By: Tim Baltz
Photo Credit: Brody Plotz
The first of a pair of championships were up for grabs this past Saturday night at the Brockville Ontario Speedway. The final leg of the Ogilvie’s Triple Crown Series was set to go with tight point battles in both divisions, along with some determined drivers looking for big wins and a coveted championship as well.
Cedric Gauvreau took advantage of his pole starting spot to grab the lead in the 50 lap Ogilvie’s 358 Modified feature with Dany Gagne and series points leader Chris Raabe right there with him. Raabe moved by Gagne quickly to take second, but had work to do to run down Gauvreau, who was setting a quick place early on. As the laps clicked off Raabe moved in on the leader as they started to enter lapped traffic. On lap 26 Raabe made a big move in turn three to take over the top spot, which resulted in a dominant performance. As Raabe moved away from the field, Dany Gagne and Cedric Gauvreau were having a spirited battle for second, while behind them Lucas Fuller and Jarrett Herbison were also trying to close in and make it a 4 car fight for the runner up spot. With 10 to go Raabe had increased his lead to nearly four and a half seconds and showed no signs of letting up even in traffic. Behind the top 5, two-time and defending series champion Steve Bernier was making a charge to the front as he moved in to challenge for a top 5 spot. Without help of a caution flag, Chris Raabe was able to run away and become just the second driver and first since Gage Morin in 2015, to sweep all three Ogilvie’s Series events in one year, claiming his 3rd win of the season and his first ever series crown. Cedric Gauvreau held on for second, ahead of Dany Gagne, Steve Bernier charged from 12th to 4th, with Lucas Fuller 5th at the line.
Some tricky track conditions in the 40 lap Ogilvie’s Sportsman Series event, with everyone fighting for the bottom lane. David Andre made contact with an infield tire off turn two on the opening lap ending his night early. Jeffrey Lapalme led the opening 11 laps with defending series champion and last weeks winner Dylan Kirkland second followed by Gavin Eisele and Shane Pecore, who were tied for the championship going in to his event. Lapalme, was determined to claim his first ever Brockville win but saw his big lead go away on lap 25 as Cory Lambert spun off turn 4 and the yellow flew again. This gave Dylan Kirkland the chance he was looking for as he charged by Lapalme to grab the lead while behind them Shane Pecore was able to use the top lane and grab third from Eisele as they battled for the series title. Behind the top 4 for 2021 series champion Jessica Power battled with Domonick Merkley for the number 5 spot, a fight that went down to the last lap. Kirkland had nothing but clear track with 5 to go but the yellow flew setting up one final chance for everyone to get by. On the final restart Dylan Kirkland timed it perfectly and would drive on to his second win in a row and second ever series win. Jeffrey Lapalme came home second once again with Shane Pecore third, good enough to secure his second series crown by two points over Gavin Eisele who crossed the line 4th, while Domonick Merkley won the battle for the 5th spot.
Rylan Banks was looking to earn his first career win in the 12 lap Novice Sportsman feature but Rhylan Poole and points leader Garin Thompson were right there with him to challenge. Landon Ryan and Shawn Reid would tangle in turns 1 and 2 on the opening lap, bringing out the first yellow of the race. On the restart Banks continued to lead the way but Poole and Thompson were right there putting on the pressure. Banks appeared to be headed for victory, but the yellow waved with one lap remaining, setting up a one lap shootout for the win. On the final restart Rylan Banks did everything right as he held off a determined Rhylan Poole to score his first career feature win. Poole came home a close second over Garin Thompson, Cody Washer and Nick Cordingley.
The 15 lap Mini Stock feature was a battle between two drivers, who race each other hard every lap and they put on a classic battle. Carl Gorry led the way and was looking for his third win of the year, but invader Christopher Proulx was on his back bumper the entire distance. A scary moment took place at the end of lap 1 as Pierre Picard got turned on the back stretch, sending him slamming hard into an infield tire in turn three. Picard was ok but the car suffered heavy damage. On the restart it was again Gorry and Proulx up front with Landon Slinger, Jamie Larocque and Maxx Steele completing the top 5. Landon Slinger’s great night ended on lap 9 as smoke started to come from the car as he slowed in turn two. Back up front it was the same story, Carl Gorry and Christopher Proulx battling hard with both drivers pulling away. Behind them Jamie Larocque was looking to pick up some points on Hayden Brown as he held third and was looking to run down the top two. On the final lap Christopher Proulx did everything he could but on this night, but Carl Gorry was slightly faster as he scored his third win of the year and second in a row. Proulx came across second with Jamie Larocque third. Terry McClelland came up for 4th with Marc Dagenais 5th.
Defending Surprenant Truck Shop Crate Sprint Car champion Josh Verne Jr. decided to run part time in 2026 at Brockville, but still is a threat for the win every time he shows up. Saturday night he showed he could still get it done as he took the lead from early pace setter Adam Turner on lap 3 of the 20 lap event. Verne had a fast car as Turner and current point leader Andrew Hennessy were having their own battle for the runner up spot and the father/son duo of Liam and Lee Ladouceur were having their own battle for the final spots in the top 5. By the halfway point Verne had built up a lead of over four seconds as Hennessy was able to clear Turner for second, but had a long way to go to catch the leader. On this night not even lapped traffic was slowing Josh Verne Jr as he continued to build on his lead, with Hennessy doing all he could to run him down. In the end, Josh Verne Jr. would collect his third win of the season in just 5 appearances at The BOS. Andrew Hennessy moved one step closer to the track title with a runner up finish. Adam Turner, Liam Ladouceur and Lee Ladouceur completed the top 5.
Next week it’s final points night for the Suprenant Truck Shop Crate Sprint Cars plus the DIRTCar 358 Modified and DIRTCar Sportsman will be there. Joining them will be the Novice Sportsman and Street Stocks. Racing begins at 7pm Saturday night.
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.
DIRTcar 358 Modifieds
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A Feature 1 (50 Laps): 1. 701-Chris Raabe[3]; 2. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau[1]; 3. 90-Dany Gagne[2]; 4. 1*-Steve Bernier[12]; 5. 74-Lucas Fuller[4]; 6. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[8]; 7. K38-Jarrett Herbison[5]; 8. 18-Kalen Draper[7]; 9. 17-Tristan Draper[15]; 10. 96-Kyle Dingwall[13]; 11. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[9]; 12. 124-Tristan Ladouceur[6]; 13. 13-Kevin Hamel[11]; 14. 88J-Justin Cyr[10]; 15. M75-Melcolm Banks[14]; 16. 08-Chris Ferguson[16]; 17. 22S-Shane Stearns[17]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau[1]; 2. 701-Chris Raabe[2]; 3. K38-Jarrett Herbison[5]; 4. 18-Kalen Draper[3]; 5. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[4]; 6. 13-Kevin Hamel[8]; 7. 96-Kyle Dingwall[6]; 8. 17-Tristan Draper[7]; 9. 22S-Shane Stearns[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 90-Dany Gagne[1]; 2. 74-Lucas Fuller[3]; 3. 124-Tristan Ladouceur[4]; 4. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[5]; 5. 88J-Justin Cyr[6]; 6. 1*-Steve Bernier[2]; 7. M75-Melcolm Banks[8]; 8. 08-Chris Ferguson[7]
Qualifying 1: 1. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau, 14.811[3]; 2. 701-Chris Raabe, 14.818[9]; 3. 18-Kalen Draper, 14.986[6]; 4. 44-Johnathon Ferguson, 15.034[2]; 5. K38-Jarrett Herbison, 15.087[8]; 6. 96-Kyle Dingwall, 15.167[1]; 7. 17-Tristan Draper, 15.182[7]; 8. 13-Kevin Hamel, 15.225[4]; 9. 22S-Shane Stearns, 15.477[5]
Qualifying 2: 1. 90-Dany Gagne, 14.761[8]; 2. 1*-Steve Bernier, 14.952[1]; 3. 74-Lucas Fuller, 15.025[2]; 4. 124-Tristan Ladouceur, 15.130[4]; 5. 88Z-Bobby Herrington, 15.236[6]; 6. 88J-Justin Cyr, 15.547[5]; 7. 08-Chris Ferguson, 15.656[7]; 8. M75-Melcolm Banks, 15.660[3]
9 entries
Winged Crate Sprints
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A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[2]; 2. 87-Andrew Hennessy[4]; 3. 92-Adam Turner[1]; 4. 77-Liam Ladouceur[3]; 5. 51-Lee Ladouceur[5]; 6. M52-Marc Surprenant[6]; 7. 42W-Rick Wilson[9]; 8. 15-Dan Deyo[7]; 9. 37X-Mark Grant[8]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 92-Adam Turner[2]; 2. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[3]; 3. 77-Liam Ladouceur[4]; 4. 87-Andrew Hennessy[6]; 5. 51-Lee Ladouceur[5]; 6. M52-Marc Surprenant[7]; 7. 15-Dan Deyo[1]; 8. 37X-Mark Grant[9]; 9. 42W-Rick Wilson[8]
25 entries
Dirt Mini Stocks
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A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 48-Carl Gorry[1]; 2. 90-Christopher Proulx[4]; 3. 12A-Jamie Larocque[3]; 4. 64-Terry McClelland[5]; 5. 30-Marc Dagenais[9]; 6. M16-Mike Saunders[15]; 7. 67-Maxx Steele[7]; 8. 68L-John Lamarche[24]; 9. 24-Clayton Celovsky[6]; 10. 46-Hayden Brown[18]; 11. 29-Tyson Slinger[12]; 12. 37-Matt Boal[10]; 13. 35-Richard Belair[13]; 14. 95-Zac Lynch[11]; 15. 16R-Ryan Denique[22]; 16. 6-Ian Reid[14]; 17. 97-Dave Watchorn[21]; 18. 710-Kyle Whalen[19]; 19. 86-Richard Bartholomew[17]; 20. 23B-Adrian Black[23]; 21. L29-Landen Slinger[8]; 22. 25-Pierre Picard[2]; 23. 33Z-Sebastien Bouvier[16]; 24. (DNS) 77D-Gilles Seguin; 25. (DNS) 76-Daryl Steele
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 48-Carl Gorry[1]; 2. 90-Christopher Proulx[2]; 3. 67-Maxx Steele[7]; 4. 37-Matt Boal[6]; 5. 35-Richard Belair[5]; 6. 33Z-Sebastien Bouvier[4]; 7. 710-Kyle Whalen[3]; 8. 16R-Ryan Denique[9]; 9. 76-Daryl Steele[8]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 25-Pierre Picard[1]; 2. 64-Terry McClelland[7]; 3. L29-Landen Slinger[2]; 4. 95-Zac Lynch[6]; 5. 6-Ian Reid[5]; 6. 86-Richard Bartholomew[4]; 7. 77D-Gilles Seguin[3]; 8. (DQ) 23B-Adrian Black[8]
Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 12A-Jamie Larocque[1]; 2. 24-Clayton Celovsky[3]; 3. 30-Marc Dagenais[7]; 4. 29-Tyson Slinger[2]; 5. M16-Mike Saunders[8]; 6. 46-Hayden Brown[6]; 7. 97-Dave Watchorn[4]; 8. 68L-John Lamarche[5]
8 entries
Novice Sportsman
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A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 76R-Rylan Banks[2]; 2. 76-Rhylan Poole[4]; 3. 1-Garin Thompson[5]; 4. 99-Cody Washer[3]; 5. 8-Nick Cordingley[7]; 6. 17R-Landon Ryan[6]; 7. 11R-Shawn Reid[1]; 8. (DNS) 12K-Tim Bailey
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 76-Rhylan Poole[3]; 2. 17R-Landon Ryan[4]; 3. 76R-Rylan Banks[2]; 4. 8-Nick Cordingley[1]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 1-Garin Thompson[3]; 2. 99-Cody Washer[2]; 3. 11R-Shawn Reid[1]; 4. 12K-Tim Bailey[4]
