Sunday’s Triple 50s at Airborne Park Speedway Spell Victory for McGrail
PLATTSBURGH, N. Y. – September 10, 2012 – Pat McGrail steered his DIRTcar 358-Modified to victory in the final 50-lap segment at Airborne Park Speedway Sunday, winning the day’s Triple 50s and taking home the DIRTcar 358-Modified Asphalt Series Championship.
In the first of three 50-lap segments that made up the DIRTcar 358-Modified Asphalt Series finale, McGrail drew the tenth starting spot. Series opener winner Todd Stone took the initial lead an survived a caution-ridden first half of the race, but McGrail caught up and was second by lap 25. Stone went on to win the first segment, but McGrail’s strong second-place finish kept him in the running for the feature win.
With the starting lineup a reverse of the finish for the lead-lap cars, McGrail started the second segment in 11th and Pierre Berthiaume took the initial lead. Once again, McGrail worked his way up, as did Patrick Dupree, who started seventh. Dupree passed Berthiaume off a restart in lap 22, and was soon pursued by McGrail, who challenged Dupree’s lead, but again settled for second. However, the combined standings from both races put McGrail in the lead with the best overall finishes.
Going into round three, McGrail took the 12th spot on the grid and made it to second place in lap 12, challenging Jessey Mueller for the lead. However, for McGrail, the third time’s the charm and he flew past Mueller for the lead in the final segment of the feature. Winning the last of the Triple 50s and the series finale, McGrail also earned 150 points and the series championship title.
Rounding out the top-five in the Triple 50s standings were second overall Jessey Mueller with two second-place finishes and one fourth-place finish, segment 2 winner Patrick Dupree in third, series opener winner and Triple 50s segment 1 winner Todd Stone in fourth, and Keith Flach in fifth with third-, fifth-, and six-place finishes.
Triple 50s Overall Standings: 1. 10 Patrick McGrail, 2. 19 Jessey Mueller, 3. 24 Patrick Dupree, 4. 1x Todd Stone, 5. 77 Keith Flach, 6. 97 Kris Vermold, 7. 100 Roger Lebreche, 8. 3L Andy Lindeman, 9. 1h Pierre Berthiaume, 10. 25 Maxime Vien, 11. CO2 Craig Reyell, 12. b3 Aaron Bartemy, 13. 3d Matt DeLorenzo, 14. 49 Richard Tisseur, 15. 18 Chris Cayea, 16. 4 Leon Gonyo, 17. m25 Mario Clair, 18. 34 George Foley, 19. 55 Matt Woodruff, 20. 115 Kenny Tremont, Jr., 21. 13 Tony Steiner, 22. 99 Mikael Lebreche, 23. O Todd Ormsby, 24. o2 Mike Reyell, 25. 99x Sebastien Fournier, 26. X Adam Bartemy, 27. 76 Mike Wells