Making the move up to the OSCAAR Modifieds, Luke Gignac came out strong all year round en route to finishing second in the standings.
Kicking off his rookie campaign at Flamboro Speedway, Gignac finished third and fourth in his heats to give him a good starting spot for the feature. After leading a couple laps in the main event, Gignac faded back a bit, crossing the line in fifth. The momentum carried forward to Delaware Speedway as Gignac posted a strong seventh place finish.
Returning to Flamboro, he ran up front throughout the entire 30-lap feature en route to a fourth place finish. The strong runs kept coming at the Hamilton, Ontario based oval as he returned in July to post a runner-up finish.
After a sub-par performance in June at Delaware, all eyes were on Gignac when he returned to the London-based half-mile oval in July to see whether he’d be stronger. The returned worked out well as he won his heat, before posting a fourth place finish in the feature. The momentum carried to Peterborough Speedway as he picked up another win, and finished eighth despite going for a mid-race spin.
The month of August saw Gignac and ADAMS Motorsports start out with high hopes. In the first of a pair of 20-lap features at Flamboro, Gignac started pole and cleared Chris Milwain on Lap 1, putting the No. 99 PBS Motors & Pumps, Wolseley Canada, Dave Wiggins Custom Exhaust, OTD Building Supplies, Fox’s Bakery and Deli, TSS Top Shops, Wix Filters, Heritage Heating Contractors, Duckworths Fish and Chips Orillia, Saniflo, Morton Metals, and Dwinnell’s Family Movers Modified out front. It looked as though Gignac was headed to his first career feature victory in his rookie season. However, his car began to slow with two laps to go with a mechanical problem. It was discovered post-race the coil wire burnt off at the cap. He was able to come back and post a fifth place finish in the second feature of the night.
Gignac then capped off the races before the inaugural Race for the Cup with a sixth place finish at Delaware Speedway. With strong finishes on a weekly basis, it was no surprise to see Gignac qualify as one of the drivers as part of the battle.
Kicking off the Chase at Peterborough, Gignac’s qualifying heat finishes of first and fourth landed him in the eighth starting spot for the 50-lap feature. Unfortunately, he’d slide back a couple spots in the opening half, before ultimately getting caught up in a wreck on Lap 28. After making repairs, Gignac restarted the feature from the tail of the field, and was starting to make ground, when he was caught up in another wreck in turn four on Lap 37 which ended his race. As a result of his DNF, Gignac has unfortunately been eliminated from championship contention.
The season finale at Flamboro didn’t bring much better luck, though, as a mechanical failure resulted in a DNF for Gignac to cap off the year.
On behalf of OSCAAR, congratulations to Luke on his success this past season. We look forward to seeing you at the track in 2017.
By: Ashley McCubbin
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