The week started with a trip planned to Autodrome’s Granby and Drummond, in Quebec, for a couple of back to back SUPER DIRT SERIES races. They were scheduled for Monday and Tuesday (25/26 July).
The weather forecast for Monday wasn’t good with heavy rain all over the north east. So, it wasn’t surprising, just as I’d finished packing my stuff in the car, I got word, the races had been called off. The rain-date for Monday’s Granby , was postponed two days, to Wednesday (27 July) after Drummond’s race on the Tuesday.
That meant a day of relaxing at home on the Monday, before setting off to Drummondville Tuesday lunchtime. My buddy Ron Morin and I , had the Blanchette Motel booked , just down the road from the track.
The rain had gone, it was a sweltering hot day, and the it was packed solid with eager and enthusiastic race fans. You’ve heard the expression , ‘standing room only’ , well it certainly was.
There were plenty of race teams present, as well as many of my friends. I soon met up with all the DIRTCAR team at the trailer and chatted with my good friends , Kathy and Chris Caldwell-Craft , as well as SUPER DIRT SERIES race director Mike Perrotte.
It turned out to be one of the best nights of racing I’d seen in many years.
I stood in the middle taking pictures for the heat races, then became a ‘race fan’ for the night, and watched the Features from one of the VIP booths.
Of course, as per Drummond tradition, the pre race Re-Draw for the big SUPER DIRT RACE race was lots of fun , with a good helping of pretty girls, to make my pictures more interesting. My friends, Martin Belanger , and Mandee Pauch , from DIRTCAR media , were taking care of the draw.Billy Decker drew pole position.Once the big race got under way I joined Kathy and Chris up in the VIP bar to watch the action.
It turned out to be an epic race with 60 year old , veteran driver, Frank Cozee , carving his way through the pack to take a well earned emotional Victory. The last time I saw Frank get a big win in the SDS was when he won on the Moody Mile at Syracuse in 2008.
The evenings racing was finished off , with a DirtCar Sportsman Series race that was won by newcomer, Michael Richard.After the races , it was back down the road to the Motel for a good nights sleep.
The next day , (Wednesday 27) was the rescheduled SUPER DIRT SERIES race at Granby, located about an hour away .
I wanted to be there early for a special reason.
As a race track photographer, I have to say Autodrome Granby , has to be one of the most challenging for this task.
It has always been a difficult one, with so much infield blockages of fences, jersey barriers and race haulers, but recently it was made worse .
My favorite spot for many years, for picture taking ( a gap in the barrier on the exit of turn four) has recently been blocked off with additional jersey barriers.
It’s now left us photographers wondering where to stand, to get any good action pics.
I figured for the heat races, I would go high up in the grandstand with a zoom lens, and get the cars coming out of turn three and four.
That meant getting to the track early and ‘putting a blanket down’ to save my spot. I was there soon after lunch to do it.
I then sat back in the sun in the parking lot, and had a snooze until my buddy Don Simpson arrived and parked alongside.By the time the gates opened, the parking lot was getting full, and it was obvious we were in for another packed house.
I had my usual wander around the pits to the DirtCar trailer, where I bumped into my friend Elise Lalancette of the Mario Clair team. She agreed to pose for this nice photo , that advertises our favorite sport.
Once the racing got under way I moved to the seat , I’d reserved in the Grandstand to take the heat race and hot laps pics.
When light faded , I moved from my Grandstand perch to the infield for the Feature races.
Once again the Redraw was organized by Mandee PauchFor the big event I watched from the infield VIP pit tower.
It was another good race in front of a packed crowd, with Matt Sheppard taking another win in the series. Following the SUPER DIRT SERIES race, it was the DirtCar Sportsman Series Feature, which was won by one of my local Cornwall drivers, Shane Pecore.
Once the Victory Lane pics were over , I was out of the gate and heading for home.
Thursday (28 July) , I had a doctors appointment and oil change done on my HHR, then more relaxation on Friday , before heading to my local Mohawk International Raceway. As usual I met up with my buddy Don Simpson for supper before the races.
Every now and then I like to try something different , so for the hot laps I stood shooting pics from the back straight beside the advertising boards. I was quite pleased with the results, so will want to try it again.
For the heat and Feature races , I returned to my usual spot on turn three and four. The 50 lap Oswego Qualifier was won by Billy Dunn and the Sportsman Feature was won by Thomas Cook
The show was all over before 11-00 and I was back home soon after.
I was the turn of Brockville next, the second of my three local tracks for a regular Saturday night show.
I left it late before leaving home and arrived just as the heat races were starting. As usual I shot pics from turn one and two. After the heat races I retired to the media booth to watch the rest of the show. First Feature up, was the Mini Stocks and it was good to see my long time friend Bob Ray get the win. The nights racing was Sponsored by Polite Sand & Gravel, and here is my friend Christine Patreau on Victory Lane hostess duty with Steve Polite The Modified Feature was up next , and it was great to see another friend of mine in Victory Lane.
Jordon McCreadie scored his second Brockville win of the 2016 seasonBy now it was nearly 10-30 pm, so with a few more days of racing ahead of me, I decided to miss the Sportsman Feature and head for home..
Sunday 31 July, I’d set the alarm clock for 7-45 am so I could be ready for a breakfast on the couch, watching the German Grand Prix.
Once again it was win for Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. with the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricardo and Matt Verstappen , second and third. Nico Rosberg , Hamilton’s Mercedes team mate and title challenger, made a poor start and had a series of bad luck incidents through out the race.
Sunday night meant a trip across the city to the third of my local tracks, the Cornwall Motor Speedway, where a DirtCar Pro Stock race was part of the program.
Once again , with a busy racing schedule ahead, I left home late and left the track early.
I opted for my usual vantage point, on the pits VIP tower for taking pics of the heats then watch the other races from elsewhere.
The 125 lap Canadian Nationals race was won by Mario Clair after overhauling long time leader Erick Rudolph around 50 laps in. Third place man was Carey Terrance.
The DirtCar Pro Stock race, was won by CD Beauchamp.After this, it was a quick exit home, and another missing out for the Sportsman Feature