RICK @ the RACES (25/26/27 Oct 2013)
Eastern States Weekend
25/26/27 October Orange County Fair Speedway, Middletown.NY
With a rain-free SUPER DIRT WEEK this year, and the North East Fall Nationals at Brockville surviving with just a little bit of wet stuff, were we going to be lucky for October’s other big racing weekend ?
Since my first visit to the Orange County Fair Speedway, for the Eastern States Weekend back in 2002, it’s always been a favorite date on my dirt racing calender. I haven’t missed too many since then, and if I did, it was due to a conflicting date nearer to home. The forecast for this year was for dry weather, but with chilly temperatures.
My work shifts have changed over the past 12 months, and I’m now required to start at 5-00 am in the morning, so to fit the ESW into my racing schedule, a vacation day was needed for the following Monday.
To make things even better, I had a dentist appointment on the Friday morning, so, didn’t have to work that day, and allowed me to make an early start. I was finished at the dentist before mid day and after returning home for a short time, I left Cornwall, Ontario at about 1-00 pm.
There are two basics routes to the OCFS at Middletown NY and I’ve tried them both. There is the I87 via Albany or the route that I prefer , on I81 via Bingampton. Either way takes about six hours, but I find the Bingampton way, more relaxing. I crossed into the USA at Ogdensburg and without too many stops along the way, I was down in Middletown at 7-00 pm.
I had a bit of a shock when I arrived at the fairgrounds, as much of the area where I used to park my car had been turned into a Moto Cross track.
The Friday night program was for Sportsman as well as the heat races for the Big Block Modifieds.
It took me a while to find somewhere to park and by the time I got inside , the races had already started. I watched the Modified races from the grandstand where I was quickly joined by my friend Jim Swing , who’d traveled down from Hagersville, Ontario. I first got to know Jim back in 2004 when we were both involved in the Team Foskett / Short Circuit Magazine Canadian tour.
After chatting , I moved on to the center for the Sportsman Feature. Young Tyler Dippel was the winner of this one.
It was a really cold night, so after the racing, I was very happy to make a move over to the warmth of the 31st Lap, the Speedway’s pub that’s always the main hub for socializing.
It didn’t take me long to meet up with plenty of friends and ended up hanging out with Mike Mallett, Boris Rudzinski and Tina Riegler.
I also had a good chat with Modified driver Gary Tomkins and his dad Brian.
I think it was about 2-00 am when I got out of the bar and headed to my HHR ‘motor home’. I’d taken note of the weather forecast, and before leaving home, I’d packed the big duvet cover from my bed. Once under the covers, I slept like a log until about 8-00am.
There was ice on the windows when I awoke , so as soon as I could, I headed for the nearest McDonalds for breakfast and the use of their free Wi Fi. When I returned to the track I bumped into Dale and Lesley Planck at the pit gate and spent some time chatting with them.
Saturday’s show was a day time show and featured a 100 lapper for the 358 Mods and the 305 Sprint Cars were the days back up division. It was dry and sunny, but still bitterly cold as I took pics out on the middle with many of my photographer friends ( too many to mention individually).
I based myself on turn three, which is my favorite spot, as plenty of action seems to happen there. We didn’t have to wait long for it, as Jeff Strunk and Scott Flammer came together and ended up in the wall.
The big race was dominated and won by Stewart Friesen, with Billy Decker second and Chuck McKee third.
Joining Stewart for the Victory celebrations was his fiancee and fellow race car driver Jessica Zemken.
With no rain issues to cause delays this year, the days racing was over by 7-00 pm , and under normal circumstances, this would be my cue to be up and ready to head to the 31st Lap for the traditional ‘New Years Eve Party’ . With the earlier than usual finish and the weather being so cold, I decided to change my plans for this year. I didn’t fancy another night sleeping in the car, so headed straight to the nearby SUPER 8 Hotel to see if there was a room available.
In previous years, I would be wasting my time trying to get a room, but with attendances down, I thought I may get lucky. Rooms were limited, but they still had one available, which I quickly accepted. It was nice to warm up, take a shower and then get down and do stuff on my lap top.
By 9-00 pm I was ready to eat, and paid my first ever visit to a TEXAS ROADHOUSE. It was packed with many other race fans and teams, and amongst the dining tables, I spotted the days big winner, Stewart Friesen.
When the hostess directed me to my table, I was located opposite that of Massachusetts driver, Andy Bachetti and his party.
As I said, this was my first time visit to this eating chain establishment, and I have to say, the Steak I ordered was the best I’ve ever had. The complete meal which included fresh vegetables and a ‘stacked’ Jacket Potato was excellent. I will definitely be revisiting a TEXAS ROADHOUSE when I see one !
By about 10.30 pm I’d finished eating, and instead of going back to the ‘New Years Eve Party’ at the track, I decided to return to the hotel, and make use of the beer in my cooler !
It was so nice to have a lay in on Sunday morning before returning to the track ! Outside, it was still damn cold, so I parked the car on the back straight spectator viewing terrace. It was a good spot to watch what was taking place on the infield, and be ready to move over there when it got nearer to start time.
Sunday was the Eastern States 200 lapper for Big Block Mods and the Street Stocks were there as the back up division.
This was a bit of a dissappointment , because in previous years the entertaining Pro Stocks had been the Sunday support act.
On arrival I noticed that Dave Rauscher’s pit stall and race car hauler was right beside my regular shooting spot that I ( and several other photographers favored) on turn three.
I remembered how kind Dave had been at the Cornwall Motor Speedway earlier in the year when he allowed me to shoot from the roof of his trailer, so I tracked him down in the pits, to see if he’d let me up there again.
He didn’t hesitate to say yes, and he also allowed my photographer buddy Alex Bruce up there too. It made photographing the action, that much easier.
Brett Hearn and Tim Hindley were on the front row for the start, and even though there were a few lead changes due to pit stops, these guys stayed up front for most of the race.
A big wreck in the first quarter of the race which involved many of the top names, limited the number of challenges to Hearn, who, over the years, has made the OCFS his own .
After being involved in the early skirmish I mentioned, Stewart Friesen managed to claw his way back through the field, and by the time the checkers fell for Hearn, he’d managed to pass Hindley to claim second.
The race was over by about 5-30 and after I’d got my Victory Lane pics, I had the usual slow crawl to get out of the fairgrounds parking lot. Even with less people in attendance than in previous years, it still took nearly 30 minutes to get out.
On my first visit to the ESW over 10 years ago the grandstands were full, but things are different now.
I’d just like to give my opinion why I think less people are attending these days.
Oh yes ! when I first started attending the Eastern States Weekend, it was packed with both race teams and traveling fans.
I think it would be fair to say, that in the past, about 25% of the fans that were there, were from Canada. This doesn’t seem to be the case anymore, and I feel this is partly due to the program line up.
This is my theory, in years gone by, I’m pretty certain ( but not 100% sure) that over the weekend, there used to be DIRTCAR Series races for all of the divisions ( Big Blocks, 358’s Sportsman, and Pro Stocks) , which obviously guaranteed plenty of driver and fan support from north of the border.
These days, it’s only the Big Block Mods with a Series race, and although they are great to watch, they very rarely appear north of the border. Therefore the traveling fan base has to be less. The other three divisions run weekly in Canada, so if series races for them were to return to the show, I think the Canadian fans would return too.
Just my thoughts ! why the numbers seemed to be down.
Now back to the report !
Once I managed to get out of the speedway, and on the road, I set off back towards Canada, and by about 9-00 pm I was passing Syracuse and starting to get hungry. I made a quick phone call to my racing friend in the area, Dawn Kamf, and we arranged to meet up at the Cedar View Restaurant , near Mexico NY for a late supper. Dawn never made it to the ESW this year , so was eager to hear all about it.
After saying good bye I was back on the road again, and crossed over in to Canada at 1000 Islands around 1-00 am . There were no border delays this time of the morning, and was able to make pretty good time, and arrived back home in Cornwall at 2-30 am.