing System of DIRT
MotorSports™ for the next five years. AMB i.t. is the world’s leader in automatic
race timing and scoring systems and the DIRT organization is proud to retain the
company as a valued partner in the timing and scoring of all DIRT MotorSports™
events.
Victoria 200 Going Back to It’s Open Roots: The Victoria 200 at Fulton Speedway will
be a DIRT Sanctioned event for both big-block and small-block Modifieds although not
offering Super DIRT Series points for either division. The event will also allow
alcohol-burning engines and remains scheduled for the first weekend in October.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The tour will make it's first trip of the year to Lebanon Valley Speedway on
Saturday, Sept. 10 with a 50-lap main event headlining the small-block program. The
trip to the Valley kicks off a two-day swing; the tour will turn north and head to
LaFargeville, NY on Sunday (Sept. 11) for a 50-lapper at Can-Am Motorsports Park.
The following week, the tour hits Brockville Ontario Speedway on Friday, Sept. 16
for a 75-lap main only to return to Rolling Wheels Raceway on Saturday, Sept. 17 for
the second 100-lap extra-distance event of the season.
2005 358-MODIFIED SUPER DIRT SERIES SCHEDULE
Day-Date Track (Laps)
Winner/Location
Mon-Aug 1 Merrittville Speedway (50L) ...........................ALAN JOHNSON
Tue-Aug 2 Ransomville Speedway (75L) ........................BRETT HEARN
Mon-Aug 8 Brockville Ontario Speedway (50L) ...............STEWART FRIESEN
Tue-Aug 9 Autodrome Edelweiss (75L) ......................... ALAN JOHNSON
Wed-Aug 10 Frogtown Int'l Speedway (75L) ...................... Rain-Cancelled
Tue-Aug 23 Canandaigua Speedway (75L) ...................... ALAN JOHNSON
Sun-Sep 4 Cornwall Motor Speedway (100L) ................. PETE BICKNELL
Sat-Sep 10 Lebanon Valley Speedway (50L) .................. West Lebanon, NY
Sun-Sep 11 Can-Am Motorsports Park,Ltd. (50L) ............ LaFargeville, NY
Fri-Sep 16 Brockville Ontario Speedway (75L) ............... Brockville, ONT
Sat-Sep 17 Rolling Wheels Raceway (100L) ................... Elbridge, NY
Sat-Sep 24 Canandaigua Speedway (75L) ..................... Canandaigua, NY
Wed-Oct 5 Can-Am Motorsports Park,Ltd. (100L) .......... LaFargeville, NY
Thr-Oct 6 Brewerton Speedway (100L) ........................ Brewerton, NY
Fri-Oct 7 Rolling Wheels Raceway (100L) .................. Elbridge, NY
Sat-Oct 8 New York State Fairgrounds (150L) ............. Syracuse, NY
Sat-Oct 22 Bridgeport Speedway (100L) ........................ Bridgeport, NJ
DIRT MOTORSPORTS 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES SPONSORS
The DIRT MotorSports™ 358 Modified Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by
several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Stacker 2®, Advance Auto
Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire, Sunoco Race Fuels and DART Machinery. Promotional
Partners include AMB i.t., RACEceiver, Zippo Lighters and F.X. Caprara Car Companies
and the contingency sponsors are Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, MSD
Ignitions and Wrisco Industries.