RICK @ the RACES (16/17/18 May 2014)
17 May Brockville Ontario Speedway
18 May Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont
This weekend heralded the scheduled season openers of my two nearest tracks, the Mohawk International Raceway at Hogansburg, New York and my home town racetrack, the Cornwall Motor Speedway. As well as it being the season openers, it was also Cornwall’s first event under the new ownership. Last month my good friend Ron Morin sold the track to the Lavergne family.
The weather forecast for Friday’s M.I.R opener was not good and most of the North East was expecting heavy rain. I wasn’t very optimistic when left home in the morning and started my work day, and sure enough by the time I clocked out at night, I’d already received a text telling me it had been called off.
As mentioned a few weeks back, I’d recently been having camera problems. My Nikon had to be returned for a warranty repair, and to get myself out of trouble, I’d bought a new ‘camera body’. Well, on my return home on Friday night, I had a message on my answer phone from Henry’s in Orleans (Ottawa) telling me the camera had been repaired, and was ready to be picked up.
I also heard on Friday night that there was practice session taking place at Ottawa’s Capital City Speedway, on Saturday afternoon. So, my Saturday plans now involved, a camera pick up in Orleans, followed by an afternoon at the CCS in Stittsville, then an evening at the Brockville Ontario Speedway.
Everything went to plan, until I got to the CCS, sure enough practice was taking place, but the first part of the afternoon ( when I was there) was devoted to the drag strip, with the oval track practice happening later in the day. Drag racing doesn’t do anything for me, so I made an early exit for the B.O.S
It was a real chilly night at the B.O.S, but there was no rain and things looked good for a great night of racing.
Craig Revelle of Finish Line Web Design had the new www.rickattheraces.com Tee Shirts on sale, but with the cool night temperatures, I thought I’d wait before trying mine on !
I had my usual walk around the pits and chatted with Ralph and Tabatha Murphy, who as promised, the previous week, had their brand new car making its debut. Pictures were taken before I took my regular photo shooting spot on the middle.
I got plenty of action shots in the bag , during the heats before retiring to the warmth of one of the booths to chat with my friend, Victory Lane hostess, Rosie Estevez.
There was a lot of racing on the card, for this Victoria Day Weekend event, which included a 40 lap SEAWAY Series race for Sportsman.
As you’d expect, there were a lot of ‘cautions’ with the eventual winner being Matheiu Desjardins of Quebec.
The 35 lap Modified race was won by Danny O’Brien and the 4 Cylinder rookie race by Corbin Millar. Also on the card, were the Vintage Mods, who’s Feature race ( won by Josh Power) turned out to be a bit wild, with plenty of clanking and banging.
By 11-30 pm, the Rookie Sportsman and Street Stock Features , were still to be run, but with a busy day ahead on Sunday, I chose to give them a miss. I was back home in Cornwall at about 1-00 am, and in my absence, the races were won by David Andre and Alex Gagnon respectively.
The sun was shining bright when I got up on Sunday morning, which was just what we needed for the Cornwall Motor Speedway opener.
I was there around 1-00 pm and after saying hello to the new owners Raymond and Jaques Lavergne , I took my usual spot in the control tower and got on with some lap top work before the crowds started arriving.
Once the pits started filling up, I went for a wander. There was a full race program with all the weekly divisions in attendance.
Top of the bill was the 100 lap 358 Modified Super Dirt Series. The Pro Stocks had a round of the Mohawk Race Parts Series,
and the Sportsman, Ministocks and Semi Pro’s had a regular.
When the racing commenced , I took up my position beside the 360 NITRO media guys, on the center with Bobby Lefebvre for the taking of pics and directing Victory Lane presentations.
The main event, was fast and furious, which required a long red flag situation after Bill Mullin did a multiple roll over on the pit bend. The roof of his car had to be cut open by the safety crew to extricate him . After visiting both Cornwall and Ottawa hospitals, and being fitted with a neck brace, I’ve been told from various sources that luckily he should be OK. On the restart, Mario Clair went on to win the SDS 100 lap race.
Stephane Lamire took the Pro Stock checkers, Shane Pecore the Sportsman, Bruno Richard the Semi Pro and Chris James the Ministock.
We had all been hoping for an early finish, but the delay for the Mullin crash , pushed things back a bit, and it was just before mid-night that I was leaving the place.