The 42nd edition of the prestigious Bracket Bonanza took place last week at Luskville Dragway. Bracket Super Tour Promoters hoped to registered a record of entries as the event was eagerly anticipated by both Canadian and American racers. And they finally got what they wanted with a total of 96 Entries in the Super Pro Category, Nearly 70 in the Pro Category, and Over 35 Junior Dragsters for the Last Three Days of Competition.
The activities spanning over two weekends kicked off on July 29th and 30th with the Dave Rennie AutoCare Twin 10’s. In the Super Pro class, the winners were Jay Beaulieu from Rivière-du-Loup with his American Dragster over Jean Harvey from Terrebonne with his Miller Dragster in Saturday’s race, and Max Gauthier from Belleville driving his Chevy Vega over Sebastien Levesque from Rimouski with his brand new Dark-K Dragster. In the Pro category, Stephen Ballantyne from Luskville won on Saturday, and Jim Hewitt from Nepean won on Sunday.
After a few days off, activities resumed the following Thursday with the famous Big Dog and Little Dog Shootouts. Eliminations were in full swing when rain brought an end to the day late in the afternoon. Winners were crowned the next day, with Daniel Lanctot from Saint-Eustache having the upper hand against his good friend André Ballabey from St-Michel-de-Napierville in the Big Dog final. Ballabey had the bye-run to the finals while Lanctot got the best of Brandon Barker.
The Little Dog Shootout winner was Martin Lassiseraye from Quebec City over Noémie Ballabey from St-Michel-de-Napierville. Lassiseraye had the bye in the semi-finals, while Noémie took out Chantal Grenier.
Friday saw the fifth round of the national Super Tour championship. In Super Pro, reiging champ, Phil Harvey from Saint-Calixte drove his Miller Dragster to the Winner Circle with a win over Ralph Coe from Ottawa in a Dodge Polara Color Me Gone. Harvey had Daniel Barker covered in the semi-finals, while Coe had the solo run.
In Pro, Kevin Cardinal from Belleville with his Pocket Rocket Oldsmobile Cutlass took top honors over Mike Reynolds from Hun Club Park with his Chevy Vega. Cardinal had eliminated Michael Harling in the previous round, and Reynolds had the bye to the final.
More than 30 racers were registered in the Junior Dragster class this weekend. In Friday’s race we saw PJ Marston from New York State winning over Carter Daniels. Annabelle Soucy from Gatineau won Saturday’s race against Connor Ridler, and Florence Laflamme took Sunday’s victory in an all-female final against Julia Malcolm.
The first edition of the BDL Equipment ELITE16 presented by Pro 1 Safety Canada took place on Saturday in the late afternoon. ‘Speedy’ Mike Chenier from Gatineau stole the show by qualifying in pole position on the Door Cars Side with his Corvette and winning the final against Dominic Cianciarelli from Montreal. Adam Bitzanis was the Dragster finalist, and Julie Dubé was the Door Car finalist.
This highly anticipated race did not disappoint with a bump spot under the 4.50 mark for Dragsters and under the 5.35 mark for Door Cars.
Serge Marineau from Saint-Eustache was the quickest with a 4.355, while Mike Chenier from Gatineau led the Door Cars with a 4.962.
A video of the qualification and elimination rounds will be published soon.
At the end of the day on Saturday, Pam Rennie from Ottawa drove her M&M Dragster to the Super Pro victory defeating current points leader Roch Beaudoin from North Bay in his trusty Camaro. Beaudoin took out Trevor Deeks from the Toronto-aera in the semi-finals, while Rennie had the bye-run.
In the Pro category, Chantal Grenier from Terrebonne secured her first-ever win by defeating Zac McLean in the final round. Grenier had eliminated the always dangerous Mike Reynolds to reach the final.
Saturday’s was indeed perfect for the female contingent, with wins in all of the national championship categories!
To wrap up race week, Lewis Gagné from Callender, Ontario, won Super Pro on Sunday over Adam Bitzanis. Gagné had the best of Mike Chenier to reach the final.
In Pro, Mike Reynolds secured his seventh Super Tour win, making him the driver with the most wins in the history of the series. In a heavy weight final round featuring past Series Champions of the category, Reynolds came out on top of Fred McDonald from Saint-Sulpice. François Rondeau and Ray Edgar were the semi-finalists in this race.
The 5-race Super Tour Bonanza Week Championship presented by Precision Concrete and Bracket Life in collaboration with Pro 1 Safety Canada was ultimately won by Jean Harvey, who secured a total of 19 round wins. Lewis Gagné also ended with 19 rounds, but the advantage coming into the final race of the weekend gave the tie-breaker victory to Harvey. Last year’s champion, Stephen Ballantyne, finished in third place, and Chantal Grenier claimed the fourth spot.
A dream weekend for the Harvey Racing team! Jean Harvey reached the final of a Super Pro race and also won the 5-day championship. Chantal Grenier won a Pro race and reached the semi-finals of the Little Dog Shootout, finishing fourth in the 5-day championship and Phil Harvey also secured a race victory!
The women also stole the spotlight during this weekend with four wins and four runner-ups out of 12 races!
The next two rounds of the Bracket Super Tour will be presented again at Luskville during the Labor Day weekend on September 2nd and 3rd as part of the Super Tour Fall Bracket Championship presented by Speedy Auto Gatineau in collaboration with Giddy Up Designs, KD Transmissions, and D&D Performance. Full event flyer will be available soon.