Wayne French knew the only way he could be denied his second consecutive Prince George Auto Racing Association street stock points championship was if he did not finish or was disqualified from Saturday's main event and Chris Arronge found a way to win it.
But French couldn't begin to contemplate a disastrous finish in the 35-lap feature race as his crew (Mark Johnson, Graeme Burvill and Paul Clark) made a few chassis adjustments to his Chevy Malibu for the season finale. All he could think about was the inevitable showdown with Arronge, and it set his heart racing with excitement.
French qualified quickest out of the 10-car field but knew Arronge and his Camaro were running fast when he had to settle for second behind Mr. Saturday Night in the dash and heat races. For two seasons, French has been craving a door-to-door dogfight with Arronge and that's exactly what he got Saturday.
Arronge was third-fastest in time-ins and the two drivers started at the back of the pack and waited until there were about 20 laps left to start making their moves. With 15 laps to go, Arronge had the lead but he also had a tailgating French riding his back bumper, and he couldn't shake him.
They were neck-and-neck beside each other for the last five laps with French in the outside lane and Arronge hugging the inside track. On the last lap, Arronge skidded sideways coming out of Turn 2 and that was just enough of a hiccup for French to get the edge.
Knowing he had to pull out all the stops to make up for his mistake, Arronge held his foot firm on the gas pedal for the final two turns but he was half a car length behind French coming out of the final corner, skidding wildly when the flag dropped.
For the 45-year-old French, who's been racing stock cars off and on for more than a decade, it was his sweetest victory ever.
"It was, honestly, the most fun I've ever had in a stock car," said French. "It was a fantastic race and it wasn't until the checkered flag that I was around him. It took me a long time to figure out what I needed to do to get around him because he's very skilled and he had a fast car. When we entered (Turn 3) we were bumper-to-bumper. It was a great race."
French started the day Saturday holding a 20-point lead over Arronge and gained two points on him in qualifying, but Arronge gained those two points back by winning the dash and heat races.
"He came and talked to me before the main and said, 'Is your car working good?' and I said, 'Yup,'" said Arronge. "And then he said, 'We're going to !%$#*& race for this.'
"When I got to the front, it seemed every time I looked in the mirror I saw Wayne behind me and we ran hard right to the end. It skated on me and we both blew 'er into Turn 3 so hard I thought it was going to be a mess on the other side, but he gave me lots of room and I gave him just enough room and he managed to get on the throttle half a second before me. He beat me for the checkered flag and I just about looped it.
"It was a pretty awesome race. It was fun."
French has seen enough wrecks on the track over the years caused by drivers who take ill-advised risks trying for the win and that thought never crossed his mind Saturday when he was racing at top speed close enough to reach out and shake hands with Arronge.
"It's so much fun when you race a guy like that, who you know is solid... these cars cost money and he's just awesome," said French. "If he knows you're on the outside of him he will leave you room to race but he's not going to just give it to you. You have to earn it and it was hard. I just had to work him and work him and it was fun. This is the first time in two years we've got to race like that and I think both of us have been waiting for that."
French ended the season with 362 points, 25 ahead of Arronge. Brett/Lyall McComber were third with 252.
In the Tri-Par R.V. Rentals hornet class, Tiffany-Rose Verkaik trailed Riley Markovics by four points heading into the final races but she made up enough points to win the championship. Verkaik ended up second in the main, passing Markovics with about three laps left, and that was just enough. She finished with 133 points, three ahead of Markovics and five up on third-place Brandon/Spencer Forseth. Brandon Forseth won the main event Saturday.
Just two cars ran in the Chieftain Auto Parts mini stock main event Saturday and Nathan Linfitt, the only driver close enough in the standings to catch leader Stephen Woods, wasn't there. Woods went on to win the feature race and finished with 137 points, 30 ahead of Linfitt. Gary Howard was third with 70 points.
