Plante earns Syracuse spot, May 23, 1999

Luc Plante took home one of the two checkered flags for a 20-lap win on opening night at the Cornwall Motor Speedway. Combine that with his 3rd place finish in the 2nd feature, Plante earned more points than any other driver and qualified for the season ending championship series in Syracuse, New York.

Plante started the first feature in fifth behind the likes of veterans Laurent Ladouceur, Bill Mullin, Pierre Dagenais and Mark Hitchcock. The Sorel, Quebec driver had only two cautions to work with but took advantage of some mishaps in front of him to jump ahead of the pack. Plante moved into the lead to stay with a nice move to the low side out of turn 3 on the 5th lap.

Ladouceur was running his familiar #23 Bicknell in 2nd place until he blew the rear right tire and had to pull into the pits on a caution on lap 12. That gave Bill Mullin, Rick Wilson and Pierre Dagenais the push they needed to move up the field.

With Plante sticking to a high side groove, the rest of the field fell into place and ran out the final half dozen laps. Behind Plante, Bill Mullin finished 2nd ahead of Pierre Dagenais and Joyceville, Ontario's Rick Wilson (3rd and 4th respectively). Danny O’Brien came in 5th. O’Brien’s strong finish, he started the first feature race in 24th (last), was a preview of things to come. The Kingston, Ontario veteran and defending track champion took home the checkered flag in the 2nd of 2 20-lap features in his brother, Pat's car.

The younger O’Brien blew the motor in his 17D during his heat race and because he'll be a regular runner a Ron Morin’s action track, Pat gave Danny his car to use in the twin 20's. In the winner's circle, Danny praised his brother's crew for their work and dedicated the race to long time family friend and sponsor Sheldon Legue, who is dealing with health problems.#22 Eric Gauvreau

Laurent Ladouceur actually led the 2nd feature until the last two turns when O’Brien turned it up a notch and raced home to victory. Ladouceur settled for 2nd with Plante 3rd. Rounding out the top five were Buck White (4th) and Joel Doiron (5th). Eric Gauvreau picked up where he left off last season in the late model class. The Chelsea, Quebec driver raced to the checkered flag in the 20-lap feature. Gauvreau won 7 races at Cornwall in 1998 on his way to the late model track championship.

Fellow Alexandria’s Lee Ladouceur and Marc Therrien finished 2nd and 3rd. Lunenburg, Ontario's Jodie Beckstead won the Duke Stock feature with Cornwall native Robin Laframboise taking the checkered flag in the Rookie feature.

On May 30th, 1999, the Cornwall Motor Speedway holds "Bargain Night". A complete racing program highlights the special admission price. Fans will only have to pay $4 to get into the Squire Shop sponsored event.