Derby Night At Speedway
CORNWALL-Last week, Mark Hitchcock felt the heartbreak of defeat. A week later, the Kingston driver felt the thrill of victory as he cruised to his first victory of the year in the 30 lap Modified feature at Cornwall Motor Speedway.
Hitchcock took over the top spot on lap 7 and then led the rest of the way in the event that took a shade under 9 minutes to run from start to finish. Hitchcock and early leader Perry Francis were turning laps in the 13.6 range during the feature. The win came in the same spot where a week before he had dominated until tangling with a lapped car with 9 laps remaining.
"I have to thank the crew, I was going to change everything on the car around and they wouldn’t let me," said a happy Hitchcock in victory lane.
Stephane LaFrance made a nifty move in the last 10 laps to pick up second spot in front of rookie Jeff Marshall. Laurent Ladouceur and Brian MacDonald rounded out the top five.
The 20 lap Pro Stock feature was a war of attrition that began with a 10 car pileup in turn 2 on lap 10. John Lazore survived the carnage to pick up his third straight feature win. Lazore overtook Tammy Jalbert on the final restart to score the win. Marc Therrien recovered from early problems to finish second. Stephane Labrun, Jalbert and PJ Peters finished third through fifth respectively.
The 15 lap Duke Stock event came down to a door to door duel on the final turn, both cars were swerving but it was rookie Caleb Bradley that got to the finish line first in front of Carey Terrance, Kevin McRae, Richard Brady and Gaetan Amesse.
Andrew Russell captured his second triumph of the 2003 season in the Rookie feature. Points leader Nico Leblanc was second followed by Danny Larose, Ernie Cree and Kurtis McPhee.
The Speedway returns to action next Sunday night with the third and final race in the Goodyear Canadian DIRT Challenge Series for Modifieds. The series includes a total purse of $60,000. The Pro Stocks, Dukes and Rookies will also be in action. Time trials for the Modifieds begin at 6pm with racing getting underway at 7.
Modifieds 30 laps: 1. Mark Hitchcock 2. Stephane LaFrance 3. Jeff Marshall 4. Laurent Ladouceur 5. Brian MacDonald. 6. Mario Lajoie 7. Dan Jalbert 8. Lee Ladouceur 9. Dave Heaslip 10. Jasmin Leveillee 11. Chris Herbison 12. Al Jacobs 13. Eric Gauvreau 14. Adam Moore 15. Tom Jock 16. Stephane Nault 17. Billy Cook 18. Peter Mantha 19. Bill Mullin 20. Perry Francis 21. Charles Galipeau
Pro Stocks: 20 laps 1. John Lazore 2. Marc Therrien 3. Stephane Labrun 4. Tammy Jalbert 5. BJ Peters 6. Dave Marshall 7. Ron Delorme 8. Steve Johnston 9. Clayton Benedict 10. Roch Aubin
Duke Stocks 15 laps: 1. Caleb Bradley 2. Carey Terrance 3. Kevin McRae 4. Richard Brady 5. Gaetan Amesse
Rookie Stock 12 laps: 1. Andrew Russell 2. Nico Leblanc 3. Danny Larose 4. Ernie Cree 5. Kurtis McPhee
Heat Winners
Modifieds: Hitchcock, Francis, Jacobs
Pro Stocks: Ladouceur, Therrien, Bissonnette
Duke: Woods, R. Ezard
Rookie: Ray, Mullin, Quesnel