R.I.P KEN SPROULE
This weeks report begins on a sad note with the news that Ken Sproule, one of my friends from the Capital City Speedway in Ottawa has passed away. On Monday morning (15 Aug) I learned that the popular Thunder Car driver of Greely ,Ontario tragically lost his life in a road accident on Sunday night. Ken was currently leading the Thunder Car points and was one of a back bone of drivers who have kept race fans happy in the nations capital. Since my involvement at the track he became a friend and racer that I’d make a point of chatting with each week. As recently as last Wednesday (10 Aug) I was taking his photo in Victory Lane after he won yet another feature. He will be sorely missed by all of us in the racing community. At this difficult time my thoughts are with his family and offer my sincere condolences.
10 Aug Capital City Speedway , Ottawa, Ont
12 Aug Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg , NY
13 Aug Brockville Ontario Speedway
14 Aug Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont
As usual my week of racing started on Wednesday at the Capital City Speedway in Ottawa after an initial threat of wet weather had put the nights action in jeopardy. As I drove from the East of the City it was pouring with rain but as I traveled along the 417 ‘Queensway’ things brightened up as I got nearer the track. The dark clouds that lurked above, eventually dispersed and allowed a great night of racing.
There were a few ‘old faces’ in the pits to make things interesting plus one long distance visitor. Making their return to the tracks were Late Model drivers Sean Kennedy and Paul de Jong, while Ken Fisher was back behind the wheel of his Thunder Car.
After missing a number of races due to his commitments in the ‘Summer Shoot Out’ in Charlotte NC , Legend driver Kevin Foisy was back in town , accompanied by his friend, Californian driver Steven Cantrell. Cantrell was driving the loaned Norm Lynch #24 car and it didn’t take him long to show his class.
The Legends put on a great show, including a wild flip by Brad Haufe down the back stretch.
The Feature was won by Cantrell, while his buddy Kevin Foisy had to settle for second.
Ricky Rump got his first Late Model win of the year, as did Shawn Ethier in the Mini Stocks, while Brooke Cordick got her second 2011 Four For Fun Victory.
As I mentioned at the start of this report Ken Sproule came home victorious in the Thunder Car feature, which would sadly be his last time in action.
On Friday I was given the opportunity to start work earlier ( 6-00 am instead of 7-30 am ) which usually means a good chance of finishing earlier. As things turned out, I got lucky and was done soon after 6-00 pm and was able to make a quick dash over the International Bridge to the Mohawk International Raceway.
The Modified and Sportsman features were both action packed and gave the fans a lot to get excited about. In the Sportsman division Dylan Evoy has been winning races on a regular basis all year and usually once he gets in front, he has few challengers.
Things were different tonight and for most of the race we were treated to some great side by side dueling, between him and Plattsburgh’s Neal Prevost # 74.
In the end it was Evoy who took the checkers, so once again I was taking his pics in Victory Lane. I joked with his mother, that I have more pics of the Evoy family this year than I do of my own !
The Modified Feature was notable for other reasons. Gage Morin was leading and looked all set for his first win of the year when Chris Raabe appeared on his tail to make a challenge.
They dueled for a few laps as Raabe looked for an opening. I can honestly say, that I didn’t see what happened ( it occurred at the opposite end of the track , between turn 1 and two, while I was recording the action on 3 and 4) , but both went off the track with Morin’s car suffering considerable damage. Following the incident , Raabe was put to the back of the pack for the restart. Like I said, I didn’t see what took place , so wont comment any further.
As the race moved on towards it’s conclusion, surprise visitor of the night, Danny O’Brien managed to edge past Carey Terrance on the last lap to take the checkers. The Pro Stocks were absent from the program due to a weekend of important series races in Quebec so there place on the schedule was taken by a first time appearance of the Rev Star Speedsters, with Modified driver Stephane Lafrance taking a seat for a guest drive.
I was back at work on Saturday morning, and after taking a trailer to Brossard , Quebec I was back in Cornwall, Ontario in good time to be finished before 1-30 pm. My original plans for Saturday night were to make my first ever visit to the Riverside Speedway at St Croix, close to Quebec City. The Modifieds from Plattsbugh NY’s Airborne Speedway were taking a night off from their base, and were scheduled for a special ‘one off’ appearance at this northern outpost. The recent busy period at work and the feast of racing I’ve been having, has been taking its toll, so I decided to take an easier option. The Brockville Speedway is just over an hour from home compared to a four hour drive to Quebec City, so once again I decided to stay local. I’m glad I did, because I later found out that the Riverside races got cancelled due to rain.
It was de ja vu at the ‘BOS’ with Danny O’Brien and Dylan Evoy taking the major honors for the second night in a row. In contrast to the ‘MIR’, both features were pretty uneventful with both drivers having run away victories.
The weather forecast for Sunday wasn’t good and the sky was overcast when I got out of bed around mid morning. It was still like that when I arrived at the Cornwall Motor Speedway at about 3-00pm, and although the skies looked threatening , it was still warm and dry. With this scenario as a major factor, the show was hurried along with the minimum of delays.
Like the ‘MIR’ on Friday night, the Pro Stocks were absent due to races in Quebec, but in their place the ‘Brockville’ based Vintage Mods were added to the program.
These put on a great show and provided two spectacular rollovers . Wayne Riddell flipped on turn one and two in his heat while Steve Arbuthnot did like wise on the front stretch in the feature.
The first of the Features was a 25 lapper for the Mini Stocks where Mike Gaucher was the winner.
The Modified Feature was next where Gage Morin looked to be on ‘on a mission’ , he put all the disappointments from Friday behind him and charged virtually unchallenged all the way to Victory Lane.
After Steve Arbuthnot’s big wreck was cleared from the track , the Vintage Feature was won by Jason Power.
Like in the Vintage race, the Sportsman feature started with a big wreck on the front stretch with at least half a dozen cars involved . The track was completely blocked with the # 7 X car of Kyle Wilson parked on its side.
Obviously, the race came under red light conditions and while the track clearing took place, the first drops of rain began to fall. As it got heavier the cars returned to the pits, and then soon after 9-00pm the decision was made to end the night. The Sportsman Feature will be resumed when that division returns in two weeks time, while the other remaining race, the Semi Pro Feature will run next week.