Dundee, NY – October 24, 2009 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing Northeast PR Director // Rick Young Photo Attachments
The 2009 Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship came to an end Saturday night at Black Rock Speedway and it was Donnie Lawson doing what he had done all season long to win the Owasco Beverage Labatt 30 Championship while Chris Raabe did all that he needed to capture a second straight overall season title.
As Lawson dueled with ’09 Black Rock DIRTcar track champion Todd Henderson to collect the $1,000 top-prize, Raabe kept series runner-up Ryan Susice in sight throughout the event to earn an even bigger honor when he sits at the head table during DIRTcar Racing Northeast’s ‘Night of Champions’ awards banquet in November.
“I’d have to say this is the biggest win of my career,” declared second-generation driver Lawson from Woodhull, N.Y. following his sixth DIRTcar victory of the season at the Yates County oval. “Even though we’ve won some 358 (Small-Block Modified) races, this has to rank right at the top being a tour show.”
Competing for just the third time ever at Black Rock, Raabe was content to escape with a 16th-place finish which was good enough to outlast Susice in the final points chase with only 45 marker separating the talented twosome after 17 extra-distance tour stops.
“We’ve had a lot of trouble here at Black Rock, flat tires and stuff, so going home in one piece and with another championship is still okay in the big picture,” figured Raabe, 18, after joining Steve Hall (1996 & ’98) and Russ Hefti as the only repeat Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman champions in 20 years, with Hefti (2005-06) the first driver to claim back-to-back titles. “It kinda stinks sometimes racing for points, you can’t take chances anywhere. When you get under a guy you gotta back out of it, so just finishing actually becomes more important than where you finish when its all over.”
Canadian invader Luke Carleton jumped out to an early advantage from his pole-position start and held off an early bid by third-place starter Lawson aboard his Morgan's Auto Repair no. 11 Bath Chiropractic Associates/TEO mount. Western New York traveler Mark Chiddy got upside to bring out a rare red flag on lap 4 and on the ensuing restart it was Lawson ducking under Carleton to take the top spot exiting turn two.
Unable to qualify through his heat and the consolation round, Raabe had filled out the final row of the 30-car starting grid then watched as Susice pitted after the stoppage to replace a soft tire and rejoin the rear of the field. Going into the event, Susice needed a victory to stand any chance of stealing away the overall Mr. DIRTcar points crown, while 20th or better for Raabe would lock up the title outright for the ‘Teenage Tornado’ from Napanee, Ont. aboard owner Gary McColman’s no. 01 Scott’s Industrial Services-TyRoute Communication/TEO entry.
Back under green with Lawson moving to the point, Carleton was quickly shadowed by Henderson, Steve Gray and Black Rock regular Loren Lincoln. Susice and Raabe were mired near the back of the pack in their own battle when the lone female qualifier, Katelyn Kane, was tapped from behind in turn four by Chris Silvers to require the only caution of the race on lap seven.
Henderson closed in on leader Lawson a third of the way through and when the halfway mark was reached had moved the HR3 no. 18H Valvoline/Bicknell machine out front in pursuit of his second checkered flag of the season. Henderson used the lapped car of Jeff Hand as a moving pick, sweeping high out of the fourth corner with Lawson sandwiched in between to nose ahead as the threesome crossed the stripe to complete lap 14. Lincoln, Carleton and Gray were scored next when the scoreboard flashed 15 with radar once again showing rain in the distance.
Traffic remained thick as the leaders navigated through the open lanes. This time it was Lawson blasting high out of turn four using the lapped car of Silvers to forge the final lead change as Henderson dropped to second with 19 laps complete.
With Lawson and Henderson running uncontested in the top two slots, Gray overtook Carleton for fourth on lap 22 and set his sights on third-place Lincoln in the closing stages. Not only did Gray complete his climb up to the show position on the final circuit, Justin Wright mirrored the move as he slipped past Carleton with 17 cars finishing the distance in the 25-minute main.
“I thought (Todd) had me, I’m not good in lapped traffic and he knows it,” remarked Lawson, following his 12th victory of the season in Dundee. “I was just able to get it back this time.”
“I knew there was a guy up high, so for him to get a shot up there would’ve been hard because there was a guy blocking the top lane. I Knew if I could just ride behind ---think it was the #65 car (Boyd MacTavish)--- I would be alright. Still wasn’t comfortable about it, saying I was would be a lie. You just hope it’s the right choice, and I’ve made the wrong decision in lapped traffic a lot of times in my life so far,” Lawson admitted.
Winner of a tour-best five Mr. DIRTcar Championship trail races this season, Raabe chose to ride it out once the feature got underway as a Top-20 finish was all he needed to claim the overall title.
“All in all it was a great season, 20 wins, a couple track titles and a 2nd consecutive Mr. DIRT Championship, that’s pretty neat,” said Raabe, who last year became the youngest overall champion in DIRTcar’s 34-year history, and this time around is now the youngest ever to garner consecutive crowns.
“Last year we had about the same number but this season we won more bigger races. We also won out West where Ryan was probably the favorite. Going in we were really looking to match what we accomplished last year so our success this season just reinforces what we did and shows it wasn’t a fluke,” added Raabe, who already plans to be back in 2010 trying to ‘threepeat’ unless additional sponsorship support during the off-season allows otherwise.
Finishing behind Raabe (1651) and Susice (1606) in the final 2009 Hoosier Tire-VP Racing Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series Championship point standings are Jipp Ortiz (1494), Justin Wright (1074), Dan Wiesner (1316), B.J. Willard (1282), Adam Turner (1249), Greg Panunte (1243), Mark Chiddy (1156) and Sammy Reakes IV (1096), who won the ’09 opener at Black Rock in April.
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