Brockville Brings The Curtain Down On '09 Mr. DIRTcar 358 & Pro Stock Season!

Weedsport, NY – October 14, 2009 - By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director

One down three to go. When the inaugural DIRTcar Northeast Fall Nationals at Brockville Ontario Speedway, two more overall Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar champions will be recognized with just one more determined next weekend.

Big-Block specialist Brett Hearn sealed the deal Sunday in the Super DIRT Week showdown on the Syracuse Mile while season-long point chasers will drive away from Brockville this weekend clinging to a pair of coveted titles earned in the 358-Modified and Sportsman ranks. Black Rock Speedway in Dundee, N.Y. brings down the curtain on DIRTcar Racing Northeast’s 34th year of operation when a Sportsman champion is declared for the 20th straight season back in the states.

Right now, all eyes are focused on Brockville as preparations for the biggest weekend in 40 years of racing at Brockville come to a head on October 17-18 when the ‘Beast of the East’ unlocks its gates for the 2009 finale.

Crews have been busy coming up with plans, and repositioning barriers around on the Speedway grounds to handle race fans and teams as they come north of the border to close out the biggest season ever for owners Paul and Cheryl Kirkland. Also on the card is a special open 360 Sprint Car event plus a full-fender Street Stock invitational with qualifying heats beginning each day at 2 p.m.

While Hearn edged recent Rite Aid 200 Presented By Ferris & Snapper Mowers winner ‘Super Matt’ Sheppard by just four points in the final Mr. DIRTcar Big-Block points tally, the remaining three championship are going down to the wire with two to be decided this weekend.

In search of his first-ever title, American hopeful Dale Planck leads defending Mr. DIRTcar champ Pete Bicknell from St. Catharines, Ont. by 52 points as they head toward the City of the Thousand Islands. A finish of 16th or better guarantees Planck a seat at the head of the banquet table, although a victory for Bicknell accompanied by a 17th-place tally by ‘The Natural” will result in a tie atop the small-block standings.

The trip to Brockville for Pro Stockers will mark the first ever series stop for DIRTcar NE’s top full-fender touring division, and in another international confrontation it will be New Yorker Pete Stefanski contending for an unprecedented fourth consecutive overall title against second-generation standout Joey Ladouceur from nearby Alexandria, Ont. Just 37 points separate this dynamic duo that accounts for 24 victories in ’09, including seven of the eight tour wins recorded on both sides of the border. A finish of ninth or better will sew up the championship no matter where Ladouceur crosses the line.

Its Canada vs. United States still one more time as another margin of 37 points stands between reigning Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman points king Chris Raabe from Napanee, Ontario and rising star Ryan Susice from Ransomville, N.Y. The teenage titans will trade paint on Raabe’s (18 yrs) home soil before Susice (19 yrs.) travels closer to home for the Oct. 24 judgment day at Black Rock.

Leading the bullies of Brockville into battle over the weekend will be nine-time 358-Mod track champ Danny O’Brien from Kingston, Ont. and 16 year-old driving sensation Matt Billings, fresh off a command performance leading flag-to-flag last Saturday in the Super DIRT Week Sportsman Championship.

For more information, please contact the Brockville office (613/348-3998) or the DIRTcar NE office in Weedsport (315/834-6606) during normal business hours. In the meantime, log into the homepage at www.dirtcar.com  to find out more about the Mr. DIRTcar Series as well as the entire circuit.

Brockville Ontario Speedway www.brockvillespeedway.com is easily accessible from all directions: From Watertown N.Y. and south take 1-81 to Thousand Islands Bridge, exit onto Highway 401 East, follow Highway 401 East to Highway 29 at Brockville, then turn left at lights following exit follow Highway 29 to track on left; From Ottawa ON and north take Highway 417 to Highway 7, take Highway 7 west to Highway 15 at Carleton Place, follow Highway 15 South to Smith's Falls, pick up Highway 29 at light just after bridge in Smith's Falls, then follow (appox 30kms) to track on right hand side; From Kingston ON and west take Highway 401 East to Highway 29 exit at Brockville, turn left at lights, take Highway 29 13 kms North to find track on left; From Cornwall ON and east, take Highway 401 West to Highway 29 exit at Brockville, turn right at lights, take Highway 29 13 kms North and track is on the left.