By Martin Belanger
GRANBY, QC, CAN – August 11, 2017 – Local standout Steve Bernier took the lead near the halfway point and never looked back as he won a race where officials were forced to call the race with 75 of 100 scheduled laps complete due to inclement weather.
Wow this win means a lot, I can’t thank my family enough for all the help to get me a great car,” said an emotion al Bernier in Victory Lane after he captured his 100th career win. “There is no better way to get number 100 than this way.”
Mike Maresca and Kayle Robidoux led the 31-car field to green. Maresca took the lead but Robidoux charged back just as Mario Clair flipped hard in front of the grandstand to bring out the red flag. Clair was okay. Maresca moved back to the lead with Robidoux and Steve Bernier in tow.
Mathieu Desjardins moved up to third passed Bernier on lap 6 as the battle for the lead continued. Robidoux gained the top spot on lap 10 with Desjardins trying hard for second.
The yellow came out on lap 15 as the skies opened with some rain and the race was slowed down for precautionary reason.
The green flag was back out on lap 20 with Robidoux in front of Bernier who jumped to second and Maresca in third. Maresca spun out in turn two shortly after and the caution was out. Bernier was back to the lead.
A precautionary yellow waved on lap 35 as rain picked up again on the racetrack, but was back in action on lap 40. David Hebert was on the move near the halfway point as he cracked the top 5 after restarting dead last in the early portion of the race.
At the halfway point of scheduled 100-lap distance, Bernier was in the lead and rain started to come down hard. The race officials directed the cars to the inside of the speedway on lap 53. The green was back out with Bernier still the leader over Kayle Robidoux and Dominic Dufault in third. Hebert joined Dufault for third and passed him as Josiane Plante brought out the caution on lap 58.
Caution was out on lap 67 as a pair of number 66s had issues in Carey Terrance and Kyle Dingwall. Rain started falling again and officials sent the cars back in the pit lane at lap 75.
The race was called at that time as the track became too wet to race. With the race past the halfway point, Bernier was declared the winner over Robidoux, Hebert, Dufault and Danny Johnson.
The DIRTcar 358 Modified tour returns to action on September 3rd at Cornwall Motor Speedway in Cornwall, Ontario. For additional event information, visit www.cornwallspeedway. Race time is 6:30pm.
Autodrome Granby Notebook
A great field of cars showed up for the opening round of the DIRTcar 358 Modified Seires with 42 cars in the pits including a great mix of invaders and local runners.
Feature (100 Laps) – 1. Steve Bernier, 2. Kayle Robidoux, 3. David Hebert, 4. Dominic Dufault, 5. Danny Johnson, 6. Yan Bussiere, 7. Mathieu Desjardins, 8. Lance Willix, 9. Jordan Mccreadie, 10. Chris Raabe, 11. Mathieu Boisvert, 12. Brian Mcdonald, 13. Jf Corriveau, 14. Gino Clair, 15. Michael Parent, 16. Maxime Plante, 17. Joey Ladoudeur, 18. Simon Perreault, 19. Maxime Michon, 20. Pierre Hebert, 21. Carey Terrance, 22. Kyle Dingwall, 23. Josianne Plante, 24. Alex Therrien, 25. Steve Bernard, 26. Alain Boisvert, 27. Mike Maresca, 28. Dany Bilodeau, 29. Francois Bernier, 30. Mario Clair
Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top-6 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. David Hebert, 2. Maxime Plante, 3. Mathieu Desjardins, 4. Dominic Dufault, 5. Yan Bussiere, 6. Brian Mcdonald, 7. Steve Bernard, 8. Francois Bellemare, 9. Eric Bessette, 10. Gino Clair, 11. Luke Whitteker
Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top-6 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. Kayle Robidoux, 2. Francois Bernier, 3. Danny Bilodeau, 4. Danny Johnson, 5. Simon Perreault, 6. Carey Terrance, 7. Kevin Hamel, 8. Eric Landry, 9. Lance Willix, 10. Louie Jackson, 11. Mikael Labreche
Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top-6 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. Steve Bernier, 2. JF Corriveau, 3. Mike Maresca, 4. Alain Boisvert, 5. Jordan Mccreadie, 6. Alex Therrien, 7. Mathieu Laramee, 8. Joey Ladoudeur, 9. Daniel Nadeau, 10. Alan Therrien
Heat 4 (8 Laps – Top-6 Qualify – Top-3 Redraw) – 1. Mario Clair, 2. Chris Raabe, 3. Mathieu Boisvert, 4. Michael Parent, 5. Pierre Hebert, 6. Kyle Dingwall, 7. Josianne Plante, 8. Maxime Michon, 9. Paul St-Sauveur, 10. Sebastien Fournier
Last Chance Qualifier 1 (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer To A-Feature) – 1. Brian Mcdonald, 2. Steve Bernard, 3. Gino Clair, 4. Carey Terrance, 5. Lance Willix, 6. Luke Whitteker, 7. Eric Landry, 8. Francois Bellemare, 9. Louie Jackson
Last Chance Qualifier 2 (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer To A-Feature) – 1. Kyle Dingwall, 2. Josianne Plante, 3. Maxime Michon, 4. Alex Therrien, 5. Mathieu Laramee, 6. Joey Ladouceur, Paul St-Sauveur, 7. Daniel Nadeau, 8. Mikael Labreche, 9. Alan Therrien
