O'BRIEN WINS HOLIDAY CLASSIC AT CORNWALL
Better late than never. That was the motto of the night as the Holiday Classic ran one week after originally scheduled. Kingston, Ontario driver Pat O'Brien led from start to finish to win the 50-lap Modified feature. The race was originially set for Sunday, August 6th, but Mother Nature rained on the parade. O'Brien had to earn his wire-to-wire victory by fending off a tough field that included Frank Cozze (Wingap, Pennsylvania ), who finished 2nd, Dave Heaslip (Smiths Falls, Ontario), who came in 3rd and Danny O'Brien, Pat's younger brother who finished 5th. Healsip was gaining ground on the two leaders over the course of the last half-dozen laps. His unofficial average lap time on the quarter-mile oval better than Pat O'Brien's and Cozze's. Danny O'Brien's 5th place finish is impressive considering that he had to go to the pits when the caution came out on lap 20. O'Brien joined three other Mods who had to fix various problems on that caution. One name that you won't find in the top 5 is Joel Doiron. The Alexandria driver was running in the top 5 for several laps when he was forced to the high side cushion in turn 3. His car sliding along sideways, Doiron was able to control it without incident. Starting from the back of the pack on the restart, Doiron ended up 10th. Other cars in the top 10 were Kevin Fetterly (6th), Bill Mullin (7th), Mark Hitchcock (8th) and Chris Herbison (9th).
Lee Ladouceur is now a 3-time winner in the Late Model class after taking the 20-lap feature. The win as just about a sure thing about halfway through the feature because the Alexandria, Ontario driver was pulling away from the rest of the field. Ladouceur joins Therrien as 3-time Late Model winners at Ron Morin's speedplant. Darryl Steele, Renfrew, Ontario, (2nd), Stephane Lebrun, Gatineau, Quebec, (3rd), Marc Terrien, Alexandria, Ontario (4th) and Billy King, St.Regis, Quebec rounded out the top 5.
The Duke Stock feature was won by Gatineau, Quebec driver Richard Charbonneau. He started the 24- car feature in 13th, but was leading the 15-lap race by the 7th lap. Stephane Lemire finished half a car length ahead of Joe Woods, who came in 3rd.
Tammy Jalbert, Cornwall, picked up her first ever checkered flag in her hometown by winning the Rookie feature. Jalbert was found the winner's circle at other tracks but, until tonight, couldn't hold on to win the feature at Cornwall Motor Speedway. Rosco Garreau finished 2nd while Eric Smirle came in 3rd.
On Sunday, August 20th, it's the final race in two series. The Modifieds will run the 4th and final feature in the Doiron Engineering Cup while the Late Models run a 50-lap feature to decide the winner of the Mr.Radiator series. The winner of each series picks up $1,500. A regular schedule is also on tap for both Duke and Rookie stocks. Gates open at 5:30 pm. Racing begins at 7pm.