AKWESASNE – After being rained out last Friday, the cars and stars at Mohawk International Raceway were back for the opening round of the Frenchie's "Chevy Runs Deep" 358 Modified series Friday night.

In a blind draw after the qualifying heats, former track champion Roy Tarbell was on the pole with Quebec invader Mario Clair to his outside as the field of 21 cars came to the green flag. Tarbell jumped out in front as Mario Clair, Joel Doiron, Brian McDonald and Chris Raabe battled for the top five spots

Two early cautions slowed the field, first on lap six as Travis Stacey spun in turn four. Two laps later a tangle involving Stacey, Tom Benedict and Tommy Jock Jr. in turn one slowed the field again.

On the restart Clair took over the lead but behind him several cars came together on the front stretch causing a five-car pileup. Roy Delormier was towed to the pits with heavy rear end damage.

Once the racing action resumed the fans were treated to a great five-car battle as Brian McDonald, Mario Clair, Chris Raabe and Billy Dunn exchanged the top four positions for several laps. On a lap 17 restart, Dunn seemed to be on a mission. The defending track champion cleared Raabe to take second position and one lap later would grab the lead from Brian McDonald to open up a commanding lead.

Behind the leader a battle between McDonald, Clair and Raabe had the fans cheering as they sped side by side through traffic for the majority of the 50-lap event. Billy Dunn had the field covered as he cruised to the dominating win and his first ever Memorial Cup victory with McDonald, Raabe, Clair and Carey Terrance completing the top five.

In the Sportsman division Scott Mere and Robert Delormier led the field of 32 cars to the start of the 20 lap event with Delormier taking control of the race into turn 1. Delormier opened up a 7 car length advantage by lap 4 with Jenna David and Wyatt Mullin rounding out the top 3. On lap 9 the first caution flew as Jasmine David made contact with the wall. When the green flew Jenna David made the power move to the outside of Delormier to take over the lead bringing defending track champion Dylan Evoy and Corey Wheeler with her. David held a slight lead but Evoy who started 13th was able to take the top spot away in turn 2 after a great battle with David. Once in front Evoy put on a clinic leading by over a straightaway with 5 laps to go. Behind him Corey Wheeler made his way to 2nd as Delormier, David and Joey Ladouceur who started 15th, charged up into the top 5 for the first time. However nobody was catching Evoy on this night as he cruised to his 2nd win in a row over Wheeler, Mike Arquiett, David and Ladouceur.

The Pro Stocks also had a strong field as Mike White and Owen White led the charge into turn one with Mike White jumping out to the early 3 car length lead. White had the car to beat as he used the top side of the race track to hold off PJ Peters, Roch Aubin, Jocelyn Roy and Stephane Lebrun. Aubin Who won on opening night was very strong and was able to grab the lead away from White on lap 5. Just behind him PJ Peters was making his way to the front as well. Peters started 4th and was able to reel in the leader with 5 laps to go and the battle was on. Aubin was stuck to the bottom while Peters found the outside to his liking and was able to steal the lead away. Despite several challenges by Aubin, Peters was not to be denied as the defending track champion held on for his forst win of 2013 over Aubin, Stephane Lebrun, Ryan Stabler and Jocelyn Roy.

In the Mod Lite division former champion Mathieu Robinson grabbed the lead on the opening lap with Joel Hargrave and Harley Brown completing the top 3. Hargrave had a fast car on this night but Brown was able to keep pace with the leader and the chase was on. With the laps winding down Hargrave began to build up a sizeable lead and despite numerous attempts by Brown to get to the back bumper Hargrave was the car to beat as he scored his first Mohawk victory over Brown and Mathieu Robinson.

In a caution filled Bandit feature the story of the night was Jean Marc Larose. After dominating on opening day 2 weeks ago Larose never lost his touch. He took the lead on the opening lap from Randy Tremblay and never challenged throughout the 12 lap contest as he cruised home to his 2nd straight win. Darryl Mitchell and Justin Derosiers rounded out the top 3.

Next week the Empire Super Sprints make their annual stop at Mohawk along with the Sportsman, Pro Stock and Bandits. Mod Lites and 358 Modifieds have the night off, racing begins at 7:30pm.

Mohawk International Raceway, in Akwesasne midway between the Seaway International Bridge to Cornwall and the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino, is off Route 37, turn south onto Frogtown Road.

Racing is held on Friday nights at 7:30 PM from May through September, featuring the Frenchie's Chevrolet DIRTcar 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Mod Lites as well as the Bandit division. Visit www.MohawkInternationalRaceway.com for more info.

The MIR office is at the track, and the phone number is 518-358-9017.

The track is owned and operated by Mohawk International Raceway, LLC.

Friday night’s results:

358 Modifieds

BILLY DUNN, Brian McDonald, Chris Raabe, Mario Clair, Carey Terrance, Joel Doiron, Tom Conklin, Roy Tarbell, Jeff Sykes, Ryan Arbuthnot, Lance Willix, Luke Stewart, Zach Aubertine, Jordan McCreadie, Perry Francis, Gilles Goddard, Tom Benedict, Travis Stacey, Tommy Jock Jr., Roy Delormier, David Papineau

Sportsman

DYLAN EVOY, Corey Wheeler, Mike Arquiett, Jenna David, Joey Ladouceur, Robert Delormier, Wyatt Mullin, Darryl Nutting, Ronnie Tyo, Mike Maresca, Brent Kelsey, Louie Jackson Jr., Zach Arquiett, Ricky Thompson, Brad Winters, Cliff Merpaw, Tom Ladouceur, Billy Cook, Mike Stacey, Trevor Arquiett, Adam Rozon, Andrew Fish, Brian Copp, Neal Provost, Josh Brockway, John Greene III, Thomas Cook, Thunder Anderson, Delbert Legrow, Scott Mere, Jasmine David, Ryan Helm

Pro Stock

PJ PETERS, Roch Aubin, Stephane Lebrun, Ryan Stabler, Jocelyn Roy, Mike White, Marc Lalonde, Owen White, Allen Peters, Dan Desnoyers, Eugene Tarbell, Chris Tremblay, Justin White, Preston Mossow, Claude Prarisien, Stuart Mossow, 2E, Darrel Mainville

Bandit

JEAN MARC LAROSE, Darryl Mitchell, Justin Desrosiers, 18, 33A, Randy Tremblay, Danny Lefebvre, Marc Reggentin, Edward Lemieux, Randy Whiting, Natacha Lebrun, Mark Radbourne, Scott Banker, Styles Arquette, Corey Castell

Mod Lite

JOEL HARGRAVE, Harley Brown, Mathieu Robinson, 28, Dan Reif, Eric Varin, 48, Tim Reif, Bailey McDonald, 87, Rejean Lemieux, Dave Bell, Matt Chontosh, Brad Reif, Scott Waldorff