Outlasts final-lap caution and challenges from Mario Clair
DRUMMONDVILLE, QUEBEC – Saturday, September 7, 2013 – After some dramatic final laps, David Hebert, of St-Damase, Quebec, charged to victory in Friday’s DIRTcar 358-Modified Series feature at Autodrome Drummond. A last-lap caution gave runner-up Mario Clair, of Drummondville, Quebec, to challenge for the lead, but Hebert stayed strong through a green-white-checkered finish
“It was a good race. The car was really good, really fast,” Hebert said. “It feels very good to win this race. This is the race to win.”
The 75-lap race, the fifth round of the series, drew an impressive field of 48 cars to the Quebec track to compete for just 30 starting spots in the feature. With a lap time of 17.384 putting him third overall in time trials and a heat race win, Hebert had no trouble getting into the show.
It was Steve Paine, however drew the pole starting position. Paine, of Waterloo, N. Y., was also strong right off the trailer, placing fourth overall in time trials and also winning his heat. He chose the outside at the initial start but was outrun at the green flag by Mario Clair in the 22c. Hebert was also fast on the outside, and in lap 3 cruised around Clair in turn two.
“The track was really fast on the top and not so much on the bottom,” said Hebert, who took advantage of speed on the outside groove to tackle lapped cars early on.
However, Clair knew the track as well and kept up with the leader, riding Hebert’s bumper for a lap then racing side-by-side in lap 19. Clair’s position on the top of the track gave him an edge, but approaching cars from the back of the field in his lane slowed him.
Hebert pulled ahead, but slowed a little later for the same reason.
Clair boxed in Hebert on the outside, ready to make his move and nose ahead, but a yellow flag brought by Matt Sheppard in lap 22 brought the field back together.
Hebert kept his lead off the restart, but Paine took advantage of the situation to charge ahead to take second from Mario Clair. Clair rode in third, Robidoux in fourth, and 39a Therrien in fifth.
“I started on the outside,” said Paine, who drew the pole for the initial start but early on lost ground to Hebert and Clair. “ed liked it was ok, so I started on the outside. It was a little slimy and Mario beat me on the start. Then I foolishly went to the bottom, and a lap or two later the track dried up enough to race on. So then I got back to the top and got back to second.”
However, Paine was not able to keep his position much longer. Yellow conditions hit the field again in lap 28, and maintained his lead off the restart. In lap 37, Hebert reached began again to lap cars in the back of the field, but this time wasn’t ready to let it slow him down.
For Paine, the lapped traffic cost him a position as Mario Clair powered forward with the leader Hebert in his sights. Hebert, meanwhile, had established a seemingly insurmountable lead, and seemed ready to claim an early victory.
A late race caution with one lap to go threw a wrench in Hebert’s plans, calling for a restart followed by a green-white-checkered finish. Hebert stuck to his guns and stayed ahead, outlasting a dramatic last-lap yellow to pick up the DIRTcar 358-Modified Series win at Autodrome Drummond.
Mario Clair finished second, followed in third by Steve Paine, who was happy to have fared so well amongst Autodrome Drummond’s best.
“Those guys run first and second here every week. They finished first and second here in points, and to come here and run third to them is really good for me,” said Paine, who took Bruno LePage’s No. 99 to a podium finish in Friday’s feature event. “We came here tonight and I was surprised at how good I was right off the bat. We were fast in warm-ups, fast in time trials, fast in heat, and pretty good in the feature.”
Danny Johnson, of Rochester, N. Y., charged from his 16th starting position to fourth at the checkered flag. Kayle Robidoux finished fifth after starting eighth and defending his spot in the top-five against challenges from Jimmy Phelps. Rounding out the top ten are Phelps in sixth, Alan Therrien in seventh, Carey Terrance in eighth, Dominic Dufault in ninth and Brian McDonald
“Race Mania 9” at Autodrome Drummond continues this afternoon. The Super DIRTcar Big-Block Modified Series and the DIRTcar Pro Stock Series are among the action planned for the night. For more information about “Race Mania 9,” visit www.autodrome-drummond.com.
The DIRTcar 358-Modified Series continues next weekend with round 6 Friday, Sept. 13, at Mohawk International Raceway in Akwesasne, N. Y. For more information about the DIRTcar 358-Modified Series, visit www.dirtcarump.com/category/divisions/358-modifieds/
A-Main (75 laps):
1. 1H David Hebert – St-Damase, Quebec
2. 22c Mario Clair – Drummondville, Quebec
3. 99p Steve Paine – Waterloo, N. Y.
4. 27T Danny Johnson – Rochester, N. Y.
5. 46 Kayle Robidoux – St-Constant, Quebec
6. 99J Jimmy Phelps – Baldwinsville, N. Y.
7. 39a Alan Therrien – Victoriaville, Quebec
8. 66x Carey Terrance – Hogansburg, N. Y.
9. 63 Dominic Dufault – Ste-Victoire-de-Sorel, Quebec
10. 151 Brian McDonald – Cornwall, Ontario
11. 54 Steve Bernard – Granby, Quebec
12. 25 Erick Rudolph – Ransomville, N. Y.
13. 73jr Chris Raabe – Napanee, Ontario
14. 20 Brett Hearn – Sussex, N. J.
15. 7z Dale Planck – Homer, N. Y.
16. 3 Claude Brouillard – Tracy, Quebec
17. 44 Sebastien Gougeon – Drummondville, Quebec
18. 73 Alain Boisvert – Lachine, Quebec
19. 6 Mat Williamson – St. Catharines, Ontario
20. 115 Stephane Lafrance – St. Albert, Ontario
21. 23 Dany Bilodeau – Victoriaville, Quebec
22. 21a Pete Britten – Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
23. 22J Gino Clair – St-Germain, Ontario
24. 99 Bruno Lepage – Maple Grove, Quebec
25. R70 Ryan Arbuthnot – Renfrew, Ontario
26. 49 Francois Bernier – Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec
27. 21 Yan Bussiere – Drummondville, Quebec
28. 37 Paul St-Sauveur – La Presentation, Quebec
29. 170 Danny O’Brien – Kingston, Ontario
30. 9s Matt Sheppard – Waterloo, N. Y.
Did not qualify:
39x Alex Therrien – Victoriaville, Quebec
98h Justin Lalancette – St. Andrews West, Ontario – 18.241
87 Alex Fortier – Princeville, Quebec
5 David Cote – Acton Vale, Quebec
64 Daniel Nadeau – Marieville, Quebec
27 Michel Dusseault – Victoriaville, Quebec
51 Michel Fagnan – St-Anne-de-Sorel, Quebec
13 Kevin Hamel – Yamaska, Quebec
22p Patrick Baumier – Granby, Quebec
44 Jean Boissinneault – Granby, Quebec
7 Patrice Demers – Drummondville, Quebec
98 Jacques Pelletier – St-Francois-du-Lac, Quebec
124 Pierre Dagenais – L’Ange Gardien, Quebec
31 Paul Hamel
10c Tim Currier – Auburn, N. Y.
172 Andre Gauthier – Granby, Quebec
97 Michel Chicoine – Ste-Cecile-de-Milton, Quebec
22P Patrick Beaumier
B-Main 1 (top 3 transfer): Boisvert, Bernier, Brouillard, G. Clair, Fortier, Currier, Dagenais, Rivard, Gauthier, Boissonnealt, K. Hamel, Alex Therrien. DNS: Fagnon, Cote
B-Main 2 (top 3 transfer): LaFrance, Bernard, Gougeon, Bussiere, Nadeau, Pelletier, Arbuthnot, Lalancette, Dusseault, Chicoine, Beaumier, St-Sauveur
Qualifying heats (top 4 transfer, top 2 to redraw)
Heat 1: Paine, Robidoux, Planck, Johnson, Bernier, Gougeon, Fortier, Arbuthnot, Alex Therrien, Lalancette
Heat 2: Hebert, Alan Therrien, McDonald, Rudolph, LaFrance, Nadeau, St-Sauveur, Cote, Dusseault. DNS: Fagnon
Heat 3: Phelps, Lepage, Williamson, Hearn, Brouillard, Boisvert, Boissonneault, Baumier, K. Hamel
Heat 4: O’Brien, M. Clair, Dufault, Raabe, Bussiere, G. Clair, Pelletier, Rivard, Demers
Heat 5: Terrance, Sheppard, Bilodeau, Britten, Dagenais, Bernard, Currier, Chicoine, Gauthier
Time Trials: 1. Phelps 17.192; 2. O’Brien 17.373; 3. Hebert 17.384; 4. Paine 17.405; 5. McDonald 17.412; 6. Bilodeau 17.432; 7. Clair17.446; 8. Britten 17.556; 9. Alan Therrien 17.563; 10. Rudolph 17.586; 11. Planck 17.601; 12. LaFrance 17.611; 13. Robidoux 17.628; 14. Sheppard 17.631; 15. Arbuthnot 17.636; 16. Johnson 17.652; 17. Terrance 17.655; 18. Lepage 17.657; 19. Dufault 17.687; 20. Raabe 17.727; 21. Williamson 17.737; 22. Bernier 17.744; 23. Hearn 17.744; 24. G. Clair 17.754; 25. St-Sauveur 17.761; 26. Gougeon 17.778; 27. Brouillard 17.796; 28. Nadeau 17.826; 29. Bussiere 17.847; 30. Boissonneault 17.919; 31. K. Hamel 17.927; 32. Alan Therrien 17.930; 33. Dusseault 17.934; 34. Dagenais 17.938; 35. Bernard 18.002; 36. Fagnon 18.066; 37. Currier 18.095; 38. Fortier 18.106; 39. Boisvert 18.129; 40. Pelletier 18.223; 41. Lalancette 18.241; 42. Demers 18.247; 43. Rivard 18.256; 44. Cote 18.301; 45. Chicoine 18.551; 46. Baumier 18.732. NT: P. Hamel, Beamier
2013 DIRTcar 358-Modified Series Schedule
Mon. May 20, Merrittville Speedway, Thorold, Ont. – Matt Sheppard
Mon. July 1st, Cornwall Motor Speedway, Cornwall, Ont. – Matt Sheppard
Wed. July 3, Ransomville Speedway, Ransomville, N. Y. – Chad Brachmann
Sun. Sept. 1, Cornwall Motor Speedway, Cornwall, Ont. – Steve Bernard
Fri. Sept. 6, Autodrome Drummond, Drummondville, Que. – David Hebert
Fri. Sept. 13, Mohawk International Raceway, Akwesasne, N. Y. – 100 laps
Fri. Sept. 20, Le RPM Speedway, St-Marcel De Richelieu, Que. – 100 laps
Sat. Sept. 21, Brighton Speedway, Brighton, Ont. – 100 laps
Wed. Oct. 9, Cayuga County Fair Speedway, Weedsport, N. Y. – 75 laps
Thurs. Oct. 10, Rolling Wheels Raceway, Elbridge, N. Y. – 75 laps
Sat. Oct. 12, New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, N. Y. – 150 laps
Sat. Oct. 19, Brockville Ontario Speedway, Brockville, Ont. – 100 laps
The Super DIRTcar Series and DIRTcar Racing in the Northeast Region is brought to fans by several sponsors and partners including Hoosier Racing Tire, VP Racing Fuels, Chevy Performance Parts, NAPA Auto Parts, and Safety-Kleen. Contingency partners include the University of Northwestern Ohio, Contingency sponsors are ASI, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix, ButlerBuilt, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, KSE Racing Products, Motorsports Safety Systems, MSD Performance, Penske Shocks, Racing Electronics, Superflow and Wrisco Industries.
