By: Tim Baltz
Photo Credit: Brody Plotz
Fan appreciation night turned out to be successful for Gabriel Cyr this past Saturday night at the Brockville Ontario Speedway. Cyr became the first two time winner in the Modified division this season. He had this to say about the battle with former Sportsman driver Shane Stearns.
Cyr his team is on a roll right now.
Bobby Herrington won the Sportsman race, Josh Verne Jr. claimed the Crate Sprint Car event. Mike Saunders won the Mini Stock Race with Cory Lambert winning in Novice Sportsman. Greg Hale and Matt Barbour won the Vintage feature. Full recap below.
It was Fan Appreciation night this past Saturday at the Brockville Ontario Speedway. Tackaberry Construction made their annual visit, with memorabilia on hand which got the fans talking. So did the action on the race track in all 5 divisions, which also featured the Eastern Ontario Vintage Stock Car Club.
Shane Stearns had the crowd on their feet at the start of the 30 lap DIRTcar 358 Modified feature. Stearns grabbed the lead and began to put plenty of distance between himself, Lee Ladouceur and Gabriel Cyr in the early laps. Stearns had a fast car and the rookie looked like he would be on his way to his first ever win, however the yellow flew for a spun Lance Willix, who was able to return to the field. On the lap 10 restart Kalen Draper spun in turn 1 and was hit hard in the door by Doug Buzzell Jr., who had no place to go. Draper was able to continue, Buzzell was done for the night. The battle for the lead heated up after the restart as Gabriel Cyr went back and forth with Stearns, eventually taking the lead on lap 18 and began to open up a comfortable gap. A spun Lucas Fuller one lap later slowed the race once more. When the green flew Gabriel Cyr got a great start and was able to drive away from Shane Stearns and Johnathon Ferguson to become the first two time winner of the year. Ferguson got by Stearns for second, with Kyle Dingwall and Tristan Draper the top 5.
Madie Wallace was looking to turn her season around as she led the opening laps of the 25 lap DIRTcar Sportsman feature over Patrick Kudrinko and Sylvain Dupuis. Kudrinko would take the lead on lap three bringing Dupuis to second, with Wallace third. Bobby Herrington was on the move quickly from 13th, as he made his way to the 5th spot on lap 6 and was on his way to the front. Dupuis took the lead from Kudrinko and began to drive away, as Herrington made his way to the runner up position just past the half way point of the event. The leaders then entered lapped traffic which allowed Herrington to close the gap and make a race out of it. On lap 22 Herrington found his way by off turn two on the bottom, to take the lead. With two laps remaining a great run for Dupuis came to an end, as he clipped a slower car, sending him off turn 1. When the green flew for the final time, Herrington would go unchallenged to record his 4th win of the season, second in a row and 38th of his Brockville Sportsman career. The first of two features on the night for Matt Barbour resulted in a runner up finish. Domonick Merkley, Xavier Andrews and Dylan Kirkland completed the top 5.
Much like last week, Guy Gosselin took the lead at the start of the 20 lap Surprenant Truck Shop Crate Sprint Car feature, with Josh Verne Jr. and Liam Ladouceur chasing him. Gosselin pulled away from the field but Verne was trying to stay close by and began chipping away at the deficit, which was 5-6 car lengths for the majority of the race. The top two were looking to settle the race amongst themselves as a father son battle raged on with Liam Ladouceur and Lee Ladouceur going at it. Dad would get the upper hand in this battle. On lap 12 Josh Verne Jr. had caught Gosselin and by lap 14 would take over the top spot, as he looked for another record setting win. Without a caution in the final laps, Josh Verne Jr. continued his dominance at Brockville, grabbing his sixth straight win and 9th of his Brockville Speedway Sprint Car career. Guy Gosselin, Lee Ladouceur, Liam Ladouceur and Adam Turner rounded out the top 5.
The Eastern Onterio Vintage Stock Car Club was ready to go and featured to races in one. This meant there was action everywhere, with Ian Gordon leading the 70/80 division with Matt Barbour and Steve Billings right there to challenge. In the 50/60 race Greg Hale was looking for the same result he had the night before at Can Am, as he led Xavier Perrin in the early laps. The yellow flew on lap 8 as Xavier Perrin made slight contact with the infield tire in turn two, breaking the front suspension and ending his night. When the green flew it was Matt Barbour taking the lead in the 70/80 division with Greg Hale now battling Tim Bailey for the 50/60 win. As the laps clicked off Matt Barbour was using the extra track time he got in the Sportsman feature, for a successful run in the Vintage event. He pulled away from Ian Gordon and Randy Gaudet to secure the win while Greg Hale held off challenges from Tim Bailey and Joy Hilts, for the weekend sweep in the 50/60 class, his first ever Brockville win after 30 years of trying.
Mike Saunders was trying to claim is first career win in the 15 lap Mini Stock feature on this night as he took the lead on lap 6 from early pace setter Carl Gorry. Saunders had a great race car and was doing everything he could to keep Gorry behind him, while Max Steele was having a solid run in the number three spot. As the laps clicked off Mike Saunders was inching closer to his first ever win but Gorry was right there with him and opening day winner Clayton Celovsky was on his way forward, as he took the third spot in the closing laps. In the end it was another first time winner as Mike Saunders scored career win number 1. Carl Gorry, Clayton Celovsky, Max Steele and Hayden Brown in a back up car, rounded out the top 5.
A pile up in the opening lap of the 12 lap Novice Sportsman feature, shortened the field by a few cars. When the green came back out Cory Lambert wanted to get away from any carnage as he jumped out front with Kyle Kudrinko and Tessa Riemersma right there with him. Lambert was in control the entire race and would go unchallenged to secure his first win of 2025 over Kyle Kudrinko and Tessa Riemersma.
Next week it’s a big night for the Surprenant Truck Shop Crate Sprints, as a spot will be up for grabs for the Northern Crate Nationals to be held at the Ohsweken Speedway in mid-September. The Mini Stocks have the night off but the Street Stocks return to action, plus a full show for DIRTcar 358 Modified, DIRTcar Sportsman and Novice Sportsman.
To keep up with what’s going on at the speedway, head to our website at brockvillespeedway.com or keep up with us on Facebook, Instagram and “X”. If you can’t make it to the track every week, be sure to add us to your favorites and follow along on My Race Pass. The green flag drops at 7pm next Saturday.
DIRTcar 358 Modifieds
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A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 94-Gabriel Cyr[5]; 2. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[8]; 3. 22S-Shane Stearns[4]; 4. 1-Kyle Dingwall[6]; 5. 17-Tristan Draper[9]; 6. 60-Jackson Gill[13]; 7. 124J-Luke Whitteker[10]; 8. 31-Lance Willix[11]; 9. 18-Kalen Draper[12]; 10. 74-Lucas Fuller[7]; 11. 64-Terry McClelland[15]; 12. M75-Melcolm Banks[16]; 13. 08-Chris Ferguson[1]; 14. 88-Lee Ladouceur[2]; 15. 17M-Gavin MacFarlane[3]; 16. 80EH-Doug Buzzell[14]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Tristan Draper[6]; 2. 08-Chris Ferguson[1]; 3. 124J-Luke Whitteker[8]; 4. 1-Kyle Dingwall[4]; 5. 22S-Shane Stearns[3]; 6. M75-Melcolm Banks[2]; 7. 18-Kalen Draper[5]; 8. 80EH-Doug Buzzell[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Lee Ladouceur[1]; 2. 94-Gabriel Cyr[3]; 3. 74-Lucas Fuller[4]; 4. 17M-Gavin MacFarlane[2]; 5. 31-Lance Willix[8]; 6. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[5]; 7. 60-Jackson Gill[7]; 8. 64-Terry McClelland[6]
10 entries
Winged Crate Sprints
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A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[3]; 2. 93-Guy Gosselin[1]; 3. 51-Lee Ladouceur[6]; 4. 77-Liam Ladouceur[4]; 5. 92-Adam Turner[2]; 6. 00-Ryan Poole[5]; 7. 42W-Rick Wilson[9]; 8. 4K-Jamie Kay[8]; 9. M52-Marc Surprenant[7]; 10. (DNS) 15-Dan Deyo
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[1]; 2. 93-Guy Gosselin[4]; 3. 00-Ryan Poole[2]; 4. M52-Marc Surprenant[3]; 5. 42W-Rick Wilson[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 92-Adam Turner[2]; 2. 77-Liam Ladouceur[1]; 3. 51-Lee Ladouceur[5]; 4. 4K-Jamie Kay[4]; 5. (DNS) 15-Dan Deyo
22 entries
Vintage Modifieds
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50/60’s (20 Laps): 1. 28G-Greg Hale[3]; 2. 85-Tim Bailey[4]; 3. 83V-Joe Hilts[2]; 4. 38-Dexter Billings[12]; 5. 09T-Tim Macolman[10]; 6. 12-Tim Charland[6]; 7. 95-Wade McAllister[9]; 8. B22-Randy Simkins[11]; 9. 42-Patrick Charland[8]; 10. 72-Dwayne Emon[7]; 11. 63SS-Xavier Perrin[1]; 12. 6-Jeff Cledgett[5]; 13. 333-Chris Wilson[13]
70/80’s (20 Laps): 1. 37-Matt Barbour[3]; 2. 17IG-Ian Gordon[2]; 3. 96-Randy Gaudet[5]; 4. 01-Steve Barber[6]; 5. B10-Paul Billings[4]; 6. 8-Chris Pryer[7]; 7. 84-Steve Billings[1]
50/60’s Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 63SS-Xavier Perrin[4]; 2. 83V-Joe Hilts[2]; 3. 28G-Greg Hale[6]; 4. 85-Tim Bailey[3]; 5. 6-Jeff Cledgett[5]; 6. 12-Tim Charland[1]
50/60’s Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 72-Dwayne Emon[2]; 2. 42-Patrick Charland[4]; 3. 95-Wade McAllister[7]; 4. 09T-Tim Macolman[3]; 5. B22-Randy Simkins[6]; 6. 38-Dexter Billings[5]; 7. 333-Chris Wilson[1]
70/80’s Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 84-Steve Billings[2]; 2. 17IG-Ian Gordon[4]; 3. 37-Matt Barbour[7]; 4. B10-Paul Billings[3]; 5. 96-Randy Gaudet[5]; 6. 01-Steve Barber[6]; 7. 8-Chris Pryer[1]
26 entries
Dirt Mini Stocks
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A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. M16-Mike Saunders[4]; 2. 48-Carl Gorry[1]; 3. 24-Clayton Celovsky[16]; 4. 67-Maxx Steele[2]; 5. 46-Hayden Brown[15]; 6. 66-Marc Dagenais[8]; 7. 71S-Jon Saunders[6]; 8. L29-Landen Slinger[11]; 9. 06J-Jarrod Galway[3]; 10. 6-Ian Reid[9]; 11. 97-Dave Watchorn[10]; 12. 25X-Justine Stevens[23]; 13. 37-Matt Boal[14]; 14. 83-Eric Mallon[22]; 15. 11S-Steven Quesnel[7]; 16. 12A-Jamie Larocque[12]; 17. (DNS) 5-Brandon Bagnato; 18. (DNS) 76-Rylan Banks; 19. (DNS) 86-Richard Bartholomew; 20. (DNS) 68L-John Lamarche; 21. (DNS) 114-Felix Lavictoire; 22. (DNS) 5M-Cameron Malloy; 23. (DNS) 64-Terry McClelland; 24. (DNS) 43X-Xavier Metivier; 25. (DNS) 66P-Mark Packer; 26. (DNS) 21-Marc Andre Voyer
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 48-Carl Gorry[4]; 2. M16-Mike Saunders[8]; 3. 11S-Steven Quesnel[6]; 4. 97-Dave Watchorn[9]; 5. 5-Brandon Bagnato[1]; 6. 46-Hayden Brown[2]; 7. 21-Marc Andre Voyer[7]; 8. 114-Felix Lavictoire[3]; 9. (DNS) 5M-Cameron Malloy
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 67-Maxx Steele[4]; 2. 64-Terry McClelland[2]; 3. 66-Marc Dagenais[3]; 4. L29-Landen Slinger[7]; 5. 25X-Justine Stevens[9]; 6. 24-Clayton Celovsky[5]; 7. 68L-John Lamarche[1]; 8. 76-Rylan Banks[8]; 9. 83-Eric Mallon[6]
Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 06J-Jarrod Galway[5]; 2. 71S-Jon Saunders[2]; 3. 6-Ian Reid[4]; 4. 12A-Jamie Larocque[8]; 5. 37-Matt Boal[6]; 6. 86-Richard Bartholomew[1]; 7. (DNS) 43X-Xavier Metivier; 8. (DNS) 66P-Mark Packer
7 entries
Novice Sportsman
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A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 39-Cory Lambert[2]; 2. 12K-Kyle Kudrinko[3]; 3. 07T-Tessa Riemersma[6]; 4. 80D-Damien King[1]; 5. 82-Nicolas Mainville[5]; 6. FN99-Drake Cartier[4]; 7. 34-Cole Hanna[7]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 39-Cory Lambert[3]; 2. 80D-Damien King[2]; 3. 82-Nicolas Mainville[5]; 4. FN99-Drake Cartier[6]; 5. 12K-Kyle Kudrinko[4]; 6. 07T-Tessa Riemersma[1]; 7. (DNS) 34-Cole Hanna
21 entries
DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds
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DIRTcar Sportsman Feature (25 Laps): 1. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[13]; 2. 16-Matt Barbour[9]; 3. 98H-Domonick Merkley[8]; 4. ZERO-Xavier Andrews[10]; 5. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[11]; 6. 88S-Fire Swamp[15]; 7. 17M-Madie Wallace[1]; 8. 52-Jessica Power[12]; 9. 79-Chris Hale[7]; 10. 707-Greg Brinklow[5]; 11. 83X-Grayson Adderley[18]; 12. 32-Tyler Stewart[6]; 13. 28-Matt Mould[3]; 14. 18-Jordan Wood[21]; 15. 42-Kent Miller[19]; 16. 48D-Sylvain Dupuis[4]; 17. 18B-Blake Smith[17]; 18. 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[2]; 19. 20-Nathan Lambert[20]; 20. 14K-Karl Potvin[14]; 21. 23-Michael Dillon[16]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 48D-Sylvain Dupuis[2]; 2. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[5]; 3. 17M-Madie Wallace[1]; 4. 98H-Domonick Merkley[4]; 5. 707-Greg Brinklow[3]; 6. 23-Michael Dillon[6]; 7. 42-Kent Miller[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Tyler Stewart[3]; 2. 16-Matt Barbour[4]; 3. 52-Jessica Power[5]; 4. 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[1]; 5. 14K-Karl Potvin[6]; 6. 18B-Blake Smith[2]; 7. 20-Nathan Lambert[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[5]; 2. ZERO-Xavier Andrews[4]; 3. 28-Matt Mould[1]; 4. 79-Chris Hale[3]; 5. 88S-Fire Swamp[6]; 6. 83X-Grayson Adderley[7]; 7. 18-Jordan Wood[2]