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| Steve
Poirier Repeats as Arrow Express Canadian Sprint Car
Nationals Champion |
 By
Rich Vleck, OHSWEKEN, Ontario, (September 15,
2007)-
It was a third edition of the Canadian Sprint
Car Nationals, but the end result was
strikingly similar to prior year’s edition.
Steve Poirier, of St. Mathieu de Beloeil,
Quebec, successfully defending the title of
Canadian Sprint Car Nationals Champion,
scoring the $7,000 top prize on Saturday Night
in the third running of Canada’s Most
Prestigious Sprint Car Event. Last year it
might have been a little surprising to see the
Industries FM No. 28fm put it in Victory Lane
at the end of the 30-lap feature, this time
around, very few of those packed into the
Ohsweken Speedway were startled.
“I don’t know what it is, but we are just
really good at this track,” said Poirier in
Victory Lane, still attempting to come to
grips with the feat he had just pulled off.
“I never had dreams about winning this for a
second time, we have set new goals for this
year and now to win this and realize again how
important this race is it is very good.”
The current Empire Super Sprint points leader
led all 30 laps from the pole position by
virtue of being the fastest timer to win his
qualifying heat race. Poirier was the Bicknell
Racing Products Fastest Canadian in Kears
Speed Shop Time Trials, clocking in second
overall. His strong performance in time trials
forced him to run up from sixth in his heat to
regain his time, which he was able to do.
“I was not going to lay back like some
guys,” said the former big block modified
standout, who has experience in time trials.
“I just focused on being as fast as I could
at all times.”
In the heat race, Poirier found himself
slicing through the field as Brett Mann and
Rob Pietz ran each other hard for the lead.
This battle allowed Poirier to reel them in
and pick up the win in Heat No. 2.
Even though he was never challenged by other
competitors for the lead, Poirier had plenty
of competition to deal with in the form of
lapped traffic. Before the races second red
flag on lap 15, Poirier had already lapped up
to 13th place. With the final 15 laps running
under a non-stop green flag, “The
Fireball” was able to move by another four
guys to lap inside of the top-10.
“I lost a race at Utica-Rome earlier this
year to Chuck Hebing because I was cautious in
lapped cars,” said the 2006 North American
360 Rookie of the Year. “I knew in this race
I had to keep running hard because I did not
want to give this one away.”
“We have just figured something out over the
last few weeks with this new car,” said
Poirier, who has now won three of his last
four races after a pair of wins two weeks ago
with the Empire Super Sprints. “We just hit
on something with our motors to run these big
slick tracks and the car has been so good.”
While Poirier’s win was a repeat, so too was
the impressive runner-up performance by
another second year modified refuge: Jason
Barney.
In only his 12th start of the year, the
Constantia, NY hot shoe found himself in a
loaded Heat No. 5 trying to move his way
through the pack. Even though he was the only
one of the 76 sprint cars to find the sweet
spot in the middle groove of turn No. 1, the
E&V Energy/ Walton’s Farm and Auto
Repair No. 87 came up just short of the heat
win with Chuck Hebing scoring that race’s
win.
The second place showing would force Barney to
start the feature in 11th, a position he
wouldn’t last in for long. Barney was in the
top-five early in the event and found himself
battling with Dustin Daggett for second at the
race’s midway point.
After the runner-up in the 2007 ASCS
Patriots’ A-Verdi King of CNY Series cleared
the No. 2m, for second, he stayed about two to
three seconds behind leader Poirier, and just
could not gain enough to improve on last
year’s second place run.
“I was better on longer runs so I don’t
think more cautions would have helped us,”
said Barney. “That 28fm has been good all
year and so when you lose to him and beat
70-something other guys, it’s still a decent
night.”
While the top two were the same as last year,
Kevin Job was a pleasant surprise on the
night, placing third. The Campbellville,
Ontario competitor saw his first dirt track
race at the 2005 CSCN and two years later, the
sophomore sensation rounded out the podium
finishers on Saturday Night.
Job worked around Dustin Daggett in the late
stages, who faded in the Mott Motorsports
entry. Daggett’s fourth place finish was the
second time in three years he has ended up in
that position in the Canadian Sprint Car
Nationals.
While it was a cold night in Southern Ontario,
Dain Naida continued to show why he is riding
a hot streak at the Ohsweken Speedway. Using a
new Gaerte Power plant, Naida won Heat No. 1
and hung strong in the top-five all night to
score an impressive finish for the Michigan
Competitor.
Bryan Howland picked up the quick time by .273
seconds, as well as had the best-appearing car
award with his No. 51 hooked up at a 13.614.
After coming up just short of a win in his
heat, Howland ran to his best CSCN finish in
sixth.
Rick Wilson, who has found torment in past
CSCN's, finished in seventh. Wilson was the
winner of the Village Pizza Ohsweken Shootout
and fought from a starting spot deep in the
field to remain on the lead lap.
Jeff Cook finished in eighth, the third top-10
in as many tries at the Canadian Nationals. He
is the only driver to achieve that feat and
only one of three to make every CSCN A-Main.
Cook held off fierce competition from B-Main
No. 3 Winner Mike Stelter, as well as
Indiana’s Brett Mann, who rounded out the
top-10.
Twenty-six cars started the 30-lap A-Main,
with only 19 left standing at the end. Two red
flags for single car flips were the only
stoppages in the feature. One was for Blake
Breen tipping over in turn two on the second
lap, and the other was of more spectacular
variety as Chuck Hebing, who was battling nose
wing problems, hit the outside wall while
pitching his car into turn three running in
fourth. It wadded up the potent No. 45 and
sent the “Cobra” for a wild ride for the
second year in a row at Ohsweken on September
15.
Gary Fast along with J.R. Stewart were the
provisional starters in the A-Main. Stewart
was one of the highlights of the night when he
picked up a cool $1,000, as he won the 1st
Annual Dave MacLeod Mr. Sprint Car 1-on-1
Challenge. Stewart and Chuck Hebing swapped
the lead three times on the final of three
circuits of the Championship Round to win as
an alternate for Mike Dussel, who was one of
the NRA representatives for this event that
flipped in time trials.
The only other two red flags on the night came
when Justin Martin flipped hard in time trials
in turn one and the other for Ontario’s Bob
Crawford tumbling in turn two on the second
lap of the Ohsweken Shootout.
Also featured on the night were multiple rides
in the two-seat non-winged sprint, driven by
Dick Mahoney, equipped with the engine that
Jack Hewitt used to win the sprint car leg of
his historic Four Crown sweep at Eldora
Speedway.
An astounding 76 cars signed into the pit
area, with six states and two provinces
represented. A great crowd was on hand for
this annual event, with one lucky fan walking
away with over $12,600 in the 50/50 raffle.
Arrow Express Canadian Sprint Car Nationals
Results: 9/15/07, Ohsweken Speedway, Ohsweken,
Ontario.
A-Main (30 Laps)- 1. STEVE POIRIER (28fm), 2.
Jason Barney (87), 3. Kevin Job (21x), 4.
Dustin Daggett (2M), 5. Dain Naida (6N), 6.
Bryan Howland (51), 7. Rick Wilson (42w), 8.
Jeff Cook (10), 9. Mike Stelter (36), 10.
Brett Mann (79), 11. Jeff VanDusen (56D), 12.
Jared Zimbardi (35), 13. Justin Barger (32),
14. Bobby Breen (9), 15. Jessica Zemken (1z),
16. Scott
Kreutter (52), 17. Michael Parent (25P), 18.
Joe Middlemiss (11M), 19. Tom Wickham (75),
20. Ben Rutan (23), 21. Fred Cade (12c), 22.
Chuck Hebing (45), 23. Ryan Grubaugh (00), 24.
Gary Fast (26), 25. J.R. Stewart (37s), 26.
Blake Breen (8).
Lap Leaders- Poirier 1-30.
Comp Cams B-Main 1 (12 Laps)- 1. JEFF VanDUSEN
(56D), 2. Joe Middlemiss (11M), 3. Rob Pietz
(69P), 4. Tom Huppunen (27H), 5. Bob Crawford
(10c), 6. Stan Zanchin (94), 7. Tim Kelly
(12), 8. Adam West (30), 9. Mark Broughman
(52B), 10. Jay Pietz (71Jr), 11. John Riegling
(1a), 12. Brad Knab (38), 13.
Chris Jones (11J), 14. Glenn Styres (0), 15.
Daniel Lampron (52L), 16. Keith Dempster (5),
17. James Whittaker (83w), 18. Darren Long
(7), 19. Ryan Ruhl (27R), 20. Alain Bergeron
(8B),
Grisdale B-Main 2 (12 Laps)- 1. SCOTT KREUTTER
(52), 2. Blake Breen (8), 3.
Ray Preston (22), 4. Don Adamczyk (21), 5.
Bubby Kerrick (4u), 6. Nick
Mulheim (38M), 7. Craig Downie (71), 8. Mike
Galajda (2), 9. John Burbridge
(21J), 10. Kramer Williamson (73), 11. Brian
McDonald (151KB), 12. J.R.
Stewart (37s), 13. Ron Blair (35B), 14. April
Wilson (15AW), 15. Tim Zack
(9Jr), 16. Derek Jonathon (81), 17. Bob
McDonald (24), 18. John Watson (29).
Rocket Headers B-Main 3 (12 Laps)- 1. MIKE
STELTER (36), 2. Michael Parent (25P), 3. Kyle
Patrick (42), 4. Keith Dempster (5), 5. Gary
Fast (26), 6. Garry Evans (69), 7. Joel Lehman
(4z), 8. Adam Gordon (18), 9. Jamie Collard
(F37), 10. Normand Beaudreault (50), 11. Davey
Brown (13), 12. Tim Allison (11), 13. Brad
Rouse (94x), 14. Kyle Moffit (77), 15. Curt
Michael (99), 16. Lance Yonge (17J), 17.
Warren Mahoney (25), 18. Justin Martin (7M).
Qualifying Heat Results (10 Laps Each, Top 3
Transfer to A)-
Wiseco Pistons Race 1- 1. Dain Naida (6N), 2.
Bryan Howland (51), 3. Tom Wickham (75), 4.
Joe Middlemiss (11M), 5. Alain Bergeron (8B),
6. Ryan Ruhl (27R), 7. Bob Crawford (10c), 8.
Glenn Styres (0), 9. Adam West (30), 10. Tim
Kelly (12), 11. John Riegling (1a), 12. Chris
Jones (11J), 13. James Whittaker (83w).
Pro Shocks Race 2- 1. Steve Poirier (28FM), 2.
Brett Mann (79), 3. Jeff Cook (10), 4. Jeff
VanDusen (56D), 5. Rob Pietz (69), 6. Tom
Huppunen (27H), 7. Darren Long (7), 8. Stan
Zanchin (94), 9. Brad Knab (38), 10. Keith
Dempster (5), 11. Jay Pietz (71Jr), 12. Mark
Broughman (52b), 13. Daniel Lampron
(52L).
BS&B Radiators Race 3- 1. Dustin Daggett
(2M), 2. Jared Zimbardi (35), 3. Justin Barger
(32), 4. Brian McDonald (151KB), 5. Blake
Breen (8), 6. Ray Preston (22), 7. Don
Adamczyk (21), 8. Craig Downie (71), 9. Kramer
Williamson (73), 10. Tim Zack (9Jr), 11. Mike
Galajda (2), 12. John Watson
(29).
Kinser Air Filters Race 4- 1. Ben Rutan (23),
2. Fred Cade (12c), 3. Ryan Grubaugh (00), 4.
Scott Kreutter (52), 5. Nick Mulheim (38M), 6.
Bubby Kerrick (4u), 7. John Burbridge (21J),
8. Ron Blair (35R), 9. J.R. Stewart (37s), 10.
Bob McDonald (24), 11. April Wilson (15AW),
12. Derek Jonathon
(81).
Motor State Distributing (Lane) Race 5- 1.
Chuck Hebing (45), 2. Jason Barney (87), 3.
Rick Wilson (42w), 4. Michael Parent (25P), 5.
Lance Yonge (17J), 6. Curt Michael (99), 7.
Jeff Williams (5w), 8. Adam Gordon (18), 9.
Mike Stelter (36), 10. Garry Evans (69), 11.
Brad Rouse (94x), 12. Normand Beaudreault
(50).
Zemco Speed Equipment Race 6- 1. Kevin Job
(21x), 2. Bobby Breen (9), 3. Jessica Zemken
(1z), 4. Kyle Patrick (42), 5. Kyle Moffit
(77), 6. Gary Fast (26), 7. Jamie Collard
(F37), 8. Tim Allison (11), 9. Joel Lehman
(4z), 10. Warren Mahoney (25), 11. Davey Brown
(13).
Village Pizza Ohsweken Shootout- 1. RICK
WILSON (42w), 2. Ben Rutan (23), 3. Brett Mann
(79), 4. Bobby Breen (9), 5. Jeff VanDusen
(56D), 6. Justin Barger (32), 7. Bryan Howland
(51), 8. Scott Kreutter (52), 9. Lance
Yonge(17J), 10. Kevin Job (21x), 11. Gary Fast
(26), 12. Bob Crawford (10c).
Dave MacLeod Memorial Mr. Sprint Car 1-on-1
Challenge:
Opening Round- Chuck Hebing def. Jeff VanDusen,
Ben Rutan def. Ron Blair, Gary Fast def. Tim
Allison, J.R. Stewart def. Steve Poirier,
Lance Yonge def. Jared Zimbardi, Glenn Styres
def. Don Adamczyk, Keith Dempster def. Warren
Mahoney, Brett Mann def. Mark Broughman.
Second Round- Hebing def. Fast, Stewart def.
Rutan, Yonge def. Dempster, Styres def. Mann.
Semifinals- Hebing def. Yonge, Stewart def.
Styres.
Championship- Stewart def. Hebing.
Mr. Sprint Car Champion- J.R. Stewart.
Time Trial Results (Fastest 36 Inverted For
Heats):
Kears Speed Shop Fast Timer- Bryan Howland
(51), 13.614 seconds
Bicknell Racing Products Canadian Fast Time-
Steve Poirier (28FM), 13.877
Justin Barger (32), 13.983
J.R. Stewart (37s), 14.041
Chuck Hebing (45), 14.057
Gary Fast (26), 14.069
Dain Naida (6N), 14.144
Darren Long (7), 14.173
Blake Breen (8), 14.174
Fred Cade (12c), 14.192
Jason Barney (87), 14.193
Kyle Patrick (42), 14.204
Adam West (30), 14.208
Rob Pietz (69P), 14.241
Dustin Daggett (2M), 14.295
Nick Mulheim (38M), 14.298
Jeff Williams (5w), 14.300
Bobby Breen (9), 14.342
Tommy Wickham (75), 14.383
Jeff Cook (10), 14.389
Ray Preston (22), 14.391
Ron Blair (35R), 14.458
Lance Yonge (17J), 14.459
Jessica Zemken (1z), 14.463
Alain Bergeron (8B), 14.473
Brett Mann (79), 14.491
Jared Zimbardi (35), 14.509
Ben Rutan (23), 14.532
Mike Stelter (36), 14.565
Kevin Job (21x), 14.597
Joe Middlemiss (11M), 14.603
Tom Huppunen (27H), 14.633
Brian McDonald (151KB), 14.646
Ryan Grubaugh (00), 14.660
Rick Wilson (42w), 14.670
Tim Allison (11), 14.687
Glenn Styres (0), 14.698
Brad Knab (38), 14.718
Don Adamczyk (21), 14.747
Scott Kreutter (52), 14.750
Curt Michael (99), 14.794
Jamie Collard (F37), 14.825
Ryan Ruhl (27R), 14.928
Stan Zanchin (94), 14.975
Kramer Williamson (73), 14.976
Bubby Kerrick (4u), 15.012
Michael Parent (25), 15.062
Kyle Moffit (77), 15.068
John Riegling (1a), 15.111
Jeff VanDusen (56D), 15.112
John Watson (29), 15.134
John Burbridge (21J), 15.147
Warren Mahoney (25), 15.172
Tim Kelly (12), 15.229
Daniel Lampron (52L), 15.270
Craig Downie (71), 15.271
Bob McDonald (24), 15.273
Garry Evans (69), 15.303
Justin Martin (7m), 15.310
Bob Crawford (10c), 15.332
Jay Pietz (71Jr), 15.373
Mike Galajda (2), 15.434
Derek Jonathon (81), 15.457
Normand Beaudreault (50), 15.469
Davey Brown (13), 15.566
Chris Jones (11J), 15.569
Brad Rouse (94x), 15.590
Mark Broughman (52B), 15.598
Tim Zack (9Jr), 15.669
April Wilson (15AW), 15.722
Adam Gordon (18), 16.042
Joel Lehman (4z), 16.234
James Whittaker (83w), 16.372
Keith Dempster (5), 16.539
Mike Dussel (6), NT
Dick Mahoney (79), NT
Corr-Pak Best Appearing Car- No. 51, Bryan
Howland
Contingency Sponsors- Best Western Cairn Croft
Hotel, Rod End Supply, Quaker State, Keizer
Aluminum Wheels, Awesome Racewear, The
Brakeman, Diversified Machine Inc., Winters
Performance, Seals-It, Saldana Racing
Products, Hepfner Racing Products, Schoenfeld
Headers, Butler Built Seats, J&J Chassis,
Oliver Race Parts, Simpson Racing, KSE Racing
Products, Weld
Wheels, Triple XXX Race Company, Fisher
Performance, CORR-Pak, Bicknell Racing
Products, Wiseco, Comp Cams, Pro Shocks, Zemco
Speed Equipment, Kinser Air Filters, Motor
State Distributing (Lane Automotive), Keizer
Aluminum Wheels, Hoosier Racing Tires Canada,
Grisdale’s, Rocket Headers, BS & B
Radiators, Kear’s Speed Shop. |
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