Fans at Mohawk International Raceway treated Friday to some of the best racing of the year
With yet another tacky and fast racing surface the fans at Mohawk International Raceway were treated to some of the best racing of the year as drivers were able to run as hard as they could go setting the stage for an action packed evening.
The Frenchie's Chevrolet 358 modifieds took to the speedway with Rick Miller and Larry Welling Jr. bringing the field to the green flag on Akwesasne Mohawk Casino night. Welling grabbed the lead at the start of the event and opened up a 5 car length lead as he exited turn 2.
The real action was happening behind him though.
Leon Gonyo got turned around on the backstretch collecting Roy Tarbell, Carey Terrance, and a host of others. Gonyo was able to pull away but Tarbell was done for the night.
On the restart Welling continued to lead with Melvin Rush, Mike Perrotte, Todd Stone and Delbert Legrow making up the early top 5.
The caution would return to the speedway on lap 6 as Casey Swamp was showing smoke from his car and came to a stop in turn 3.
The following lap Melvin Rush broke the front end on his car ending a great run for the reigning Rookie of the Year.
As the race went back under green Chris Raabe who started 15th had made his way to the front of the field getting by Perry Francis to move into second by lap 11 and 2 laps later was able to grab the top spot from early leader Larry Welling Jr.
Matt Billings was also on the move from his 21st starting spot after moving past Welling for 4th he closed in on 4 time track champion Mike Perrotte for 3rd and the battle was on.
Raabe continued his dominant run until a lap 17 caution for Carey Terrance, who slowed to a stop in turn 1.
Under this caution Raabe suddenly ducked into the pits with and unexpected flat tire handing the lead over to Perry Francis.
Francis survived 2 more late race restarts to become the second multi time feature winner of the season with Perrotte claiming 2nd, Billings, Tim O'Brien and Raabe charging hard in the closing laps to grab 5th.
The Frenchie's Built Ford Tough Sportsman Series round 1 was set to go for 35 laps on the night. Sheldon Hoogwerf and Dillon Sallows paced the field to Austin Swamp's green flag with Hoogwerf getting the top spot in turn 1.
The race saw many early race cautions on this night the first being for Shane Pecore who slowed to a stop in turn 4.
When the green flag came back out Dylan Evoy had made his way to the lead passing Dillon Sallows on the restart with Josh Jock, Travis Back and Sheldon Hoogwerf rounding out the top 5.
On lap 7 the caution would return to the speedway as Cory Winters, Wyatt Mullin and Neal Provost tangled in turn 3, all drivers were able to continue on.
These early race yellow flags did not stop Dylan Evoy as he continued his great run in front with Travis Back, Tom Benedict, Jock and Hoogwerf rounding out the top 5 at lap 20.
Lapped traffic had played a factor in the outcome of the sportsman race 2 weeks ago but Evoy made it look easy cutting in and out of lapped cars to score his 2nd win in a row and 6th of the season with Travis Back, Tom Benedict, Josh Jock and Sheldon Hoogwerf rounding out the top 5.
The Pro Stocks were ready to go for round 2 of the Mohawk Race Parts Pro Stock Series. Marc Lalonde drew the pole position for the event and grabbed the lead early with Roch Aubin, Joey Ladouceur, Ricky Thompson and Gilles Goddard giving chase in the top 5.
Bob Rundall brought out the first yellow flag as he came to a stop in turn 2. Ricky Thompson showed his muscle early on as he grabbed the lead on lap 5 and held it until lap 10 when he started to fade out of the top 5.
Jody Swamp then took over the top spot with Aubin, Ladouceur, Stephane Lebrun and Thompson rounding out the top 5.
The caution flew again on lap 13 for a hard crash involving Quebec invader Bruno Cyr and Rod Tarbell in turn 3.
Tarbell was able to continue on but Cyr had heavy rear end damage and was done for the night.
On the restart Swamp continued to hold the top spot but Joey Ladouceur was on a mission. Ladouceur had won at Mohawk on June 17th and was looking to go back to victory lane and grabbed the lead from Swamp at lap 24 and would hold it the rest of the way.
Behind Ladouceur the man on the move Louie Jackson was making a late race charge to the front.
He got by Ricky Thompson for 3rd and Roch Aubin for 2nd by lap 40. Despite one last restart on lap 41 Ladouceur was too strong to score his 2nd straight series win over Jackson, Aubin, Thompson and Stephane Lebrun.
In the Mod Lite feature last weeks winner Dean Pronovost was on a mission to win again as he started 6th but made a bold move up the middle to grab the lead heading into turn 1 bringing Mathieu Robinson with him into 2nd.
One driver who started charging forward was Bryan Green who made the move on Robinson to grab second and one lap later on the backstretch was able to grab the top spot from Pronovost just past halfway.
On lap 9 the scariest moment of the race occurred as Pronovost took a nasty tumble in turn one after contact with another car.
Pronovost was able to walk away from the crash under his own power. Bryan Green was hooked up on this night taking his machine to victory lane with Robinson 2nd, Sylvain Laframboise 3rd, Matt Meuten and Scott Mere rounded out the top 5.
In the Bandit division Nolan Swamp grabbed the lead from early race leader Derek Colbert on lap 5 and held it the entire 12 lap distance in a cation free even to win his 2nd straight feature over Colbert, Cornwall regular Dan Desnoyers, Ernie Cree and Darryl Mitchell.
Next week The Village Engraver will present a full card of racing for the Frenchie's Chevrolet 358 Modifieds, Frenchie's Built Ford Tough Sportsman, 97.3FM CKON Bandits and Mod Lites.
The Bailey Motor Company Pro Stocks have the night off and Rev Star will also join the card.
The green flag drops 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.
Frenchie's Chevrolet 358 Modifieds (25 laps)
PERRY FRANCIS, Mike Perrotte, Matt Billings, Tim O'Brien, Chris Raabe, Kevin Gamble, Jeff Sykes, Brad Shova, Gardner Stone, Laurent Ladouceur, Preston Forbes, Brandon Sweet, Joel Doiron, Rick Miller, Leon Gonyo, Larry Welling Jr., Carey Terrance, Ryan Helm, Derek Martin, John Lazore, Melvin Rush, Casey Swamp, Tom Jock, Roy Tarbell, Delbert Legrow
Frenchie's Built Ford Tough Sportsman Series Round 1 (35 laps)
DYLAN EVOY, Travis Back, Tom Benedict, Josh Jock, Sheldon Hoogwerf, Jeff Phillips, Mike Arquiett, Brandon Hagan, Brent Kelsey, Tom Conklin, Billy Cook, Jenna David, Kristian Smoke, Ronnie Tyo, Louie Jackson Jr., Neal Provost, Mike White, Thunder Anderson, Dillon Sallows, Ivan Bernier, Wyatt Mullin, Shane Pecore Mohawk Race Parts Pro Stock Series Race 2 (50 laps)
JOEY LADOUCEUR, Louie Jackson, Roch Aubin, Ricky Thompson, Stephane Lebrun, Jody Swamp, Corey Wheeler, David Papineau, Marc Lalonde, Gilles Goddard, Bob Rundall, Stephane Lemire, Ghislain Valade, Dion Oakes, Rod Tarbell, Bruno Cyr, Dave Bissonette
97.3FM CKON Bandits
NOLAN SWAMP, Derek Colbert, Dan Desnoyers, Ernie Cree, Darryl Mitchell, Owen White, John Green, Corey Castell, Blaze Benedict, (DNS) Pete Cename, (DNS) Brandon Wolfe
Mod Lites
BRYAN GREEN, Mathieu Robinson, Sylvain Laframboise, Matt Meuten, Scott Mere, Dan Reif, Dave Bell, Dean Pronovost, Lacy Cox, Eric Varin, (DNS) Rejean Lemieux