RICK @ the RACES (20 to 23 July 2012)
20 July Autodrome Granby , Que
21 July Brockville Ontario Speedway
22 July Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont
23 July Autodrome Granby, Que ( Rained Out)
My Canadian passport expires at the end of August, so in order get things sorted in good time, I had a change of scenery this past Friday night. In the afternoon I took all my documents along to the passport office in Montreal so I could drop them off personally and pay the extra cost to speed up the process. ( I was told it would be ready for me to pick up the following Friday ) . Once finished in Montreal, instead of going to my usual Friday night base at the Mohawk International Raceway, I headed north to the Autodrome Granby.
Granby was one of the first places I witnessed Dirt Modified racing and my inaugural visit was back in 1996.
I arrived at the track at about 5-30 pm for a program which included a 100 lapper for the Mods. Winner on the night was my good friend Kyle Robidoux. The Sportsman Feature went to Steve Bernier
Both features were over by 10-00 pm and I was able to get back home to Cornwall before mid night.
On Saturday , I had a relaxing day around town before setting off down Highway 401 to the Brockville Ontario Speedway. As usual I spent time wandering around the pits before the races got under way, and one of the drivers I chatted to was Stephane Lafrance. I’ve known ‘Steph’ for quite a long time and we were discussing the disappointing season he’s been having so far, compared to the memorable one he had last year. We both agreed, it was about time he got his first B.O.S Feature win of 2012.
As the cars came on to the track for the pre race hot laps, I took up my regular position on turn one and two. An early indicator of things to come , happened as the Modified’s made their appearance. Bobby Herrington’s car went sideways , a bit too close to the top,
and when the back wheel slipped over the lip, it flipped over and on to the grass.
As the night went on, more tales of woe were to follow. There was a nasty looking wreck on front stretch just as the checkers fell in the Rookie feature. Winner of this one was visiting Brighton Speedway regular, Justin Ramsey.
In the Modified Feature Stephane Lafrance’s run of bad luck continued with a spectacular roll over on turn three. The car was a real mess , but he thankfully appeared to be OK. ( Unfortunately. I later heard that Steph , had suffered concussion, so hope he’s soon feeling better) After the restart, Kyle Dingwall took the checkers and scored his second Feature win of the year. Dylan Evoy won yet another Sportsman Feature while the other winners included Jason Powers (Vintage) and Derek Cryderman (Street Stocks)
As normal , on Sunday I was at my local Cornwall Motor Speedway for a double header of DIRTCAR Series races for Sportsman and Pro Stocks as well as the regular Modifieds, Semi Pro’s and Mini Stocks.
It was another warm and sunny day as the pits started to get full up with cars. There were 41 Sportsman on hand for their first Series race of the year and a good turn out of Pro stocks too.
With the big number of Sportsman taking part, it meant two consi’s, and with the extra time taken for the presentations, it meant a later than normal finish.
Joey Ladouceur won the Pro Stock race after catching and passing long time leader Rob Yetman.
Chris Herbison was the Sportsman winner in a race where my good friend Tabatha Murphy had a bad wreck on the back stretch. She was lucky to walk away after her car was punted off the track and into a tree.
It was close to mid night when Carey Terrance took the Modified checkers, and the Semi Pro’s were yet to run. Luckily this didn’t take long as Derek Cryderman got his second win of the weekend. Mini Stock winner was Martin Bernard.
Even with the late finish, I was at work Monday morning at 7-30 am and rearing to go ! It was when I arrived I found out that I’d been scheduled for a ‘day off’. Before the weekend, I hadn’t checked the notice board, and because I’d worked on the ‘Canada Day’ Monday, I was due for a day off ‘with pay’ . With a big smile on my face, just two minutes after clocking in, I’d clocked out again with thoughts of racing on my mind.
The SUPER DIRT SERIES tour was on a two day visit to Quebec and that night they were at Autodrome Granby. I quickly made an agenda for this unplanned day off from work.
In the afternoon, I made my second trip within days, to Granby. It was once again a hot and humid day, but had the likely hood of thunderstorms.
On arrival I toured the infield pits and noticed that most of the tour regulars were present. I attended the drivers pre race briefing where DIRTCAR’s Joe Skotniki relayed the news of possible bad weather.
The skies looked threatening as the cars came out on the track for warm ups, and just as the last group of Modifieds took to the track , a few drops of rain could be felt. Within minutes the sprinkles turned into a shower, which was soon followed by a violent storm. It was pretty obvious the night was over, and before long I was heading back to Cornwall.