Lawrence wins, Taylor burns

By Don Empey

BELLEVILLE, ON -- The Belleville Exhibition and Fairgrounds sit quietly, a mere shadow of what was once a busy racetrack, now collecting dust as the buildings slowly sink into history.

All that came to an abrupt end on Saturday night when the CMA hosted another round of the Norm Carr Classic dirt track races. A large eager group of fans turned out to watch the thundering big bore motorcycles shake the dust off the beams of the neglected fairgrounds.

The qualifying sessions that took place earlier in the day weren’t good indicators of who would have the upper hand going into the finals. Qualifying was a dog fight with leads changing several times. In the end however, Deeley Harley-Davidson-sponsored Don Taylor came out on top, setting the stage for what would be one of the best Expert Open contests to be seen in a long time by the enthusiastic Belleville dirt track fans.

John Parker pulled the trigger and shot off the line into the early lead. The Kawasaki Canada / Inglis Cycle rider had his hands full however with the younger Doug Lawrence aboard the Evans Racing-sponsored KBR Harley.

Lawrence was unrelenting in his pursuit and hounded Parker, finally making the pass into the lead just before the midpoint of the 15-lap feature. Welland’s Mike Labelle followed suit and also got around the startled Parker while behind them, Taylor battled a split gas tank that was drenching the Canadian Champion with raw race fuel.

Taylor, showing what champions are made of, battled through the burning pain and clouds of dust to work his way forward, first dispatching veteran Parker and then Labelle to grab the second step of the podium.

Lawrence was simply brilliant in his effort in the win, while Labelle had to settle for third, leaving Parker and Jon “Corndog” Cornwell in fourth and fifth respectively.

“That was really good,” commented an ecstatic Lawrence after the race. "I’ve never won a Canadian half-mile and I’ve been an Expert for a while now. I’m pretty excited about it.

“Belleville is a big race, maybe not as big as it used to be in the old days but it’s still a pretty big race.”

Taylor did well to finish in second after a poor start and the split gas tank.

“I was burning up,” he said. “I was in so much pain, I was going to pull off, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I was very afraid I was going to catch on fire.”

In the Expert 450 contest Taylor took over the points lead in the series, besting Kawasaki Canada / Inglis Cycle rider Parker, who led the race early on but succumbed to tire problems and had to settle for a disappointing third.

Olivier Beliveau Gagnon split the two front running contestants to steal the second step of the podium away from Parker.

In the Speedway division, Jeff Orosz had an evening long battle with Rob Dixon with the two riders exchanging the lead numerous times. Orosz finally settled the bet at the flag with Dixon close behind.

Harley Dunn looks to be on the comeback trail with a big win riding his J&M to victory in the 600 Intermediate race. Ryan Wells still holds a commanding lead in the series.

In 450 Intermediate action Wells bested Dunn to take the win. Wells, riding out of Albion, NY also leads the 450 Intermediate series.

Welland’s Tyler Seguin won the 600 Novice race after a lengthy battle with Dalton Biggar. Biggar and Hoy also swapped leads in the 450 Novice class. With the win Hoy retains the lead over Biggar.