This weeks racing began for me on Friday night at my local Mohawk International Raceway, but not before a short drive on Thursday (14th July) down to the Iroquois Locks.
It was a ‘Rick @ the River’ kind of day and I wanted to see the Glace Bay , a Canadian Navy ship, pass through .
On Friday it was race day so I took an early afternoon drive over the bridge to the M.I.R .
It was a hot and sunny day, so I relaxed down at the Massena Beach before the races ,
After stopping at JRECK Subs , I was soon sitting in the pit parking lot having my supper.
The program consisted of Modifieds, Sportsman, Rookie Sportsman , Mod Lites , Bandits and a wet track Enduro was included to end the night.
Once things got going, the races progressed nicely with no delays.
Before intermission the Bandit feature took place and this was won by Gary Sharlow.
The Mod-Lite feature was the first to run after the break.
This was a combined heat and feature due to the low car count.
Tristan Dibble won this.
The main event was up next, the feature for the Modifieds .
After Matt Woodruff led for the first part of the race, Brian McDonald managed to get past, and nobody could catch him.
The Sportsman Feature followed, and once again it was Shane Pecore who took the checkers.
He seems to be the one to beat at the M.I.R this year.
It was now the turn of Rookie Sportsman for their Feature.
Blaze Benedict got his first ever win in this one.
With Victory Lane pictures done, it was still only 10-00 pm.
The Wet Track Enduro was the only event remaining, so that was my cue to make an exit.
I was back home before 10-30. Perfect.
Saturday the 16th of July was another baking hot day , and I was heading up to Autodrome Drummond in Quebec with my good friend Chanty.
It was ‘Sail Panel’ night for the Modifieds and a Pit Stop Challenge.
The Pro Stocks, Sportsman and Mod Lites were also on the program.
We arrived early and met up with our friends at the Pierre Dagenais/Luke Whitteker team.
Once the racing got started I took my usual position on turn three and four.
After the heat races, the Pit Stop challenge took place at the front of the grandstand on the Victory Lane strip.
Twelve of the top Modifieds each ‘drag raced’ to a boxed off area where their crew would change the right rear wheel.
Once done the car would drive off as quick as possible to the ‘finish’ line a few feet away.
It was very entertaining and the fastest team was that of J.F. Corriveau.
After this it was feature time. The Mod Lites had theirs before intermission so the Sportsman were first up.
The up and coming , William Racine was the winner.
The Modifieds followed this, and it gave Francois Bernier another win.
The Pro Stocks division ended the night and it was Pascal Payeur who got the checkers.
The racing was all over by 10-00 pm, nice and early by Drummond standards. I like that !
While I was at Drummond my buddy Don Simpson was at Brockville having fun with the Sprint Cars .
The Modified feature at the B.O.S was won by Johnathan Fergusson, It was a pity I missed that,
Sunday the 17th of July was the third scorching hot day in a row, and my location that night was in my home town , at the Cornwall Motor Speedway.
It was a round of the Canadian Dirt Series for Modifieds and a lot of talent was in attendance.
Due to the extreme heat I left it later than normal to head to the track, I preferred the air conditioning of my home.
As well as the Modifieds , the Program included Sportsman, Rookie Sportsman, Pro Stocks and Lightening Sprints.
The Rookie Sportsman Feature was held before Intermission.
This was won by Mathis Caron.
The weather conditions meant the track was dry and dusty , so a lot of prep was needed during the break.
The Lightening Sprints were the first to have their big race and it was won by Alex Therrien.
The Modifieds were next, and this was a race I will remember.
It came under a long yellow flag status after Chris Herbison , Ryan Arbuthnot and Tommy Jock Jnr got in a wreck on turn four.
Gage Morin led the restart and he shot away , leaving the rest of the field behind him.
No one could catch him, and it made a lot of us happy to see him back in Victory Lane (It’s been over two years since his last win)
I’ve lived in Canada now for nearly 30 years , and don’t have any family living here with me, they are all either living in the UK or the USA (North Carolina) Gage’s grandfather Ron Morin has become one of my closest friends over the years , and I treat the ‘Morin Family’ as my own..
I’ve followed Gage’s racing career since he was kid in Go Karts.
Then later on as he progressed to the big track in Mini-Stocks ,followed by Modifieds.
So it was really pleasing to see his win that night. It’s been a long time,
I have to thank my ‘Tog’ buddy Don Simpson for taking this shot as I crashed in for a souvenir pic.
After the excitement of Gage’s win , it was the Sportsman feature.
This was another good one .
There was a lot to see, especially the side by side duel of father and son team, Eric and Cedric Gauvreau .
When it came to the checkers , it was Gage’s former crew man, Gab Cyr , another Cornwall local who took this one,
The final race of the night was the Pro Stock feature where Marc Lalonde got his second win of the year.
At the start of the year when I spoke to him, he was a little worried about changing his color scheme to green ( he thought it would be unlucky) ,
I don’t think so ! do you ?