CORNWALL, ON – Mario Clair has won just about everything there is to win at Cornwall Motor Speedway. But until Sunday night, one thing had eluded him — a Super DIRTcar Series victory.
The St-Edmond, QC driver finally added that missing accomplishment to his résumé, holding off a determined Dalton Slack to win the O’Canada 100 and secure a guaranteed starting spot at Super DIRT Week 53.
“It was a super race,” Clair said. “The momentum in this car was really good.”
Clair and Slack led the field to green in the 100-lap Feature, with Clair edging ahead to lead Lap 1. He couldn’t pull away, however, as an early yellow flew on Lap 3 for Tim Sears Jr.
On the restart, Clair again took the lead, but another threat emerged. David Hebert attempted to pass both Clair and Slack on the outside of Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 7, but he drove over the cushion in Turn 4 and fell back to 14th.
That left Slack to resume the chase. The Welland, ON driver made his first serious bid on Lap 9, diving inside Clair’s No. 124. But he couldn’t complete the pass before another caution flew on Lap 23 for 10-time Series champion Matt Sheppard.
Clair maintained control on the restart while Alex Payne and Mat Williamson traded third place behind them.
Following a Lap 46 caution, Payne charged around Williamson for third again and closed in on Slack. On Lap 70, Payne pulled even with Slack down the backstretch, and the two made contact entering Turns 3 and 4. Payne slipped ahead, sliding into second—but Slack wasn’t done.
As they exited Turn 4, Slack crossed over and slid up the banking, making contact with Payne’s No. 70A and sending it into the implement tires at the corner exit. The contact brought out another yellow.
On the restart, Slack had his best opportunity, diving beneath Clair into Turn 3 on Lap 75 and briefly taking the lead. But Clair responded instantly, retaking the top spot at the stripe and pulling away.
Slack’s final shot came in the closing laps, as Clair encountered lapped traffic. He closed within two car lengths, but Clair adjusted his line on the final lap, shutting the door and sealing his first career Super DIRTcar Series Feature win.
“I was good in traffic,” Clair said. “I took things one lap at a time. [Slack] is a great competitor. This was the best win.”
Slack settled for second, recording the best Series finish of his career.
“Mario is really good here,” Slack said. “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to get by him. He was really good off the cushion, and I was just so, so tight. I could hold it up there, but I was kind of fighting the racecar.
“That late restart there, I just kind of got a decent run on the bottom. And I said I was just going to throw it in there. So, I threw that slide job, and it kind of panned out. He was just better with his race knowledge and just crossed me up.”
On the incident with Payne, Slack said, “He came down the back straightaway, and I screwed up a little bit coming out of Turn 2, and he got a run on me. But I held my line. I wasn’t doing anything to him, and he just ran me up off the backstretch. I just braked it, and I thought I could clear him — I guess I didn’t.
“It was unfortunate for one of the two, but some stuff you just don’t forget.”
Payne, who finished 17th, saw it differently.
“I came down the backstretch next to him, and I made a pass and thought everything was good,” Payne said. “And next thing I know, I was looking at the grandstands. I just plain got dumped there.”
Defending Series champion Mat Williamson crossed the line third, completing an all-Canadian podium.
“I didn’t really feel like I had a car that could win until I got to lap traffic,” Williamson said. “When I got to lap traffic, I felt like if I made the right moves, I could’ve won.
“What a great racetrack. It was a little heavy on the top, but when you got to lap cars, they were running the top, and you could race all over.”
By finishing third and earning five bonus points in his Heat Race, Williamson gained three points on Series leader Alex Yankowski, who finished fourth. He now trails by 21 points.
Hebert recovered from his early off-track excursion to finish fifth.
O’Canada 100 – Full Results (100 Laps):
- 124-Mario Clair [1]; 2. 3RS-Dalton Slack [2]; 3. 88-Mat Williamson [4]; 4. 84Y-Alex Yankowski [12]; 5. ONE-David Hebert [5]; 6. 41-Samuel Charland [21]; 7. 35-Mike Mahaney [6]; 8. 25-Erick Rudolph [16]; 9. 44-Stewart Friesen [9]; 10. 44F-Johnathon Ferguson [8]; 11. 12-Darren Smith [22]; 12. 6-Matt Stangle [13]; 13. 9S-Matt Sheppard [10]; 14. 91-Felix Roy [17]; 15. 4-Anthony Perrego [18]; 16. 47S-Corey Wheeler [20]; 17. 70A-Alex Payne [7]; 18. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [14]; 19. 60-Jackson Gill [19]; 20. 21A-Peter Britten [23]; 21. 15B-Brianna Ladouceur [28]; 22. 23L-Joey Ladouceur [24]; 23. (DNF) 77E-Ryan Stabler [3]; 24. (DNF) 66X-Carey Terrance [29]; 25. (DNF) 2-Jack Lehner [25]; 26. (DNF) 15X-Justin Stone [27]; 27. (DNF) 94-Gabriel Cyr [15]; 28. (DNF) 25P-Michael Parent [11]; 29. (DNF) 83X-Tim Sears Jr [26]
Post-Race Tech:
Locker rear ends, torque arms, and titanium components were inspected.
