Raabe Joins Elite Group of DIRTcar Stars With 30th Win of the 2010 Season
Craig Revelle – Finish Line Web Design
September 19, 2010
When Chris Raabe ended the 2008 season, and then the 2009 as well, it was hard to imagine that the following seasons could possibly be any better. Raabe drove to victory lane 21 times in that 2008 season, winning the Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman championship at the age of 17. He also won the track championships at Thunder Alley Speedway, Brockville Speedway and Rolling Wheels Raceway and the DIRTcar Northeast championship. The following year, Raabe equaled that feat with a back-to-back Mr. DIRTcar title, the DIRTcar Northeast crown, and track championships at Thunder Alley Speed Park and Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports Park.
Moving on to 2010, Raabe again set the DIRTcar Sportsman world on fire. On August 20th, 2010 another DIRTcar record was shattered, as his 25th win of the season was the highest single season win total in the history of the DIRTcar Sportsman division. The wins didn’t stop at 25 though, and over the next few weeks, he had posted five more, including a Sportsman series victory at Humberstone Speedway in Pt. Colbourne, Ontario. He also picked up track championships at both the Mohawk Raceway and Cornwall Motor Speedway.
On Friday night, Raabe headed to the Mohawk Raceway for the final time in 2010. First up was a 50-lap feature that had been postponed from its originally scheduled date of June 23rd after rain began to fall as the cars were being lined up for the feature. Raabe was slated to start from the 12th position, but after several cars didn’t make the return trip, Raabe took the green flag from sixth place. It didn’t take him long to move up to third place, but settled in for the next few laps, waiting for opportunity to strike. On a lap 30 restart, Raabe moved into second, and for the remaining 20 laps he did everything he could to make a move on the race leader but to no avail. At the checkered flag, Raabe finished in second place.
“Timmy’s been strong on tour all year, I don’t know if we’ll have anything for him in the points,” says Raabe after the 50-lap feature. “We just have to continue to put ourselves in position, if he has some bad luck you have to be ready to pounce. He’s going to be tough from here on out, that’s for sure.
A regular 20-lap Sportsman feature was also on the schedule for the evening, and Raabe was looking to capture his 30th win of the 2010 season. Just as he has done on 13 other occasions this season, Raabe made it look easy and captured that elusive 30th win, putting him amongst some of DIRTcar’s all time best drivers. Only Will Cagle, Bob McCreadie, Danny Johnson and Alan Johnson have had 30 wins in a single season.
“The Mr. DIRTcar thing was real nice the last two years, this year we accomplished 30 wins. It is hard to decide which one you’d rather take. Every year they hand out a Mr. DIRTcar trophy, not every year you get to break a record,” says Raabe. “To be named in the same group as Bob McCreadie, Will Cagle and Danny and Alan Johnson is really an honour for our race team”.
This coming weekend, Raabe and his 01 team will be at the Brighton Speedway making a rare appearance at the track that his father/crew chief Mike Raabe dominated at for years. After Brighton, the team will go over the car, and leave early Saturday for the next round of the Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman tour at the Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in Elbridge, New York.
For more information on Chris Raabe and the 01 team, please visit
www.chrisraabe.com.
Chris Raabe and the 01 team celebrate their 30th win of the 2010 season. (Rick Young Photo)
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