Mat Williamson invades at Brockville claims Ogilvie’s 50-lapper at Brockville Ontario Speedway on Saturday Night

By: Tim Baltz

Forthton – Nearly 120 cars across seven divisions were set for over 250 laps of racing this past Saturday night at the Brockville Ontario Speedway. Mobil 1 and Jim’s Performance Plus were on hand for the big night which featured the second round of Ogilvie’s Triple Crown Series for the DIRTCar 358 Modified and Sportsman and the crowning of a Street Stock track champion.

In the Street Stock 15 lap event Brett Horner and Stephane Phillippe were in a battle for the title and Horner had the top spot with Nick Merkley and Todd Raabe right there to challenge. On lap 7 Merkley took over the lead but Raabe and Horner were trying to deny his first-ever win. Over the final laps, Nick Merkley was able to hang on and score his first career win, Raabe finished 2nd with Brett Horner coming across third, good enough for his 2nd straight track title. Steve Brady and Sam Rechzin completed the top 5.

The 2nd leg of the Ogilvie’s Triple Crown Series for the DIRTcar was set for 50 laps and Johnathon Ferguson started on the pole with Mat Williamson chasing him in 2nd. On lap 7 Williamson would charge to the lead and begin to author a dominant performance. Williamson built up a huge lead with Ryan Arbuthnot and Danny O’Brien moving into the top 3, but they had some work to do. With the race going caution-free Williamson was able to run his own pace and pick his spots in traffic, with Arbuthnot, Danny O’Brien and Johnathon Ferguson tried to keep pace. Over the final laps, Ryan Arbuthnot closed to within a half straight away, but his trip to victory lane would have to wait, as Mat Williamson’s return to Brockville resulted in a 4th trip to victory lane and a second Ogilvie’s Series win. Ryan Arbuthnot crossed in second with Danny O’Brien, Johnathon Ferguson and Jarrett Herbison completing the top 5.

The 40-lap Ogilvie’s Triple Crown event for the DIRTCar Sportsman was ready for battle and Shane Pecore was looking to increase his series points lead but Bobby Herrington was right behind him with Shane Stearns third. Brennan Moore had problems on lap 2 as he lost power off turn four causing a chain reaction crash resulting in several drivers having to restart at the tail of the field. Tyler Stewart received the most damage while running fourth and would be towed to the pits. Pecore continued his string drive but Herrington was within striking distance and needed a caution to have a shot at the win while Stearns, Xavier Andrews and Jessica Power, who made her way to the top 5 after the early race tangle, were trying to keep pace. A quick yellow flew on lap 25 giving Herrington the opportunity he needed. On the restart, Herrington would take over the top spot with Pecore second and Shane Stearns third. Over the remaining laps, Bobby Herrington would settle into a comfortable lead and never look back, scoring his 6th win of the year and his 5th Ogilvie’s win. Shane Pecore would finish up second with Shane Stearns third. Brennan Moore would come from a lap down to finish fourth with Xavier Andrews 5th.

The Eastern Ontario Mini Stock Showdown Series started off in a scary way as Ryan Brown would sail off the top of turns one and two, resulting in a series of violent flips. Brown was okay but his night was over early. The battle up front following the red flag in the 25 lap feature saw Brandon MacMillan lead the way over Antoine Dumouchel, James Clarke, Matt Boal and Tyler Lamarche. These drivers put on a great battle for the lead, but it was not a good day for the top two in the points. Hayden Brown dropped off the pace on the backstretch on lap 10, while Matt Boal, who was second in points, went to the pits with mechanical issues later in the event. Over the final laps a great battle ensued with race leader Pierre Picard, Brandon MacMillan Travis Lamarche and Marc Dagenais. On the final lap MacMillan gave it a shot on the outside of turns three and four and drew even with Picard. Off turn 4 Pierre Picard was able to edge out MacMillan for his first win of the year. MacMillan gained major points towards the track title with one week to go, claiming a runner up finish. Marc Dagenais, defending track champion Jamie Larocque and Dakota Boal completed the top 5.

A five car tangle started off the 20 lap PM Promotion Pro Stock feature resulting in two-time feature winner Tyler Bushey being towed to the pits with mechanical problems. Eric-Jean Louis led the way in the opening laps but Marc Lalonde, the winningest Pro Stock driver in the area, was able to make his way to the top spot with veterans Denis Gauvreau and Bruno Cyr moving to the top three spots. Lalonde began to stretch out his lead and appeared to be well on his way to another win in 2023 and possibly his second win at Brockville. With 5 laps to go the caution flew giving Gauvreau and Cyr a chance at the win. On the final restart Lalonde was able to get away by two car lengths with Cyr right there to challenge from third. In turn 3 on the final lap Denis Gauvreau went to the high lane but it wasn’t enough as Marc Lalonde scored the win over Gauvreau, Cyr, Thomas McDonald and Eric-Jean Louis.

Dylan Moore was the dominant driver in the opening laps of the 12 lap Novice Sportsman feature as he led the way over Paul Donnelly. Moore would lead the way until lap 6 when Madie Wallace and Trey Ladoucer tangled in turns 1 and 2. As they tangled they collected Melcolm Banks who sailed off the corner and made heavy contact with the pit wall. Banks would climb out uninjured. Wallace and Ladouceur were able to return to the race at the back of the field. On the restart Dylan Moore would take the lead but behind him Skylar Ladouceur was on the charge taking 2nd in the closing laps, but Dylan Moore was driving away and would end up in victory lane for a 4th time in 2023. Ladouceur crossed in second over Cory Lambert, Trey Ladouceur and Paul Donnelly.

The Eastern Ontario Vintage Stock Car Club closed out a very busy night of racing, with battles happening through the 20 lap event in two different divisions. Jason Riddell led the 70/80 class but Matt Barbour was giving the veteran all he could handle. In the 50/60 class a pair of veterans were having a great battle for position as Pete Stapper and Greg Hale were having it out for the lead. Through the entire distance the leaders in both classes put on a show for the fans trading positions while also working through lapped cars. At the finish Riddell would hold off Barbour for the big win while Stapper would win the battle between him and Greg Hale for the win in the 50/60 division.

Next week Greenshield Pest Control will be on hand for championship night as champions will officially be crowned in the DIRTCar 358 Modified and DIRTCar Sportsman, Novice Sportsman, Mini Stock and PM Promotions DIRTCar Pro Stock. Racing will be back to the original 7pm start with hot laps and opening ceremonies before hand.

For updated information be sure to visit the speedway website at brockvillespeedway,com. For instant updates be sure to give the track a follow on Facebook, X(Formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

DIRTCAR 358 MODIFIEDS

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 6-Mat Williamson[2]; 2. R70-Ryan Arbuthnot[4]; 3. 17D-Danny O’Brien[3]; 4. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[1]; 5. 38J-Jarrett Herbison[6]; 6. 66-Kyle Dingwall[9]; 7. 17-Tristan Draper[5]; 8. 83-Dylan Evoy[7]; 9. 18-Kalen Draper[8]; 10. 88-Lee Ladouceur[11]; 11. 7M-Madison Mulder[10]; 12. 17M-Gavin MacFarlane[13]; 13. 64-Terry McClelland[15]; 14. 75J-Joe Banks[12]; 15. 08-Chris Ferguson[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[1]; 2. 17D-Danny O’Brien[2]; 3. 17-Tristan Draper[3]; 4. 83-Dylan Evoy[5]; 5. 66-Kyle Dingwall[7]; 6. 88-Lee Ladouceur[4]; 7. 17M-Gavin MacFarlane[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Mat Williamson[1]; 2. R70-Ryan Arbuthnot[2]; 3. 38J-Jarrett Herbison[3]; 4. 18-Kalen Draper[5]; 5. 7M-Madison Mulder[4]; 6. 75J-Joe Banks[6]; 7. 08-Chris Ferguson[8]; 8. 64-Terry McClelland[7]

15 entries

DIRTCAR PRO STOCK

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 8-Marc Lalonde[5]; 2. 72G-Denis Gauvreau[4]; 3. 33-Bruno Cyr[3]; 4. 27-Thomas MacDonald[14]; 5. 9-Eric Jean Louis[1]; 6. 6JR-Stephane Lebrun[6]; 7. 2X-James Clarke[13]; 8. 17-Marc Peladeau[2]; 9. 38JR-Justin Chaput[8]; 10. 64-Daniel Desnoyers[9]; 11. 12S-Dakota Sharp[7]; 12. 06-alex labrun[12]; 13. X15-Tyler Bushey[10]; 14. (DNS) 81-Danny Larose

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. X15-Tyler Bushey[6]; 2. 33-Bruno Cyr[4]; 3. 72G-Denis Gauvreau[5]; 4. 12S-Dakota Sharp[8]; 5. 6JR-Stephane Lebrun[7]; 6. 81-Danny Larose[1]; 7. 2X-James Clarke[2]; 8. (DNS) 4-Rock Aubin

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Marc Lalonde[5]; 2. 9-Eric Jean Louis[2]; 3. 6JR-Stephane Lebrun; 4. 38JR-Justin Chaput[7]; 5. 17-Marc Peladeau[3]; 6. 64-Daniel Desnoyers[6]; 7. 06-alex labrun[1]; 8. 27-Thomas MacDonald[4]

19 entries

DIRTCAR SPORTSMANS

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[3]; 2. 0M-Shane Pecore[1]; 3. 22S-Shane Stearns[2]; 4. 35B-Brennan Moore[4]; 5. 0-Xavier Andrews[6]; 6. 23-Michael Dillon[15]; 7. 52-Jessica Power[8]; 8. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[9]; 9. X41-Xavier Perrin[11]; 10. 707-Greg Brinklow[12]; 11. 18J-Jordan Wood[17]; 12. 91-Kraig Handley[7]; 13. 27D-Mario Dupuis[19]; 14. 29D-Justin Desrosiers[10]; 15. 3-Adam Rozon[16]; 16. 23P-Cole Perry[13]; 17. 16-Matthew Prunner[14]; 18. 32-Tyler Stewart[5]; 19. (DNS) 72-James Friesen

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 0M-Shane Pecore[2]; 2. 35B-Brennan Moore[1]; 3. 91-Kraig Handley[5]; 4. 29D-Justin Desrosiers[3]; 5. 23P-Cole Perry[7]; 6. 3-Adam Rozon[4]; 7. 27D-Mario Dupuis[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22S-Shane Stearns[2]; 2. 32-Tyler Stewart[1]; 3. 52-Jessica Power[3]; 4. X41-Xavier Perrin[5]; 5. 16-Matthew Prunner[4]; 6. 18J-Jordan Wood[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[1]; 2. 0-Xavier Andrews[2]; 3. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[4]; 4. 707-Greg Brinklow[5]; 5. 23-Michael Dillon[3]; 6. (DNS) 72-James Friesen

33 entries

DIRT MINI STOCKS

A Feature 1: 1. 48-Pierre Picard[8]; 2. 23B-Brandon Macmillan[1]; 3. 30-Marc Dagenais[16]; 4. 12A-Jamie Larocque[7]; 5. 73-Dakota Boal[12]; 6. 2X-James Clarke[10]; 7. 06J-Jarrod Galway[28]; 8. 7M-Dan Cook[9]; 9. 87C-Christopher Cordeau[3]; 10. 93M-Travis Lamarche[19]; 11. 29-Tyson Slinger[15]; 12. 6-Ian Reid[18]; 13. 95-Zac Lynch[17]; 14. 7Z-Antoine Dumouchel[4]; 15. TJ35-Tyler Lamarche[6]; 16. 7-Chris Cotton[14]; 17. 83-Steven Boies[22]; 18. 71S-Jon Saunders[21]; 19. 24-Sebastien Lussier[11]; 20. L29-Landen Slinger[27]; 21. 03C-Colin Chisamore[25]; 22. 33-Kevin Sabourin[2]; 23. 37-Matt Boal[5]; 24. 46-Hayden Brown[20]; 25. 27A-Ryan Brown[24]; 26. 66P-Mark Packer[23]; 27. (DNS) 32-Jason Beachamps; 28. (DNS) 68L-John Lamarche; 29. (DNS) 11R-Shawn Reid

Heat 1: 1. 37-Matt Boal[5]; 2. 73-Dakota Boal[3]; 3. 87C-Christopher Cordeau[4]; 4. 7-Chris Cotton[7]; 5. 6-Ian Reid[6]; 6. 83-Steven Boies[1]; 7. 68L-John Lamarche[2]; 8. (DNS) 7Z-Antoine Dumouchel

Heat 2: 1. TJ35-Tyler Lamarche[4]; 2. 7M-Dan Cook[6]; 3. 32-Jason Beachamps[2]; 4. 29-Tyson Slinger[3]; 5. 93M-Travis Lamarche[8]; 6. 66P-Mark Packer[5]; 7. (DNS) 75-Emily Massy; 8. (DNS) 33-Kevin Sabourin

Heat 3: 1. 2X-James Clarke[3]; 2. 48-Pierre Picard[1]; 3. 23B-Brandon Macmillan[4]; 4. 30-Marc Dagenais[7]; 5. 46-Hayden Brown[2]; 6. 27A-Ryan Brown[5]; 7. L29-Landen Slinger[6]; 8. (DNS) 16J-Jesse Wolfe

Heat 4: 1. 12A-Jamie Larocque[8]; 2. 24-Sebastien Lussier[1]; 3. TJ35-Tyler Lamarche; 4. 95-Zac Lynch[7]; 5. 71S-Jon Saunders[2]; 6. 03C-Colin Chisamore[5]; 7. 06J-Jarrod Galway[4]; 8. 11R-Shawn Reid[3]

10 entries

NOVICE SPORTSMAN

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 35D-Dylan Moore[4]; 2. 21L-Skylar Ladouceur[7]; 3. 39-Cory Lambert[8]; 4. 21T-Trey Ladouceur[6]; 5. 98-Paul Donnelly[1]; 6. 911-Nick Merkley[5]; 7. 17M-Madie Wallace[3]; 8. M75-Melcolm Banks[2]; 9. 20-Nathan Lambert[10]; 10. 80D-Damien King[9]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 35D-Dylan Moore[4]; 2. M75-Melcolm Banks[2]; 3. 17M-Madie Wallace[3]; 4. 21L-Skylar Ladouceur[5]; 5. 80D-Damien King[1]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 98-Paul Donnelly[1]; 2. 911-Nick Merkley[2]; 3. 21T-Trey Ladouceur[5]; 4. 39-Cory Lambert[3]; 5. 20-Nathan Lambert[4]

13 entries

STREET STOCKS

A Feature 1: 1. 911-Nick Merkley[5]; 2. 10-Todd Raabe[7]; 3. 52J-Brett Horner[3]; 4. 11-Steve Brady[4]; 5. 27-Sam Reckzin[9]; 6. 46-Adam Switzer[8]; 7. 7-Matt Mcrury[10]; 8. 125-Stephane Philippe[2]; 9. 22-Maxime Prevost[6]; 10. 9-Sylvain Gauthier[1]; 11. (DNS) 71-Francis Gauthier; 12. (DNS) 11X-Martin Thibert

Heat 1: 1. 10-Todd Raabe[6]; 2. 9-Sylvain Gauthier[2]; 3. 52J-Brett Horner[5]; 4. 11-Steve Brady[1]; 5. 27-Sam Reckzin[3]; 6. 71-Francis Gauthier[4]; 7. 11X-Martin Thibert[7]

Heat 2: 1. 911-Nick Merkley[2]; 2. 125-Stephane Philippe[4]; 3. 22-Maxime Prevost[3]; 4. 46-Adam Switzer[6]; 5. 7-Matt Mcrury[1]; 6. 0-Tyler French[5]

Eastern Ontario Vintage Stock Car Club (50/60) 20 laps

PETE STAPPER, Greg Hale, Dexter Billings, Chris Wilson Joey Hilts, Jeff Cledgett, Bob Beattie, Jamie Pryor, Darrell Wilson

Heat Winner: Greg Hale

Eastern Ontario Vintage Stock Car Club (70/80) 20 laps

JASON RIDDELL, Matt Barbour, Gavin Riddell, Steve Billings, Ian Gordon, Chad Lackie, Paul Billings, Kyle Grundy, Wayne Riddell

Heat Winner: Jason Riddell