Twenty-seven-year-old Chris Raabe of Alexandria will not forget June 2018. The first weekend brought the #01 MSC Racing team to victory lane for the first time in this series. This was just like a rehearsal, for in the second part of the month, he posted 4 consecutive feature wins on three different tracks and concluded the month with a 5th victory, Raabe’s 161st career win at Airborne Speedway (Plattsburg, N-Y).
On Sunday July 1st Cornwall Motor Speedway presented the O’Canada 100, a Super DIRTcar Big Block Series event. Chris Raabe, as well as the other regular 358 Modified racers came to battle with the Big Blocks on the local quarter mile oval. Raabe started the 100-lap feature on the pole and fought side by side with Big Block driver Matt Sheppard, the defending Series’ champion, for many laps. The last five laps kept the crowd on its toes as Raabe closed the gap separating him from Sheppard. Despite all of Raabe’s efforts, Matt Sheppard clinched the victory. Kyle Dingwall completed the podium.
Raabe, the 2017 Cornwall Motor Speedway 358 Modified defending champion, was satisfied with his second place finish on a Big Block Series event. When asked how he coped with the extreme heat, the track heat index was 104 degrees Fahrenheit before the Modified feature, Raabe simply answered “It felt really good in the race car, I think the adrenalin kicked in!”.
The 25-lap Sportsman feature win went to Thomas Cook, his second of the season at Cornwall Motor Speedway, while Chris James won the Mini-Stock feature.
Text by S.Lauwers
