Raabe notches second Brockville 358 Modified win, Merkley Scores first in

Sportsman

By: Tim Baltz

Track conditions were totally different this past Saturday at the Brockville Ontario

Speedway. A smooth surface and multiple grooves provided the fans with great

action and exciting finishes, on Polite Sand and Gravel night.

In DIRTcar 358 Modified action Joe Banks paced the field at the start of the 30 lap

event over Kalen Draper and Madison Mulder. Lee Ladouceur moved to the front

quickly and closed in on Banks for the lead. Heading into turn 3 Banks lost control

of his car after slight contact from Ladouceur sent him spinning. On the restart

Ladouceur charged to the lead and was flying around the top side. Meanwhile

Chris Raabe was on the move as he took second from Chris Herbison on lap 15.

Ladouceur continued his run around the outside lane but Raabe was able to close

the gap as the top two pulled away from the field. On lap 28 Raabe made the

winning move in turn 2, taking the lead on the inside lane. From there Chris Raabe

made it look easy as he claimed win number two of the season. Ladouceur held

on for 2nd while Quebec invader Steve Bernier came from the back of the field to

finish third. Chris and Jarrett Herbison finished out the top 5.

Domonick Merkley had struggled since getting into the DIRTcar Sportsman

division but on this night, he would take the lead from the front row over Trent

Wallace and Tyler Stewart. Merkley had a fast race car and was showing no signs

of letting up as he pulled away from the field in the early laps. Behind the leader

Dylan Kirkland was on the charge as he moved to third on lap 13 and closed in on

Trent Wallace for 2nd. Merkley continued his dominance as he ran the bottom

lane, but Kirkland was one of the fastest cars on track, taking 2nd from Wallace,

but still had some ground to make up on the leader. With 5 laps to go the top two

drivers were nose to tail and putting on a great show for the fans. On the final lap

Kirkland charged to the high lane in turn 3 but couldn’t make it stick. Domonick

Merkley finally put all the bad luck behind him as he scored his first ever DIRTcar

Sportsman win in the caution free, 25 lap feature. Dylan Kirkland claimed second

over Bobby Herrington, Trent Wallace and Brennan Moore.

Ryan Poole was the dominant force in the 1000 Islands RV Crate Sprint car

feature. Poole led early on over Lee Ladouceur and Mathieu Bardier. Poole had a

fast car but Ladouceur and Bardier, were making it close as the laps clicked off. On

the final lap of the caution free 12 lap contest, Bardier made his move to take

second in turns one and two, but nobody was catching Ryan Poole and he scored

his 2nd straight win. Mathieu Bardier crossed in 2nd over Lee Ladoucer Rick

Wilson and Tim Bailey.

The 12 lap Novice Sportsman feature saw a thrilling finish between father and son

Sandy and Gavin MacFarlane. Gavin led early on but Sandy was on the charge to

the front taking second from Olivier Boissonneault at half way and tried hard to

catch his son for the lead. On the final lap Sandy would pull even with Gavin, but

on this night the kid got there first, as Gavin MacFarlane scored his second win of

the season. Gavin’s Father, Sandy MacFarlane held on for second. Olivier

Boissonneault, Shawn Hodge and Josh Jock rounded out the top 5.

The Supernant Truck Shop Mini Stock division saw Hayden Brown lead the way

over Matt Boal and Max Steele in the early going. Brown had a fast race car and

would pull away from a quality field in the 15 lap feature. Defending track

champion Jarrod Galway would makes some big moves through the field in the

late going, as he took the second spot from Matt Boal, but still had work to do to

catch the leader. On this night, without the help of a caution flag nobody was

catching Hayden Brown as he marched to his first win of 2022. Galway crossed in

second, over Matt Boal, Jamie Larocque and Max Steele.

The 20 lap Vintage feature took a few restarts to get going, but once the laps

clicked off it was former DIRTcar 358 Modfied and DIRTcar Sportsman driver

Jason Riddell taking the lead over Randy Gaudet and Gavin Riddell. The division,

which also features a 50s and 60s division, that competes in the same race, can

see a lot of traffic as Riddell found out during the race. Gaudet however, was

doing all he could to catch Riddell on this night, but it was not to be. Jason Riddell

didn’t let lapped traffic or his nearest competitor stand in his way, as he grabbed

his first Vintage win of the year over Randy Gaudet, Paul Billings, Gavin Riddell

and Steve Billings.

Next week Draper Doors will be on hand for a full show in all divisions. The

Supernant Truck Shop Mini Stocks and Vintage have the night off, but the Street

Stocks will make their return to action. For further information head to our

website at brockvillespeedway.com, or follow us on our Facebook, Twitter and

Instagram pages.

DIRTcar 358 Modified (30 laps)

CHRIS RAABE, Lee Ladouceur, Steve Bernier, Chris Herbison, Jarrett Herbison,

Kyle Dingwall, Ryan Arbuthnot, Johnathon Ferguson, Tristan Draper, JF Corriveau,

Ryan Scott, Jeff Sykes, Kalen Draper, Joe Banks, Terry McClelland, Corbin Millar,

Madison Mulder, Steve Bilow

Heat Winners: Chris Herbison and Kalen Draper

DIRTcar Sportsman (25 laps)

DOMONICK MERKLEY, Dylan Kirkland, Bobby Herrington, Trent Wallace, Brennan

Moore, Xavier Andrews, Sam Charland, Tyler Stewart, Greg Brinklow, Jessica

Power, Evan Reynolds, Shane Stearns, Fire Swamp, William Racine, Andrew

Young, Donovan Lussier, Dan Ferguson, Dale Gifford, Karl Latendre, Doug Buzzell

Jr., Michael Dillon, Jamie Young, Chris Ferguson, Ricky Thompson, Josh Powers

Heat Winners: Trent Wallace, Tyler Stewart and Domonick Merkley

Novice Sportsman (12 laps)

GAVIN MACFARLANE, Sandy MacFarlane, Olivier Boissonneault, Shawn Hodge,

Josh Jock, Paul Donnelly, Keira Turner, Jordan Wood, Holly Denard, Nathan

Lambert

Heat Winners: Olivier Boissonneault and Shawn Hodge

1000 Islands RV Crate Sprints (15 laps)

RYAN POOLE, Mathieu Bardier, Lee Ladouceur, Rick Wilson, Tim Bailey

Heat Winner: Ryan Poole

Supernant Truck Shop Mini Stocks (15 laps)

HAYDEN BROWN, Jarrod Galway, Matt Boal, Jamie Larocque, Max Steele, Marc

Dagenais, Tyson Slinger, Dakota Boal, Landen Slinger, Dave Watchorn, Robert

MacFarlane, Richard Bartholomew, John Lamarche, Mark Packer

Heat Winners: Max Steele and Hayden Brown

Vintage (20 laps- Overall Finish)

JASON RIDDELL, Randy Gaudet, Paul Billings, Gavin Riddell, Steve Billings, Ian

Gordon, Chad Lackie, Tim Hegarty, Wayne Riddell, Jeff Bode, Brian Billings, Joey

Hilts, Pat Charland, Darrell Wilson, Dexter Billings, Tim Charland, Audy Bedard,

Chris Wilson, Mason Barkley, Randy Simkins, Sheldon Hoogwerf, Kyle Grundy

50s and 60s Feature winner: Joey Hilts

Heat Winners: Tim Hegarty Jason Riddell and Joey Hilts