GRANBY, QUE. Alain Bergeron ended a two year win drought back in early June; this time he didn�t have wait nearly as long to get back to Victory Lane.
On Friday night at Autodrome Granby, Bergeron dominated the Fondations 4 Saisons sponsored 25-lap A-Main to win his second Lucas Oil 25th Anniversary Empire Super Sprint series event of the season. It also helped him close in on Steve Poirier in the SMAC Magazine Canadian Invasion series.
�I�m very happy to win here tonight,� said St. Pie, Que., driver. �It means a lot for me to win here because it is so close to home.�
When the night was over, Bergeron pocketed $2,175 for his efforts while picking up his10th career series win.
Lance Yonge and Bergeron started alongside on another on the front row for the feature event. At the green, Yonge and Bergeron raced even into turn one with Bergeron gaining the advantage on the top-side of the speedway.
�Starting on the front row is always good,� stated Bergeron. �I was able to get a good start and take the lead.�
On lap two the red flag was displayed when Cory Sparks got upside down in turn four bouncing off the catch fence. He was uninjured in the incident.
On the restart, Bergeron maintained the race lead with Poirier getting by Yonge to secure the second position.
By lap 16 Bergeron began encountering slower traffic at the tail of the field. That challenge quickly diminished when Bubby Kerrick slowed with broken throttle linkage bringing out the yellow.
The restart gave Poirier another opportunity to get by Bergeron but it was to no avail. Bergeron never moved from the top of the speedway forcing Poirier to try and make thepass on the bottom.
The race was slowed one final time with two laps remaining when Lee Ladouceur lost a motor in his No.51 putting oil down on the speedway on the bottom of turn one. This gave the entire field one last shot at Bergeron.
�I didn�t like to see all of those cautions,� commented Bergeron. �I�ve had a problem with the fuel injection picking up. I was worried at the end that the car wasn�t going to go.�
The car did go and at the checkered it was Bergeron winning over Justin Barger. Barger had tracked down Poirier in the closing laps to take the runner-up position way. He ran out of time in his attempt to catch Bergeron.
�All those cautions really hurt me,� said the Montrose, N.Y., driver. �It seemed like I would pass a car and then the caution would come out and I have to go back. I needed a little bit longer run at the end and I might have been able to get him (Bergeron).�
Poirier, the winner last time the tour visited Granby, settled for a solid third place finish with his AMB Moteurs powered ride. On many of the race restarts he attempted to take the lead away from Bergeron by diving to the bottom of turns one and two, but he was unable to do so.
�I thought about maybe pulling a slide-job,� commented Poirier. �I didn�t want to get into him. I thought it was smarter to just stay in second rather than risk wrecking our cars.�
Brian McDonald, of Cornwall, Ont., won his heat race event and crossed the line in fourth. Yonge, the pole-sitter, fell back as far as sixth before rebounding to complete the top five.
Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints Fondations 4 Saisons A-Main (25-laps): Alain Bergeron, Justin Barger, Steve Poirier, Brian McDonald, Lance Yonge, Tommy Wickham, Michael Parent, Anthony Cain, Justin Harris, Chris Jones, Daniel Lampron, Lee Ladouceur, Doug Emery, Bubby Kerrick, Jeff Cook, Normand Beaudreault, Cory Sparks, Tim Kelly
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 1 (10-laps): Steve Poirier, Lance Yonge, Cory Sparks, Daniel Lampron, Lee Ladouceur, Justin Harris.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 2 (10-laps): Brian McDonald, Justin Barger, Doug Emery, Normand Beaudreault, Michael Parent, Tim Kelly
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heat 3 (10-laps): Alain Bergeron, Jeff Cook, Anthony Cain, Bubby Kerrick, Chris Jones, Tommy Wickham.
Cash Bonuses:
Fondations 4 Saisons A-Main Bonus: Bergeron $200
Ohsweken Speedway Winners Bonus: Bergeron $100
National Parts Peddler Halfway Bonus: Bergeron $100
Les Constructions Ultra Blue Collar Award: Parent $50
Cook’s Contracting Bridesmaid Award: Barger $50
Lane’s Yamaha Hard Charger: Wickham (12 pos.) $50
AMB Moteurs Fast Time Award: Bergeron (17.652)
HG Associates Pole Award : Yonge $50
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers: Poirier, McDonald, Bergeron $25.
Winner�s Contengincies:
Lucas Oil $115, Griffin Thermal Products $100, Design 500 $100, Saldana Racing Products $50, GME Steering $80, Hank�s Performance Products $50, Kreitz Oval Track Products $50, Racing Optics $30, Rod End Supply $30, Area Auto Racing News $25, Brake Man $25, Ultra Shield $10, Pepsi Cola $1o.
Other Contingencies:
Weld Racing Hard Luck � Sparks $100
ATL � Poirier $100
Mangus Pumps � Cain $100
M&W Aluminum Products � Kerrick $75
Leaf Racewear � Wickham $75
Design 500 � Yonge $50, Jones $50
Keizer Wheels � Cain $50
KSE Racing Products � Wickham $50
Zemco Headers � Yonge $50
Joe Hunt Magnetos � Sparks $50
Rod End Supply � Poirier $30
VMAC Racing � Parent $25
DMI � Kelly $25
Luther�s Way Out Grafix � Cook $25
ISC Racers Tape � Jones $10
Ultra Shield � Barger $10
Pepsi Cola � Brian McDonald, Steve Poirier $5.