Chris Raabe - Bill Moore Photo
Elbridge, NY — October 8, 2010 – By Dave Medler, DIRTcar Racing Northeast Series Correspondent
The winningest driver in the DIRTcar Sportsman ranks during the 2010 season, Chris Raabe out of Napanee, Ontario flexed his muscle Friday night at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park as part of the Super DIRT Week XXXIX satellite schedule.
Raabe first chased down Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Championship Series points leader Tim Sears Jr. then ran down race long leader Ryan Susice all on lap 28 to grab the lead. Once out front Raabe drove away for the SUNY Canton 30-lap victory, his 31st of the ’10 campaign for the college sophomore.
For Raabe, driver of the C&B Enterprises-Sunrise Racing-Genesis Shocks No. 01 Teo, it was his third Mr DIRTcar Sportsman win of the 2010 season giving him momentum going into Saturday’s 30-lap Championship on the “Moody Mile” at the New York State Fairgrounds.
“We had a pretty tight race car early on and then caught a few cautions that we needed,” related Rabbe about his run to the front. “We figured we’d make it happen on the outside if we were going to get there.”
Susice out-ran Jipp Ortiz to the first corner to lead the opening lap of the SUNY Canton 30 finale by a narrow margin.
With five laps showing on the lap counter, Susice built up a few car lengths advantage as he tried to run away and hide while Ortiz and Sears raced side-by-side for second. Dave Marcuccilli and Don Spatorico showed in the top-five.
On the 10th circuit around the “Fast Track” Susice built up a two-second lead cruising out front. Sears shook loose of Ortiz as he tried cutting into Susice’s lead. Ortiz ran alone in third with Spatorico and Marcuccilli still fighting for front-five slots.
On lap 17 top-five running Spatorico suddenly stopped in turns three and four with a collapsed front end.
As the laps dwindled on the scoreboard, Susice and Sears broke away from the pack as they fought for the top spot. While the top-two slugged it out front, Rabbe had moved into third as he tried to chase down the leaders.
After a quick yellow late in the going, the restart was the difference in the race. Raabe went to the cushion at the top of the track as he flew by both Sears and Susice to grab the lead on lap 28 and take command of the race for good.
Once out front, Raabe quickly put distance between himself and the rest of the field and he was the first under the checkers. Sears, Susice, Jesse Cotriss and Justin Wright rounded out the top-five.
“A win yesterday at Syracuse and this today is great, let’s hope we can just keep it going. We have the 358 race tomorrow and the Sportsman race, we want to have a good showing. I want to thank everyone who has put me in this position.”
Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series action moves to the Syracuse Mile as the New York State Fairgrounds plays host to the Super DIRT Week XXXIX showdown on Saturday, October 9.
Through 10 extra—distance Series events, Sears tops the overall Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman points chart with an even 1900, followed by Susice (1801), two-time defending Mr. DIRTcar champ Raabe (1793), Steve Gray (1680), Wright (1624), Cotriss (1581), Mark Chiddy (1530), Shane Pecore (1493), Mark Dixon (1413), Christine Martin (1326), Marcuccilli (1291) and Eric Giguere (1279).
The 2010 Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman champion will be crowned at Brockville Ontario Speedway next weekend when the BOS stages it 2nd Annual DIRTcar Fall Nationals outside the city of the Thousand Islands.
Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Race #10 – Rolling Wheels Raceway Park, Oct. 8, 2010 ‘SUNY Canton 30’ Event Summary
FIN STR CAR# DRIVE/HOMETOWN
1 10 01 Chris Raabe/Napanee,ONT ($1,000)
2 5 83x Tim Sears Jr./Clay,NY
3 2 38 Ryan Susice/Ransomville,NY
4 7 55c Jesse Cotriss/Akron,NY
5 9 19w Justin Wright/Piffard,NY
6 13 18r Brad Rouse/St.Catharines,ONT
7 14 16h Justin Henderson/Canandaigua,NY
8 26 26h Luke Carleton/Port Colborne,ONT
9 17 66 Eric Giguere/Waterloo,NY
10 1 0 Jipp Ortiz/Ransomville,NY
11 30 9 Paul Gaboury/Welland,ONT
12 22 29g Steve Gray/Middlesex,NY
13 11 2k Rob Knapp/St.Catharines,ONT
14 15 58L Jim LaRock/Seneca Falls,NY
15 24 81 Christine Martin/Wellesley Island,NY
16 20 410 Mike Fowler/Hannibal,NY
17 23 31 Kane Bristol/Farmington,NY
18 28 11k Dillon Sallows/Wolfe Island,ONT
19 8 m1 David Marcuccilli/Cayuga,NY
20 18 10 Josh VanBrocklin/Watertown,NY
21 12 2p John Juhl/Auburn,NY
22 3 45 Colton Donath/South Onondaga,NY
23 27 18x Anthony Perrego/Montgomery,NY
24 16 54 Mark Chiddy/Boston,NY
25 21 3a Adam Hilton/Buffalo,NY
26 4 21jj Jim Johnstone/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT
27 25 11 Ben Wheeler/Genoa,NY
28 6 5 Don Spatrorico/Ransomville,NY
29 29 140 Mark Dixon/Durham,ONT
30 19 15 Shane Pecore/Cornwall,ONT
LAP LEADERS: Susice (1-27), Raabe (28-30).
CAUTIONS: 9 (lap 2, lap 3, lap 17, lap 20, lap 21, lap 24, lap 24, lap 28, lap 29).
HEAT WINNERS: Wright, Ortiz, Susice, Sears.
CONSI WINNERS: hilton, Gray.
SYRACUSE SUPER DIRT WEEK QUALIFIER: Jess Cotriss.
FAST TIME TRIALER: Tim Sears Jr. (22.000sec/102.273mph).
CARS ENTERED: 34.
NEXT EVENT: New York State Fairgrounds “SUNY Canton 30” – October 9, 2010.
DID NOT QUALIFY(4)
2-Jenna David/Akwesasne,QUE
3e-Tim Schneider/Fulton,NY
51-Justin Combs/Middlebury,VT
60-Darryl Barrett/Canandaigua,NY
QUALIFYING
FAST AVE
TIME MPH CAR# DRIVER
1 22.000 102.273 83x Tim Sears Jr./Clay,NY
2 22.018 102.189 m1 David Marcuccilli/Cayuga,NY
3 22.024 102.161 19w Justin Wright/Piffard,NY
4 22.061 101.990 0 Jipp Ortiz/Ransomville,NY
5 22.089 101.861 01 Chris Raabe/Napanee,ONT
6 22.212 101.297 2p John Juhl/Auburn,NY
7 22.224 101.242 18r Brad Rouse/St.Catharines,ONT
8 22.258 101.087 54 Mark Chiddy/Boston,NY
9 22.297 100.910 38 Ryan Susice/Ransomville,NY
10 22.370 100.581 21jj Jim Johnstone/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT
11 22.378 100.545 45 Colton Donath/South Onondaga,NY
12 22.379 100.541 3a Adam Hilton/Buffalo,NY
13 22.383 100.523 5 Don Spatrorico/Ransomville,NY
14 22.489 100.049 55c Jesse Cotriss/Akron,NY
15 22.499 100.004 2k Rob Knapp/St.Catharines,ONT
16 22.523 99.898 9 Paul Gaboury/Welland,ONT
17 22.579 99.650 3e Tim Schneider/Fulton,NY
18 22.640 99.382 66 Eric Giguere/Waterloo,NY
19 22.688 99.171 16h Justin Henderson/Canandaigua,NY
20 22.694 99.145 15 Shane Pecore/Cornwall,ONT
21 22.759 98.862 410 Mike Fowler/Hannibal,NY
22 22.806 98.658 11k Dillon Sallows/Wolfe Island,ONT
23 22.814 98.624 81 Christine Martin/Wellesley Island,NY
24 22.861 98.421 31 Kane Bristol/Farmington,NY
25 22.863 98.412 11 Ben Wheeler/Genoa,NY
26 22.976 97.928 18x Anthony Perrego/Montgomery,NY
27 23.012 97.775 58L Jim LaRock/Seneca Falls,NY
28 23.051 97.610 29g Steve Gray/Middlesex,NY
29 23.069 97.533 26h Luke Carleton/Port Colborne,ONT
30 23.078 97.495 140 Mark Dixon/Durham,ONT
31 23.390 96.195 60 Darryl Barrett/Canandaigua,NY
32 23.448 95.957 10 Josh VanBrocklin/Watertown,NY
33 23.753 94.725 51 Justin Combs/Middlebury,VT
34 24.337 92.452 2 Jenna David/Akwesasne,QUE
Heat Races (8 laps, 5 qualify, top 3 went to re-draw)
#1: Wright, Cotriss, Juhl, Rouse, Giguere, Hilton, Wheeler, Gaboury, Schneider
#2: Ortiz, Donath, Spatorico, Henderson, VanBrocklin, Bristol, Barrett, Perrego, Dixon.
#3: Susice, Johnstone, Knapp, LaRock, Pecore, Gray, Carleton, Sallows, Combs.
#4: Sears, Marcuccilli, Raabe, Chiddy, Fowler, Martin, David.
Consolation Round (8 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to feature)
#1: Hilton, Bristol, Wheeler, Perrego, Gaboury, Schneider, Barrett, Dixon.
#2: Gray, Martin, Carleton, Sallows, Combs, David.
Guaranteed: Dixon, Gaboury.
2010 Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Schedule
*All events subject to change.
DAY-DATE TRACK WINNER/LOCATION
Sat-Apr 10 Black Rock Speedway Steve Gray
Sun-Jun 13 Cornwall Motor Speedway Tim Sears Jr.
Sat-Jul 17 Cayuga County Fair Speedway Dave Marcuccilli
Fri-Sep 10 Ransomville Speedway Tim Sears Jr.
Sat-Sep 11 Merrittville Speedway Tim Sears Jr.
Sun-Sep 12 Humberstone Speedway Chris Raabe
Fri-Sep 17 Mohawk International Raceway Tim Sears Jr.
Sat-Sep 25 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Tim Sears Jr.
Fri-Oct 1 Fulton Speedway Dave Marcuccilli
Wed-Oct 6 Can-Am Motorsports Park -cancelled-
Fri-Oct 8 Rolling Wheels Raceway Park Chris Raabe
Sat-Oct 9 New York State Fairgrounds Syracuse,NY
Sat-Oct 16 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, VP Racing Fuels www.vpracingfuels.com and GM Performance Parts www.gmperformanceparts.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.
