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DALE PLANCK LEADS EVERY LAP TO TURNING STONE VICTORY




by Gary Spaid

DRUMMONDVILLE, PQ...Dale Planck, from Homer, NY, lead all 106 laps of the extended Turning Stone Casino Resorts358-Modified Super DIRT Series last Monday evening at Autodrome Drummond just outside of Drummondville, Quebec.

Planck, who redrew the pole starting spot, set second fast time to Chad Brachmann's fast time of 17.722 seconds or 81.255 mph.At the drop of the green flag Planck took off into the lead followed by Pierre Dagenais, David Hebert and Clement Therrien. Planck drew away to nearly a 30 car advantage over hebert when the yellow flag fle w on lap 12 as Dany Beliveau coasted to a stop at the entrance to turn three.

Planck again drew away to nearly a full straight away lead as a three car battle for second allowed him this luxury. Alan Johnson, Pierre Dagenais and Hebert were all locked into this battle for the runner up position. By lap 16 Steve Poirier joined this battle.

By lap 27, Planck's advantage was nearly a half a track with Hebert holding off all comers for the second position. On lap 37 Planck's advantage went away when Ron White tagged the outside wall in the third turn and came to a halt as the yellow flag was unfurled.

The restart saw Dagenais's car begin to show signs of heavy smoke and he ended his race. The yellow flew on lap 39 as Dagenais was not able to clear his car into the pits. This moved Alan Johnson into third. Another one lap green flag saw the yellow fly again, lap 41, when Tim Fuller stopped on the back chute with a flat right rear tire. Fuller returned, without losing a lap, as caution laps did not start counting until lap 50. But his race only lasted five more laps when a bar in his rear suspension broke ending his day.

At the halfway mark it was Planck holding a five car lead over Hebert, Johnson, Todd Burley and Martin Roy. Fast timer for the night, Chad Brachmann held down sixth. Johnson tried repeated moves to pass Hebert, especially using the higher line to gain momentum. Each time Hebert would be able to pull Johnson off the turn. Later Johnson's car owner stated that Johnson's car was extremely tight and not able to move off the turns as quickly.

On lap 57 Alain Boisvert slowed on the front chute to cause the sixth yellow of the race. The restart saw a two car penalty placed on Roy for jumping the start. Planck again held off Hebert and Johnson. On lap 64 the yellow was out again when Clement Therrien slowed on the back stretch. The penalty on Roy was imposed and the race resumed.

Alan Johnson was able to pass Hebert on the restart for second. Just ten laps later, lap 73, Hebert pulled high on the track exiting the fourth turn and began to slow. He then pulled his number 1 car into the pits and out of the race. He would be named "Hard Luck" driver of the race.

Planck now held nearly a full straight away lead over Johnson. It seemed to some that Johnson was closing the gap, but each lap saw Planck remain the same distance in the lead. It seemed that only a yellow flag would help Johnson have any chance at a victory. That chance appeared on lap 97 when Kyle Jacobs slowed to a stop in the second turn. This bunched the field together. But the yellow flew again following one lap of green when Alan Jacobs repeated his brother's yellow, coming to a stop in the exact same spot in turn two.

This set up a green-white-checker finish and an extended lap situation. Planck held on the for the win followed by Johnson, Burley, Brachmann and Alex Hoag. This was Planck's second win on the Turning Stone Casino Resorts series, his first coming last month at Afton. His finish also bolted him into second in series points behind Johnson. The series now moves to Autodrome Edelweiss on Tuesday, August 12.

TURNING STONE CASINO RESORTS NIGHT SUMMARY

SPORTSMAN

TOP FIVE FEATURE (20-laps): FREDERIC GAMACHE, Yannick Ledoux, Michel Dussault, Alex Fontier, Rene Clair

MODIFIED

TIME TRIALS: Chad Brachmann 17.722 (81.255 mph), Dale Planck 17.752, Pierre Dagenais 17.792, Tim Fuller 17.795, Kayle Robidoux 17.799, Matt Sheppard 17.812, Alan Johnson 17.827, Clement Therrien 17.874, Yan Bussiere 17.890, Martin Roy 17.895, Steve Poirier 17.907, Todd Burley 17.915, Richard Chauvin 17.948, Alex Hoag 18.015, Mario Clair 18.056, David Hebert 18.115, Kyle Jacobs 18.153, Mario LaJoie 18.174, Dany Belodeau 18.202, Alan Jacobs 18.272, Alain Boisvert 18.293, Randy Chrysler 18.343, Ron White 18.650, Mike Schultz 21.232, Alain Beliveau NT.

HEAT 1: M. Sheppard, P. Dagenais, Y. Bussiere, T. Burley, M. LaJoie, A. Boisvert, M. Clair.
HEAT 2: T. Fuller, A. Johnson, R. Chauvin, D. Hebert, M. Roy, R. Chrysler, D. Belodeau
HEAT 3: K. Robidoux, C. Therrien, S. Poirier, A. Hoag, K. Jacobs, A. Jacobs, R. White, A. Beliveau.

FEATURE (106-laps): DALE PLANCK, Alan Johnson, Todd Burley, Chad Brachmann, Alex Hoag, Matt Sheppard, Martin Roy, Yan Bussiere, Alan Jacobs, Kyle Jacobs, Alain Beliveau, Tim Fuller, David Hebert, Clement Therrien, Alain Boisvert, Richard Chauvin, Pierre Dagenais, Ron White, Mario Clair, Steve Poirier, Mario LaJoie, Randy Chrysler, Kayle Robidoux, Dany Belodeau, Mike Schultz.