O’BRIEN KICKS OFF 2000 SEASON IN WINNER’S CIRCLE

Danny O’Brien started the 2000 DIRT racing season at Cornwall Motor Speedway the same way he finished it…on top. The Kingston, Ontario native won the first of two 20-lap features for the Modifieds.

The 1999 Cornwall track champion started the first feature outside row one beside Brian McDonald. O’Brien quickly took over 1st when he jumped ahead of McDonald coming out of turn one right off the green. The driver of the 17D never looked back. McDonald, from Cornwall, had to fend off a tight field of veteran drivers behind him to finish 2nd. Gatineau, Quebec’s Peter Mantha came in right behind McDonald’s 151 car to finished 3rd. Dave "the Slip" Heaslip, from Smiths Falls, Ontario came in 4th with "the Little Hammer" Stephane Lafrance, from Brockville, Ontario rounding out the top 5.

The race also marked the 1st in the 4-race Doiron Engineering Cup. The other three races are also at Cornwall Motor Speedway with the next one in the series coming June 18th. There’s a little more incentive for this year’s cup. Prize money has doubled to $3,000. $1,500 for 1st, $1,000 for 2nd and $500 for 3rd. Sorel, Quebec’s Luc Plante won last year’s Doiron Cup.

It was a photo finish for the 2nd 20-lap feature for the Modifieds with Dave "the Slip" Heaslip on the low-side of Kevin Fetterly out of turn 4 to take the checkered flag. Heaslip is also a former 3-time track champion (1983, 1984 and 1995) but has had tough luck the past couple of years at Cornwall. A frustrated Fetterly finished 2nd a nose out of 1st. Joel Doiron fought off several drivers to hold on to 3rd with Brian McDonald coming in 4th and the winner of the 1st feature, Danny O’Brien rounding out the top 5.

O’Brien was pushing for the lead during lap 12 when he ran into some rough terrain in turn one and jumped onto the inside cushion of the turn. O’Brien was forced to the back of the pack.

In the Late Model class, Marc Therrien surprised Lee Ladouceur, passing with four laps to go to take the checkered flag. For Therrien, from Alexandria, it’s the 2nd straight race at Cornwall that he’s won. Therrien won the last Late Model race of 1999 at Ron Morin’s quarter-mile oval.

Ladouceur settle for 2nd with Renfrew, Ontario’s Darryl Steele coming in 3rd. Stephane Lebrun from Gatineau finished in 4th , just ahead of Cliff Merpaw Jr., from Cornwall.

With three good races in the books, the Duke stock figure it was their turn to have a spectacular finish, and they didn’t disappoint. Richard Charbonneau from Gatineau, Quebec won the 15-lap feature. Charbonneau jumped into the lead during the last turn when Martin Cashman swerved leaving an open lane for Charbonneau, Stephane Phillipe (2nd) and Todd Raabe (3rd) to jump ahead for the checkered flag.

It’s photo and autograph night, next week (May 28th) at Cornwall Motor Speedway. Fans are encouraged to bring along their cameras and autograph books as they’ll get a chance to meet their favorite driver during the intermission. A full racing program is scheduled.