PIERRE DAGENAIS VISIT EDELWEISS SPEEDWAY WIN LANE
Veteran driver Pierre ‘’The Snake’’ Dagenais finally broke the ice by capturing his first checker of the 2004 season in the mods before another large crowd and despite consistent threats by Mother Nature Friday night at Edelweiss Speedway.
Leaving from post five on the starting grid, Dagenais didn’t waste anytime on the GO pedal at the drop of the green flag making an early appearance on top of the sixteen car field at lap four but it wasn’t quite a done deal from then on. The Gatineau driver had to give way to a very aggressive Eric Gauvreau for a short while before taking back the pace setting position for the rest of the 30 lapper leaving behind last week’s winning driver Laurent Ladouceur in runner up position and sophomore Gauvreau who finally had to settle for third best.
‘’The track is in a much better condition tonight and we found a few minor problems on the race car this week. Eric was very sharp tonight and he gave me quite a run for my money for a guy that his only in his second year of action in the modifieds.’’ said Dagenais from the winners circle. A very unhappy Dave Heaslip again looking for the officials after the feature was fourth while Mark Hitchcock rounded out the fast five. Dagenais, Gauvreau and Akwasasne’s Billy Cook were the qualifying heat winners.
In the Pro Stock, Joey Ladouceur seemed to have found a track of his own here at Edelweiss where the Alexandria driver took home the lion’s share of the purse money along with the winning trophy for a third time in as many outings by finishing in front of last week’s winner Stephane Lebrun in the runner up spot and of Mont-Laurier’s Alain Coursol in third place. Cornwall Speedway promoter Ron Morin and Aylmer’s Michel Dupuis rounded out the top five. Ladouceur and Morin also registered qualifying heat wins.
Dominic Gauvreau made his second trip to victory lane this season by winning the feature in the Semi Pro over Greg Ogilvie ending second and over Nicolas Vaillant as third best. Claude Laurin and Charles Galipeau respectively fourth an fifth rounded out the fast five while Bruno Richard and John Holmes captured top honours in the qualifiers.
The four cylinders was again all Jack St-Arnaud who crossed the finish stripe in front of Pat Legault second and in front of Nico Leblanc completing the podium. It was St-Arnaud’s fourth win in a row at Edelweiss. Dany Larose and Wakefield’s Ryan Foley rounded out the top five. St-Arnaud, Legault and Donald Meunier were the qualifying heat winners.
After six weeks of action at Edelweiss Speedway, Laurent Ladouceur, Stephane Lebrun, Dominic Gauvreau and Jack St-Arnaud are leading the drivers standing in their respective class.
Next program of exciting races at Edelweiss Speedway, Friday night June 25 where a regular and full program is on the slate featuring the second leg of the Capital Tire series in the Pro Stock. The green flag drops at 7:45.