RICK @ the RACES (1/2/3 August 2014)
Friday 1 Aug Mohawk International Raceway, NY
Saturday 2 Aug Brockville Ontario Speedway,
Sunday 3 Aug Cornwall Motor Speedway,
Wednesday 6 Aug Capital City Speedway, Ottawa, Ont
At my place of work, our annual vacation requests have to be submitted before the beginning of March, so it’s quite important for me to have the various racing schedules on hand, as early as possible. This year, with my daughter Carla’s wedding in Austin , Texas in March , and two planned trips back to see the family in England, there weren’t too many spare days to play with. To make things easier , and not waste my permitted days, I arranged most of my leave by adding a few days to a week with a ‘stat’ holiday or my regular weekly day off, of Thursday.
This past weekend was the August Long Weekend in Ontario, which means the Big Block Modified Super Dirt Series drops into the Merrittville Speedway on the holiday Monday. The nearby Ransomville Speedway NY were running their SDS race the next day, and another was planned for the Weedsport Speedway NY , just along the NY Thru-Way, on Thursday. With all this in mind, I’d booked a few days off work.
My dispatchers, were kind to me on Friday, and to start my vacation, I was treated to a nice early finish. I had plenty of time to get over the bridge to the USA, and have supper at the Pondorosa, in Massena before heading to the Mohawk International Raceway.
After a couple of weeks of nice early finishes at the M.I.R, I feared , we wouldn’t be so lucky on this occasion. The Mod Lite division were having one of their TUSA Series race which meant a lot more of them. They would also be appearing at all my local tracks for the Series this weekend. Past experiences of watching larger fields ( more than about 8 cars) of this division, has often meant a recipe for wrecks, which results in delays and stoppages. As things turned out, they behaved themselves quite well, and even though, they are not my cup of tea, they put on a good show, with Feature winner being long distance traveller Jeff May.
I decided to try and get some different pics this week, and for some of the heat races, I shot from outside turn four. After trying this, and getting plastered in dirt, I returned to my usual spot on the infield.
The Modified Feature, provided a long overdue victory for local Cornwall driver Brian McDonald.
The city of Cornwall can also boast, having the Sportsman winner too, after Corey Wheeler grabbed the win , after passing long time leader Brianna Ladouceur on the last lap. The two of them traded paint on the front stretch, and Corey crossed the line with a flat front tire.
The Bandit Race was won by Matt Zira.
The racing was all over just before 11-00 pm, so wasn’t as late as I suspected.
With a possibility of nine different racing events in the next ten days, I decided to ‘pace’ myself ( I ain’t getting any younger ! ) and head down to the Brockville Ontario Speedway a little later than usual for Saturday nights show.
I left home in Cornwall with the sun shining about 4-00pm , but by the time I’d got a few miles down the Hwy 401 to Long Sault, it was pouring with rain. I continued on, and was soon back in to the sunshine until I reached Prescott, when I encountered another storm. This time, the rain continued all the way to Brockville, and when I pulled up at the Walmart parking lot, I phoned Web Master Craig Revelle ( who was at the track, ten minutes further up the road) if things were still on. At this time, they’d had no rain, so once I’d done at bit of shopping, I headed up there.
In the meantime, they’d had a quick shower, but the racing was still on, and the track was being prepared for the action. The work it needed, took a bit longer than expected, and there was a bit of a delay, before things got under way.
There was a big program to get through, with the regular divisions being joined by the Vintage Mods and the aforementioned Mod Lites. With still plenty of moisture on the middle, I decided to try and get some pics from high up in the grandstand for the heat races.
The heats went quite well, and considering the late start , we were still doing quite well for time.
Once the intermission was over, it was the Features, and this is when our luck changed !
First up was for the Street Stocks, which suffered a long delay due to a red flag situation. On the restart, Todd Raabe took the checkers.
The Mod Lites were up next, and my predictions for more delays , were to materialize, with two red flag incidents. The eventual winner of this TUSA Mod Lite Series race was Paul Klager.
Thankfully the top two divisions , which most people were there to see, followed this, and were in the books without too many stoppages. I’m pleased to say, we got two different winners in Victory Lane which went along way to sweeten the pain of the long night. Ryan Arbuthnott scored a win the Mods, while Aaron Pugh got his first ever Sportsman Victory.
By now, it was past 12-30 am in the morning, so like many other fans, I decided to make my exit and miss the remaining three races. In my absence Paul Billings took the Vintage race, while the Rookies and Rookie Sportsman Features were postponed until next week.
So, it turned out to be a late night and I wasn’t back home until just before 2-00am. Lucky there was no F1 Grand Prix this weekend, and I didn’t need to get up early for some TV viewing.
I was Still ‘pacing myself’, and on Sunday I arrived at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, a little later than usual, but still in good time to chill out in the tower, before things got under way.
The headline event of the program was the 100 lap CANADIAN NATIONALS race for the Mods .
Just like Brockville the night before, the heat races and Ministock Feature ( won by J. F Page) were all over and done in good time. I remember asking my buddy, and fellow photographer Bobby Lefebvre what time it was, and he told me it was just after 8-00pm.
The track required prepping and a longer than planned intermission was held while this was done.
After this the Mod Lite Feature took place, and just like the night before, we needed a red flag, before Jeff May got his second victory of the weekend.
It was now time for the 100 lapper , and ‘boy oh boy’ what a ‘wreck fest” with two red flags , first for a flip by Chris Herbison on turn two, and then one a for a really scary front stretch flip by Steve Bernier. Luckily both drivers walked away unharmed.
After the restarts, Stephane Lafrance made the early running, but was passed in the late stages by eventual winner , the fast moving Carey Terrance.
The Pro Stocks Feature followed this, and once again we had some serious wrecks with Rock Aubin getting the win after the restarts .
Not to be out done, the Sportsman also provided the fans with a few wrecks, that also added to the delays. Like Brockville, the night before, the late finish was sweetened, by the victory of the young Johnny Jackson ( Louie Jr) , son of former Pro Stock Syracuse winner, and top driver Louie.
Once again I got home late, and was very lucky I hadn’t got work the next day.
This was OK, but it put a stop to any ideas I had of getting up early and heading down on a six hour drive to Merrittville the next morning.
That trip was aborted, and I thought I may still go down that way on the Tuesday, for the Ransomville race. This idea also had to be shelved when woke on Tuesday morning not feeling too good, and not up to the long drive.
By the time Wednesday came around, my batteries were recharged, and I was ready for some racing.
Just like old times, when my work shifts gave me Wednesdays off, I took a leisurely drive to Stiitsville, near Ottawa for their mid week show.
On the program, there was an added bonus for me, with the inclusion of the dirt-style Sportsman.
Also, at the track was a Super Modified, (the type that race at Oswego NY) doing a few hot laps. This was the first time I’d seen one of these in action, and although I admit it was fast, I’m afraid I just don’t like the look of the things, so don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to see one of their races.
It was also fund raising night at the CCS for CHEO ( Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario) and throughout the evening various things were taking place to raise cash.
I took pictures for most of the heats before moving to the grandstand to watch the Features.
First up was the Late Models won by Tim Kirby, then the Sportsman, by Joey Evans, the Legends by Brian Saunders and , Quebecer Neal Lablond took the Thunder Car Feature. The Features for Ministocks, Four for Fun and an Enduro followed this, but I had already made my exit.
Well , with my vacation week half way through, you will have to wait until next weeks report, to see what other races I got to.