Joey Ladouceur - Sylvain Buisson Photo
Drummondville, QUE — August 22, 2009 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director
Its been five years since Joey Ladouceur captured the elusive Mr. DIRTcar Championship and four seasons since the second-generation driver from Alexandria, Ontario last reached victory lane in Pro Stock Series competition.
On Saturday night Ladouceur grabbed the broom out of the closet and proceeded to make a clean sweep of the entire full-fender program at Autodrome Drummond. Not only did he score his first series victory since September of 2005, the ’04 overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Champion topped time trials in record fashion, copped his qualifying heat race, then led every lap to collect $1,000 for his ninth career tour triumph in the headline ‘L’Authentique Trucking 50’ in front of capacity crowd.
“Winning is what we need to do right now because we’re a little behind after the Mohawk deal,” remarked Ladouceur, 33, who suffered a radiator leak at Mohawk Int’l Raceway last month to fall in 22nd after opening the ’09 tour with a runner-up finish at Genesee Speedway on the Fourth of July. “We didn’t really make much mind of not winning for such a long time, except what we saw in the releases.”
“We’ve been close quite a few times, I guess you always want to win the next one no matter where you finish. Now we won here so we’ll just move on to the next one and hope for the best,” said Ladouceur, following his third win of the season at Drummond and first ahead of Pete Stefanski this year on tour.
Stefanski hauled into Drummondville riding a two-race win streak before settling for second-place ahead of first-time tour traveler Rob Yetman, and series staples Dion Oakes and P.J. Peters, while Richard Bertrand crossed the line sixth to emerge as the top local runner in the track’s second-ever series show.
Mirroring his early success found last year at Drummond, Ladouceur kicked off the card by recording the best lap in group time trials, touring the smooth 4/10-miler in a time of 19.397 sec. (74.238 mph). Yet while starting ninth and retiring last year after just 15 laps complete due to a broken right front wheel, Ladouceur had his black Coffrage 20-20 no. 92 Minimax Express Cadillac STS/Stinger X mount dialed in all night never missing a beat once the initial green flag fell.
“We came here a month and a half ago and ran a different line with a different set-up,” noted Ladouceur after tying Stefanski for the DIRTcar Northeast circuit lead with eight Pro Stock feature wins. “The track was pretty similar and I was good for the first 20-30 laps and then I went away and Pete came on strong and got by me. What I wanted to try I did last week and went really well. I kind of gauged myself tonight off what I did last time and figured we’d be good at the end of the race and it worked out.”
“The track kept drying up at the end and the bottom groove was getting narrower every lap so I guess being cautious and not wanting to slip up kept me closer to Pete the second half. I just played it safe, didn’t want to be the dummy that threw one away so I kept doing what I was doing right until the end,” Ladouceur said.
Good fortune continued after posting the fastest lap in time trials as Ladouceur went out and drew the pole among the group of 12 drivers that qualified highest in their respective heats. Connecticut invader Don Carlson shared the front row and that was the closest he would get all night as Ladouceur never looked back once the first green flag waved.
But before Ladouceur could get into sync, the first of nine yellow flags flew at the start of the second lap. A turn two pile-up involved a half-dozen of the 29-car starting field knocked out speedy Ricky Thompson, perennial favorite Stephane Lebrun and ’09 rookie contender William Chubb.
With green lights back on Ladouceur cruised to a 2/3-straightaway advantage through the opening five circuits, while fourth-place starter Stefanski had already secured second with only a handful of laps complete. Carlson, Oakes, Peters and Yetman filled out the front-six slots and with the exception of Carlson, who shredded a left-rear tire on lap 33, and Yetman, who charged into third, those positions would stay intact the rest of the way.
“This win is good, and we definitely want to be just as competitive tomorrow at Cornwall,” added Ladouceur, who finished with a half-dozen car-length lead over runner-up Stefanski. “We’ve been good there all season but Pete’s strong everywhere we go, too. So I can’t pass up the opportunity to win one of these tour races, especially at my home track. When we get out on the road they’re going to be a little tougher so we gotta get what we can now and try to catch up to Pete.”
Continuing his torrid streak with a 14th straight series top-five finish over two seasons, Stefanski easily settled into second at the line one year after taking the checkered flag in Drummond’s inaugural Pro Stock tour event.
“Its good to see everybody come out here to race and give us a full field,” said Stefanski, the three-time reigning overall Mr. DIRTcar points king with a career-high total of 22 tour triumphs, the final two of which have come this season steering the potent Sunrise Racing no. 2 San Ter Sewing-PJ NFB Auto Sales/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/EMS. “Hopefully, this kind of series support will continue the rest of the way. Any time you get 30 cars you’ll have a good show. Tonight we had all the best series guys here, something good for the fans and our division.”
Lebanon Valley Speedway regular Yetman is hoping to keep the interest of Eastern New York race fans, registering his best series finish of the season in his first-ever trip to Canada aboard the flashy Lazzaro’s Auto Body no. 7 Madsen Overhead Door/Pontiac Grand Prix/JACR machine.
“It was a lot of fun, there was some great racing up front,” said Yetman, who will hit his second new track in as many days when he travels to Cornwall on Sunday for the annual full-fender visit to Ron Morin’s tight quarter-mile. “Thought I might have had something for these guys but they know this track pretty well and started getting away at the end. I’ve just got some more fine-tuning to do and we’ll be alright.”
The 2009 Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Series resumes tomorrow in Ontario when Cornwall Motor Speedway hosts the Northeast’s top traveling teams in the Alexandria Home Hardware 50 on Sunday, August 23.
SKIDMARKS
Up six from a year ago, 31 Pro Stock entries —including the top-16 in points—signed in for the Saturday stock car showdown … To the delight of the fans, cars lined up directly in front of the main grandstands to kick off the feature event that was pushed off with the threat of rain lingering … Lebanon Valley kingpin Rob Yetman set to follow the entire Mr. DIRTcar Series for the first time in his career while Sean Corr hopes to make just as many provided no conflicts arise with his ARCA ReMax schedule already on the docket … The second-ever Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Championship Series event at Autodrome Drummond was the first tour stop of 2009 conducted at the popular Quebec oval, with both Big-Block and Small-Block teams converging on the grounds Sept. 18-19 for the big Dream Week-End ‘Racemania 5.’ The rain-delayed Super DIRTcar Series show for Big-Block Modifieds will kick off the most lucrative weekend of Modified racing in track history on Friday with the 358-Modifieds taking center stage Saturday at Drummond looking to qualify for the 150-lap main paying out a $10,000 top-prize to the winner.
Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Championship Series Race #3 – Autodrome Drummond, August 22, 2009 ‘L’Authentique Trucking 50’ Event Summary
Feature
FIN ST CAR# DRIVER / HOMETOWN
1 1 92 Joey Ladouceur/Alexandria,ONT($1,000)
2 4 2 Pete Stefanski/Wheatfield,NY
3 7 7 Rob Yetman/Castleton,NY
4 3 48 Dion Oakes/Akwesasne,NY
5 5 73 P.J. Peters/Akwesasne,QUE
6 8 08 Richard Bertrand/Acton Vale,QUE
7 10 88 Allen Peters/Westville,NY
8 6 16x Dave Bissonnette/Apple Hill,ONT
9 11 05 Jocelyn Roy/St-Helene,QUE
10 20 4 Roch Aubin/Alexandria,ONT
11 22 97 Roland Hebert/St-Dominique,QUE
12 27 24 Jacques Robert/Thetford Mines,QUE
13 2 26 Don Carlson/Ridgefield,CT
14 16 18 Louie Jackson/Akwesasne,NY
15 21 115 Stephane Lemire/Drummondville,QUE
16 23 8 Sean Corr/Goshen,NY
17 13 16 Normand Lemire/Drummondville,QUE
18 28 94 Carl Pouin/St-Eustache,QUE
19 17 33 Bruno Cyr/St.Liboire,QUE
20 15 19 Pascal Dufault/Sorel,QUE
21 18 188 David Papineau/Akwesasne,NY
22 12 7jr Harvey Arquette/Akwesasne,NY
23 26 20 Francis Landreville/St.Liboire,QUE
24 9 47s Corey Wheeler/Cornwall,ONT
25 29 1 Andre Dupont/St.Hyacinthe,QUE
26 14 1r Ricky Thompson/Hogansburg,NY
27 19 6 Stephane Lebrun/Gatineau,QUE
28 24 78 William Chubb/Akwesasne,NY
29 31 60 Stephane Pinard/Sorel,QUE
DNS 25 115p Patrick L’Herault/Drummondville,QUE
DNS 30 69 Jody Swamp /Hogansburg,NY
EVENT SUMMARY
LAP LEADER: Ladouceur (1-50).
CAUTIONS: 9 (lap 2, lap 15, lap 27, lap 32, lap 33, lap 38, lap 42, lap 46, lap 47).
HEAT WINNERS: Bissonnette, Ladouceur, Stefanski.
SYRACUSE QUALIFIER: Joey Ladouceur.
NATIONAL PARTS PEDDLER HALFWAY LEADER: Joey Ladouceur.
FAST TIME TRIALER: Joey Ladouceur (19.397sec/74.238mph) *NEW TRACK RECORD.
CARS ENTERED: 31.
NEXT EVENT: Cornwall Motor Speedway – August 23, 2009.
QUALIFYING
FAST AVE
TIME MPH CAR# DRIVER
*1 19.397 74.238 92 Joey Ladouceur/Alexandria,ONT
2 19.863 72.497 2 Pete Stefanski/Wheatfield,NY
3 20.000 72.000 73 P.J. Peters/Akwesasne,QUE
4 20.002 71.993 48 Dion Oakes/Akwesasne,NY
5 20.074 71.735 24 Jacques Robert/Thetford Mines,QUE
6 20.150 71.464 7 Rob Yetman/Castleton,NY
7 20.160 71.429 26 Don Carlson/Ridgefield,CT
8 20.165 71.411 4 Roch Aubin/Alexandria,ONT
9 20.191 71.319 88 Allen Peters/Westville,NY
10 20.231 71.178 08 Richard Bertrand/Acton Vale,QUE
11 20.313 70.891 16x Dave Bissonnette/Apple Hill,ONT
12 20.323 70.856 05 Jocelyn Roy/St-Helene,QUE
13 20.329 70.835 6 Stephane Lebrun/Gatineau,QUE
14 20.380 70.658 1r Ricky Thompson/Hogansburg,NY
15 20.419 70.523 7jr Harvey Arquette/Akwesasne,NY
16 20.434 70.471 8 Sean Corr/Goshen,NY
17 20.459 70.385 47s Corey Wheeler/Cornwall,ONT
18 20.468 70.354 18 Louie Jackson/Akwesasne,NY
19 20.510 70.210 19 Pascal Dufault/Sorel,QUE
20 20.511 70.206 16 Normand Lemire/Drummondville,QUE
21 20.620 69.835 188 David Papineau/Akwesasne,NY
22 20.644 69.754 69 Jody Swamp /Hogansburg,NY
23 20.811 69.194 78 William Chubb/Akwesasne,NY
24 20.843 69.088 115 Stephane Lemire/Drummondville,QUE
25 20.846 69.078 94 Carl Pouin/St-Eustache,QUE
26 20.884 68.952 33 Bruno Cyr/St.Liboire,QUE
27 20.895 68.916 97 Roland Hebert/St-Dominique,QUE
28 21.035 68.457 20 Francis Landreville/St.Liboire,QUE
29 -NT- —– 1 Andre Dupont/St.Hyacinthe,QUE
30 -NT- —– 60 Stephane Pinard/Sorel,QUE
31 -NT- —– 115p Patrick L’Herault/Drummondville,QUE
*NEW TRACK RECORD
Heat Races (8 laps, all transfer to feature; top 4 redraw)
#1: Bissonnette, Roy, Carlson, Wheeler, N.Lemire, Jackson, Lebrun, Hebert, L’Herault, Pouin.
#2: Ladouceur, Oakes, Yetman, A.Peters, Thompson, Cyr, Aubin, Corr, Landreville, Dupont.
#3: Stefanski, P.J.Peters, Bertrand, Arquette, Dufault, Papineau, S.Lemire, Chubb, Robert, Swamp, Pinard.
Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Championship Series Point Standings (Aug. 22)
Rank No. Driver Total Diff Wins Top-5 Top-10 Starts
1 2 Pete Stefanski 295 0 2 3 3 3
2 73 P.J. Peters 242 -53 0 2 3 3
3 92 Joey Ladouceur 237 -58 1 2 2 3
4 26 Don Carlson 212 -83 0 1 2 3
5 48 Dion Oakes 200 -95 0 1 2 3
6 7 Rob Yetman 192 -103 0 1 2 3
7 8 Sean Corr 180 -115 0 1 1 3
8 4 Roch Aubin 179 -116 0 0 2 3
9 6 Stephane Lebrun 178 -117 0 1 1 3
10 18 Louie Jackson 165 -130 0 0 1 3
11 1 Ricky Thompson 164 -131 0 0 1 3
12 69 Jody Swamp 161 -134 0 1 1 2
13 47 Dave Bissonnette 148 -147 0 1 2 2
14 78 William Chubb 144 -151 0 0 0 3
15 08 Richard Bertrand 141 -154 0 0 2 2
16 7Jr Harvey Arquette Jr. 127 -168 0 0 0 3
17 99 Mike Martin 112 -183 0 0 0 2
18 10 Buddy Hencke 102 -193 0 0 1 2
19 33 Bruno Cyr 91 -204 0 0 0 2
20 188 David Papineau 87 -208 0 0 0 2
21 6x Travis Back 85 -210 0 1 1 1
22 49 Bill Woodward Jr. 68 -227 0 0 1 1
23 05 Jocelyn Roy 65 -230 0 0 1 1
24 97 Roland Hebert 60 -235 0 0 0 1
25 6z Butch Zimmerman 60 -235 0 0 0 1
26 24 Jacques Robert 58 -237 0 0 0 1
27 71 Scott Gribben 58 -237 0 0 0 1
28 48T Rod Tarbell 56 -239 0 0 0 1
29 04 John Yandoh Jr. 54 -241 0 0 0 1
30 11 John Zimmerman 54 -241 0 0 0 1
31 2EZ Mike Arquiette 52 -243 0 0 0 1
32 8x Jim Burch Jr. 50 -245 0 0 0 1
33 16 Normand Lemire 48 -247 0 0 0 1
34 94 Carl Poulin 46 -249 0 0 0 1
35 98T Jack Terrell 43 -252 0 0 0 1
36 3J John Gagner 42 -253 0 0 0 1
37 1s Scott Stolzenberg 41 -254 0 0 0 1
38 62 Andrew Northrup 40 -255 0 0 0 1
39 7d Gene Tarbell 10 -285 0 0 0 0
DIRTcar Pro Stock Entries – August 22 (31)
CAR# DRIVER / HOMETOWN TEAM (Sponsor / Make-Model / Chassis)
05 Jocelyn Roy/St-Helene,QUE Roy Racing Products-Lettrage Lucy/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/CRT
08 Richard Bertrand/Acton Vale,QUE Garage Lariviere-B.L. Auto Electric/Toyota Camry/EMS
1 Andre Dupont/St.Hyacinthe,QUE Dupont Racing/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/CRT
1r Ricky Thompson/Hogansburg,NY Brass Horse Grill-Fatty Cats-A&L Enterp /Chevrolet Monte Carlo/Cannizzaro
2 Pete Stefanski/Wheatfield,NY Sunrise Racing-San Ter Sewing-PJ NFB Auto Sales/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/EMS
4 Roch Aubin/Alexandria,ONT Home Hardware-OK Tire-Alain Beaupres Constr./Chevy Monte Carlo/Cannizzaro
6 Stephane Lebrun/Gatineau,QUE Patio Vidal Restaurant-United Auto Parts(UAP)/Pontiac Grand Prix/Wild Thing
7 Rob Yetman/Castleton,NY Lazzaro’s Auto Body-Madsen Overhead Door/Pontiac Grand Prix/JACR
7jr Harvey Arquette/Akwesasne,NY A&L Enterprise/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/Cannizzaro
8 Sean Corr/Goshen,NY The Trans Group-Northeast Fabricators/Pontiac Grand Prix/EMS
16 Normand Lemire/Drummondville,QUE Roullettes Lupien 2000-Pavage Paving/Chevy Monte Carlo/Black Widow
16x Dave Bissonnette/Apple Hill,ONT Mike McPhee Transport-Totem Pole Novelties/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/CSC
18 Louie Jackson/Akwesasne,NY Adams Marina-Action Race Parts-C&B Enterpr./Chevrolet Monte Carlo/Stinger
19 Pascal Dufault/Sorel,QUE Transport Capistran-Batteries Drummond/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/GCS
20 Francis Landreville/St.Liboire,QUE Aurents Maskoutains-A.R.M./Chevrolet Monte Carlo/A.R.M.
24 Jacques Robert/Thetford Mines,QUE Castrol-CJG Transport/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/EMS
26 Don Carlson/Ridgefield,CT Benziger Winery-Kleer Trim Board/Dodge Charger/EMS
33 Bruno Cyr/St.Liboire,QUE Concept Syma-Remorquage Longueuil/Chevrolet Impala/Stinger
47s Corey Wheeler/Cornwall,ONT RSI Industrial Supply-PM Promotions/Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS/Cannizzaro
48 Dion Oakes/Akwesasne,NY Oakes Racing-Noah King Family/Chevolet Impala/Cannizzaro
60 Stephane Pinard/Sorel,QUE Remorquage JMS/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/Pinard
69 Jody Swamp /Hogansburg,NY Swamp’s Perform.-Native Pride Dog Food/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/Cannizzaro
73 P.J. Peters/Akwesasne,QUE Sunrise Bakery-Hair Secrets Salon/Chevrolet Impala/JACR
78 William Chubb/Akwesasne,NY Sunrise Bakery-Flaro Development/Chevrolet Impala/JACR
88 Allen Peters/Westville,NY Sunrise Racing-PJ NFB Auto Sales/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/Cannizzaro
92 Joey Ladouceur/Alexandria,ONT Coffrage 20-20-Minimax Express/Cadillac STS/Stinger X
94 Carl Pouin/St-Eustache,QUE Christian Dugas Distribution-Mecanique Langlois/Pontiac Grand Prix/Kenyon
97 Roland Hebert/St-Dominique,QUE Groupe Labrecque/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/Hebert
115 Stephane Lemire/Drummondville,QUE Michel Auto-Peinture Prefontaine/Chevrolet Camaro/A.R.M.
115p Patrick L’Herault/Drummondville,QUE Madon Denis-TDG Auto Parts/Chevrolet Camaro/Chassis LP
188 David Papineau/Akwesasne,NY D&D Construction-Action Race Parts/Chevrolet Monte Carlo/Cannizzaro
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Cornwall Motor Speedway stages its seventh annual series stop tomorrow, Aug. 23, to set the stage for the second half of the ’09 championship run. September is the biggest month of the year for full-fender title contenders with the $1,500-to-win, 100-lapper at Autodrome Edelweiss leading off the four-race stint in Canada and the U.S. as valuable track bonus points are issued towards the overall Mr. DIRTcar Championship after Labor Day Weekend.
2009 Mr. DIRTcar Pro Stock Series Championship Schedule
*All events subject to change.
DAY-DATE TRACK WINNER/LOCATION
Sat-Jul 4 Genesee Speedway Pete Stefanski
Fri-Jul 17 Mohawk Int’l Raceway Pete Stefanski
Sat-Aug 22 Autodrome Drummond Joey Ladouceur
Sun-Aug 23 Cornwall Motor Speedway Cornwall,ONT
Fri-Sep 11 Autodrome Edelweiss Hull,QUE ($1,500-to-win)
Sat-Sep 12 Lebanon Valley Speedway West Lebanon,NY
Sat-Sep 19 Canandaigua Speedway Canandaigua,NY
Sat-Sep 26 Rolling Wheels Raceway Elbridge,NY
Sun-Oct 11 New York State Fairgrds Syracuse,NY
The Big-Block Modified 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 Dig Safely New York www.digsafelynewyork.com and the University of Northwestern Ohio www.unoh.com and the contingency sponsors are Bars Leaks www.barsproducts.com, Bert Transmission www.berttransmission.com, Bicknell Racing Products www.bicknellracingproducts.com, Bilstein Shocks www.bilstein.com, Brodix Cylinder Heads www.brodix.com, Ferris Industries www.ferrisindustries.com, Integra Shocks www.integrashocksandsprings.com, Intercomp www.intercomp-racing.com, KSE Racing Products www.kse-racing.com, Motorsports Safety Systems www.motorsportssafetysystems.com, Penske Shocks, www.penskeshocks.com, Racing Electronics www.racingelectronics.com, Rislone Oil Stabilizer www.barsproducts.com and Wrisco Industries www.wrisco.com.
