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Raabe, Evoy, Peters, Pronovost and Aubin claim wins at Mohawk International Raceway

Posted 6/16/12

AKWESASNE -- With the previous 2 weeks going to mother nature the cars and stars at Mohawk International Raceway took to one of the fastest track they have seen in recent history on Hometown Auto and …

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Raabe, Evoy, Peters, Pronovost and Aubin claim wins at Mohawk International Raceway

Posted

AKWESASNE -- With the previous 2 weeks going to mother nature the cars and stars at Mohawk International Raceway took to one of the fastest track they have seen in recent history on Hometown Auto and Cedarview Golf Course night.

In the 358 Modifieds longtime veteran Kevin Fetterly and returning veteran Kyle Jacobs led the field to the green with Jacobs grabbing the early lead. Kyle Jacobs has been out of the drivers seat for several seasons but you never would have known has he pulled out to a 5 car length lead early on. Behind him Perry Francis, Roy Tarbell, Gage Morin, Tom Conklin and Gage Morin were staging a war for 2nd through 5th. Jacobs would lead the first 10 laps as he began to enter lapped traffic this allowed the rest of the top 5 to close in and challenged for the top spot. On lap 11 Perry Francis made the move to the top side of the speedway with Jacobs, Chris Raabe who started 14th to come up to 3rd, Tarbell and Morin completed the top 5. After a lap 12 caution Roy Tarbell made a power move around both Raabe and Francis to pickup the lead leaving Dale Planck and Kyle Jacobs to battle for 4th and 5th. Dale Planck the current point leader started 18th and patiently worked his way into the top 3 on lap 18. While Planck was moving forward Chris Raabe was set to make his move for the lead and used the bottom groove to perfection has he grabbed the top spot from Tarbell with just 5 laps remaining. Despite a late charge by Planck lapped traffic played the difference as Raabe was able to put 2 cars between himself and Planck on the final lap and would cruise on to his first win of the 2012 season with Tarbell grabbing 3rd followed by Billy Dunn and Perry Francis.

The opening round of the Frenchie's Ford "Drive One" Sportsman Series kicked off on this night as well and the man to beat has been Dylan Evoy. Evoy went 3 for 3 in last years series and was looking to keep that streak going. Adam Rozon and Gilles Godard brought the field down to the green with Godard getting the early advantage. Godard has had an outstanding start to his rookie campaign in Sportsman picking up a win at Cornwall in late May and was well out in front by lap 5 with Jenna David, Brandon Hagan, Evoy and Rozon giving chase. As Godard began to check out Dylan Evoy knew he had to get going in a hurry as he worked his way into the number 2 spot getting by both Hagan and David on lap number 6. Godard began to enter lapped traffic on lap 10 and this allowed the defending series champion to inch in closer. While the top 2 raced nose to tail on lap 12 the yellow would fly for Neal Provost who spun in turn 2 ending his night early. On the restart Godard held the lead but

Evoy had a game plan as he shot to the top side and took over the top spot on lap 14. Dan Jalbert was also making his way to the front. After starting in 10th he worked his way up into the top 3 just past halfway and was in hot pursuit of the leaders. Evoy and Godard would swap the lead numerous time throughout the final17 laps with Godard pinning Evoy behind a lapped car on lap 26 and begin to pull away. Meanwhile Jalbert's great night came to a disappointing end as he pulled to the infield done for the night. Up front with 5 to go Evoy made a bold move in turn 1 to get the lead back and that's all he had to do as Evoy would sail home to his 4th straight series win and 2nd win overall in 2012. Brandon Hagan, Dana Aikens, and Mike Arquiett rounded out the top 5.

In Pro Stock action Allen Peters and Justin White led the field to the green with Peters jumping out to a huge lead of about 7 car lengths as the field worked through turns 1 and 2 with Roch Aubin, Stephane Lebrun White and Jody Swamp rounding out the top 5. Allen Peters was clearly on a mission on this night as he fought off repeated challenges from Aubin and Lebrun as they raced off turn 4. PJ Peters was also making a charge through the field. After starting 10th he quickly got by Jody Swamp for the 4th spot and chased down the top 3. On lap 10 Stephane Lebrun's great night came to an end as he broke while running 3rd. On the restart Allen Peters held the lead but brother PJ had other plans. He got by Aubin for 2nd and with 4 laps to go entering turn 1 he made the pass for the lead and drove on to become the 4th different winner in 4 races this season with Aubin taking 3rd. Dion Oakes and Jody Swamp rounded out the top 5.

The Mod Lites had a wild run on this night. Dean Pronovost was looking to return to victory lane since August of last season as him and Sylvain Laframboise led the field to the green flag. Mathieu Robinson was also looking to keep his win streak alive as he worked his way to the front. But He would struggle all night long as he was involved in a tangle with Lafraboise in turn 4 sending Laframboise upside down. Robinson was done for the night and amazingly Laframboise was able to return to the field after minor repairs to his car. Just one lap later Dan Reif had a slow roll in turn 2. He was okay. After all the chaos Scott Waldorff challenged Pronovost for the top spot on several occasions but was unable to get the lead away as Pronovost was able to grab his first win of the season over Waldorff, Matt Meuten, Bryan Green and Harley Brown.

The Bandits had an unfortunate ending to what was going to be a heated battle between Matthew Aubin Corey Castell and Stuart Mossow. As the leaders battled into turn 1 on lap 6 of the 12 lap affair Joe Jock went for a nasty tumble in turn 4 bringing out the red flag. Jock was able to climb from his race car but was taken in the ambulance for observation. MIR officials declared the race complete giving Aubin his first win of the season over Castell, Mossow, Joey Foster and Matt Zira.

Next week racing action switches to Thursday night as the 3rd race in the DIRTCar 358 Modified Series will be on hand for a 75 lap affair along with the 2nd event in the Mohawk Race Parts Series for the Pro Stocks. Sportsman, Bandit and Mod Lites will also be on the card. The green flag drops at 7:45pm.

Modifieds (25 laps)

CHRIS RAABE, Dale Planck, Roy Tarbell, Billy Dunn, Perry Francis, Danny O'Brien, Kyle Jacobs, Matt Billings, Carey Terrance, Gage Morin, Luke Whitteker, Brian McDonald, Tim O'Brien, Tom Conklin, Stephane Lafrance, Laurent Ladouceur, Shane Pecore, Casey Swamp, Harvey Arquette Jr., David Papineau, Kristian Smoke, Tom Jock Jr., Ryan Helm, Kevin Fetterly.

Frenchie's Ford "Drive One" Sportsman Series Round #1 (35 laps)

DYLAN EVOY, Gilles Godard, Brandon Hagan, Dana Aikens, Mike Arquiett, Jessica Power, Nolan Swamp, Sheldon Hoogwerf, Brian Copp, Louie Jackson Jr., Wyatt Mullin, Billy Cook, Tammy Jalbert, Jenna David, Thomas Cook, Mike Stacey, Brent Kelsey, Josh Brockway, Thunder Anderson Jr., Dan Jalbert, Josh VanBrocklin, Corey Wheeler, Adam

Rozon, Dillon Sallows, Rick Miller, Neal Provost

Pro Stocks (15 laps)

PJ PETERS, Allen Peters, Roch Aubin, Dion Oakes, Jody Swamp, Marc Lalonde, Justin White, Owen White, Preston Mossow, Ricky Thompson, Stephane Lebrun, Chris Tremblay (DNS) Andrew Fish

Mod Lites (15 laps)

DEAN PRONOVOST, Scott Waldorff, Matt Meuten, Bryan Green, Harley Brown, Matt Chontosh, Brad Reif, Sylvain Laframboise, Dan Reif, Mathieu Robinson, (DNS) Tim Reif

Bandit (Race called at 6 laps)

MATTHEW AUBIN, Corey Castell, Stuart Mossow, Joey Foster, Matt Zira, Justin Desrosiers, Darryl Mitchell, Daryl Mainville, (DNS) Randy Whiting, (DNS) Gary Sharlow.

Mohawk International Raceway is located in Akwesasne, 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.