RICK @ the RACES ( 29 Aug to 1 Sept 2014)
Friday 29 Aug Mohawk International Raceway NY
Saturday 30 Aug Brockville Ontario Speedway
Monday 1 Sept Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont
Last weekend was the Labor Day Holiday, and the traditional last day of points in the North Eastern track championships.
On Friday, I was expecting a busy day at work , but got lucky and was finished at 5-30 pm . I had plenty of time to get home, wash , change and grab my gear before heading over to the Mohawk International Raceway at Hogansburg , New York.
As usual I joined my buddy , track photographer Andy Watts on turn four. The track was in really good shape and we were treated to a great nights racing.
It was the Frenchie’s Series for the Mods and Sportsman, and the regular programed divisions of Bandits and Modlites.
The 35 lap Modified feature saw Billy Dunn put on another one of his electrifying performances to grab the checkers, as well as the 2014 track championship.
Dylan Evoy got the Victory in the Sportsman division, while Corey Wheeler took the track championship.
We had a long distance traveller Jacob Bova from Ohio , competing in the Mod Lite division and he made it look, oh so easy, by beating the locals to the checkers by a big margin.
Randy Whiting won the Bandit Feature.
The racing was over nice and early and I was back home in Cornwall , Ontario at around 11-30 pm.
After missing last Saturdays races at the Brockville Ontario Speedway, in favour of a trip to the Fulton Speedway NY , it was good to be back for a regular night of Mods, Sportsman, Rookie Sportsman, Antiques, Street Stocks and Rookies.
On arrival I had my usual pit walk-about, and chatted with friends, which included Ralph and Tabatha Murphy. Fellow, photographer , Don Simpson was also beside their trailer, and he wanted to get a pic of ‘Tabs’ and myself for his web site.
I’ve mentioned his great web site before, but will give it another plug http://www.girlsonwheelsphoto.com/
Once the racing got under way Don and I went on the middle to begin our nights shooting. I shot the heat races before retiring to the media booth to chat with my friend Rosie Estevez ( the Victory Lane presenter). In the heats it was great to see my buddy ‘Stock Car Steve’ Bilow get a win.
I’d spoken to Danny O’Brien in the pits earlier and we’d discussed what he needed to do to clinch the championship. He told me that he thought, a minor place from his heat would be suffice. I’m pretty sure he managed to do this OK in his heat, but after winning the second of the twin 20’s programmed on this ‘final points night’ he was presented with the Championship .
The other twin 20 Feature for the Mods was won by Bobby Herrington.
In the Sportsman division , Dylan Evoy collected his second feature win in two days, while Shane Pecore took the Sportsman title.
Todd Raabe won the Feature in the Street Stocks , while Tyler Reynolds got his first win in the Rookie Sportsman.
I didn’t stay around for the last two Features of the night, for the Rookies and Antiques, which were won by Quincy Roberts and Dave Wilgosh respectively.
The weather didn’t look good for Sunday and our ‘final points night’ and 358 Super Dirt Series at the Cornwall Motor Speedway.
Rain was expected, and sure enough, soon after I arrived at the track at about 1-00 pm the predicted rain storm began, so with more expected for later, the show had to be postponed.
Luckily with this being the Labour Day Weekend, and Monday a public holiday, the rain date was scheduled for the next day starting at 2-00 pm.
The forecast indicated it would be a hot and sunny day, and they weren’t wrong.
I was there before 10-00 am and watched as the pits began to fill.
Unlike, the 358 Super Dirt Series of yesteryear, the series doesn’t seem to attract the travelling ‘big names’ these days. Joining our regular band of competitors , there were only two long distance travellers, Erick Rudolph (Ransomville NY) and Mike Bowman (St Catherines, Ont)
Although afternoon dirt racing never provides an ideal track surface, it is great news for racing photographers. It makes life so much easier taking pics in day light.
There was lots of racing to get in , for all of the regular divisions, with not only the track championships to be decided, but the various local series (Canadian Nationals, Seaway- Lussier , and the Mohawk Racing Parts) as well as the season long loyalty awards.
For the big race, the Jiffy Auto Service 125 , Erick Rudolph drew pole position and was leading the race when the mandatory ‘front stretch pit stop’ took place after 75 laps.
The controlled pit stop for all cars at the same time has become a favorite with the fans as it gives those, who don’t normal go into the pits, a chance to see the team crews at work.
On the restart, Rudolph was chased by Stephane Lafrance who in turn had Carey Terrance chasing him. Terrance was on a mission and once past Lafrance he began to work on Rudolph. He passed him on lap 110 and while trying regain ground, Rudolph got tangled up on lap 118 and the cautions came out. On the restart, and as they closed in on Victory Lane , Lafrance was now back in the runner up spot with Ryan Arbuthnott following closely for third.
Not only did Terrance win the SDS race, but he also clinched the track championship too. Stephane Lafrance took the Canadian Nationals title.
The rest of the night went like this…
In the Sportsman division, the Feature race gave Dylan Evoy a Labor Day Weekend Hat trick, with Corey Wheeler getting a second track championship to go with the M.I.R one he captured on Friday . The Seaway -Lussier Series went to Mathieu Desjardins.
In the Pro Stock division the Feature was won by Charles-David Beauchamp, track championship went to Dave Bissonnette, and the Mohawk Race Parts Series to Stephane Lemire.
The Semi Pro Feature went to Derek Cryderman with Junior Delormier as the track champion.
Justin Dessrosiers took the Mini Stock Feature while Chris James got the track championship.
It was quite a busy end to the regular racing season at Cornwall, and was finished at a nice sensible time of 7-30 pm.
It’s on a sad note that I end this weeks report with the news that two of my racing friends have passed away during this past week.
Firstly, towards the end of the week I learned that Pete Cosco, a former 358 Modified driver and more recently, the promoter of the Humberstone Speedway, Ont, had passed away. I first met Pete at the Rolling Wheels Raceway NY a few years back when he offered to put one of my stickers on his car, and I last spoke to him just a couple of months ago , back in July when I visited his track.
The second bit of bad news came on Saturday night when I heard the news that Brandon Hagan had lost his life in an ATV accident. Brandon was one of our local Sportsman drivers, who I first met when he won a Feature race at the Mohawk International Raceway back in 2011. Since then I’ve always enjoyed chatting with him when ever we met.
Both of these great guys will be sadly missed by the racing family.
R.I.P Pete and Brandon