BROCKVILLE, Ontario — In his final DIRTcar 358 Modified Series start of the season Saturday at Brockville Ontario Speedway, Mike Mahaney earned a personal career milestone.
The Elizabethtown, N.Y., driver passed Mat Williamson with nine laps to go to win the Chico Dingwall Memorial, earning his 100th feature win.
“This is a big event, the Brockville Fall Nationals,” Mahaney said. “It’s a track I’ve been good at in a sprint car but never been able to win here in a Modified. So the modified win is huge to me, and to get a big check is really cool for our team.
“It’s a very cool accomplishment. I’ve been doing this for 20-plus years just grinding. Trying to make a living at this.”
Gary Lindberg led the field to the green in the 96-lap feature, beating Brockville track champion Chris Raabe to Turn 1 for the advantage. The Ridgeway, Ontario, driver went unchallenged for the first eight laps, before Raabe started reeling him in through lapped traffic.
Raabe spent the next 10 laps trying to get by Lindberg on the outside lane, but Lindberg held him off every time. That changed on Lap 20, though. On the previous lap, Raabe showed Lindberg a nose on the outside lane. But this time, Lindberg slid his No. 37 in front of Raabe in Turn 3. That’s when Raabe dove underneath Lindberg to take the lead in Turns 3 and 4.
After two cautions for Elliott Gamache and Jack Butler, Raabe regained the lead again on a lap 41 restart. However, a new challenger emerged behind the No. 701, two-time and defending Series champion Mat Williamson.
Williamson snuck past Lindberg for second on Lap 45 and used that momentum to close on Raabe quickly. The St. Catharines, Ontario, driver needed only two more laps to take the lead, thundering past Raabe on the outside on Lap 47.
Mahaney, who started eighth, climbed to second on Lap 65, but yellow flags on Lap 66 and 70 stopped his momentum twice.
When the green came back out, though, Mahaney waited for his chance to strike. It finally came on Lap 87, when he built momentum through Turns 3 and 4. That burst allowed him to power past Williamson’s No. 6 on the inside lane to take the lead.
From there, Mahaney cruised to earn his second DIRTcar 358 Modified Series victory of the season, worth $10,096.
“I started eighth, kind of got going backward at the beginning and found the top,” Mahaney said. “I got to fourth, and I showed a nose on the outside of Mat Williamson, and he was able to see that I was running there and take that line before I could clear him. At that point, I just had to try the bottom and try different lanes, and I wasn’t as good.
“When Mat beat me to the lead, following him made me have to push harder. If I was leading and he had something to take, maybe he would’ve gotten me in the end. Because he got there first, I had to really search and find something deep to get by him. I did everything I could to win this race.”
Williamson settled for second, officially earning his third DIRTcar 358 Modified Series championship. Despite the run up front, Williamson said his chances of victory dwindled because he ran harder than he needed to early in the race.
“I think I used my stuff up there early in the race,” Williamson said. “I should’ve saved it for the end. But here you never know when it’s going to rubber. The racetrack was great. It was challenging and kept you guessing on where to be.”
Lindberg rounded out the podium, while Raabe crossed the line fourth, and David Hebert finished fifth.
The finish:
Feature (96 Laps): 1. 35-Mike Mahaney[8]; 2. 6-Mat Williamson[3]; 3. 37S-Gary Lindberg[1]; 4. 701-Chris Raabe[2]; 5. 124J-David Hebert[4]; 6. 91-Felix Roy[5]; 7. 19-Tim Fuller[10]; 8. 18JR-Louis Jackson Jr[6]; 9. 17-Tristan Draper[15]; 10. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[12]; 11. 96-Kyle Dingwall[18]; 12. 4K-Elliot Gamache[20]; 13. 13-Kevin Hamel[17]; 14. 21A-Peter Britten[19]; 15. 38J-Jarrett Herbison[30]; 16. 74-Lucas Fuller[25]; 17. 151KB-Brian McDonald[23]; 18. 14-CG Morey[28]; 19. 90G-Dany Gagne[14]; 20. 92T-Tristan Ladouceur[11]; 21. (DNF) 18R-Brad Rouse[26]; 22. (DNF) 11S-Steve Lewis Jr[29]; 23. (DNF) 47S-Corey Wheeler[13]; 24. (DNF) 88Z-Bobby Herrington[21]; 25. (DNF) 70A-Alex Payne[7]; 26. (DNF) 31-Lance Willix[9]; 27. (DNF) 22C-Cedric Gauvreau[16]; 28. (DNF) 66X-Carey Terrance[24]; 29. (DNF) 5-Jack Butler[22]; 30. (DNF) B24-Brendan Gibbons[27]
