Monday, April 28, 2008

Dale Planck Dominates Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series Opener Saturday At Merrittville!

THOROLD, ON - A successful Small-Block chauffeur throughout most of his career, Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series standout Dale Planck returned to his roots Saturday night as he captured round one of the 2008 Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series at Merrittville Speedway.

Not only did Planck collect $4500 for his fourth career victory on DIRTcar Racing NorthEast's premier Small-Block tour, the Cortland, New York traveler led every lap of the Baron Roofing Windows and Doors 'Spring Sizzler 100' and lapped all but second-place finisher Danny O'Brien in a command performance.

Finishing behind Planck and O'Brien, one lap down to the leaders, were New York invaders Chad Brachmann and Bert Hard Charger Todd Burley, with defending track points champion Pete Bicknell filling out the front-five. Heats wins went to Lance Willix II, Dan Miller, Planck and Rick Richner with Frenchman David Hebert and Merrittville regular Travis Cunningham sharing consolation round victories to break down the solid 38-car field signed in.

Racing in the Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Series continues back in the states later in the summer when Ransomville (NY) Speedway hosts round #2 of the premier Small-Block Modified tour in the Northeast on Friday, August 1. Coors Light, Hard Copy Wholesale and Mighty Taco present the Alex Friesen Summer Nationals with $6,800 on the line for the 68-lap feature winner.
 
Mr. DIRTcar 358-Modified Championship Series Race #1 – Merrittville Speedway, April 26, 2008 Baron Roofing Windows and Doors 'Spring Sizzler 100'  Event Summary
FIN      STR  CAR#   DRIVER
1          2          66        Dale Planck/Cortland,NY ($4,500)
2          6          55        Danny O'Brien/Kingston,ONT
3          13        3b        Chad Brachmann/Sanborn,NY
4          27        5          Todd Burley/Spencerport,NY
5          17        42        Pete Bicknell/St.Catharines,ONT
6          7          9          Ken Cosgrove/Allanburg,ONT
7          10        26        Rick Richner/Niagara Falls,NY
8          *14      23L     Larry Lampman,Jr./Port Colborne,ONT
9          5          80        Chris Steele/Fenwick,ONT
10        23        38        Scott Wood/Thorold,ONT
11        3          28        Scott Kerwin/Newfane,NY
12        20        37        Kyle Jacobs/Hogansburg,NY
13        21        1h       David Hebert/St. Damase,QUE
14        9          15j       Tim Jones/Sanborn,NY
15        29        99        Larry Wight/Phoenix,NY
16        4          00        Boyd MacTavish/Ransomville,NY
17        8          56        Dereck Lemyre/Hamilton,ONT
18        24        66x      Carey Terrance/Akwesasne,NY
19        1          16        Lance Willix II/Theresa,NY
20        26        22c      Mario Clair/St-Edmond,QUE
21        25        111     Kevin Wills/Ransomville,NY
22        11        26g     Scott George/Wilson,NY
23        31        9s        Mark Smoke/Akwesasne,NY
24        15        23        Laurent Ladouceur/Alexandria,ONT
25        28        22e     Eric Gauvreau/Chelsea,QUE
26        19        108     Bill Bleich/Port Robinson,ONT
27        32        1f         Fred Carleton/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT
28        16        123     Robbie Krull/Cambria,NY
29        18        5jr.       Travis Braun/Jordan Station,ONT
30        30        72        Tommy Flannigan/St.Catharines,ONT
31        22        91        Travis Cunningham/Grimsby,ONT
DNS   12        22        Dan Miller/St.Catharines,ONT

EVENT SUMMARY:                                   
GATER NEWS LAP LEADER:   Planck (1-100).                                   
CAUTIONS:   1 (lap 9).                               
HEAT WINNERS:   Willix, Miller, Planck, Richner.                               
CONSI WINNERS:   Hebert, Cunningham.                               
BICKNELL RACING PRODUCTS WINNER AWARD:   Dale Planck.                                  
SYRACUSE ITT/GOULDS PUMPS 150 QUALIFIER:   Dale Planck.                       
HALFWAY LEADER:   Dale Planck.                               
BERT HARD CHARGER:   Todd Burley.                                   
HOLLEY HARD LUCK:   Mario Clair.                              
PENSKE POWER POSITION (10th):   Scott Wood.                             
TOTAL PURSE:   $20,450.                                    
CARS ENTERED:   38.                  

NEXT EVENT:   Ransomville Speedway - August 1, 2008.                                        

DID NOT QUALIFY(7)
1-Todd Gordon/St.Catharines,ONT
1f-Fred Carleton/Niagara-o-t-Lake,ONT
1p-Darren Peters/Ft. Erie,ONT
16w-Derek Wutzke/Fenwick,ONT
31-George Bosse/St.Catharines,ONT
37s-Andrew Sittler/St.Catharines,ONT
44-Brian Stevens/St.Catharines,ONT
 
QUALIFYING
Heat Races (10 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to feature, top 3 went to re-draw)
#1: Willix, MacTavish, Cosgrove, Brachmann, Bicknell, Wood, Wills, Hebert, Bosse, Carleton.
#2: Miller, Jones, Steele, Lampman, Braun, Wight, Peters, Gordon, Burley.
#3: Planck, Lemyre, Kerwin, Ladouceur, Bleich, Gauvreau, Clair, Terrance, Sittler.
#4: Richner, O'Brien, George, Krull, Jacobs, Cunningham, Stevens, Smoke, Wutzke, Flannigan.

Consolation Round (10 laps, top 5 finishers transferred to feature)
#1: Hebert, Wood, Wills, Burley, Wight, Carleton, Gordon, Peters, Bosse.
#2: Cunningham, Terrance, Clair, Gauvreau, Flannigan, Smoke, Sittler, Wutzke, Stevens.
Provisional: Smoke.
Added: Carleton.
 
From DIRTcar Racing // Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing NorthEast Public Relations Director // Photo by Alex Bruce

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