DANNY JOHNSON MANAGED HIS RACE TO WIN THE 14th MOLSON INTERNATIONAL AT GRANBY
GRANBY, Que., July 14, 1999—Danny Johnson, a veteran driver on the Dirt circuit, managed his race so well, last Tuesday at Autodrome Granby, that he won the 14th edition of the Molson International, the 6th race of the Advance Auto Part Super Dirt Series, in front of Brett Hearn and Steve Paine. For Johnson, it was his first win in this series this year and also his first success at Autodrome Granby since 1994. That year, Johnson didn’t only win the Molson International but he was also in the winner’s circle in the first Mr. Dirt-Sunoco Race Fuels race, the Snap-On 200, held at Granby.
Tenth at the start of this 99-lap challenge, Johnson who had chose to race on hard compound tires, let the drivers in front of him struggle for the lead while he was making his move through the field safely. Second at the green flag, Billy Decker, the defending champion, took the early lead but on lap 17, he was passed by Steve Paine who was looking for a third straight Molson International victory. Then, a few laps later, Brett Hearn was also able to get by Decker to start quite a battle with Paine. During more than 40 laps, Hearn and Paine kept the fans on their feet. They exchanged the lead three times during this exciting confrontation while Johson had move up in the third spot.
By lap 59, Hearn who asked too much of his tires in the battle with Paine, slowed down just a bit but it was enough for Johnson to pass him and take the second spot. Five laps later, he did the same move on Steve Paine. After that, it was Paine’s turn to slow down and to give his second place to Hearn, but he never was able to seriously challenge Johnson for the win.
The fans were pleased with the presentation of the Molson International, which was the best race of this Canada trip with only four caution flags and nine lead changes among four drivers, Decker, Hearn, Paine and Johnson. The best finish for a Quebecer was the affair of Steve Poirier. After starting 18th, he finished 11th. Robert Ranger who the night before at Autodrome Drummond had a strong fourth place finish, was not able to repeat his performance. Due to mechanical problems, he had to quit after only 28 laps.
Earlier in the evening, Brett Hearn, Gary Tomkins, Bob McCreadie, Steve Paine, David Hebert and Kenny Tremont were the winners in their respective heats.
Syracuse qualifier
In a special 15-lap feature for small blocks, a Syracuse qualifier, Clement Therrien took his fourth win of the season by having the best on Luke Plante, Réal Lafrance, Gerry Patenaude and Craig Ormsby. Due to the fact that Therrien and Plante were already qualified for the Super Dirt Week End, Lafrance was given the opportunity.
In the Late Models division, Daniel Messier scored his second win while in the Tourism class, Gilles Lapierre was in the winner’s circle for the first time.
MOLSON INTERNATIONAL—99 laps—Race 6 of the Advance Auto Parts Super Dirt Series
1- 1- 27j, Danny Johnson 2- 3h, Brett Hearn 3- 12T, Steve Paine 4- 9, Bob McCreadie 5- 91, Billy Decker 6- 115, Kenny Tremont 7- 19, Tim Fuller 8- 84, Gary Tomkins 9- M1, Jimmy Horton 10- 31, Steve Bottcher 11- 28, Steve Poirier 12- 35, Mike Perrotte 13- 26, Dave Camara 14- 3, Claude Brouillard 15- 32C, Vic Coffey 16- 2000x, Alan Johnson 17- 66, Alain Boisvert 18- FX1, Tim McCreadie 19-24, Luke Plante (98 laps) 20- 56, Pat Ward 21- 96, Todd Milton 22-50, Hugues Mercier 23- 39, Clément Therrien 24- 18, Bobby Varin (97 laps) 25- 88C, Frank Cozze (96 laps) 26- 23, Renald Daoust 27- 1, David Hebert (95 laps) 28 -124, Pierre Dagenais 29- 11, Réal Lafrance (51 laps) 30- 57, Gerry Patenaude (37 laps) 31- 27, Robert Ranger (28 laps) 32- 44J, Gino Clair (24 laps) 33- 1H, Doug Hoffman (22 laps)