By Martin Bélanger, Cornwall Motor Speedway PR Director
CORNWALL, Ontario – May 20, 2012 –Danny Johnson is dominating DIRTcar Racing this season. Johnson kicked off his bid to repeat as DIRTcar 358-Modified champion by charging to victory Sunday night at Cornwall Motor Speedway.
It marked the second big series victory this season for Johnson, who also won the Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modified opener in April at Canandaigua Motorsports Park. He leads the Super DIRTcar Series into Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on Sunday for the All Star Weekend event.
At Cornwall, Dale Planck led the field of 30 cars to green in the 100-lap DIRTcar 358-Modified Minute Auto Wash 100 as Mario Clair slipped in turn 4 and caused the first caution on lap 2.
The race resumed on lap 8 as Mat Williamson powered by Planck for the lead with Danny Johnson moving up to third after starting ninth. Johnson passed Planck on the following lap for second. Jeremy Wilder brought the field together on lap 14 as he slowed down in turn 2. The action resumed on lap 23 with Williamson charging in first. The leaders were pulling away from the rest of the field when Steve Bernard came to a stop in the backstretch on lap 27. Johnson used heavy traffic to his advantage as he moved by Williamson for the lead on lap 38. Brett Hearn went to the top to move into third with 43 laps completed.
Halfway through the feature, Johnson maintained his lead with Williamson, Hearn, Planck and Laurent Ladouceur rounding out the top 5. The top four remained consistent but Danny O’Brien moved into fifth on lap 55.
Hearn mounted a charge with 40 laps to go, driving past Williamson on the outside to take second.
A caution on lap 63 when Bruno Lepage spun out in turn 4 set up a tense restart. Johnson held off Hearn as Planck surged to third with Williamson in fourth.
Johnson kept his pace with Hearn waiting for an opportunity to pounce when Lepage made another stop in turn 4 with 16 laps to go. Johnson pulled away from Hearn with only five laps to go and charged to the checkered flag.
The DIRTcar 358-Modified Series is back in action tonight at Merrittville Speedway. For more information on DIRTcar Racing, click DIRTcar.com.
DIRTcar 358-Modified Series Race #1—Cornwall Motor Speedway; May 20, 2012
A-main (100 laps) — 1. Danny Johnson, 2. Brett Hearn, 3. Dale Planck, 4. Mat Williamson, 5. Yan Bussiere, 6. Bobby Herrington, 7. Matt Billings, 8. Danny O’Brien, 9. Chris Raabe, 10. Laurent Ladouceur, 11. David Hebert, 12. Joel Doiron, 13. Erick Rudolph, 14. Kyle Dingwall, 15. Brian McDonald, 16. Carey Terrance, 17. Mario Clair, 18. Stephane Lafrance, 19. Travis Braun, 20. Tim Currier, 21. Marc Therrien, 22. Luke Whitteker, 23. Shane Pecore, 24. Steve Bernard, 25. Bruno Lepage, 26. Claude Brouillard, 27. Tim O’Brien, 28. Alain Boisvert, 29. Kayle Robidoux, 30. Jeremy Wilder
LAP LEADERS: Planck (1-7), Williamson (8-38), Johnson (39-100)
Heat Races (8 laps, top 5 qualify, top 3 went to redraw)
#1: Danny O’Brien, Joel Doiron, Mario Clair, Jeremy Wilder, Matt Billings, Kayle Robidoux, Travis Braun, Gage Morin, Kevin Hamel
#2: Laurent Ladouceur, Erick Rudolph, Kyle Dingwall, Claude Brouillard, David Hebert, Bruno Lepage, Alain Boisvert, Marc Therrien, Dany Bilodeau (DNS)
#3: Brett Hearn, Bobby Herrington, Yan Bussiere, Carey Terrance, Tim O’Brien, Steve Bernard, Luke Whitteker, Stephane Lafrance(DNS)
#4: Dale Planck, Danny Johnson, Mat Williamson, Brian McDonald, Tim Currier, Shane Pecore, Chris Raabe, Donald Bissonnette (DNS)
Consi: Kayle Robidoux, Travis Braun, Alain Boisvert, Marc Therrien, Bruno Lepage, Kevin Hamel, Donald Bissonnette (DNS)
Consi: Steve Bernard, Luke Whitteker, Chris Raabe, Shane Pecore, Dany Bilodeau, Stéphane Lafrance (DNS)
Cornwall Motor Speedway DIRTcar 358-Modified Series Race #1 Roster (34)
| 01 | Chris Raabe/Napanee, ONT |
| 1h | David Hebert/St. Damase,QUE |
| 3 | Claude Brouillard/Tracy,QUE |
| 4j | Shane Pecore/St-Andrews, ONT |
| 6m | Mat Williamson/St.Catharines,ONT |
| 10 | Tim Currier/Auburn, NY |
| 13 | Kevin Hamel/Granby, QUE |
| 16 | Gage Morin/St-Andrews, ONT |
| 17 | Marc Therrien/Williamstown, ONT |
| 17D | Danny O’Brien/Kingston,ONT |
| 20 | Brett Hearn/Sussex, NJ |
| 21 | Yan Bussiere/Drummondville,QUE |
| 22c | Mario Clair/St-Edmond, QUE |
| 22j | Jeremy Wilder/Fort Plain, NY |
| 23 | Laurent Ladouceur/Alexandria, ONT |
| 23b | Dany Bilodeau/Victoriaville, QUE |
| 25 | Bobby Herrington/Elginburg, ONT |
| 25r | Erick Rudolph/Ramsomville, NY |
| 27j | Danny Johnson/Rochester, NY |
| 38 | Luke Whitteker/Iroquois, ONT |
| 40 | Joel Doiron/Alexandria, ONT |
| 46 | Kayle Robidoux/St-Constant, QUE |
| 49d | Donald Bissonnette/Riviere Beaudette, QUE |
| 54 | Steve Bernard/Granby, QUE |
| 66 | Kyle Dingwall/Brockville, ONT |
| 66x | Carey Terrance/Akwesasne, NY |
| 73 | Alain Boisvert/Dorval, QUE |
| 74 | Matt Billings/Brockville, ONT |
| 76 | Travis Braun/Jordan Station, ONT |
| 77x | Dale Planck/Cortland,NY |
| 88 | Tim O’Brien/Kingston, ONT |
| 99 | Bruno Lepage/Maple Grove, QUE |
| 115 | Stéphane Lafrance/Casselman, ONT |
| 151KB | Brian McDonald/Cornwall, ONT |
2012 DIRTcar 358 Modified Series Schedule
Sunday, May 20th Cornwall Speedway, Cornwall, Ontario – Danny Johnson
Monday, May 21st Merrittville Speedway, Merrittville, Ontario
Thursday, June 21st Mohawk International Speedway, Akwesasne, New York
Tuesday, July 3rd Ransomville Speedway, Ransomville, New York
Sunday, September 2nd Cornwall Speedway, Cornwall, Ontario
Friday, September 7th Autodrome Granby, Granby, Quebec
Friday, September 14th Mohawk International Raceway, Akwesasne, NY
Friday, September 21st Canandaigua Motorsports Park, Canandaigua, NY
Saturday, September 22nd Brighton Speedway, Brighton, Ontario
Wednesday, October 3th Cayuga County Fair Speedway, Weedsport, NY
Thursday, October 4th Rolling Wheels Raceway, Elbridge, NY
Saturday, October 6th New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, NY
Saturday, October 13th Brockville Speedway, Brockville, Ontario 100 150
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, GM Performance Parts, Nationwide Insurance and Safety-Kleen. Promotional partners include the University of Northwestern Ohio and Chizmark Larson Insurance. Contingency sponsors are ASI, Bert Transmissions, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix, ButlerBuilt, Comp Cams, Intercomp, JE Pistons, KSE Racing Products, Motorsports Safety Systems, MSD Ignition, Penske Shocks, Racing Electronics, R2C, Super Flow, Vicci Racing Apparel, WIX Filters, Wrisco Industries, Xtreme Lubricants and Extreme Mufflers.
