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Billy Decker and Josh VanBrocklin dominate DIRTCar tour races at Mohawk International Friday night

Posted 9/17/11

By Tim Baltz AKWESASNE -- With all the big stars on hand for the second-ever triple header weekend at Mohawk International Raceway and a smooth racing surface, there was plenty of two- and three-wide …

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Billy Decker and Josh VanBrocklin dominate DIRTCar tour races at Mohawk International Friday night

Posted

By Tim Baltz

AKWESASNE -- With all the big stars on hand for the second-ever triple header weekend at Mohawk International Raceway and a smooth racing surface, there was plenty of two- and three-wide racing all night long as drivers put on one of the best shows of the season.

The DIRTcar 358 Modified Series took to the speedway for 75 laps of great racing action and with 24 points separating Danny O’Brien and Danny Johnson it added a little extra drama. Cayuga County Track Champion Mike Mahaney and the newest MIR 358 Modified winner Clayton Benedict paced the 30 car field to the green flag with Mahaney getting the early lead. Several for Mr. DIRTcar champions were in the field including former track champion Pat O’Brien. Pat paced himself perfectly in the early going and was able to run down race leader Mike Mahaney and grab the lead at lap 12. Once in front O’Brien used his knowledge of the speedway to build up several car lengths on Mahaney, Clayton Benedict, Tim O’Brien and Carey Terrance. The race saw the first 24 laps go caution free until lap 25 when Brian McDonald former tack champion at MIR came to a stop in turn #3. Under this Caution Billy Decker who was running in the top 10 made a pit stop and would restart 27th on the grid. He would be a factor later on. On the restart Pat O’Brien continued to hold the top spot as Mahaney, Stephane Lafrance, Tim O’Brien and Terrance still made up the top 5 spots. Pat O’Brien held the lead until lap 40 when younger brother Tim and Lafrance would make it a 3 battle for the number 1 position. On lap 43 Tim finally had enough of running 2nd as he powered past older brother Pat to take away the lead bringing Lafrance with him to 2nd, Billy Decker, Pat O’Brien and Clayton Benedict continued his great night running in 5th. Billy Decker wasn’t much early on in the race but made his presence know just past halfway as he sailed past Lafrance for 2nd and ran down leader Tim O’Brien. O’Brien battled Decker until lap 53 when the veteran made the move for the lead in lapped traffic. From there on it was no contest for the top spot as Decker ran away and hid in from the rest of the field. The top 2 in series points however were never a factor as Danny Johnson crossed in 10th and points leader Danny O’Brien crossed in 13th at the checkers. On this night nobody was catching the “Franklin Flyer” as Billy Decker scored his first win of the series over Lafrance, Tim O’Brien, Carey Terrance and Jimmy Phelps.

In the Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series event mayhem ensued on the initial start as Tom Conklin, Tim Sears Jr., Justin Wright and Josh Jock tangled on the front straightaway. Jock and Conklin both slammed the wall hard and were able to walk away from their racecars unharmed while Sears and Wright were towed pitside done for the evening. Once the green came out to start the 50 lap contest it became the Josh VanBrocklin show right away as he grabbed the lead from early pace setter Mathieu Desjardins on lap 3. VanBrocklin the 2011 Can Am Sportsman champion showed everyone why he won 8 times this season by jumping out to a commanding lead and lapping cars at will. The real race was behind him as Cayuga County winner Dave Marcuccilli, Mike Arquette, Mathieu Desjardins and Canandaigua track champion Dan Wiesner put on a great battle from 2nd thru 5th. Just past the lap 30 mark Wiesner was able to clear himself from everyone and hold onto spot number 2. Two drivers who were making their way forward were Jeff Phillips and Kristian Smoke. Phillips who won his first career race at Cornwall on the Sportsman tour back in June had charged from 17th starting spot and into the top 5 with 11 laps to go. Just behind him Kristian Smoke was creating his own path to the front as he followed Phillips into the top 5 after starting 19th. But on this night it didn’t matter what anyone did as Josh VanBrocklin lapped all but the 2nd and 3rd place cars to score a dominant Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series win over, Wiesner, local favorite Mike Arquette, Smoke and Jeff Phillips.

In the Open Bandit division Dan Desnoyers started on the pole and despite 2 caution flags during the 10 lap affair was able to fend off Ernie Cree and Owen White to score his 4th win in 5 races over Cree, White, Nolan Swamp and Derek Colbert.

The Mod Lites were also on the card as Matt Meuten who had 1 win already this year and reigning track champion Mathieu Robinson led the field to the green with Meuten grabbing the top spot. Matt Meuten would go unchallenged throughout the 12 lap feature event to score his 2nd win of the season over Dean Pronovost, Robinson, Sylvain Laframboise and Dave Bell.

The action continues Saturday night as the Super DIRTcar Series invades MIR and Matt Sheppard looks to defend his race win from 2010. The DIRTcar Pro Stock Series will also be on the card along with the CSRA 305 Sprints and the Mod Lites all brought to you by Twin Leaf and Jreck Subs. Racing action gets underway at 7:45pm.

Mohawk International Raceway is located in Akwesasne, NY, midway between the Seaway International Bridge to Cornwall, ONT and the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino. From Route 37, turn south onto Frogtown Road. Racing is held on Friday nights at 7:45 PM from May through September, featuring the Frenchie's Chevrolet DIRTcar 358 Modifieds, Sportsman and Pro Stocks, as well as the Bandit division. Visit us on the web at www.MohawkInternationalRaceway.com. The MIR office is located at the track, and the phone number is 518-358-9017. The track is owned and operated by Mohawk International Raceway, LLC

DIRTCar 358 Modified Series (75 laps)

BILLY DECKER, Stephane Lafrance, Tim O’Brien, Carey Terrance, Jimmy Phelps, Dale Planck, Mat Williamson, Pat O’Brien, Clayton Benedict, Danny Johnson, Luke Whittaker, Matt Billings, Danny O’Brien, Pat Ward, Travis Braun, Tommy Flannigan, David Hebert, Tim Currier, Brian McDonald, Joel Doiron, Mario Clair, Roy Tarbell, Todd Stone, Mike Mahaney, Laurent Ladouceur, Pierre Daganais, Mike Adderley, Gino Clair, Larry Wight, Gage Morin, Matt Sheppard, Perry Franci

DIRTCar Sportsman Series (50 laps)

JOSH VANBROCKLIN, Dan Wiesner, Mike Arquette, Kristian Smoke, Jeff Phillips, Mathieu Desjardins, Brent Kelsey, Dan Jalbert, BJ Willard, Jessica Power, Shane Pecore, Kyle Wilson, Gilles Goddard, Brian Copp, Jenna David, Louie Jackson Jr., Dillon Sallows, Billy Cook, Robert Delormier, Ryan Arbuthnot, Christine Martin, Kenny Polite, Sheldon Hoogwerf, Corey Barnes, Thunder Anderson, Dave Marcuccilli, Tim Sears Jr., Tom Conklin, Josh Jock, Justin Wright

Bandits (10 laps)

DAN DESNOYERS, Ernie Cree, Owen White, Nolan Swamp, Derek Colbert, John Greene, Mike Gauche

Mod Lites (12 laps)

MATT MEUTEN, Dean Pronovost, Mathieu Robinson, Sylvain Laframboise, Dave Bell, Tim Reif, Scott Mere, Lacey Cox, Matt Chontosh, (DNS) Eric Varin