Edelweiss Speedway: Eric Gauvreau wins the Modified Feature

Cantley, PQ – Friday, August 20, 2010 – Martin Bélanger – An important night in the Modified category at Edelweiss Speedway with the 2010 championship point`s ending tonight as show up points will be given next week because of the Canadian Challenge in town. Along with season championship, the Fondations BRL Modified Series also ended tonight. The Toitures Marcel Raymond Semi-Pro Series was also completed with a 25-lap feature event. The Mod-Lite, Mini-Stock and 4-Wheeler categories were also on the schedule on Ray Matte Couvreur Night.

In the 30-lap Modified feature race, Eric Gauvreau took the early lead with Luke Whitteker in second and Denis Gauvreau in third spot. Eric Gauvreau built himself a confortable lead over Whitteker while a good battle for fourth spot between Joel Doiron and Stéphane Lafrance. Denis Gauvreau that was running strong in third stopped in turn 2 and caution came out. Gauvreau had a good start over Whitteker as Doiron and Lafrance were doing battle for third; Lafrance finally got the spot over Doiron. Valade brought the caution on lap 18. On the restart, Gauvreau stayed first with Whitteker and Doiron. Chris King brought the caution with 6 laps to go. Gauvreau had another strong start over Whitteker as Doiron and Lafrance were racing together for third spot. Ryan Foley stopped in turn 2 with only 2 laps to go. Gauvreau led the final 2-lap dash to win his second feature of the season over Luke Whitteker and Joel Doiron. With his win, Gauvreau confirms the Fondations BRL Series Title and with his fourth place finish, Stéphane Lafrance secures his champion, he needs to be present next week to confirm the title, Eric Gauvreau finishes second and Luke Whitteker in third, young Whitteker also wins the rookie of the year award.

Alain Proulx took the early lead in the 25-lap TMR Semi-Pro Series Race; Stéphane Carrière was running second with Steve Gagné closely in third. Some 3-wide racing in the backstretch for the second as Mark Trudeau was also in the mix with 5 laps done. Trudeau was strong and took the lead on lap 6. Nico Leblanc quickly got into the mix as he was running for the second spot with Steve Gagné. Leblanc passed Gagné and was gaining ground on the leader Trudeau. Leblanc was strong on the outside and took the lead at the halfway point. The first caution of the race happened on lap 15. Leblanc got a good start over Bruno Boivin now second and Trudeau in third spot. Boivin was running close to Leblanc with 8 laps to go in the feature race. The car of Benoit Dubois caught fire under the hood and caution came out with 21 laps completed. Leblanc got another good jump as Boivin was still close. Leblanc led the final laps to win his seventh feature of the season and completed the sweep securing the championship title and also the TMR Series champion.

In the 15-lap Mod-Lite feature race, Mathieu Robinson takes the first spot with Dean Pronovost that makes a great move to grab the second spot when caution came out on the first lap. Robinson in first with Pronovost in second and a good battle for third as Dave Bell secured the spot. A good battle for the lead as Pronovost finally gained the top spot when Richard Renaud stopped in the frontstretch on lap 5. Pronovost the leader with Charles Legendre now racing in second spot when Robinson lost control in turn 2 and caution came out. Legendre was strong on the restart and took the top at the halfway point over Pronovost. The two leaders got away from the rest of the field as Sylvain Laframboise was now in third spot. Legendre led the final laps to capture his fourth feature of the season over Pronovost and Laframboise.

A great run in the 8-lap Mini-Stock feature with Gabriel Mercier and Jean-Marc Larose doing battle, Mercier won his second feature of the season.

Martin Bérard won the feature in the 4-wheeler race.

Edelweiss is presenting one of the biggest shows of the year next Friday with the Canadian Super Challenge part of a 4-race series, as the first two were completed in July at Autodrome Granby and Autodrome Drummond. Nearly 30 Modifieds are expected for this 100-lap event with $20,000 in prize and $3,000 going to the winner of the race. A great field of drivers from Quebec and Ontario is expected for this race. The Semi-Pro and Mod-Lite classes will also see some action on Coca-Cola Night.