MR. SMALL BLOCK SHOWS HIS STUFF AT CORNWALL
CORNWALL-There’s a reason they call Pete Bicknell Mr. Small Block. A capacity crowd Sunday night at Cornwall Motor Speedway found out why. Bicknell saved his best for the final 30 laps as he stormed by early leader Todd Burley to capture the JIFFY 100 part of the Sunoco Race Fuels Super DIRT Series for 358 Modifieds.
It was clear that Bicknell had taken care of his tires as he began to pick up the pace taking the lead with 25 laps remaining from Burley who had led the first 75 circuits. Bicknell who is the three time Small Block champion at Syracuse then started putting laps on the field 2 to 5 tenths of a second faster than anyone else as he won going away.
Burley was second with Danny O Brien passing Pierre Dagenais on the back straightaway on the final lap to grab third. Mario Clair, Bill Mullin, Steve Roberts, Brian MacDonald, Mark Hitchcock and Laurent Ladouceur rounded out the top 10. Mullin, just by attempting to qualify for the race clinched his first ever Cornwall Modified Track Championship.
Two months ago Dave Bissonette’s car was in pieces after a horrifying wreck on the front straightaway. In the Bulldog’s first time back he blitzed the field winning the 20 lap Late Model feature. Louis Jackson was second with Marc Therrien, Jody Beckstead and Gilles Godard rounding out the top 5. Randy Earl with his 10 feature wins captured the Late Model title.
Tammy Jalbert led all 15 laps in a caution filled Duke Stock feature. Ken Sproule was a distant second. The real drama in the race related to the points chase. Randy Andre looked like he would hang onto his points lead as Stephane Lemire his main challenger fell a lap down early in the race. Lemire managed to tear through the field and unlap himself and then Andre was involved in a late accident. The swing in points allowed Lemire to defend his track title by just 2 points over the Cornwall driver.
Richard Brunelle started up front and led all the way in the 12 lap Rookie Stock feature for his first win of the season. Track champ Chris Tremblay had problems in the early going but had already clinched the title anyway.
The final event of the 2001 racing season at Cornwall Motor Speedway takes place next Sunday afternoon, September 9th. The Fireball enduro will feature four cylinder class for both men and women and an open class for 6 and 8 cylinder cars. Over 200 cars are expected to compete with the green flag scheduled to drop at 2pm.
MODIFIEDS JIFFY 100 Laps:1. PETE BICKNELL ST. CATHERINES 2. Todd Burley Spencerville NY 3. Danny O Brien Kingston 4. Pierre Dagenais Gatineau QC 5. Mario Clair QC 6. Bill Mullin Iroquois 7. Steve Roberts Watertown NY 8. Brian MacDonald Cornwall 9. Mark Hitchcock Kingston 10. Laurent Ladouceur Alexandria 11. Lee Gill LeFargeville NY 12. Joel Doiron Alexandria 13. Dave Heaslip Smiths Falls 14. Jim Lazore Akwesasne 15. Dan Jalbert Cornwall
LATE MODELS 20 Laps 1. DAVE BISSONETTE APPLE HILL 2. Louis Jackson Hogansburg NY 3. Marc Therrien Alexandria 4. Jody Beckstead Long Sault 5. Gilles Godard Bowmanville
DUKE STOCKS 15 Laps 1. TAMMY JALBERT CORNWALL 2. Ken Sproule Chesterville 3. Gaetan Amesse St. Timothe QC 4.
ROOKIE STOCKS 12 Laps 1. RICHARD BRUNETTE LONG SAULT 2. Rosco Garreau Alexandria 3.Gerard Foley
Heat winners
Modifieds: Vic Coffey Leicester NY, Matt Sheppard Waterloo NY, Brian MacDonald Cornwall, Pierre Dagenais Gatineau QC
Late Models: Billy King Hogansburg NY, Mitchell Jock Akwesasne, Marc Therrien Alexandria
Duke Stocks: Sebastian Chaumont, Stephane Lemire Drummondville QC, Tammy Jalbert Cornwall
Rookie Stocks: Danielle Legault Cornwall, Ron Tyo Cornwall, Chris Tremblay Cornwall