Ryan Arbuthnot Dominates Brockville 358-Modified Feature With Commanding Victory

Story By: TIM BALTZ / BROCKVILLE ONTARIO SPEEDWAY – BROCKVILLE, ONT – Eastern Ontario Eavestrough and Suprenant Truck Shop were on had presenting a full show at the Brockville Ontario Speedway and the racing was exciting all night long.

In the Surprenant Truck Shop Crate Sprints, Josh Verne Jr. was the class of the field in the 20 lap feature on this night. The race got off to a rough start for Bruno Richard, who flipped his ride in turn 2 but was not injured in the crash. When the race restarted Josh Verne Jr. would get the best of veteran Lee Ladouceur from the outside pole. Both drivers were well in front with Adam Turner running in the third spot. Lapped cars towards the end of the race tightened the lead battle between the Verne, Ladouceur and Turner in the closing stages. On the final lap Ladouceur tried the outside lane in turn 4 but it was not meant to be as Josh Verne Jr., came back to “The BOS” to score his second win of the year. Ladouceur, Adam Turner, Andrew Hennessy and Ryan Poole completed the top five.

Patrick Kudrinko came into the night with plenty of confidence and led early in the 12 lap Novice Sportsman feature, with Melcolm Banks and last week’s winner Nick Merkley right there with him. By the half way point, Blake Smith and Logan Brown joined the lead trio making it a five car fight for the lead. Heading down the back stretch on lap 9 Nick Merkley made a bid for the lead on Kudrinko, resulting in slight contact, sending Kudrinko to the pits with damage as the yellow flew. On the final restart Merkley took the lead but Logan Brown made a strong run to second, then on the final lap charged to the high side for the lead on Merkley, but it was not meant to be as Nick Merkley won his third feature of the year in his third start. Brown finished second over Melcolm Banks, points leader Blake Smith and Matt Mould.

Matt Billings has made a solid return to the DIRTCar 358 Modified ranks in 2024 and took the lead early in the 30 lap DIRTCar 358 Modified feature, with Kalen Draper and Ryan Arbuthnot giving chase. Billings was strong on the top side, but Kalen Draper would move in front on lap 8 and start to pull away. Ryan Arbuthnot also was fast taking second and then ran down the race leader. On lap 17 Chris Ferguson slid off the track in turn 3 giving Ryan Arbuthnot a chance at the top spot. When the green returned it was Draper in front but it didn’t take long for the defending track champion to grab the lead and start to driver away. Arbuthnot would pull to a five car length lead over the final laps and would not be challenged as he scored his third Brockville 358 Modified win of the season. Johnathon Ferguson grabbed his third runner up finish of the year, while Kalen Draper, Kyle Dingwall and Preston Forbes completed the top five.

Tyler Stewart was looking for something good to happen as he led the early laps of the 25 lap DIRTCar Sportsman feature, over Greg Brinklow and Justin Saunders. Stewart, Brinklow and Tyler Stevenson would put on a great battle in the early laps, but on lap 10 a scary moment on the front stretch saw Skylar Ladoucer, Paul Donnelly, Marc-Olivier McCarthy and Madie Wallace all come together, resulting in a lengthy red flag for nearly one hour. Wallace was attended to by medical officials and had to be extricated from the car, with neck and shoulder pains. Wallace was taken to local hospital for evaluation. When the race resumed Stewart remined in front but Tyler Stevenson was on a mission. On lap 14 he took the top spot away from Stewart leaving him in second to battle with Brinklow and Jessica Power who moved to the top five near the finish. On this night, Tyler Stevenson would hold off a hard charging Dylan Kirkland on the final lap to score his first ever Brockville win and second win overall in 2024. Kirkland finished second, ahead of Jessica Power, Gavin Eisele and Tyler Stewart.

Stephane Philippe was looking for a great run on this night as he led the early laps of the 15 lap Street Stock feature, with Dakota Sharp and Francis Gauthier right there with him. Sharp was able to break free of the traffic and close in on the veteran for the lead. On lap 6 Sharp powered by to take the top spot and began to put on a dominant showing. A yellow slowed the field with a handful of laps remaining as Tyler Bushey’s car caught fire. He was able to get out unhurt. On the final restart Sharp remained in front as Philippe battled with points leader Todd Raabe for second, a position he would get at the finish. In the end Dakota Sharp would make his Brockville debut a good one, scoring his first win of the year. Raabe crossed second ahead of Stephane Philippe, Jonathan Gallipeau and Francis Gauthier.

Next week bring your Sharpies as it is autograph night and a chance to meet your favorite driver. A big card of racing featuring a qualifying event for the Northern Crate Sprint Car Nationals at Ohsweken Speedway in September. The DIRTCar 358 Modified and DIRTCar Sportsman will be on hand plus Novice Sportsman, Mini Stock and Street Stock. Racing begins as always at 7pm.

DIRTcar 358 Modifieds

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. R70-Ryan Arbuthnot[6]; 2. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[7]; 3. 18-Kalen Draper[4]; 4. 66-Kyle Dingwall[8]; 5. 45R-Preston Forbes[9]; 6. 17-Tristan Draper[13]; 7. 17M-Gavin MacFarlane[3]; 8. 64-Terry McClelland[15]; 9. 83-Dylan Evoy[14]; 10. 1M-Matt Billings[2]; 11. 38J-Jarrett Herbison[5]; 12. 23J-Jeff Sykes[11]; 13. 23-Cameron Black[16]; 14. 7M-Madison Mulder[10]; 15. 08-Chris Ferguson[1]; 16. 83D-Dustin Bradley[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 38J-Jarrett Herbison[4]; 2. 66-Kyle Dingwall[6]; 3. 08-Chris Ferguson[1]; 4. 7M-Madison Mulder[7]; 5. 17M-Gavin MacFarlane[3]; 6. 83D-Dustin Bradley[8]; 7. 17-Tristan Draper[5]; 8. 64-Terry McClelland[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. R70-Ryan Arbuthnot[4]; 2. 45R-Preston Forbes[6]; 3. 1M-Matt Billings[1]; 4. 18-Kalen Draper[3]; 5. 44-Johnathon Ferguson[5]; 6. 23J-Jeff Sykes[7]; 7. 83-Dylan Evoy[2]; 8. 23-Cameron Black[8]

DIRTcar Sportsman

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[9]; 2. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[11]; 3. 52-Jessica Power[12]; 4. 18E-Gavin Eisele[14]; 5. 32-Tyler Stewart[3]; 6. 22S-Shane Stearns[13]; 7. 35B-Brennan Moore[10]; 8. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[15]; 9. 0-Xavier Andrews[16]; 10. 16-Matt Barbour[6]; 11. 707-Greg Brinklow[4]; 12. 11J-Justin Saunders[5]; 13. 37-Marc Olivier McCarthy[22]; 14. 18-Jordan Wood[20]; 15. M70-Billy Cook[19]; 16. 5R-Steve Roberts[17]; 17. 21TL-Chris Herbison[18]; 18. X41-Xavier Perrin[1]; 19. 35D-Dylan Moore[24]; 20. 23-Michael Dillon[7]; 21. 21L-Skylar Ladouceur[23]; 22. 17M-Madie Wallace[2]; 23. 98D-Paul Donnelly[21]; 24. 314-Nick Mallette[25]; 25. 98-Domonick Merkley[8]; 26. (DNS) 1W-Brad reif

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 88K-Dylan Kirkland[5]; 2. 18E-Gavin Eisele[7]; 3. X41-Xavier Perrin[1]; 4. 98-Domonick Merkley[4]; 5. 707-Greg Brinklow[2]; 6. 5R-Steve Roberts[8]; 7. M70-Billy Cook[6]; 8. 37-Marc Olivier McCarthy[9]; 9. 35D-Dylan Moore[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. FOX28-Tyler Stevenson[4]; 2. 0-Xavier Andrews[7]; 3. 22S-Shane Stearns[6]; 4. 17M-Madie Wallace[1]; 5. 52-Jessica Power[5]; 6. 11J-Justin Saunders[2]; 7. 18-Jordan Wood[3]; 8. 21L-Skylar Ladouceur[8]; 9. (DNS) 314-Nick Mallette

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 88Z-Bobby Herrington[6]; 2. 32-Tyler Stewart[1]; 3. 16-Matt Barbour[2]; 4. 35B-Brennan Moore[4]; 5. 23-Michael Dillon[3]; 6. 21TL-Chris Herbison[8]; 7. 98D-Paul Donnelly[5]; 8. (DNS) 1W-Brad reif

Winged Crate Sprints

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[2]; 2. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[1]; 3. 9-Adam Turner[4]; 4. 87-Andrew Hennessy[3]; 5. 00-Ryan Poole[6]; 6. M52-Marc Surprenant[8]; 7. 15-Dan Deyo[9]; 8. 52J-Brett Horner[11]; 9. 4K-Jamie Kay[10]; 10. 93-Guy Gosselin[7]; 11. 72-Bruno Richard[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1V-Josh Verne Jr[1]; 2. 87-Andrew Hennessy[3]; 3. 72-Bruno Richard[4]; 4. 93-Guy Gosselin[5]; 5. 52J-Brett Horner[6]; 6. (DQ) 4K-Jamie Kay[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 51L-Lee Ladouceur[2]; 2. 9-Adam Turner[1]; 3. 00-Ryan Poole[5]; 4. M52-Marc Surprenant[3]; 5. 15-Dan Deyo[4]

Novice Sportsman

A Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 911-Nick Merkley[8]; 2. 9-Logan Brown[6]; 3. M75-Melcolm Banks[2]; 4. 18B-Blake Smith[4]; 5. 28-Matt Mould[5]; 6. 39-Cory Lambert[3]; 7. 80D-Damien King[9]; 8. 22D-Daylon Ezard[7]; 9. 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[1]; 10. (DNS) 1W-Kyle Reif

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 35P-Patrick Kudrinko[1]; 2. 39-Cory Lambert[2]; 3. 28-Matt Mould[3]; 4. 22D-Daylon Ezard[4]; 5. (DNS) 1W-Kyle Reif

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. M75-Melcolm Banks[1]; 2. 911-Nick Merkley[4]; 3. 18B-Blake Smith[2]; 4. 9-Logan Brown[3]; 5. 80D-Damien King[5]

Street Stocks

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 12S-Dakota Sharp[8]; 2. 10-Todd Raabe[7]; 3. 125-Stephane Philippe[2]; 4. 64-Jonathan Galipeau[13]; 5. 71-Francis Gauthier[3]; 6. 11-Steve Brady[11]; 7. 19-Cory White[10]; 8. 9-Sylvain Gauthier[5]; 9. 07M-Charles Marchand[4]; 10. 66-Thomas Reid[12]; 11. 45-Mike Schonauer[6]; 12. X15-Tyler Bushey[9]; 13. (DNS) 18C-Kyle Massey

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 12S-Dakota Sharp[6]; 2. 19-Cory White[7]; 3. 71-Francis Gauthier[3]; 4. 18C-Kyle Massey[1]; 5. 9-Sylvain Gauthier[4]; 6. 64-Jonathan Galipeau[5]; 7. (DNS) 22-Maxime Prevost

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 125-Stephane Philippe[1]; 2. 10-Todd Raabe[5]; 3. X15-Tyler Bushey[6]; 4. 45-Mike Schonauer[2]; 5. 07M-Charles Marchand[3]; 6. 11-Steve Brady[4]; 7. 66-Thomas Reid[7]