Louie Jackson - Rick Young Photo
Weedsport, NY — May 20, 2010 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
Cornwall Motor Speedway launches the Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Championship Series on May 23 and the 2010 tour opener couldn’t come soon enough for perennial title contender Louie Jackson.
Fresh off his first full-fender triumph of the season at Friday night hangout Mohawk Int’l Raceway, action Jackson is quietly in position to chase a trophy that has eluded him since becoming an annual tour traveler in 2004.
“We’re starting out the same as usual, going for the overall title,” stated Jackson, 41, who placed 11th in the final point standings last season despite missing one series show. No surprise that his best finish was 7th-place at Cornwall, site of 11 previous feature wins, after ending up ninth in Genesee Speedway’s ’09 lid-lifter. “Just don’t like talking about (winning) the championship too much.”
“Running against guys like Pete (Stefanski) and Joey (Ladouceur) is pretty tough. And there are a half-dozen others that are getting stronger every year. I just want to be in that top mix more often,” remarked Jackson, who climbed as high as third on the final Mr. DIRTcar points chart in both 2006 and ’07.
Record-setting four-time reigning Hoosier-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock points king Stefanski and last year’s runner-up Ladouceur, the 2004 series champion, remain the pre-season favorites entering Sunday’s ‘Minute Auto Wash 50’ at Cornwall as DIRTcar Northeast’s top full-fender tour kicks off its 16th straight season. Jackson hopes to be one of the top challengers to the throne.
“I’ll be a lot more focused on racing this time around, it was hard to concentrate starting out a new business last season,” noted Jackson, established owner of Action Race Parts & Fabrication, Inc. in his hometown of Akwesasne (Hogansburg), N.Y. “I was also selling fuel at Cornwall last summer and turned that job over to someone else. This will give me more time for what I need to get done with the car, hopefully the outcome will be some better results.”
Jackson has already found early season success with his recent checkered flag at Mohawk, where he holds a pair of season point championships. The victory came in just his fourth effort utilizing a GM 602 crate engine under the hood of his Adams Marina no. 18 Keegan Smoke Shop/Chevrolet Monte Carlo, this year sporting a brand new Black Widow chassis.
“Before the season started I only ran the crate once at the end of the year in Brockville, so now I think I’ve got the gears figured out,” said defending Mohawk champion Jackson, who earned his first MIR title in ‘01 after a rookie season teamed with Ladouceur — both sharing the same birthday on May 18. “The weight difference is pretty big and I could see the heavier open motor cars bog down in the (MIR) turns. The lighter crates are quicker in the corners and that’s where I made up a lot of ground.”
The more affordable GM crate powerplants are also opening the door for new teams to enter the Pro Stock ranks in DIRTcar Northeast’s 35th season of operation. Jackson is confident he’ll have a head start on the field as he looks to match his victory march made at Can-Am Motorsports Park in the ’08 series opener.
“Pro Stocks are a pretty healthy class up this way, I’m expecting around 30 cars to show at Cornwall,” figured Jackson, who now owns 38 career DIRTcar victories, with four scored in tour competition. “Any time you can pick up a series win is big, you know you’ve beaten the best of the best.”
“Everybody knows what Pete and Joey can do, but guys like Dion (Oakes), Ricky (Thompson) and Corey (Wheeler) will come out with more experience this year. I won’t be surprised to see a couple new winners, maybe even a few that plan to travel for the first time this year, the competition is that tough,” added Jackson, alluding to the addition of Glen Ridge Motorsports Park, Fonda Speedway and Autodrome Granby to the DIRTcar Pro Stock-fold to begin the new decade.
Race action gets underway at 6 p.m. on Sunday at Cornwall Motor Speedway (613/938-3945) http://www.cornwallspeedway.com, located off Highway 401, Eastbound using exit 786 to Power Dam Drive and West bound taking exit 789 to Brookdale Avenue, then following the posted signs from both directions.
For additional tour information, please contact Pro Stock Series Director Brian Mulligan (613/938-6751) or DIRTcar Racing Northast Director of Competition & Track Sanctioning Joe Skotnicki (704/796-4566) during normal business hours. More about the entire circuit is posted on the DIRTcar homepage at www.dirtcar.com, with complete results and race reports listed in the ‘News’ section and also linked to ‘Schedules’ at the top.
2010 Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Championship Series
*All events subject to change.
DAY-DATE TRACK LOCATION
Sun-May 23 Cornwall Motor Speedway Cornwall,ONT
Fri-Jun 25 Autodrome Granby Granby,QUE
Sat-Jun 26 Autodrome Drummond Drummondville,QUE
Sat-Aug 21 Mohawk International Raceway Akwesasne,NY
Sat-Sep 11 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon,NY
Sun-Sep 12 Glen Ridge Motorsports Park Fultonville,NY
Sat-Sep 18 Canandaigua Speedway Canandaigua,NY
Sat-Sep 25 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Elbridge,NY
Sun-Oct 10 New York State Fairgrounds Syracuse,NY
Sun-Oct 17 Brockville Ontario Speedway Brockville,ONT
DIRTcar Racing Northeast main office is located in Weedsport, New York on the Cayuga County Fairgrounds, home of DIRTcar All-Star Weekend in July. DIRTcar Northeast’s crown jewel event —Super DIRT Week at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse runs annually in October featuring Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Championship Series events for Big-Block Modified, 358-Modified, Sportsman and Pro Stock divisions. Ticket and schedule information is available by contacting the Weedsport office (315/834-6606) during the day or logging into www.allstar100weekend.com and www.superdirtweekonline.com anytime.
The Big-Block Super DIRTcar Series is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Hoosier Racing Tire www.hoosiertire.com and VP Racing Fuels www.vpracingfuels.com. Promotional partners include the University of Northwestern Ohio www.unoh.com and Chizmark & Larson Insurance www.chizmarklarson.com, and contingency sponsors are Bicknell Racing Products www.bicknellracingproducts.com, Bilstein Shocks www.bilstein.com, KSE Racing Products www.kse-racing.com, Motorsports Safety Systems www.motorsportssafetysystems.com, MSD Ignition www.msdignition.com, Penske Shocks, www.penskeshocks.com, Racing Electronics www.racingelectronics.com, Vicci Racing Apparel www.vicci.com and Wrisco Industries www.wrisco.com.
