The weather forecast looked promising for the final weekend of the Super Tour season, and racers showed up in big numbers, with nearly 160 entries recorded for each day of competition at Napierville Dragway last weekend for the 12th edition of the Canadian Bracket Finals, presented by Attaches Châteauguay in collaboration with Frank Mastro l’électricien and S.M. Transport.
The action got underway late Friday afternoon, with Nathan Parkhurst of Belleville, Ontario, driving his Diamond Dragster, taking the Super Pro Gamblers Race victory over Richard Arnold of Terrebonne in his American Dragster. Arnold turned on the red light by just two thousandths of a second at the starting line, automatically handing the win to Parkhurst. Dale Gauthier, behind the wheel of Allen Ray’s Chevy II Top Sportsman, was the semifinalist.
In the Footbrake category, two familiar faces in the late rounds squared off, with François Rondeau of Sainte-Julie in his Camaro taking the win over Martin Lassiseraye of Quebec City in his Fox Body Mustang. Both racers ran their respective dial-ins, but Rondeau had a .011 advantage at the starting line, which proved to be the difference and earned him the victory.
Late Saturday afternoon, the battle for the top spot in the King of the Tour standings was heating up, with two of the championship contenders still in competition. In the end, points leader Frank Angers of Laval, driving his Diamond Dragster, scored the victory over one of his biggest championship rivals, Kyle Jessup of Renfrew, Ontario, in his Undercover Dragster.
Angers put together a .016 total package, leaving Jessup no room to work with after his .021 reaction time at the starting line. Phil Panaritis and Mike Hickey were the semifinalists.
In an all-Fox Body Mustang Footbrake final, Eric Monaghan took the victory over Martin Brideau, with both racers coming from Quebec City. Both drivers turned on the red light at the starting line, but Brideau committed the foul first, automatically handing the victory to Monaghan. Martin Patry, also driving a Fox Body Mustang and also from Quebec City, was the semifinalist.
Traditionally, Gamblers races are also held on Saturday evening during Super Tour events. Late Saturday night, Landyn Urslak of Oxford Mills, driving his Racetech Dragster, came out on top in a thrilling race against Felix Ballabey of Saint-Michel in his Chevrolet Malibu.
Urslak was .009 at the tree and ran just .005 off his dial-in, while Ballabey was .008 at the starting line and .006 off his dial-in. Both racers recorded identical .014 packages, with Urslak taking the win by an incredibly close .0004 second! Patrick Forget and Cody Levasseur were the semifinalists.
The Footbrake Gamblers Race went to Ghislain Lebalue of Mirabel in his Oldsmobile Cutlass over Noemy Poirier of Sainte-Sophie in her Ford Falcon. Poirier had the advantage at the starting line, but Lebalue was closer to his dial-in, allowing him to take the victory.
Unfortunately, Sunday’s racing had to be cut short due to the weather. Five competitors remained in both the Super Pro and Footbrake categories when the decision was made to end the racing action, with the remaining purse money divided equally among the racers.
In Super Pro, Richard Arnold had the bye run, while Kyle Jessup was scheduled to face Mark Goyette and Max Gauthier was set to race Mike Chenier.
On the Footbrake side, Jean-Pierre Levesque had the bye run, Frank Béland was scheduled to face Martin Brideau, while Dominic Germain was set to race Robert Legault.
In the Junior Dragster category, Saturday’s victory went to Emy Roberge of Quebec City, who defeated Mavrick Angers of Laval in the final. Hayley and Logan Angers were the semifinalists.
On Sunday, Katie Adams of Ottawa was scheduled to face Raphel Brunet of Napierville in the final before the weather brought the racing action to an end. Williams Proulx was the lone semifinalist.
The complete King of the Tour Championship results will be released in the coming weeks!
Thank you to all the racers, partners, and sponsors who helped make the 11th season of the Super Tour another great success!