Murtaugh Wins Mohawk Claiming Back-to-Back Sportsman Series Features

By Joe Grabianowski

Richard Murtaugh, from Fulton, NY, has won back-to-back DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Features after winning the 35-lap event at Mohawk International Raceway on Friday night.

A familiar pair of Sportsman drivers joined Murtaugh on the Mohawk podium. Tristan Ladouceur, out of Alexandria, ON, did everything possible to track down Murtaugh in traffic but settled for second. Meanwhile, Mohawk track champion Shane Pecore, from Cornwall, ON, started 10th and ran out of laps tracking down the leaders, taking third.

Fifty-three DIRTcar Sportsman Series drivers signed in for action, resulting in a five-Heat Race qualification format. Race-winner Richard Murtaugh began his quest for Victory Lane timing first in his Qualifying Group, putting him on pole for his Heat Race, which he won. Drawing the outside pole in the redraw for the Feature meant it was his race to lose.

“We drew the outside pole and I really didn’t know what to do,” Murtaugh said. “I knew once I got into clean air it was game over. We had a great piece. I knew I could get a huge lead working through the lapped traffic.”

After jumping out into the lead immediately, Murtaugh weathered a pair of restarts before settling into a long green flag run to the end. The race truly began when the No. 33 came up on embattled traffic at the halfway point. It was then that Ladouceur and Pecore began anticipating a chance to pounce.

“I knew I had to get right to the top right away,” Murtaugh said. “That was my game plan from the start. Get to the top and stay there. I set the car up at the start of the night for a tacky surface but I thought it would get wicked slick but it never did. I put the car right in the middle and we were good anywhere we needed it to be and just sliced and diced the lapped cars.

“It feels amazing to get these wins, especially with how bad the year started going to tracks I’m not familiar with and lack a notebook for.”

Ladouceur has a lot of laps at Mohawk, but still could not track down the invader, Murtaugh, without a late caution.

“We started off sixth and fell back to eighth or ninth,” Ladouceur said. “We got to the outside earlier than everyone except Richard, and we made it work. I closed in a bit in lapped traffic but was just missing a little something for the win tonight.”

The battle was heating up in the closing laps with lapped cars fanning out in front of the leaders.

“Later in the race, the lapped cars were all fighting for position,” Pecore said. “The top side was the place to be tonight, and you had to throw a wicked slider to get around them. I wish we had a yellow at the end. Maybe I could have thrown a slider or something. I know Shane [Pecore] has done that to me a few times this year, so I know how it feels to lose it at the end.”

Track champion Shane Pecore came all the way up from 10th to pressure the leaders and grab the final step on the podium.

 “Mohawk has been great all year,” he said. “The track prep has been phenomenal. You can race all over it. The redraw bit us in the butt a little tonight starting 10th. We had some work to do, and we had a really good car, and I was definitely reeling him in there at the end. I just needed a caution or ten more laps, but that’s part of the game.”

Travis Bruno came in fourth with Pascal Payeur rounding out the Top Five.

The DIRTcar Sportsman Series gets right back to action on Saturday, September 13, at Land of Legends Raceway in support of the Gerald Haers Memorial. Catch all the action live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS:
DIRTcar Sportsman Feature (35 Laps): 1. 33-Richard Murtaugh[2]; 2. 92T-Tristan Ladouceur[6]; 3. 0-Shane Pecore[10]; 4. 33R-Travis Bruno[7]; 5. 338-Pascal Payeur[4]; 6. 4-Emmett Waldron[11]; 7. 03-Joshua Jock[5]; 8. 18-Gavin Eisele[9]; 9. 98H-Domonick Merkley[3]; 10. 52-Jessica Power[24]; 11. 88-Jeffrey Lapalme[14]; 12. 88S-Fire Swamp[22]; 13. 11-Dan Ferguson[1]; 14. 9-Kristian Smoke[12]; 15. 64-Tyler Corcoran[25]; 16. 29-Tanner Forbes[15]; 17. 28-Tyler Stevenson[30]; 18. 15K-Kent Miller[8]; 19. 35B-Brennan Moore[23]; 20. 01-Zach Buff[18]; 21. 16-Matt Barbour[19]; 22. 78JR-Nigel Pendykoski[26]; 23. 14C-Camdin Cook[28]; 24. 10X-Cory Castell[21]; 25. 16X-Savannah Laflair[27]; 26. 10-Trevor Houghton[29]; 27. M70-Billy Cook[20]; 28. 54G-Greg Snyder[16]; 29. 55-Dan Reif[17]; 30. 42-Daryl Nutting[31]; 31. 17-Caleb Durgan[13]