DUGUAY CLAIMS THE FIRECRACKER 50
Fifteen Bombers took to the track for 50 laps of action at the T&L Abatement and Remediation Firecracker Night Bomber 50, but only one driver could roll away at the end of it all with the checkered flag in hand. That driver was Alex Duguay behind the wheel of the 11!
Speedway Miramichi's own "Rock 'em Sock 'em Sliding Sideways Thrill Show" lived up to the hype on Saturday night! All drivers were out there to put on a show and try to etch their name as a Firecracker Night winner. The 50 laps were filled with slides, bumps and grinds, but also remained relatively caution-free in an exciting show to finish off the evenings stock car portion. The intended pole-sitter, Randy Girouard, accepted a sponsored pole invert, taking a cash payout to start from the back of the field, working his way up to a 4th place finish at the end of the race. Riley Connell was like a rocket on rails with the #43 leading the first 17 laps of the race to earn a cash bonus every time thanks to the sponsors of the lap board. An 18th lap caution reset the field and Duguay immediately took the lead in the #11 and managed to hang on to it until the very end with Connell hot on his tail. An exciting battle for 2nd place between Connell and veteran race Robert Legere in the 04x persisted throughout the 2nd half of the race, with Legere finishing 2nd and Connell in 3rd! Each of them leaving the track with some new hardware for their trophy shelves ranging from 1 to 4 feet tall.
The afternoon kicked off with some 4cyl action featuring 4 Mini Stocks putting on a show for 20 laps. The Nova Scotian phenom who is almost uncatchable at Speedway Miramichi, JR Lawson, put on another stellar show battling against Irishtown NB's Rob Poirier. Poirier claimed the win over Lawson at last Months Day of 8's event, but Lawson made sure not to let it happen again after battling his Speedway rival and once again putting on a great show despite minimal car counts! Mitchell Poirier made his return to the track in the #28 Honda and stayed in tow of the lead cars throughout the feature! Joel Despres finished behind in 4th with the #52 but has shown constant improvement so far in his rookie season. As the saying goes "First you get good, then you get fast."
Our Street Stocks also battled it out over a 4 car field and 20 lap feature with some tight quarters racing throughout. The race began with only 3 cars on the track until the #3 emerged from the pits piloted by veteran driver Tom Nicholls subbing for John Dickson on lap 2. Jason MacCallum's #27, piloted this time by Mark Kingston, took the lead from the get-go and hung on to it until the very end to get the win. The action behind was held on by rookie Street Stocker, but no new-comer to the track, Axten MacLean in the TNR #28. Brad MacLean's #13 hit the pits early on for a few laps and just wasn't able to make up for it in the short lapped feature, leaving him in the final spot for the day.
The Atlantic Modified Tour made it's second stop of the season in Miramichi and as always managed to wow the crowd with great open-wheel racing action! Braxton Stafford put on a racing clinic, holding the lead for the 35 lap Feature, holding off Zean Dutcher in 2nd place and Chris Wilson's 2W who climbed his way to 3rd place after starting near the rear of the pack. There was no lack of action behind the podium positions though as the AMT always manages great tight-quarters racing! With a bit of bumping and sliding and a couple spins to add to it all, it was another great show put on by the tour!
The Demo portion of the evening started off with a classic Dash for Cash with over 20 cars registered. The race came to a brief stop after a car hit the wall head on coming out of turn 2 and stayed in a vulnerable area. The driver came out fine and the car was removed for the race to continue. Former Demo Champ Mitch Brideau piloted the #22 to the win!
The Powder Puff division came out for a 15 lap feature next. Right off the start, defending champ Hayley Waugh jumped to the front of the pack and stayed there until the end, getting her first checkered flag of 2024 after having bad luck with vehicles in the first events of the season. Points leader Monique Benoit followed suit in 2nd place with Melanie Bastarache finishing the podium standings in 3rd.
The chaotic and entertaining Back-Up Race was contested next and as always never ceased to entertain. the 010 of Remi Rousselle kept the lead through the first half of the race until getting loose coming out of turn 2 and was collected by the 68 of Mickael Robichaud, who was racing for his first time ever and managed to come out with the Back-Up Race win.
The Bump-To-Pass, an extremely entertaining event that is rarely contested at Speedway Miramichi made a comeback Saturday evening and did not disappoint. with cars being spun left, right and center throughout the track, infield and into the walls. It was a scene of beautiful chaos, with multi-year champ Jean-Francois Basque emerging the victor with the #21.
The crowd-favorite Burnout Competition had 6 vehicles compete, with Stephane Poirier taking a unanimous victory in his classic Chev short-box truck.
The Figure 8 came up next with Jean-Francois Basque gaining the lead early on and kept it until there was a bit of a stumble on the track and Mitch Brideau made the pass for the lead. The race came to a hard red-flagged stop though after a hard hit in the X sent Randy Girouard's #8 spinning into a stopped vehicle and nearly rolling over. Track medical staff rushed to find the driver unconscious for a tense few minutes until he regained himself before Firefighters and Medics arrived. Track officials made the decision to call off the remainder of the race and the final demo due to the situation and poor visibility in the infield, giving the win to the race leader at the Red Flag, Mitch Brideau in the #22. The night was finished off once the scene was cleared with our T&L Abatement and Remediation Firecracker Night Fireworks Display. Randy Girouard informed track staff that he was released from the hospital that night with a concussion and a minor shoulder injury.
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