THE MARCH 2016 REPORT

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The month of March got off to a busy start, with a visit to my daughter Carla, Alex and grandson Benji,  in Austin , Texas.

I’m still unable to work, as a result of my MYASTHENIA GRAVIS condition, and with the next appointment with the medics not being due until 31 March, we took advantage of some last minute bargain flights. Carla booked the tickets, from Ottawa to Austin for the Tuesday 1st March.

I parked my car at my buddy, Don Simpson’s place at Russell, and he drove me to Ottawa Airport for my afternoon flight.

A big snow storm was expected in the North East , and was forecast to begin about 5-30 pm. I was hoping to get out, and be at my connection destination of Detroit , before it started.

My 4-45 pm flight with DELTA  took off a bit late, but I made it to Detroit, just as the storm was starting. Of course the effect of the storm , meant delays , and my onward flight, scheduled for 8-20 pm,  to Austin kept getting put back.

We eventually boarded the plane just before mid-night, and then within minutes of doing so, we were told to get off, as the flight had been canceled . Apparently , as we were told the crew had insufficient duty hours available to get us to Austin.

With the bad weather conditions effecting incoming and outgoing flights , the DELTA staff had no definite answers for rescheduling, so to ‘ cut a long story short’ , along with many others, I slept in an airport chair until the morning.

( I could of gone to a Hotel, but I could not see much point in paying for that , when hopefully, I’d only be in the bed for a couple of hours).

By mid morning on Wednesday 2 March, DELTA had re-scheduled me a flight to Austin, but it meant, another connection via Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I eventually got into the Bergstrom Airport in Austin almost a day late where I was met by Alex and Benji. Carla had been on a business trip to Virginia, and would not be flying in,  until later that night.

So, the one day delay in my arrival was ‘no big deal’ as we had nothing planned for Wednesday , anyway.

The weather in Austin, was lovely and warm , and it was nice to relax in the sun, at their place in Leander, on the northern tip of the city.12822097_10207071188316628_486415486_n

Benji is definitely following in ‘Grand dads’ footsteps because he loves playing with his cars, and already has a large collection of Hot Wheels 12814719_10207102878668867_1159221945653421817_nThe warm weather , also meant we were able to play outside with the remote controlled ‘Grave Digger’ monster truck that I bought him.bunnygrandstands 005 (Medium)

Before heading off to Texas , I had researched , three racing possibilities , but I also wanted plenty of family time. So,  knew I wouldn’t be doing all three .

My priority event was the Cotton Bowl Speedway at Paige on Saturday night, with the other two being the Friday night show at the Heart Of Texas Speedway in Waco, or the Pirrelli World Series for Sports Cars at the Circuit of Americas , in Austin.

I let Carla decide which of the other two, would work best.

So , instead of Waco, on Friday 4 March, we opted for a nice family meal at the Oasis Restaurant over-looking Lake Travis.

This was somewhere I really wanted to revisit. Back in 2007 when Carla first moved to Austin , and long before she was married, the two of us had a nice ‘father and daughter’ meal there.

FLASHBACK to the Oasis Restaurant, Travis Lake, Texas  2007
FLASHBACK to the Oasis Restaurant, Travis Lake, Texas 2007
FLASHBACK to the Oasis Restaurant, Travis Lake, Texas 2007     FLASHBACK to the Oasis Restaurant, Travis Lake, Texas 2007
FLASHBACK to the Oasis Restaurant, Travis Lake, Texas 2007 

This time we were there as a family , with her husband , Alex and my Grandson Benji .TEX3 028 (Large) TEX3 039 (Large)

Saturday 5 March , was my first race day of this trip, but not before we made a visit to Benji’s pre-school , for a morning of fun for the kids with the Easter Bunny.bunnygrandstands 014 (Medium)

In the afternoon, I took off in Carla’s Mazda SUV, to the races.

My destination was Paige, a small town , about an hours drive from Austin, where the Cotton Bowl Speedway is located.COTTON 006 (Medium) COTTON 032 (Medium)The track is 2/3 rd of a mile dirt oval and it was their opening night for the I.M.C.A divisions. Although it was the official opening night, the previous week they had hosted a ‘special’ for the World of Outlaw Sprint Cars.

On arrival , I was made very welcome , by the promoters wife, Melinda Bennett, who introduced me to some of the tracks officials. COTTON 028 (Medium)Flagman, Nathan Lavender was very helpful and let me take a few panoramic shots from his podium, prior to the races.COTTON 026 (Medium) COTTON 027 (Medium)

Nathan was also on hand to take my souvenir picture.COTTON 020 (Medium)I’d got there really early so had plenty of time to check out the place , watch the teams arrive for tech, and sample a burger and fries before the action commenced.COTTON 034 (Medium)

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On this particular Texas trip, my baggage space was limited, to just airline ‘hand luggage’  so I had to leave my large flash attachment at home, and make do, with the ‘built in’ one on my camera. These are never that good for taking good quality night time shots, so decided against going out on the center when the racing began. Instead, I decided to gamble on some early evening shots from the spectator area. COTTON 181 (Medium)COTTON 159 (2) (Medium)

There was a quick intermission after the heat races, where I wandered the pits and took more pics. I came across  The father and daughter team of David Goode Sr and Sarah .COTTON 124 (Medium) COTTON 125 (Medium)

I then returned to my spot , on turn two to take some feature race action.

One of the cars that was doing pretty well and lead the race for a while was the # C3 car .  Of course , when I’m at an unfamiliar track, I have no names to put to the numbers.COTTON 169 (Medium) After watching two of the evenings Feature races , I made my exit for the drive back to Austin.

On Sunday 6 March, Carla and Benji joined me for the short drive to the Circuit of Americas, located near to the Bergstrom Airport.

Before leaving Leander, we needed some gas, and while filling up in Cedar Park , I looked across the way to the Car Wash and saw a race car and trailer. It was the # C3  Modified, I’d seen racing the night before, so we drove over the parking lot for a chat.

Thanks to some later info sent to me from Nathan Lavender ( flagman ) I was able to put a name to Carla’s local Modified racer. The # C3 from Cedar Park (Austin) is Christopher Birmingham .

The Circuit of the Americas were staging a round of the Pirelli World Challenge for sports cars.  Not my usual diet of racing, but something I was looking forward to.

There were two races scheduled for the Sunday show ( a three day event)  and we got to the track just after the first race, for the GTS cars, had started.  COTA16 007 (Medium)It didn’t take us long to get inside and take a seat in the main grandstand on the start finish straight.COTA16 043There was not a big crowd there, that’s not surprising really. Lets face it, this type of race track would only be packed on Grand Prix day.  COTA16 021 (Medium)COTA16 070 (Medium)Brett Sandberg from Allendale, NJ won the first race in the  ANSA Motorsports , # 13 , KTM ExBow GT4.

After the presentations there was a break for lunch, before the afternoons race took place. It was our time to take a wander around the pits.

COTA16 094 (Medium) COTA16 097 (Medium) COTA16 115 (Medium)Benji, got lucky and had his picture taken with one of the ‘pretty faces’ with the ANSA team.

After a burger and fries, we took our seats for the afternoon race, which was for the GT/GTA and GT Cup cars.

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I could really get into this kind of racing !  Watching , Aston Martins, Bentleys. Mercedes, Cadillacs , etc , etc, battling out on a road-course,  I found,  far more entertaining than the NASCAR Cup stuff.  COTA16 254 (Medium)The winner was Johnny O’Connell from Flowery Branch , GA, in the # 3  Cadillac ATS VR

Once the presentations were over, we jumped back into Carla’s Mazda for the short drive back to Leander.

After  relaxing around the house for the remainder of my visit,  Tuesday was time to return home to Canada.

This time things went to schedule, with my 11-40 flight from Austin to Minneapolis/St Paul going out on time. My connecting flight at around 2-20 pm to Detroit,  was also on time, as was the final leg at 8-35 pm to Ottawa.

At 10-00 pm my buddy Don Simpson was picking me up in Ottawa and before mid-night I was home in Cornwall.

On  Wednesday , 9  March,  I took a ride across town to see how things were progressing with the new grandstand construction at the Cornwall Motor Speedway. As you can see from the pics, things are looking good.

 

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At the weekend, it was time to head back to the USA , but this time, just a short drive to Syracuse , New York.

On Saturday and Sunday , 12/13 March it was the Motor Sports Expo at the New York State Fairgrounds, and I chose Saturday as my preferred day to visit.

I took a leisurely morning drive down, stopping for lunch at the Panera Bread shop in Watertown  NY , for a Mac and Cheese lunch.

I was at the Fairgrounds around 2-00 pm and was soon chatting among friends.  xpo 116 (Medium)The hall was packed with people and there were plenty of race cars to see.  xpo 052 (Medium)It’s this annual show where, like  other race fans, I pick up all my season schedule cards from the various tracks, to help plan my year. xpo 024 (Medium) xpo 035 (Medium) xpo 104 (Medium) Around 4-00 pm , I made my exit, but before leaving the Fairgrounds I wanted to get a couple more pictures.  As I looked over from the parking lot there was the sad sight of  flattened ground that was once the ‘Syracuse Moody Mile’ .  The place I had called home every October  for SUPER DIRT WEEK.  It was very depressing looking over to where the grandstand used to be and my favorite photography spot on the exit of turn four.

I used to sit opposite the clump of trees taking pictures, and to the left of that, the grandstand is no more
I used to sit opposite the clump of trees taking pictures, and to the left of that, the grandstand is no more.
What was once the back straight, going down to turn three and four
What was once the back straight, going down to turn three and four

Once I’d taken those memorable pictures, I was on the road again , heading up Interstate 81 in the direction of home.

By supper time I was passing Watertown , so stopped by at the Texas Roadhouse to eat with my racing friend Dawn . By 11-00 pm I was back home in Cornwall.

I must mention something interesting that was put out on CTV on Monday 14 March.

If you have read my early reports, you will be aware that when I first moved to Canada from England in 1994, I was living in Combermere , Ontario with the Staal family ( Aunt and Uncle of my ex Wife, Pat) .

Uncle Klaas had a Cottage Moving Business which I briefly worked for, during those early days, until he sold up, to retire. During his retirement days, his life has been devoted to his passion for model trains and this TV spot, documents his achievements.

Click this link

Klaas Staal and his Model Train Museum

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The following weekend it was time for another race car show, and on Friday  18 March , I was heading down the 401 to Kingston. 12604924_644768508998972_7239767879341791168_o

It was the annual Frontenac Mall Race Car Exibit,  presented by Stewarts Racing and featuring the racers of the Brighton and Brockville Ontario Speedways.XFRONT 040 (Medium) XFRONT 036 (Medium) XFRONT 050 (Medium) XFRONT 027 (Medium)As usual there were plenty of race cars on hand and friends to chat with.

Saturday was spent relaxing around my house, until I had a call from my friend Ron Morin, asking me if I fancied joining him for the evenings hockey game between the Cornwall River Kings and the Marquis De Jonquiere.  It was the River Kings last game of the season and they lost 4 to 3.

After returning home from the hockey, I had a late night date with my TV set. At around 1-00 am in the morning the Australian Grand Prix was being televised from Melbourne, and with it being the opening race of the F1 season , I was anxious to watch it.

The Face Book clip of the Alonso , Gutierrez incident

After an early red flag situation where Fernando Alonso flipped his car, Nico Rosberg went on to take the checkers for Mercedes.

The race was all over before 3-00 am in the morning, when I crashed out,  in bed for a few hours sleep.

At 11-00 am on Sunday morning, I’d arranged to go to Ottawa with Ron (Morin) and his brother, to the Ottawa – Gatineau International Auto Show.

All three of us set off for Ottawa in Ron’s Lincoln, for a few hours checking out the new cars.  The show was taking place at the Shaw Center, down town beside the Rideau Canal.ottshow 220 (Medium)ottshow 204 (Medium)ottshow 218 (Medium)ottshow 224 (Medium)

As mentioned, the event was taking place at the Shaw Center, an ideal location for Ottawa’s car show. From the top floor ( where the motor-cycles were on display) I was able to take a nice panoramic photo of the city below and the Houses of Parliament.1927778_10207214447058007_2413141628470429613_n

The Final weekend of March was the Easter Holiday Weekend, which came early this year. As you know, Easter falls on different dates each year, and when it comes early, it means less racing opportunities.

For most of my life, Easter has always meant a feast of racing, when back in the UK it often involved attending events on  Friday, Saturday, Sunday and the Holiday Monday. I’ve got used to attending less , since living this side of the Atlantic, but it’s not often I don’t attend any !

There were very few events taking place this year and decided against the long hauls to either Williams Grove, Pennsylvania or Georgetown , Delaware on Good Friday or  the Bridgeport Speedway , New Jersey, on Saturday. After my usual research, I couldn’t find anything for Easter Sunday or Monday.

So , my Easter this year, was a rare one spent at home.

As this report is published on the 30 March 2016 , tomorrow 31 March , I’m due to see my MYASTHENIA GRAVIS specialist in Ottawa.  I guess I will find out more news about my future prospects.

You will have noticed, that since my illness, these reports have gone from ‘Weekly’ to ‘Monthly’, but hopefully before too long they will return to ‘Weekly’.

Keep a look out !

 

 

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