VIVA POIRIER AT DRUMMONDVILLE JULY 8th
DRUMMONDVILLE, QUESteve Poirier, from St. Mathieu de
Beloril, Quebec, proved that local stars can hold off the
traveling Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series challengers last
Monday, July 8, as he won the Coors Light International 100 at
his home track, Autodrome Drummond.
Poirier started on the outside pole along side of his fellow
Canadian Robert Ranger following the driver redraw. Ranger took
advantage of his starting spot and shot into the lead with
Poirier in tow. Series points leader Alan Johnson was running in
third followed by Chuck Bower and Tim McCreadie. On lap five
Poirier was able to get by Ranger for the lead and start to
develop a substantial lead.
Rain drops fell all evening as the huge crowd waited for
sprinkles to turn into showers. With threatening skies, only the
first 25 laps were designated to be caution free. This did not
matter as the field of 30 cars circled the .350 mile oval without
a flaw, hitting lapped traffic in just 11 laps. The first yellow
came on lap 27 when Butch Tittle slowed in the first turn. He
returned to the one lap down to the field.
On lap 39, Danny Johnson suffered a flat right rear tire and
caused the yellow to fly again. His team performed excellent
service and returned him to the race on the lead lap. Following
the restart, Johnson was making every effort to run to the front.
However on lap 46 he made contact with Frank Cozze, pushing the
Cozze car off the first turn. Cozze limped to the pits for a new
right rear tire. Johnson also pitted and this time lost a lap to
the field.
On lap 56 it was Steve Paine's turn to join the flat tire
bunch, losing the right rear, as the yellow flew. Paine hustled
around to the front of the pack and pitted without losing a lap.
Meanwhile at the front Alan Johnson was able to pass Ranger
for second as did Brett Hearn for third. Poirier however had run
away in lapped traffic and held nearly a three second lead on the
invaders.
The yellow flew on lap 95 when Vic Coffey also had a right
rear tire explode. This yellow would force the race to go beyond
it's advertised 100 lap distance. Coffey pitted but lost a lap
trying to get around to the front of the field.
Poirier blasted into the lead as a green-white-checkered
finish was needed to complete the event. Suddenly the large crowd
realized that for the very first time one of their local drivers
was going to win an Advance Auto Parts Super DIRT Series on their
home turf. The crowd stood and started to cheer wildly as Poirier
circled the track the last two laps to take the checkers. Johnson
came home in second followed by Hearn, McCreadie and David
Hebert.
With the victory lane accessible to the race fans at
Autodrome Drummond, the grandstands began to empty as a huge
throng of fans entered victory lane to cheer their local hero.
"This is one of the memorable moments in auto racing,"
stated Series director Gary Spaid. "National pride was on the
line and the French-Canadians were up to the task of celebrating
their win."
Following the victory lane ceremonies the rains fell washing
out the Sportsman feature. Racing had to be called off for the
rest of the evening.
Poirier, who has been a regular this year on the Advance
Auto Parts Super DIRT Series, moved up to 15th in series points
to hold a provisional starting spot for the next race at
Ransomville Speedway, July 11. The next stop for the Advance Auto
Parts Super DIRT Series is at Fonda Speedway, Thursday, July 18.
COORS LIGHT INTERNATIONAL-ADVANCE AUTO PARTS NIGHT SUMMARY
TIME TRIALS: Brett Hearn 17.989 (70.043 mph), Billy Decker
18.226, Vic Coffey 18.240, Tim Fuller 18.376, Steve Paine 18.401,
Alan Johnson 18.423, Danny Johnson 18.439, Robert Ranger 18.454,
David Hebert 18.521, Tim McCreadie 18.559, Chuck Bower 18.605,
Steve Poirier 18.610, Frank Cozze 18.615, Charles Bisaillon
18.686, Gary Tomkins 18.697, Todd Burley 18.711, Mario Clair
18.732, Kenny Tremont 18.747, Claude Brouillard 18.761, Pat Ward
18.773, Marco Potvin 18.885, Yanick Mathieu 19.003, Clement
Therrien 19.010, Kayle Robidoux 19.017, Martin Roy 19.201, Butch
Tittle 19.251, Luke Plante 19.252, Christian Salvas 19.370, Billy
Cook 19.410, Stephane Langlois 19.460, Jean-Guy Primeau 19.933,
Alain LaPlante NT, Tan Bussiere NT.
HEAT 1: V. Coffey, S. Poirier, A. Johnson, D. Hebert, G. Tomkins,
K. Robidoux.
HEAT 2: D. Johnson, T. McCreadie, T. Fuller, F. Cozze, C.
Brouillard, T. Burley.
HEAT 3: R. Ranger, S. Paine, M. Clair, C. Bower, P. Ward, C.
Therrien.
CONSI: M. Potvin, K. Tremont, C. Salvas, L. Plante, M. Roy, B.
Tittle, Y. Mathieu, Y. Bussiere, B. Cook, S. Langlois
FEATURE (100-laps): STEVE POIRIER, Alan Johnson, Brett Hearn, Tim
McCreadie, David Hebert, Todd Burley, Tim Fuller, Billy Decker,
Kenny Tremont, Robert Ranger, Frank Cozze, Chuck Bower, Gary
Tomkins, Steve Paine, Marco Potvin, Kayle Robidoux, Claude
Brouillard, Vic Coffey, Pat Ward, Danny Johnson, Yan Bussiere,
Christian Salvas, Butch Tittle, Billy Cook, Mario Clair, Clement
Therrien, Luke Plante, Yanick Mathieu, Martin Roy, Stephane
Langlois.