RICK @ the RACES (8/9/10 May 2015)
9 May Brockville Ontario Speedway
Once again I went to work this past Friday with optimistic thoughts of going straight to the races when I was done. Brewerton Speedway NY for Big Block Mods would of been nice if I was could get away before 4-00pm, but failing that, the Can Am Speedway NY for Sportsman would also work , if I was done by 5-30 pm.
Once again, all my time spent loading the car on Thursday night , was to be in vain, with another crazy long day at work. I started at 5-30 am in the morning and it wasn’t until 7-00 pm at night that I punched out. No Friday night racing for me once more !
During the week, the weather had been unseasonably hot and I was looking forward to a mixed bag of racing activities.
First on the agenda, was a quick trip across the St Lawrence Seaway to the Mohawk International Raceway, who were holding their practice day, with on-track action scheduled for mid day.
My house in Cornwall is located a short five minute drive from the border crossing, and at 11-00 pm I left home. Just before reaching the bridge, I came across a large sign, stating ‘Access to the U.S.A closed’, so I quickly returned home and put out a request on social media for some info.
I was quickly answered by friends ‘in the know’ and discovered the bridge had been closed for emergency repairs to one of the expansion joints. There were varying reports on when it was due to reopen, so I began to think, that this part of my weekend plans would be over.
At about mid day , a Face Book message came through from my friend Derek Comins of the Hogansburg & Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Service, informing me the bridge had just reopened.
I then jumped back in the HHR and by 12-10 , I was over in the U.S.A. My first port of call was the Massena Walmart as my personal supply of my favorite cheese, Cabots Vermont Extra Sharp was getting low. Once that was taken care of , I returned to the Walmart parking lot and bumped into Julia White, # M 70 Billy Cook’s daughter, and mother of Thomas Cook , Sportsman driver # 35. She told me they had been racing at Can Am on Friday night, and couldn’t return to their home on Cornwall Island, because of the bridge closure. They ended up having to stay at Billy’s place, which is on the USA side of the water.
Once at the track , I went straight on to the middle to join my buddy, track photographer Andy Watts.
While out there , I had the chance to chat with track owner and promoter John Lazore, who was busy on his ATV checking the quality of racing surface. After one session of hot laps John decided he would water the track. Most of the cars that were present were accounted for on my camera so figured it was time to head out.
I had a quick look around the pits, and chatted with 358 Modified driver, John Mulder, who’s young son Madison, was making his racing debut. A photo shoot then took place
I then made my exit, and took off over the bridge and back to Cornwall.
It was now about 2-00 pm , so after down loading my pics and relaxing for a bit, I was ready to head out again.
My second event of the day, was the season opener at the Brockville Ontario Speedway, and at 4-00 pm I set off down Highway 401 to ‘Brockvegas’
I grabbed a bacon deluxe burger and a baked potato at Wendys and took it up to the parking lot at the track to have my supper.
I had my usual walk around the pits chatting to the folks I knew before taking my place out on the middle. Joining track photographer Henry Hannewyk and myself, were my two buddies , media man Jim Clarke from Belleville and fellow photographer Don Simpson, who’s based in Russell.
The sunshine of the early evening loaned itself perfectly for taking pictures, and with plenty in the bag, after the heats, I decided to watch the Features from the tower.
This week, a familiar face was missing . My good friend Rosie Estevez who has been the victory lane hostess for the last few years, recently bought a new house and with plenty of work to do, decided to take a break from her B.O.S duties each week. She hopes to make a few appearances during the year, but in the meantime, two new girls, Taya and Raechelle were in training.
The first Feature of the night was for the Rookies ( mini-stocks as I prefer to call them) and was won by my long time friend Bob Ray of Cornwall.
Up next was the Modified Feature which was plagued by cautions and stoppages. Chris Herbison walked away OK, from a bad front stretch crash that brought out the reds.We had a few more pauses after that, until things settled down, but throughout all this, young Ryan Arbuthnott was up front in control. He cruised on to the checkers without any real challengers, to take the first Modified Feature of 2015.
As the Sportsman took to the track for their Feature, a few spots of rain could be felt as lightening lit up the skies in the distance. Jessica Power had a good lead in this one, until on lap eight, the rain became heavy enough to bring out the caution. By now it was close to 11-00 pm, so the night was cut short, with, more than half the race left to run. The nights Vintage Mods and Street Stocks Features were also lost to Mother Nature.
I was back home in Cornwall , by 12-30 am and set my alarm clocks ( note plural ! ) for 7-40 am. I have very little interest in NASCAR Cup Racing these days, but must say that my interest in the F1 Grand Prix events has been rekindled. This weekend was the turn of the Spanish Grand Prix from Barcelona, and the live TV coverage started at 8- 00 am ( Eastern time) which was 2-00 pm in Spain.
It wasn’t the most exciting race I’ve seen, but it was still good viewing. In my opinion, the TV coverage and commentary is always excellent, and I reckon the companies that provide TV coverage for the big NASCAR events could learn a thing or two .
The winner was Nico Rosberg in a Mercedes, followed by fellow German, Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari, while England’s Lewis Hamilton in another Mercedes was third.
Finally I end this weeks report on a very sad note. I’ve heard via social media from my racing friends in the UK , that 11 year old race driver, Kier Millar has passed away following a racing accident at the weekend. It’s so sad to see such a young life lost.
My thoughts and sympathies go out to his family at this very difficult time . R.I.P Kier Millar