Story By: TIM BALTZ / BROCKVILLE ONTARIO SPEEDWAY – BROCKVILLE, ONT – Father’s Day weekend always draws a good field and a great crowd at the Brockville Ontario Speedway and this past Saturday night was no different as Mobil 1 was on hand for a full card of racing and drivers once again put on another fantastic show, that produced a few new faces in victory lane on this night.
The 12 lap Novice Sportsman feature started the night off and saw a few hair-raising moments to begin the race. Paul Donnelly led early over Patrick Kudrinko and Matt Mould as the field completed lap 1. However the night ended early for Melcolm Banks, who barely clipped an infield tire off turn 4 breaking the front end on his car. Two laps later Patrick Kudrinko and leader Donnelly made heavy contact off turn 4 resulting in heavy damage to Donnelly’s car. Once everything settled down, Can Am regular Logan Brown would take over the top spot, on lap 5 in his season debut. Brown has been dominant on the big track in Lafargeville and took a liking to the bullring at The BOS very quickly, pulling away from Kent Miller and Cornwall regular Nicholas Mainville. Two yellows slowed the field for minor spins over the final laps, but Brown had a fast car and would pull away from the field and go unchallenged to score his first ever Brockville win and 6th win overall in the North Country this year. Kent Miller had a great debut crossing 2nd with Nicholas Mainville 3rd.
Madie Wallace led the field to green in the DIRTCar Sportsman 25 lap feature over Matt Barbour, Jessica Power, Greg Brinklow and Xavier Perrin. It didn’t take long for Power and Barbour to pull away and show everyone that they would be the ones to beat in the early laps. Power would take her strong car to the point on lap 10 and looked to have this race in hand as she looked for her first win at The BOS since 2022. On lap 12 Matt Barbour would slow with a flat tire ending his great night, but would return to the field without losing a lap. When the green flew Power again had the lead but Gavin Eisele has been making noise at Brockville this year and was putting the pressure on Power for the top spot using the outside lane. Power stayed low but Eisele would make the pass up high on lap 17 as Power stayed close and kept mounting a challenge from the bottom of the track. Once in front Eisele got comfortable and started to put some distance between himself Power, Bobby Herrington, Dylan Kirkland and Shane Stearns. After several top 5 finishes to start the season, Gavin Eisele finally was able to break through scoring his first win of the season, over Power, Herrington, Shane Stearns and Brennan Moore, who came up for 5th at the checkers.
This season has seen nothing good happen for Kyle Dingwall, but on this night he finally had a fast car and used his pole starting position to take the lead at the start of the DIRTCar 358 Modified feature over Dylan Evoy, Lee Ladouceur, Tristan Draper and Jarrett Herbison. Dingwall used his favorite inside lane to drive away from the field on this night building up a big lead at the start of the race. Behind him it was not a good night for points leader Ryan Arbuthnot. Off turn four on lap 6, Arbuthnot made slight contact with an infield tire, breaking the front end on his car and the yellow flew. He would return to the field, but was many laps down. When the green flew Dingwall remained in total control and asserted himself as the dominant factor through out the 30 lap event. Behind him Johnathon Ferguson, who came into the night 2nd in points, was on the charge getting by his good friend Jarrett Herbison for 3rd, then by Evoy for 2nd, but had along way to go to catch Dingwall. On lap 20 the final caution flew as Chris Ferguson spun off turn 4. He would rejoin at the back without any damage. When the green flew Dingwall jumped into the lead and started to build up that big lead he had before the yellow over Ferguson, Herbison and the rest of the field. Kyle Dingwall had control of the field from the drop of the green and never stopped until the checkers flew as he dominated for his first win of 2024. Ferguson gained on points leader Ryan Arbuthnot with a runner up finish, Dylan Evoy finished a career best 3rd with Jarrett Herbison and Tristan Draper completing the top 5.
Stephane Philippe was the early leader in the 15 lap Street Stock event over Charles Marchand and it appeared as those two drivers would be the ones to beat on this night, however Marchand would drop off the pace in turn 4 ending his shot at a possible win. When the green flew veteran Philippe was in control with Todd Raabe and last weeks winner Jonathan Gallipeau right there to challenge. The top three were running away but behind them, things got rough for Sam Reckzin. On lap 6 Reckzin made heavy contact with the front stretch wall causing the right rear tire to break off and fly off turn 4 and into the wall. Reckzin would climb out shaken but ok, the car was badly damaged. On the restart Philippe, Raabe and Gallipeau put on a great show as the battled for the top spot as they traded lanes and positions on the track. A pair of late yellows slowed the race which gave Raabe a chance to get a shot at Philippe for the win. On the final lap Raabe would make the move on the bottom taking the lead away and would hold it the rest of the way to score his 2nd win of the year by a car length. Philippe and Gallipeau crossed 2nd and third while Steve Brady and Francis Gauthier completed the top 5.
The night finished off with a 20 Surprenant Truck Shop Crate Sprint Car feature and a historic night for Adam Turner. The Cherry Valley native led the race early over Ryan Poole and Mathieu Bardier. The bottom lane was the dominant spot on the speedway and Turner was using it to his advantage, along with clear race track to driver away rom everyone on this night. As the laps clicked off Turner started to close on lapped cars which was making it easier for Ryan Poole to run him down. Turner would not be stopped by the slower cars and would hold off a fast closing Ryan Poole to score his first ever Crate Sprint car race at Brockville. Former track champion Poole crossed in 2nd over defending track champion Lee Ladouceur, Mathieu Bardier and points leader Josh Verne Jr.
The win was significant for Turner on this night, as he broke the record for the most divisions with at least one win at Brockville. Turner had previously won races in Street Stock, DIRTCar Sportsman, Vintage and added a Crate Late Model win last season. Turner has now won in a record five classes at the speedway.
Next week after a rain out one year ago the Empire Super Sprints will make their return for the first time since October 20th 2019 at the Brockville oval, when Steve Poirier claimed the win. Drivers like Jason Barney, Jordan Poirier, “No Panic” Davie Franek, Shawn Donath, Dylan Swernik and crowd favorite Rick Wilson will be among the heavy favorites for the win next week. Rycon Electrical will be on hand as the night sponsor with a great card of racing with the DIRTCar 358 Modified, DIRTCar Sportsman, Surprenant Truck Shop Crate Sprints, Novice Sportsman and Mini Stocks. Racing gets underway at 6pm.
DIRTCAR 358 MODIFIEDS
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 66-Kyle Dingwall[1]; 2. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[6]; 3. 83-Dylan Evoy[2]; 4. 38J-Jarrett Herbison[4]; 5. 17-Tristan Draper[5]; 6. 7-Madison Mulder[10]; 7. 45R-Preston Forbes[8]; 8. 18-Kalen Draper[11]; 9. 64-Terry McClelland[9]; 10. 1M-Matt Billings[12]; 11. 88-Lee Ladouceur[3]; 12. 08-Chris Ferguson[13]; 13. R70-Ryan Arbuthnot[7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Tristan Draper[5]; 2. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[6]; 3. 83-Dylan Evoy[3]; 4. 45R-Preston Forbes[7]; 5. 64-Terry McClelland[2]; 6. 18-Kalen Draper[4]; 7. (DNS) 17M-Gavin MacFarlane
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. R70-Ryan Arbuthnot[6]; 2. 66-Kyle Dingwall[2]; 3. 38J-Jarrett Herbison[4]; 4. 88-Lee Ladouceur[3]; 5. 7-Madison Mulder[7]; 6. 1M-Matt Billings[5]; 7. 08-Chris Ferguson[1]
DIRTCAR SPORTSMAN
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 18E-Gavin Eisele[8]; 2. 52-Jessica Power[7]; 3. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[11]; 4. 22S-Shane Stearns[12]; 5. 35B-Brennan Moore[20]; 6. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[9]; 7. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[13]; 8. 16-Matt Barbour[3]; 9. 707-Greg Brinklow[4]; 10. 23-Michael Dillon[17]; 11. 98-Domonick Merkley[5]; 12. 91-Kraig Handley[16]; 13. 35D-Dylan Moore[14]; 14. M70-Billy Cook[18]; 15. 20-Nathan Lambert[19]; 16. 17M-Madie Wallace[1]; 17. 21T-Trey Ladouceur[6]; 18. X41-Xavier Perrin[2]; 19. 11J-Justin Saunders[15]; 20. 32-Tyler Stewart[10]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 707-Greg Brinklow[2]; 2. 52-Jessica Power[3]; 3. 18E-Gavin Eisele[5]; 4. 17M-Madie Wallace[1]; 5. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[6]; 6. 91-Kraig Handley[4]; 7. 20-Nathan Lambert[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[5]; 2. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[6]; 3. X41-Xavier Perrin[1]; 4. 98-Domonick Merkley[2]; 5. 35D-Dylan Moore[3]; 6. 23-Michael Dillon[7]; 7. (DQ) 35B-Brennan Moore[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Matt Barbour[1]; 2. 22S-Shane Stearns[3]; 3. 32-Tyler Stewart[5]; 4. 21T-Trey Ladouceur[2]; 5. 11J-Justin Saunders[6]; 6. M70-Billy Cook[4]
WINGED CRATE SPRINTS
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 9-Adam Turner[2]; 2. 00-Ryan Poole[3]; 3. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[6]; 4. 19-Mathieu Bardier[4]; 5. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[8]; 6. 72-Bruno Richard[7]; 7. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[5]; 8. M52-Marc Surprenant[1]; 9. 52J-Brett Horner[10]; 10. 4K-Jamie Kay[9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Adam Turner[2]; 2. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[3]; 3. 85C-Cam MacKinnon[4]; 4. 72-Bruno Richard[5]; 5. 4K-Jamie Kay[1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Mathieu Bardier[3]; 2. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[4]; 3. 00-Ryan Poole[2]; 4. M52-Marc Surprenant[1]; 5. 52J-Brett Horner[5]
NOVICE SPORTSMAN
A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 9-Logan Brown[7]; 2. 42-Kent Miller[10]; 3. 82-Nicolas Mainville[6]; 4. (BF) 39-Cory Lambert[9]; 5. 28-Matt Mould[4]; 6. 18B-Blake Smith[5]; 7. 80D-Damien King[8]; 8. 98-Paul Donnelly[2]; 9. 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[1]; 10. M75-Melcolm Banks[3]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 98-Paul Donnelly[2]; 2. 82-Nicolas Mainville[5]; 3. 18B-Blake Smith[4]; 4. 80D-Damien King[1]; 5. 39-Cory Lambert[3]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[1]; 2. 9-Logan Brown[4]; 3. M75-Melcolm Banks[2]; 4. 28-Matt Mould[3]; 5. 42-Kent Miller[5]
STREET STOCKS
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 10-Todd Raabe[7]; 2. 125-Stephane Philippe[2]; 3. 64-Jonathan Galipeau[8]; 4. 11-Steve Brady[6]; 5. 71-Francis Gauthier[3]; 6. 18C-Kyle Massey[1]; 7. 66-Thomas Reid[11]; 8. 27-Sam Reckzin[5]; 9. 07M-Charles Marchand[4]; 10. (DNS) 9-Sylvain Gauthier; 11. (DNS) 45-Mike Schonauer
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 18C-Kyle Massey[1]; 2. 10-Todd Raabe[5]; 3. 11-Steve Brady[4]; 4. 71-Francis Gauthier[2]; 5. 9-Sylvain Gauthier[3]; 6. 66-Thomas Reid[6]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 125-Stephane Philippe[1]; 2. 07M-Charles Marchand[2]; 3. 64-Jonathan Galipeau[4]; 4. 27-Sam Reckzin[3]; 5. 45-Mike Schonauer[5]