BROCKVILLE, Ont. — Take two of opening day took place on Saturday night at the Brockville Ontario Speedway with a big card of racing as the opener for the Ogilvie’s Triple Crown Series for the DIRTCar 358 Modified and DIRTCar Sportsman took center stage.
Ryan Arbuthnot used his pole starting spot to take the lead at the start of the 50 Ogilvie’s Triple Crown Series opener for the DIRTCar 358 Modifieds with Steve Bernier, Kyle Dingwall, Johnathon Ferguson and Corey Wheeler in the top five.
Track conditions made it tough to pass in the early laps of the race, as drivers chose the bottom of the speedway, which proved successful for Arbuthnot as he charged away from the field. Arbuthnot would lead the opening 11 laps which saw a pair of cautions, one for Gavin McFarlane who spun off turns three and four.
The second was for Dylan Evoy who tagged an infield tire off turn four, breaking the front end on his ride. Back to green flag racing and Arbuthnot continued to lead but a challenger was right there with him in the form of Quebec star Steve Bernier, who was last through the pit gate, but was strong in the early laps.
Still, the bottom proved to be fast as Arbuthnot held the lead, leaving others to try and figure out a way to catch him. By lap 35, Arbuthnot had put it on auto-pilot and the four-time series champion looked to have the field covered.
On lap 40 Tristan Draper slipped off turns three and four, bringing out the yellow flag. When the green flag flew Arbuthnot and Bernier continued their battle with Dingwall, Corey Wheeler and Johnathon Ferguson close by.
Bernier tried the top side but again it was Arbuthnot in control. It looked like he would march to victory, but a caution on lap 47 set up an opportunity for Bernier.
On the restart, Bernier would pull even with Arbuthnot, but the reigning track champion was able to hold him off, however Bernier was not done. On lap 49 Bernier got a great run down the back stretch and would pull even in turn three.
As the two drivers headed to the checkered flag, Bernier found a little something he had been looking for all race long to get by Arbuthnot and win by half a car length in a thrilling finish, scoring his first Ogilvie’s Series win and second ever Brockville victory.
Arbuthnot finished a close second over Dingwall, Wheeler and Ferguson.
Shane Pecore won the DIRTcar Sportsman feature from the pole while Mathieu Bardier charged from fourth to the win in winged crate sprint car action.
Paul Donnelly scored the novice sportsman division win. Todd Raabe won in street stocks.
Feature Finish (50 Laps)
1. 25*-Steve Bernier[2]; 2. R70-Ryan Arbuthnot[1]; 3. 66-Kyle Dingwall[3]; 4. 47S-Corey Wheeler[5]; 5. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[4]; 6. 17-Tristan Draper[11]; 7. 38J-Jarrett Herbison[9]; 8. 64-Terry McClelland[8]; 9. 18-Kalen Draper[15]; 10. 35-Thomas Cook[13]; 11. SS3-Sandy MacFarlane[10]; 12. 83-Dylan Evoy[7]; 13. 08-Chris Ferguson[6]; 14. 17M-Gavin MacFarlane[14]; 15. 88-Lee Ladouceur[16]; 16. (DNS) 26-Michael Mandigo