Cornwall, On – Tuesday, April 14, 2009 – Martin Bélanger – The officials of the Lucas Oil Canadian DIRT Challenge unveiled the plans of the 2009 edition of the series during the Cornwall Motor Speedway annual banquet. It will be the best edition ever!
The series will regroup the same tracks than last year, which are Cornwall, Granby, Drummond, Mohawk, Edelweiss and Brockville. The Cornwall Motor Speedway will have 2 events, they will open their season on May 17th with a series race and the champion will be crowned on August 2nd at the same track. The winner of the last race will receive a cool $5,000 and it will be double points for that feature race.
Exactly 2 months after the Cornwall show, the series will move to the Quebec province for 2 nights at Autodrome Granby and Autodrome Drummond on July 17 and 18. The drivers will then visit the newly rebuilt Mohawk International Raceway on Thursday, July 30th. Autodrome Edelweiss will then be the 4th stop in the series the following night. The series will then head back to Ontario with races at Brockville Ontario Speedway and end at Cornwall.
Drivers will compete for a load of money, the winner in the first 6 races will receive $3,000 and more than $20,000 in purse will be given during these nights with Cornwall ending the series with a $5,000 to win race with more than $25,000 in prize money. Also, the winner will be qualified for a starting position in the 358-feature race during the Super DIRT week at Syracuse. The series champion will receive $3,000, second place will get $1,500 and the position 3 to 5 will obtain $1,000. A total of $7,500 is provided in the series points fund.
The competitors that will take part in all events will be eligible to win a Bicknell Chassis body and bumper valued at $8,400. Many sponsors such as Bicknell Racing Products, Doiron Racing Engines, Bert Transmission, Mr Radiator, Trick Race Parts, Kirkey Racing et Total Race Supply contributed to this car. A draw between all drivers that competed in 100% of the series race will be done at the end of the 7 races.
Something new for this season, drivers will be able to eliminate their worst result in the series, which should add some flavour to it. The top 12 drivers in the points will be guaranteed starters in the feature race. The series will follow the DIRTcar rules like the past years.
With more than $160,000 in prize and money given to the drivers, this edition will be the most lucrative ever and with an average of 40 drivers in each program, we can surely expect to the same numbers for 09 that will bring the series to a whole new level for this year.
