Chris Raabe Crowned 358 Modified Series Champion
by Clayton Johns
BROCKVILLE, Ont. — Oct. 14, 2016 – Erick Rudolph took the lead from Carey Terrance with four laps remaining to earn his fourth DIRTcar 358 Modified Series victory of the season at Brockville Ontario Speedway’s 1000 Islands RV Centre Northeast Fall Nationals on Friday night.
Rudolph started 17th for the 100-lap main event and methodically moved his way forward before settling into second on lap 87 and challenging Terrance for the point before leading the final four laps for the victory.
“I think towards the middle of the race I was probably a top-five car. I don’t think I had anything for the leaders. As the race went on it seemed like I got a little quicker and Carey [Terrance] slipped up a little bit,” Rudolph explained. “I was able to capitalize. He always races hard and races clean, so it’s always a pleasure to race with him.”
Ryan Arbuthnot and Stewart Friesen started on the front row for the feature event after drawing the top-two starting positions in the redraw. Arbuthnot quickly jumped in front of Friesen to lead until the first caution on lap 10 when Brian MacDonald spun in turn four.
The lap 16 restart allowed Friesen to jump to the lead in the outside lane and was the start of Friesen’s 54-lap streak up front.
The race was slowed for the second time on lap 25 when 2016 Brockville track champion Danny O’Brien tagged the outside wall on the front straightaway, ending his night. The field came back to the green flag on lap 30 which led to a three-wide battle for third between Terrance, Kyle Dingwall and Mike Maresca.
Terrance took the spot before Maresca brought out the fourth caution on lap 34 when he spun at the top of turn four. Arbuthnot slipped to third on the restart at Terrance assumed the runner-up position.
Friesen was strong again on the restart and opened a half-straightaway lead over Terrance. The race was stopped on lap 44 after Bobby Herrington and Stephane Lafrance collided in turn two. The result was a Herrington roll and the only red flag of the night.
The race got back to speed for two laps before David Hebert went off track in turn three for the race’s fifth caution. Dingwall used the restart to get by Arbuthnot for third but his momentum was halted b a caution on lap 55 when Yan Bussiere and Lance Willix both slowed off the pace.
On the lap 59 restart, Terrance challenged Friesen for the lead in the bottom lane, but couldn’t maintain the same momentum that Friesen held up top. The advantage grew to 1.4 seconds for Friesen on lap 65 while Dingwall made a bid for second against Terrance.
Friesen’s dominant run changed drastically on lap 70 when he jumped over the cushion in turn one and nearly spun the car sideways. His lead completely disappeared as Terrance drove to the lead while Friesen was fortunate to recover in the sixth position without spinning.
The seventh caution of the race came on lap 71 with a slow car in turn four and the restart on lap 75 allowed Friesen to jump back into the top-five as Rudolph joined the top-three for the first time.
“It was a very fast race track tonight. It made it tough to pass early, but at the end it was a very racey track,” Rudolph explained in victory lane.
By lap 83, Friesen passed Dingwall for second on the outside and tried to get back to Terrance’s back bumper. Friesen’s shot at the win ended on lap 87, though, when he spun off the track in turn one. Friesen went on to finish 22nd.
Rudolph pressured Terrance on the restart with 13 laps to go and again on the final restart with seven laps to go. He ducked to the inside of Terrance to try and take the lead on a couple of corners before securing the top spot off turn two on lap 97.
“I knew he was coming because I could see him and I knew he was going to be fast at the end. The track got slippery, a little too much for us,” Terrance said. “We were loose at the end. I expected him to be coming at the end.”
“The track went away more than we wanted. All I could do was block the lanes on the restart, and I tried my best, but I knew he was coming,” Terrance added.
Dingwall finished a strong third behind the Rudolph and Dingwall battle up front.
“We were just holding on. The car was too tight to run the bottom and we were sliding around a bit through the black on the top. The track was real fast and smooth. I’m happy to finish and in the top-three is great,” Dingwall explained.
With an 11th-place finish, Chris Raabe won the DIRTcar 358 Modified Series championship. It was Raabe’s second title of the season.
“It definitely feels good. Everyone works so hard on this team, it’s definitely rewarding to win a few titles like we did this year,” said Raabe, who was also the Cornwall Motor Speedway track champion. “You wouldn’t know it by the way we ran today. That was terrible, but I got through it. It’s a tough title to win and we’re certainly going to enjoy it.”
Earlier in the night, Terrance, Dingwall, Hebert and Maresca earned heat race wins. Maresca was fastest overall in time trials at 13.935 seconds. Steve Bernier and Brian MacDonald won the two consi races.
Race Notes – Erick Rudolph took the lead from Carey Terrance with three laps to go to earn the victory in the final DIRTcar 358 Modified Series race of the season. Stewart Friesen led more than 50 laps of the race until he bobbled over the cushion in turn one and gave the lead to Terrance. Rudolph made the pass with three to go and secured his fourth tour win of the season after starting 17th.
Feature – (100 Laps) – 1. 62- Erick Rudolph [17], 2. 66x- Carey Terrance [4], 3. 66- Kyle Dingwall [8], 4. R70- Ryan Arbuthnot [1], 5. 1- David Hebert [12], 6. 27j- Danny Johnson [9], 7. m96- Dale Planck [19], 8. 22c- Mario Clair [26], 9. 21k- Randy Chrysler [27], 10. 28z- Gary Lindberg [24], 11. 01- Chris Raabe [7], 12. 9j- Jordan McCreadie [15], 13. 1*- Steve Bernier [21], 14. 151- Brian MacDonald [22], 15. 96- Jean-Francois Corriveau [25], 16. 115- Stephane Lafrance [20], 17. 63- Chris Herbison [5], 18. 23- Joey Ladouceur [29], 19. 19- Luke Stewart [16], 20. 23b- Danny Bilodeau [6], 21. 21- Yan Bussiere [11], 22. 96f- Stewart Friesen [2], 23. 13- Kevin Hamel [18], 24. 7m- Michael Maresca [10], 25. 16- Gage Morin [3], 26. 16w- Lance Willix III [14], 27. 25h- Bobby Herrington [23], 28. 24b- Roger Lavesque [30], 29. 17d- Danny O’Brien [13], 30. 47s- Corey Wheeler [28]. Lap Leaders: Ryan Arbuthnot 1-15, Stewart Friesen 16-69, Carey Terrance 70-96, Erick Rudolph 97-100
Qualifying Group 1 – 1. 21- Yan Bussiere, 13.971, 2. 66x- Carey Terrance, 14.039, 3. 27j- Danny Johnson, 14.092, 4. 62- Erick Rudolph, 14.093, 5. 21k- Randy Chrysler, 14.142, 6. 17d- Danny O’Brien, 14.146, 7. 1*- Steve Bernier, 14.191, 8. 25h- Bobby Herrington, 14.203, 9. 96- Jean-Francois Corriveau, 14.521, 10. 55- Matt Woodruff, 14.621.
Qualifying Group 2 – 1. 23b- Danny Bilodeau, 14.098, 2. 66- Kyle Dingwall, 14.271, 3. 01- Chris Raabe, 14.279, 4. 24b- Roger Levesque, 14.312, 5. 16w- Lance Willix III, 14.313, 6. 7k- Kenny Polite, 14.353, 7. 13- Kevin Hamel, 14.416, 8. 23- Joey Ladouceur, 14.458, 9. 53- Tom Jock Jr., 15.011, 10. 21j- Jacques Poulin, 15.016.
Qualifying Group 3 – 1. 1- David Hebert, 14.310, 2. R70- Ryan Arbuthnot, 14.318, 3. 9j- Jordan McCreadie, 14.338, 4. 16- Gage Morin, 14.414, 5. 99a- Mike Adderley, 14.419, 6. m96- Dale Planck, 14.440, 7. 99- Mikael Labreche, 14.469, 8. 47s- Corey Wheeler, 14.559, 9. 96- Jason Riddell, 14.603, 10. 88- Tim O’Brien, NT.
Qualifying Group 4 – 1. 7m- Michael Maresca, 13.935, 2. 96f- Stewart Friesen, 14.232, 3. 22c- Mario Clair, 14.272, 4. 19 Luke Stewart, 14.311, 5. 151- Brian MacDonald, 14.345, 6. 63- Chris Herbison, 14.547, 7. 14- Rick Wilson, 14.574, 8. 115- Stephane Lafrance, 14.629, 9. 75j- Joe Banks, 14.710.
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature; Top 3 finishers qualify for redraw) – 1. 66x- Carey Terrance, 2. 21- Yan Bussiere, 3. 27j- Danny Johnson, 4. 17d- Danny O’Brien, 5. 62- Erick Rudolph, 6. 1*- Steve Bernier, 7. 25h- Bobby Herrington, 8. 21k- Randy Chrysler, 9. 96- Jean-Francois Corriveau, 10. 55- Matt Woodruff.
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature; Top 3 finishers qualify for redraw) – 1. 66- Kyle Dingwall, 2. 01- Chris Raabe, 3. 23b- Danny Bilodeau, 4. 16w- Lance Willix III, 5. 13- Kevin Hamel, 6. 23- Joey Ladouceur, 7. 24b- Roger Lavesque, 8. 53- Tom Jock Jr., 9. 21j- Jacques Poulin, 10. 7k- Kenny Polite.
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature; Top 3 finishers qualify for redraw) – 1. 1- David Hebert, 2. R70- Ryan Arbuthnot, 3. 16- Gage Morin, 4. 9j- Jordan McCreadie, 5. m96- Dale Planck, 6. 99a- Mike Adderley, 7. 47s- Corey Wheeler, 8. 96- Jason Riddell, 9. 99- Mikael Labreche, 10. 88- Tim O’Brien [DNS].
Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature; Top 3 finishers qualify for redraw) – 1. 7m- Michael Maresca, 2. 96f- Stewart Friesen, 3. 63- Chris Herbison, 4. 19- Luke Stewart, 5. 115- Stephane Lafrance, 6. 151- Brian MacDonald 7. 28z- Gary Lindberg, 8. 14- Rick Wilson, 9. 22c- Mario Clair, 10. 75j- Joe Banks.
Consi 1 – (10 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-Feature) – 1. 1*- Steve Bernier, 2. 25h- Bobby Herringon, 3. 96- Jean-Francois Corriveau, 4. 21k- Randy Chrysler, 5. 53- Tom Jock Jr., 6. 23- Joey Ladouceur, 7. 24b- Roger Levesque, 8. 55- Matt Woodruff, 9. 21j- Jacques Poulin, 10. 7k- Kenny Polite.
Consi 2 – (10 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-Feature) – 1. 151- Brian MacDonald, 2. 28z- Gary Lindberg, 3. 22c- Mario Clair, 4. 47s- Corey Wheeler, 5. 96- Jason Riddell, 6. 75j- Joe Banks, 7. 99- Mikael Labreche, 8. 99a- Mike Adderley, 9. 14- Rick Wilson.
