Sophomore Pro rider Lincoln Lemieux earned the biggest win of his career Sunday, overpowering the northeast’s top racers to claim the second annual ECS Challenge at the Crete Civic Center.
The grueling 16-lap Challenge offered a record purse of over $7,000 and was part of Round 2 on the 2012 East Coast Snocross (ECS) championship series. Along with the rich non-points event in Plattsburgh, riders also competed for points in all classes.
Canadian veteran Dave Allard (No. 167/Ski-doo) and Wisconsin native Dylan Martin (Team Southside/Polaris) earned final round wins in Pro action over the weekend. Martin was the only American-born rider to win a Pro or Pro Lite final at a venue where French is spoken daily by many residents.
Lemieux’s victory in the ECS Challenge came as somewhat of a surprise, as he slotted into sixth at the start and had to charge his way to the front. As Danny Poirier led the first 10 circuits, Lemieux marched his Ski-doo past veterans Dave Asselin and Corin Todd. By lap 10, he was running second when Poirier made contact with a lapped rider in a highly-technical section of the track and came off his sled. After inheriting the lead, Lemieux checked out to record a 6.5-second margin of victory over Asselin (second) and Todd (third).
In Saturday’s 14-lap Pro Stock final, Martin grabbed the Holeshot while Quebec veteran Dave Allard slotted into fourth. The cagey Allard blasted up to second by lap seven and started applying pressure to Martin. After he muscled his way into the lead on lap 10, Allard watched as Martin sailed back by to reclaim the point. Martin won by a scant 1.5 seconds, while Asselin settled for third.
In Sunday’s 10-lap Pro Open final, rookie Dan Roger Kjellman (Arctic Cat/Green Mtn. Racing) nailed the Holeshot, with Allard second and Poirier slotting into fifth at the start. Allard quickly got by Kjellman and checked out, while Poirier charged from fifth to second in the first three laps to show why they still call him the “Canadian Blast.” At the checkered flag it was Allard, Poirier and Asselin headed for the podium.
In Pro Lite action Saturday at Plattsburgh, Quebec veteran Lucas Brunelle (Damexco Racing/Ski-doo) went wire-wire to claim the final. Talented rookie Ed "Big Air" Bandel powered his way to second, while Constantia, NY, veteran Kenny Murphy was third.
In Sunday’s Pro Lite final, Brunelle completed the weekend sweep when he led Jake daSilva (daSilva Racing/Ski-doo) and rookie Leo Patenaude (Patenaude Pools/Ski-doo) across the line after 10 frigid laps. This makes three wins in four starts for the Boucherville, Quebec rider with his sights set directly on the 2012 ECS Pro Lite titles.
Multi-time Plus 30 Pro Am champion Joe Lemieux set the tone for his son’s huge victory as he claimed the final in that class Sunday. The easy-going veteran held off SCM regular Robin Deschesnes (second) and Todd Smith (third) for top honors.
In keeping with the mostly-Canadian winners theme at Plattsburgh, super-fast female rider Jennifer Pare (pronounced par-ray) powered her way to victory in the Pro Women final on both Saturday and Sunday. Each day, Vermont’s own Steffanie Lemieux-Bell finished second, while Melanie Acker (Saturday) and Paige Calderwood (Sunday) filled out the podium.
Other final round winners over the weekend in Plattsburgh include David Tremblay (Sport Super Stock Saturday and Sunday); Nate Newland (Jr. 16-17 600 Saturday & Sunday); Rene Desrochers (Plus 35); Tim Slocum (Plus 25); and Montana Jess (Sport 600).
East Coast Snocross would like to thank all the great sponsors who made the rich and prestigious ECS Challenge II a reality, as well as Airborne Speedway promoter Mike Perrotte, Plattsburgh Mayor Donald Kasprzak and everyone involved with the Plattsburgh event. Every aspect of our second appearance there was improved thanks to their hard work.
Round 3 on the nine-race 2012 ECS schedule is set for Jan. 28-29 at the Onieda County Fairgrounds in Boonville, New York. The ice oval races originally scheduled to run in conjunction with this event have been postponed, yet the snocross dates remain firm. Teams from ECS will compete in a standard Saturday/Sunday format.
East Coast Snocross, presented by AMSOIL and Woody’s Traction, is the sanctioning body for snowmobile racing in the northeastern United States. ECS maintains a regional circuit intended to keep grass-roots snocross racing healthy in this part of the snowbelt, while also cultivating new talent for tomorrow’s factory-backed Pro teams.
For more information and full Plattsburgh results, go to ww.eastcoastsnocross.com.
