POIRIER WINS BATTLE, GONYO WINS WAR
Steve Poirier put on a clinic on Sunday night at Cornwall Motor Speedway. Poirier took the Canadian DIRT Challenge Goodyear 100 with an impressive performance, however Leon Gonyo won the war in the two race series held this week at Autodrome Granby and Cornwall.
40 cars showed up to take part in the second leg of the series with 27 making the starting grid. Brian MacDonald led the field away from the pole, however it was Joel Doiron who grabbed the early advantage. Poirier picked up the lead on lap 4 and led the rest of the way consistantly turning laps 2 tenths to a full second faster than other lead lap cars. Each time the field would bunch up due to one of 6 caution flags, Poirier would again run away from the rest.
A happy Poirier said afterward in victory lane. "I’m very happy to win my first race in a small block at Cornwall. The crew gave me a very good car tonight."
Bill Mullin used the outside groove just after the halfway mark to begin his rapid move towards the front. Mullin started 19th but managed a great drive through the field to finish in second spot. Mark Hitchcock slid around Gonyo on the final turn of the final lap for third with Dave Heaslip rounding out the top five.
Gonyo’s fourth place run combined a seventh place finish on Tuesday night in the first race of the series gave him the point championship as well as the award for the top Granby regular. Brian MacDonald who was 12th at Granby came home with a 6th place finish on Sunday to grab the honours as top Cornwall regular.
Randy Earl continues his run at the front of the Late Model class. The Brockville pilot took his 7th feature win of the season. It looked like Marc Therrien might challenge for the win pulling alongside of Earl in the late going only to have a caution flag fly. Earl was never again challenged as he scored the win. Therrien settled for second in front of early leader Todd Fletcher, George Renaud and Greg Hale.
Defending Duke Stock champ Stephane Lemire scored 5th win of 2001 at Cornwall. Lemire took the lead after a lap 3 restart and went the distance in the 15 lap event. Dominic Gauvreau made a nice run through the field to finish second with Mickey Woods in third.
A couple of Alexandria drivers seemed headed to a 1-2 finish in the 12 lap rookie stock event. However, then Roch Aubin and Rosco Garreau collided taking out both cars with just 3 laps to go. Glen Dorie took advantage to score his first win of the year. Dorie passed Mark Radbourne on the restart for the win. Chris Tremblay was second with Radbourne settling for third.
Next Sunday night at Cornwall Motor Speedway will include a full race program of Modifieds, Late Model, Duke and Rookie stocks plus a special Powder Puff event. The green flag drops at 7pm on Sunday, July 29th.
MODIFIEDS 100 LAPS: 1. Steve Poirier Ste. Mathieu, QC 2. Bill Mullin Iroquois 3. Mark Hitchcock Kingston 4. Leon Gonyo Chazy NY 5. Dave Heaslip Smiths Falls 6. Brian MacDonald Cornwall 7. Clement Therrien Arthabaska QC 8. Joel Doiron Cornwall 9. Chris Jones Demorestville 10. Martin Gagne Granby QC
LATE MODEL 20 LAPS: 1. Randy Earl Brockville 2. Marc Therrien Alexandria 3. Todd Fletcher Renfrew 4. George Renaud Green Valley 5. Greg Hale Napanee
DUKE STOCKS 15 LAPS: 1. Stephane Lemire Drummondville QC 2. Dominic Gauvreau Gatineau QC 3. Mickey Woods Cornwall 4. Wayne Marsolais Newington 5. Danny Boyer St. Marythe Sur De Lac QC
ROOKIE STOCKS 12 LAPS: 1. Glen Dorie Williamstown 2. Chris Tremblay Cornwall 3. Mark Radbourne Cornwall 4. Andrew Russell Alexandria 5. Ron Tyo Cornwall
Heat Winners
Modifieds: Brian MacDonald, Joel Doiron, Steve Poirer, Leon Gonyo, Michel Pelletier
Late Models: Marc Therrien, Todd Fletcher
Duke Stocks: Mike Tremblay, Gilles Pilon
Rookie Stocks: Glen Dorie, Rosco Garreau