The 45th Annual Carlyle Tools Bracket Bonanza was held last week at Luskville Dragway, and most racers will tell you that this event has something truly special about it.
The atmosphere is different, the level of competition is unquestionably higher, and nearly every racer in attendance has the Bonanza on their bucket list of events they would love to win. As the oldest, largest and most prestigious bracket race in Canada, the Bonanza continues to live up to its reputation year after year.
This year’s schedule had to be adjusted because the forecast called for rain Saturday evening and a near certainty of heavy rain on Sunday, with approximately 30 millimetres expected. The Luskville Dragway crew elected to keep Race No. 1 and the All-Star Shootout on Thursday, run two complete races on Friday and conclude the weekend on Saturday.
In the end, it proved to be the right decision. Every race was completed, with only a few brief rain delays on Saturday morning.
THURSDAY — ANGERS AND BALLABEY OPEN THE WEEKEND WITH WINS
Thursday’s action began with the $7,000-to-win Super Pro race, where track co-owner and Super Tour president Fred Angers parked the Junkyard Nova in the winner’s circle.
Angers defeated North Bay’s Roch Beaudoin in an outstanding final round. Angers was .010 on the tree, took .003 at the finish line and ran dead-on his dial with a seven. Beaudoin was equally impressive with an .018 reaction time and a dead-on two pass, finishing only three thousandths short.
Angers defeated American racer Jake Hodge in the semifinals, while Beaudoin eliminated Phil Harvey to advance to the final.
In Footbrake, Noémie Ballabey added yet another victory to her impressive season by defeating Ashley Muttart in the final round. Ballabey gained a two-thousandths advantage on the starting line and ran dead-on her dial with a three to seal the victory.
Darryl Jensen was the lone semifinalist.
TEAM JAY SWEEPS THE ALL-STAR SHOOTOUT
Plenty of excitement had been building around the All-Star Shootout, which featured some of the best racers from east of Montreal against the top competitors from west of Gatineau.
The invitation-only teams were selected by captains Jay Beaulieu, representing Team East, and Derek Malcolm, representing Team West.
SUPER PRO
After two rounds of Super Pro competition, Team Jay held a 7–5 advantage. Team Derek entered the semifinals in a must-win situation, with Dale Gauthier representing the West against Team East’s Phil Harvey, while Mike Chenier faced Frank Angers.
Team East delivered when it mattered most. Harvey and Angers both won their semifinal matchups, guaranteeing an all-Team Jay final and sealing a convincing 10–5 victory in the Super Pro portion of the Shootout.
Harvey and Angers ultimately elected to split the final-round purse.
FOOTBRAKE
In Footbrake, only one Team Derek racer remained in competition entering the semifinals.
Team East teammates Martin Lassiseraye and Martin Patry faced one another for a place in the final, with Lassiseraye advancing. On the other side of the ladder, Team East’s Pat Proulx faced Team West’s Patrick Alarie.
The team championship had already been decided, as Team Derek could no longer overtake Team Jay in points, but Alarie still had an opportunity to win the individual race.
Alarie did exactly that, defeating Lassiseraye in the final round. Alarie left first and took .011 at the finish line to secure the victory.
The final Footbrake team score was 8–7 in favour of Team Jay.
JUNIOR 7.90 INDEX
In the Junior 7.90 Index head-up Shootout, Mavrick Angers defeated his cousin Hayley Angers in the final round.
Logan Angers and Cole Krottner were the semifinalists.
Team Jay completed a clean sweep of the team competition with a dominant 6–1 victory in the Junior category.
FRIDAY — A FULL DOUBLEHEADER OF RACING
The action continued Friday with a complete doubleheader.
In the first Super Pro race of the day, Gatineau-area racer Carl Soucy defeated former Super Tour champion Phil Harvey, who was behind the wheel of his newly acquired Malibu door car.
Harvey left the starting line .002 too soon, handing the victory to Soucy.
Frank Angers and Roch Beaudoin were the semifinalists.
In Footbrake, North Bay’s Dan Allard scored the victory over Longueuil racer Frank Mastro.
Allard gained a .016 advantage at the starting line. Mastro took the stripe at the finish but broke out by six thousandths of a second, giving the win to Allard.
Belleville, Ontario’s Kevin Cardinal was the lone semifinalist.
BRIDGE AND GERMAIN CLAIM THE BONANZA’S BIGGEST PAYDAYS
The main events originally scheduled for later in the weekend, the $10,000-to-win Super Pro race planned for Saturday and the $5,000-to-win Footbrake race scheduled for Sunday were both contested Friday evening due to the approaching weather.
In Super Pro, veteran big-money bracket racer Jamie Bridge from Napanee, Ontario got the job done against close friend Max Gauthier in an absolutely wild double-breakout final round that was not for the faint of heart.
Bridge was .004 on the tree, took only .002 at the finish line and ran five thousandths under his dial. Gauthier was right there with a .007 reaction time but ran six thousandths under, giving Bridge the massive $10,000 victory by the smallest of margins.
In Footbrake, Noémie Ballabey returned to the final round once again, this time against fellow Montreal-area competitor Dominic Germain.
Germain received the head start and ran dead-on his dial to secure the $5,000 victory. Ballabey crossed the finish line .011 ahead but broke out, settling for the runner-up finish.
Stéphane Pichette, driving his Hyundai, was the lone semifinalist.
SATURDAY — FORMER CHAMPIONS BATTLE IN SUPER PRO
Racing resumed Saturday with the final events of the weekend.
The Super Pro final featured a battle between former champions Terry Miron and Dale Gauthier.
Neither driver produced their best reaction time of the weekend, but the race came down to another close double breakout. Gauthier ran four thousandths under his dial, while Miron broke out by only one thousandth to secure the victory.
In Footbrake, All-Star Shootout winner Pat Alarie earned his second victory of the weekend by defeating—once again—Noémie Ballabey, who had reached her third final round of the Bonanza.
The two racers were nearly identical on the starting line. Alarie took .029 at the finish and earned the win, completing an outstanding two-win weekend.
King of the Tour Top 10 contender Sacha Leblanc was the semifinalist.
JUNIOR RESULTS
The opening Junior race went to Emy Roberge, who defeated Logan Angers in the final round. Parker Seguin was the semifinalist.
The second Junior race was won by Cole Krottner over Logan Angers, with Mavrick Angers reaching the semifinals.
In the final Junior race of the weekend, Mavrick Angers added another victory to his All-Star Shootout triumph by defeating Julie Malcolm in the final round.
Jayden Proulx was the semifinalist.
BALLABEY NAMED BONANZA MVP; BEAUDOIN CROWNED 5-DAY CHAMPION
The prestigious Bonanza MVP title goes to none other than Noémie Ballabey, who earned one victory and two runner-up finishes during the four-day event.
Ballabey made nearly 30 passes down the Luskville Dragway eight-mile and proved to be one of the most consistent and successful racers of the entire weekend.
Following her outstanding performance at the Bonanza, she is expected to regain the lead in the King of the Tour championship when the updated standings are released later this week.
Meanwhile, Roch Beaudoin was crowned champion of the 5-Day Bracket Championship, organized by Kyle Jessup and Brandon Barker. The championship combined all elimination-round victories recorded during the Dave Rennie Warm-Up Weekend and the Carlyle Tools Bracket Bonanza.
Beaudoin won more than 35 rounds of competition over the six days of racing, an absolutely remarkable accomplishment!
NEXT RACE
The Super Tour will return to Luskville Dragway one final time this season before heading to Napierville Dragway for the championship finals.
The Fall Bracket Showdown, presented by Speed Auto Gatineau in collaboration with Atelier Mécanique CLR and Honeywell Works, will take place September 4–6.
Le texte pourrait aussi être raccourci en version Facebook tout en conservant les gagnants, les faits saillants et le titre de MVP.
