Ely outfoxes young Canadian for ESS win at Cornwall

It was a battle of experience against youth on Sunday night at Cornwall Motor Speedway. When the dust cleared 63 year old George Ely found himself in victory lane in the 25 lap Empire Super Sprint feature.

Ely started on the pole in the race but gave up the early lead only to reclaim the top spot on lap 3. Young Canadian Ryan Coniam worked his way up from his 11th starting spot and passed the veteran on lap 12 to take the lead. It appeared the twenty something Canuck was headed for a win until Ely opted for a higher groove around the fast Cornwall quarter mile. Ely finally passed Coniam on the outside with 3 laps remaining and went on to the victory. Coniam was second followed by Lance Yonge, ESS points leader Mike Woodring and hard charging Dan Kaszubinski. The race was red flagged once for a 6 car accident in turn 3 on lap 3. No was injured but the mishap took defending ESS Cornwall winner Alain Bergeron out of contention for the evening.

Experience raised it’s head in the 30 lap Modified tilt as well. Mark Hitchcock, who was a track champ in the late 80's found himself locked in a duel with relative newcomer Dan Jalbert for the feature win. Hitchcock went for the outside groove while Jalbert stayed down on the bottom of the race track. Hitchcock was able to get by on lap 26 for the victory, his first in two years at Cornwall.

"I knew I only had one chance," said an excited Hitchcock afterwards. "I knew that was to go up top, it’s a great feeling to be back in the winners circle here". Chris Herbison got past Jalbert for second with Peter Mantha and Stephane LaFrance rounding out the top 5.

Randy Earl continues to dominate in the Late Model division. Earl won his 4th 20 lap Late Model main event of the season. Earl charged through the field in the early going with some daring moves in traffic. The Brockville driver’s worst finish of the season so far is a second. Defending track champ Marc Therrien was second followed by Dave Bissonnette, Billy King and Daryl Steele.

Mark Radbourne took the extended 20 lap Rookie event. Radbourne slipped back in the middle part of the race but came back to record his first win of 2001. Danielle Legault was second with points leader Chris Tremblay scoring a third place finish. Marc Decoste escaped uninjured after his car hammered the front straightaway wall.

Next weeks racing program at Cornwall Motor Speedway includes twin 20 lap features for the Modifieds plus the visit of the Green Mamba Jet Car. It will celebrate Canada Day in style by melting down a car on the back straightaway. The green flag drops at 7:00 pm next Sunday, July 1st.

ESS feature 25 laps: 1. George Ely Jordan NY 2 Ryan Coniam Burlington 3. Lance Yonge Penn Yan NY 4. Mike Woodring Eden NY 5. Dan Kaszubinski Syracuse 6. Doug Emery Nedrow NY 7. Justin Barger Montrose NY 8. Brian Dumigan Liverpool NY 9. Scott Holcomb Little Valley NY 10. Randy Years Honeoye Falls NY

Modifieds 30 laps 1. Mark Hitchcock Kingston 2. Chris Herbison Brockville 3. Dan Jalbert Cornwall 4. Peter Mantha Gatineau QC 5. Stephane LaFrance Brockville 6. Bill Mullin Iroquois 7. Kevin Fetterly Massena NY 8. Danny O Brien Kingston 9. Chris Jones Demorestville 10. Pierre Dagenais Gatineau QC

Late Models 20 laps 1. Randy Earl Brockville 2. Marc Therrien Alexandria 3. Dave Bissonnette Apple Hill 4. Billy King Hogansburg NY 5. Daryl Steele Renfrew

Rookies 20 laps: 1. Mark Radbourne Cornwall 2. Danielle Legault Cornwall 3. Chris Tremblay Cornwall 4. Glen Dorie Williamstown 5. Andrew Russell Alexandria.

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Heat Winners

Empire Super Sprints: Tim Zimbardi Little Valley NY, Rob Dietrich Farmington NY, Lance Yonge Penn Yan NY

Modifieds:Dan Jalbert Cornwall, Chris Herbison Brockville, Kevin Fetterly Massena NY, Bill Mullin Iroquois

Late Model: Louie Jackson Hogansburg NY, Dave Bissonnette Apple Hill, Cliff Merpaw Cornwall

Rookie: Bruno Richard Gatineau, Mark Radbourne Cornwall, Danielle Legault Cornwall