By Tim Baltz

AKWESASNE With only four weeks left in the regular season at Mohawk International Raceway the points battles are heating up, and so was the action on the race track Friday night.

The night kicked off with round #2 of the St. Lawrence Seaway Sportsman Series. Josh VanBrocklin and Dan Jalbert led the field of 30 to the green flag with VanBrocklin getting the early advantage into turn #1 with Corey Wheeler, Chris Herbison and Dana Aikens filling out the top 5. Caution would come out for the first time on lap 3 as Jonathan Ferguson and Billy Cook came to a halt on the backstretch. Racing action continued on as VanBrocklin continued to hold the top spot with Wheeler, Herbison Jalbert and Dylan Evoy now making up the top 5. Jalbert’s night came to an end quickly as he broke a front end bringing the yellow back out on lap 8. On the restart VanBrocklin continued to lead the field with Evoy making his way to 2nd as Herbison, Louie Jackson Jr. and Cory Winters rounded out the top 5. The yellow came back out as Billy Cook slowed on the backstretch, at the same time Rick Miller had a fire in his car in turn 4. Rick was unhurt and was able to return to action. Once the race got going VanBrocklin was showing his muscle but Dylan Evoy was making some noise of his own as he powered to the inside of VanBrocklin to take over the lead on lap 21 with Herbison, Jackson and now Brent Kelsey making up the top 5. The yellow came back out on the field on lap 30 for Thomas Cook who collected a tire on the front stretch and nearly rolled over. He was ok and able to continue on. On the restart Evoy charged out in front and was on cruise control looking to run away from everyone else. On lap 37 the final caution of the race came out for Jenna David who charge from 16th to 6th, as she hit the wall on the front stretch ending her shot at a great finish. When the green flag came out Evoy started to lose the handling a bit and VanBrocklin made one last move off turn 4 on the bottom but Dylan Evoy held on for win #7 and 17th of his Mohawk career putting him atop the all time Sportsman feature win list. Herbison, Kelsey and Mike Arquiett rounded out the top 5.

The 358 Modifieds were set for 25 laps of fast paced action as Tom Conklin and Tim O’Brien led the field into turn 1 with O’Brien gaining the top spot as Brian McDonald, Roy Delormier and Perry Francis filled out the top 5 early on. On lap 4 Carey Terrance spun to a stop in turn 4 nearly collecting Matt Billings. On the restart O’Brien continued his great run with Laurent Ladouceur, Chris Raabe, Conklin and Billy Dunn who came up from 15th starting spot to round out the top 5. Ladouceur and Tim O’Brien opened up a comfortable cushion on the field as just behind them Brian McDonald, Roy Tarbell, Billy Dunn and Matt Billings put on a show exchanging spots several times until lap 17 as McDonald’s great run came to an end as he broke coming off turn 2. Under the same caution Casey Swamp also made contact with the back stretch wall breaking his front end. When the green came out the Laurent Ladouceur had grabbed the lead with O’Brien feeling the pressure from Ladouceur and teammate Billy Dunn. On lap 20 Dunn found the top side was the fastest way around as he shot to the lead in turn 1 and held off a late race charge from Ladouceur to grab his 4th win of the season with Tim O’Brien, Raabe and Danny O’Brien making up the top 5 at the checkers.

The TUSA Mod Lite Series took to the speedway for 25 laps of wild action. With a redraw taking place after the heats, Dan Kirving and last weeks winner Paul Klager led the field of 21 to the green with Klager jumping out in front. Klager would pull away from the rest of the field but the real story was just behind him as Mathieu Robinson used the top side of the speedway to move from 10th to 2nd by lap 9 with Scott Waldorff, Jeff May and Bryan Green Giving chase. The caution flew on lap 10 for Matt Chontosh who spun in turn 4. On the restart Klager continued to lead with Bryan Green running 2nd as Mathieu Robinson started to backslide through the field. On lap 16 a violent wreck on the back stretch saw Robinson Spin coming off turn 2 while running 4th. Rejean Lemieux slammed into Robinson sending him flipping down the back stretch. Lemieux was taken in the ambulance for observation but was ok. Robinson amazingly was able to continue on in the event. On the restart Klager used what he learned 1 week ago to hold off Bryan Green and Jeff May for his 2nd win in a row with Waldorff and Jim Bogett rounding out the top 5.

In the Pro Stock division Dion Oakes was looking to get back to victory lane for the first time since May as he paced the field for the opening 7 laps with PJ Peters, Roch Aubin, Stephane Lebrun and Allen Peters chasing him down. The first caution came out on lap 12 for Allen Peters who got turned on the front stretch. On the Restart PJ Peters was tired of being the chaser as he charged to the top side and drover by Oakes to grab the top spot away. On lap 15 the final yellow came out for Marc Lalonde who made contact with the backstretch wall ending his great top 5 run. On the final restart Dion Oakes and Stephane Lebrun had nothing left for Peters as he cruised to his 2nd win of 2012. Jody Swamp and Owen White rounded out the top 5.

In the Bandits division opening day winner Corey Castell was looking to get his season back on track as he paced the field for the first 8 laps of the event until points leader Mathieu Aubin was able to wrestle the lead away with Jean Marc Larose, Matt Zira and Darryl Mitchell completing the top 5. Late in the going Larose would give Aubin everything he could handle but was not to be denied as he Mathieu Aubin scored his 2nd win in a row and 4th of the season with Castell, Zira and Stuart Mossow who recovered from early race troubles to finish 5th.

Next week the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino will headline the night for a full program of Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stock, Bandit and Mod Lite action. 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.

The results:

St. Lawrence Seaway Sportsman Series Round #2 (40 laps)

DYLAN EVOY, Josh VanBrocklin, Chris Herbison, Brent Kelsey, Mike Arquiett, Cory Winters, Wyatt Mullin, Ricky Thompson, Martin Pelletier, Jessica Power, Darryl Nutting, Jonathan Ferguson, Nolan Swamp, Jason Durgan, Louie Jackson Jr., Ryan Arbuthnot, Patrick Dumochel, Billy Cook, Tammy Jalbert, Thomas Cook, Jenna David, Rick Miller, Josh Brockway, Dana Aikens, Adam Rozon, Thunder Anderson Jr., Steve Billings, Corey Wheeler, Brandon Hagan, Dan Jalbert

TUSA Mod Lite Series (25 laps)

PAUL KLAGER, Bryan Green, Jeff May, Scott Waldorff, Jim Bogett, Raphael, Ferland, Dean Pronovost, Dan Kirving, Karl Lamontange, Scott Mere, Brad Reir, Dave Bell, Sylvain Laframboise, Dan Reif, Tim Reif, Rejean Lemieux, Matt Chontosh, Bailey McDonald, Harley Brown, Cody Fleming

358 Modifieds (25 laps)

BILLY DUNN, Laurent Ladouceur, Tim O’Brien, Chris Raabe, Danny O’Brien, Dale Planck, Matt Billings, Carey Terrance, Roy Tarbell, Tom Conklin, Roy Delormier, Perry Francis, Delbert Legrow, Kristian Smoke, Robert Delormier, Harvey Arquette Jr., Shane Pecore, Brian McDonald, Casey Swamp, Kevin Fetterly, Gage Morin, David Papineau

Pro Stock (20 laps)

PJ PETERS, Stephane Lebrun, Dion Oakes, Jody Swamp, Owen White, Roch Aubin, Allen Peters, Dan Desnoyers, Sid Harmer Jr.,Kevin Fetterly Jr., Marc Lalonde, Ricky Thompson

Bandit (12 laps)

MATHIEU AUBIN, Jean-Marc Larose, Corey Castell, Matt Zira, Stuart Mossow, Darryl Mainville, Brad Sharlow, Darryl Mitchell