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Big winner at Mohawk International Raceway Thursday night takes 3rd Super Dirtcar Series win of the year

Posted 7/8/16

AKWESASNE – Stewart Friesen has won his third Modified Super DirtCar Series race of the season in Mohawk International Raceway’s Thursday night events. On a night where Mother Nature decided to …

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Big winner at Mohawk International Raceway Thursday night takes 3rd Super Dirtcar Series win of the year

Posted

AKWESASNE – Stewart Friesen has won his third Modified Super DirtCar Series race of the season in Mohawk International Raceway’s Thursday night events.

On a night where Mother Nature decided to give the speedway a little bit of extra moisture before race time, the top drivers of the Big Block Modified Super DirtCar Series were ready for battle on a surface that changed without notice during the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino 100.

Local favorite Billy Dunn and 4 time series champion Danny Johnson paced the field of 31 drivers to Dave Farney's green flag with Dunn getting the advantage over Tim Fuller, Johnson, Larry Wight and Stewart Friesen. In the early stages the groove was really wide with Dunn and Fuller both sailing around the top side while in contrast Johnson was sticking with the low lane and both were equally as effective. On lap 20 no changes occurred in the top 3 as Dunn still remained in front with traffic to deal with while Fuller was doing all he could to hold "The Doctor" at bay for 2nd while Friesen and Wight completed the top 5 drivers. On lap 30 both Dunn and Fuller had charged away to over a straightaway lead over 3rd place Stewart Friesen but things were about to change. On lap 35 Tim Fuller used lapped traffic to get by Dunn for the top spot which allowed Friesen to inch even closer to the top 2 drivers. By lap 45 the track began to take on some rubber and drivers found themselves fighting for the bottom of the speedway but Fuller had other ideas. The 2005 series champion stayed committed to the top but Friesen, who slipped by Dunn just a few laps earlier was on the charge and closing fast. On lap 57 Friesen was able to slide by for the lead while Fuller finally dropped in line in the number 2 spot with Johnson and Wight continuing to round out the top 5. Not much passing happened over the next several laps in the top 5 but Matt Sheppard and Brett Hearn were on the move as Sheppard moved into the top 5 by lap 65 for his 12th starting spot while Hearn would charge to 7th. Over the final 35 laps the only thing that would have helped the field was a yellow flag, but that was not the case as the race saw no yellow flags. Without the aid of a caution and everyone glued to the bottom, nobody was getting by Friesen on this night as he charged to his 3rd series win of the year, 2nd in a row and 13th of his career in the caution free affair, over Tim Fuller, Billy Dunn, points leader Matt Sheppard and Danny Johnson.

The Number 1 Speed Equipment Sportsman Series was set for round number 2 and Louie Jackson Jr. led the charge into turn 1 over Brianna Ladouceur, Shane Pecore, Ricky Thompson and Mike Stacey. Jackson came into the night as the overall points leader and had the best view of anyone while Ladouceur and Pecore gave chase from spots 2 and 3. The top 3 entered into traffic but a caution flew on lap 12 for Billy Cook who slowed in turn 3. On the restart Jackson once again started to pull away from the field but both Ladouceur and Pecore were all right there to challenge. With everyone once again glued to the inside lane the only place to go was to the top, and that's where Gilles Godard began to have a lot of fun. After starting 21st Godard made his way into the top 10 and was passing cars at will on the extreme outside lane eventually getting to 6th by lap 25 when the final yellow flew for Adam Rozon who slowed with problems in turn 3. On the restart all drivers in the top 5 remained committed to the bottom while Godard once again made a big charge to the top. Godard would get by Thompson and Pecore for 4th and 3rd and close in on the top 2. With 4 to go Gilles Godard had cleared Brianna Ladouceur for 2nd and closed in on Jackson. However Godard's great run would come to an end as he overshot turn 1 and jumped the cushion losing precious track position in the process. From there Louie Jackson Jr. put the car on auto pilot for his first win of the year at Mohawk and first ever Number 1 Speed Series win over Ladouceur, Robert Delormier, Shane Pecore and Joel Hargrave.

The 15 lap Mod Lite event saw points leader Scott Waldrif take over the top spot over Kevin Foster and Harley Brown. These 3 drivers put on a great battle for position in the opening laps but Kevin Foster was the driver who wanted the lead badly. Just before halfway Foster made a bid for the lead in turn 1 and took it away bringing Brown to 2nd and Deric Ellsworth to 3rd. On lap 8 Harley Brown got tired of running 2nd and took over the top spot but teammate Deric Ellsworth was closing quickly. With 5 to go Ellsworth was able to take over the top spot and pull away from the field to score his 2nd win of the year over Brown, Foster, Waldrif and Nick Mallette

Next week racing action returns to a normal night and normal time with racing kicking off Friday night at 7:30pm.

In the Novice Sportsman 15 lap event former Semi-Pro Street Stock champion Greg Snyder was the man to beat as he took the lead at the drop of the green flag in a race that went without a yellow. Styles Arquiett and Jamie Begor tried several attempts to run down the leader during the entire race but Snyder was too strong on this night recording his 2nd win of the year over Arquiett, Begor, Dudes Thompson and Dana Francis.

• Super DirtCar Series

STEWART FRIESEN, Tim Fuller, Billy Dunn, Matt Sheppard, Danny Johnson, Larry Wight, Brett Hearn, Carey Terrance, Luke Whitteker, Billy Decker, Erick Rudolph, Pat Ward, Corey Wheeler, Mario Clair, Mat Williamson, Peter Britten, Jimmy Phelps, Vic Coffey, Keith Flach, Yan Bussiere, Rich Scagliotta, Max McLaughlin, Frank Cozze, Dave Rauscher, Zack Aubertine, Ryan Arbuthnot, Chris Raabe, Lance Willix, Eldon Payne, Jordan McCreadie, Gage Morin

• Sportsman

LOUIE JACKSON JR., Brianna Ladouceur, Robert Delormier, Shane Pecore, Joel Hargrave, Gilles Godard, Ricky Thompson, Dave Rogers, Mike Stacey, Jackson Gill, Brent Kelsey, Delbert Legrow, Jessica Power, Moise Page, Thomas Cook, Jesse Hudson, Darryl Nutting, Zach Arquiett, Ryan Stabler, Troy Fleming, Cody Aubin, Kyle Sharp, Chris Frennier, Neal Provost, Billy Cook, Delbert Legrow Jr., Gabriel Cyr, Joel Herne, Adam Rozon, Anthony Rassmussen

• Novice Sportsman

GREG SNYDER, Styles Arquiett, Jamie Begor, Dudes Thompson, Dana Francis, Brian McGinley, JP Herne, Jason Bruno

• Mod Lite

DERIC ELLSWORTH, Harley Brown, Kevin Foster, Scott Waldrif, Nick Mallette, Brad Reif, Scott Mere, Jason Premo, Jason Paige