By Tim Baltz

AKWESASNE, NY – Opening night for the 2012 racing season at the Mohawk International Raceway was set to roll with a great track surface and a great field of cars in the pits on Akwesasne Mohawk Casino night.

A great crowd turned out on Friday night and they witnessed one of if not the most exciting finish in MIR history.

In the 358 Modifieds defending track champion Chris Raabe and Danny O’Brien started on the front row in the 40 lap affair with Raabe getting the early lead going into turn number 1. It didn’t take long for the first caution to come out as Carey Terrance broke a front end on the front stretch. On the restart Raabe was able to grab the lead but Danny O’Brien had a game plan and worked the outside part of the speedway to grab the lead away on lap 5 with Raabe, Dale Planck, Roy Tarbell and Gage Morin. O’Brien would lead the next 3 laps until Planck started to show his muscle in his stout ride as he stole the lead away from O’Brien with Raabe back to 3rd Gage Morin and Billy Dunn completed the top 5. With battle for the lead going back and forth 2 of the fastest cars on the track were Billy Dunn and Gage Morin. Starting 16th and 17th on the grid they wasted no time going forward as the 2 drivers worked their way into positions 3 and 4 just past the halfway point. By Lap 22 O’Brien entered into lap traffic and thus allowed Dunn to narrow the gap and on lap 27 Dunn drove the car hard into turn 3 and grabbed the top spot and started to run away. Caution came out for Dale Planck while running third his car slowed in turn one. One lap later a crash involving Perry Francis, David Papineau and Tommy Jock Jr. would set up a 4 lap dash to the finish. On the restart Dunn held the lead but sneaking up to challenge was the 74 of Matt Billings who played patience all night and would challenge Danny O’Brien for the 2nd spot. As they raced side by side this allowed Dunn to open up a commanding lead. On the final lap Dunn who won at Canandaigua in his big block 2 weeks ago appeared to have a 358 win in his sights when suddenly his car slowed midway through turn 4 Billings had no where to go and slammed into the back of Billy Dunn’s car. As they exited turn 4 Danny O’Brien charged from 3rd to the lead to grab a nail bitting win at MIR. Dunn was credited with 2nd Gage Morin 3rd, Luke Whitteker 4th and Matt Billings rounded out the top 5.

In Sportsman action defending track champion Dylan Evoy and Brandon Hagan lead the field of 26 cars to the green flag with Evoy jumping out in front. Hagan and Evoy have had many battles over the years in kart racing and were having a war for the top spot with Hagan getting sole possession of the top spot on lap 3 with Evoy, Josh VanBrocklin, Dan Jalbert and Nolan Swamp rounding out the top 5. With the 2 young hot shoes out front Josh VanBrocklin began chipping away at the top 2 and by lap 10 had made it a 3 way dance for the lead with Kyle Wilson and Wyatt Mullin giving chase. The yellow flag would fly for a car stopped on the backstretch when suddenly Steve Billings spun in turn 2 and flipped over. Billings was able to climb from his wounded machine unhurt his car was done for the night. Despite a late race restart on lap 15 and Josh VanBrocklin getting by Dylan Evoy for 2nd nobody was going to catch “The Hammer” Brandon Hagan as he scored his first career opening day win over VanBrocklin, Evoy, Dan Jalbert and Kyle Wilson.

The ongoing theme of the night was if you were going to win you had to start on the front row. Allen Peters and Joey Ladouceur were looking to continue that trend as they lead the Pro Stock Field to the green with Ladouceur grabbing the top spot and pull out to a commanding 6 car length advantage before the end of lap 1. Ladouceur would dominate the opening 7 laps with PJ and Allen Peters 2nd and 3rd, Mark Lalonde 4th and Dion Oakes 5th. Ricky Thompson slowed to a stop on the front stretch bringing out the yellow. This played right into the hands of PJ Peters who’s car was great on the short runs and was able to hang with Ladouceur until lap 10 when Ladouceur started to run away again with PJ Peters, Stephane Lebrun Dion Oakes and Allen Peters making up the top 5. Despite a final caution with 6 to go Joey Ladouceur would go on to collect the popular win over PJ Peters, Rock Aubin, Dion Oakes and Mark Lalonde.

In the 15 lap Mod Lite feature last years champ Mathieu Robinson and Matt Meuten led the field to the green with Meuten getting the holeshot as Robinson Bryan Green, Sylvain Laframboise and Dan Reif making up the top 5 spots early. Only 1 caution slowed the event as Bailey McDonald making her Mod Lite debut spun on the front stretch. On the restart Robinson was looking to hold off Matt Meuten and in the closing laps Meuten made a bold charge for the lead but Robinson was not to be denied as he grabbed the win over Meuten, Bryan Green, Sylvain Laframboise and Dan Reif.

The Bandits closed out the evening and Ernie Cree had his way with the field as he grabbed the lead from the drop of the green flag. Cree was looking for redemption after missing out on the track title by one point he looked to have this race well in hand. But on lap 10 new comer Daryl Mainville was on a mission as he closed in and passed Cree for the lead and sailed to the win over Cree, Joe Jock, Matt Zira and Mathieu Aubin.

Next Friday night Truck Stop #9 will be on hand for a full card of 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro-Stock, Mod Lite and Bandits. Also it will be driver autograph night at the speedway. The first green flag drops at 7:45pm.

Friday night’s results:

358 Modifieds(40 laps)

DANNY O’BRIEN, Billy Dunn, Gage Morin, Luke Whitteker, Matt Billings, Chris Raabe, Roy Tarbell, Laurent Ladouceur, Casey Swamp, Stephane Lafrance, Shane Pecore, Brandon Sweet, Delbert Legrow, Tim O’Brien, Dale Planck, Brian McDonald, Tom Conklin, Kevin Fetterly, Kyle Jacobs, Perry Francis, David Papineau, Harvey Arquette Jr., Zach Aubertine. DNS Todd Stone, Ryan Helm

Sportsman(20 laps)

BRANDON HAGAN, Josh VanBrocklin, Dylan Evoy, Dan Jalbert, Kyle Wilson, Nolan Swamp, Wyatt Mullin, Corey Wheeler, Mike Arquiett, Brent Kelsey, Jenna David, Dana Aikens, Billy Cook, Adam Rozon, Thunder Anderson Jr., Jessica Power, Mike Stacey, Thomas Cook, Tammy Jalbert, Dillon Sallows, Thomas Jock III, Steve Billings, Louie Jackson Jr., Thunder Anderson, Neal Provost.

Pro Stock(20 laps)

JOEY LADOUCEUR, PJ Peters, Rock Aubin, Dion Oakes, Mark Lalonde, Allen Peters, Mike White, Jody Swamp, Ryan Stabler, Chris Tremblay, Owen White, Dan Desnoyers, Justin White, Stephane Lebrun, Ricky Thompson

Bandit(12 laps)

DARYL MAINVILLE, Ernie Cree, Joe Jock, Matt Zira, Mathieu Aubin, Andrew Fish, Randy Whiting, Justin Desrosiers, Corey Castell

Mod Lite(15 laps)

MATHIEU ROBINSON, Matt Meuten, Bryan Green, Sylvain Laframboise, Dan Reif, Scott Mere, Bailey McDonald, Tim Reif, Scott Waldorff

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.