Claude Gaudet, Gerard Doiron, Pierre Gautreau and Don Marcoux take home 2008 titles

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GRAND BARACHOIS - Four new division champions were crowned at the Centre for Speed yesterday afternoon during the final stock-car points championship event for 2008.

Claude Gaudet of Barachois captured the Sportsman division championship, thanks to two second-place showings in the feature and semifinal along with a third-place showing in the heat.

Going into the final points event, Gaudet had a five-point lead on his closest competitor and ended up taking home the overall championship with a four-point cushion over the defending points champion Luc Bourgeois of Memramcook.

The new Streetstock division champion was a familiar face, as Gérard Doiron of Haute Aboujagane picked up wins in the feature and semifinal along with a second-place finish in the heat to maintain his sizeable lead and win the overall division championship.

It was Doiron's second Streetstock championship after first capturing the division title back in 2005.

In the Tigercat division, only one point separated Martin Landry and Pierre Gautreau, both of Shediac, going into the final event of the season. The two fierce competitors did not disappoint as all three races saw an identical finish, with Gautreau recording a grand slam with Landry parked on his back bumper as they crossed the finish line in the heat, semifinal and feature.

With the three wins, Gautreau moved up three points in the standings to capture the 2008 championship ahead of Landry, while veteran Brad Daley of Moncton looked on in third position.

Finally, in the Thundercat division, Don Marcoux of St-Louis-de-Kent won the division championship after he captured his seventh feature win of the season.

The next event at the Centre for Speed will be the eighth annual Pepsi Atlantic Stock Car Championships, stock-car racing's year-end celebration in Atlantic Canada, scheduled for the Thanksgiving Day long weekend in October.

On Saturday, Oct. 11, CFS will host the Pepsi Pro Stock 150 and the Vance Hanes Autoparts Sportsman 100 pitting the best drivers from throughout Atlantic Canada.

Then, on Sunday, Oct. 12, the Centre will host the Atlantic Streetstock Championship 75, the 4-cylinder Atlantic Championship, a Legends division 30-lap finale as well as the final event for the Atlantic Open Wheel (AOW) modified series.

In total, over 150 teams from throughout Atlantic Canada traditionally make the trek to CFS for in the Atlantic Championships with a total purse of $47,000 on the line.