A Feast of Racing (29th July 2024 BLOG)
Since the last BLOG was posted , which ended at the Airborne Park Speedway on Friday the 18th of July , it’s been non stop racing for me.
I’ve just completed 12 racing events in 12 consecutive days.
I’ve had very little time to put together my regular type of BLOG so I’ll skip through , with just a few pictures and words from each day.
The pictures from all these events can be seen in the ‘LATEST GALLERY’
After the Airborne show on the 18th, my schedule went like this.
Friday the 19th July, I was at the Can Am Speedway Lafargeville NY
‘The togs’ are ready for action at Can Am , L to R , Dylan Terry, Me , Don Simpson and Brian Nacewicz .
This was a regular night of racing , the main event , the 358 Modifieds feature went to Preston Forbes
David Rogers was the Sportsman winner .
Friday 20th July I was at the Mohawk International Raceway NY
The headline divisions were Modifieds, Sportsman and Pro Stocks , but the night had to be called off , when a heavy downpour occurred just as the feature races were to begin.
I took shelter in the tech garage with my buddy Ted Lesage.
All the heats were in the books
Sunday 21st July I was at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont
Just like the M.I.R , the night before the main divisions were for the Modifieds , Sportsman and Pro Stocks
Johnny Jackson was the Modified winner
Gabriel Cyr was the Sportsman winner
Bastien Caron was the Pro Stock winner
Monday 22nd July I was at the Autodrome Drummond , Que.
This was day one of two back to back Super DirtCar Series races.
The place was packed with fans .
It was nice to meet up with my long time friend, Josee Fortier
Prior to the racing I chatted with Jimmy Phelps , a long time Series racer. After a drought of recent wins, he’s had a bit of a come back.
It turned out to be a history making night, when Michael Parent became the first ‘French’ Canadian to win a Series race on home-soil.
The Sportsman were one of the back up divisions and their race was won by Brian Preville
Tuesday 23rd July I was back at Autodrome Drummond, Que.
I stayed overnight in Drummondville to attend this, the second night or racing .
The winner of the big race on day two, was Matt Sheppard.
Prior to the race, a presentation was given to Danny Johnson for 40 years of service to Dirt racing
The STR’s were one of the support divisions that night and Drummond promoter Yan Bussierre won this race.
Wednesday 24th July I was at the Brockville Ontario Speedway.
After Drummonds two day show, , the SUPER DIRTCAR Series moved south to Brockville for the final leg of it’s Canadian tour.
The weather forecast looked grim, but during the day it was dry , so things went ahead as planned.
It was nice and sunny on my arrival and I chatted with friends in the pits
At about 5-30 pm there was a short, but heavy down pour, then the sun came out again.
The track was packed and about an hour later than scheduled the hot laps began.
One of the support divisions were the Late Models.
Their heat races were the first to run, and were safely in the books so the Modifieds began lining up on pit road for theirs.
Then the heavens opened and another big downpour was upon us.
That was it, and the show was abandoned. It has been postponed to September the 5th.
Thursday 25th July I was at the Airborne Park Speedway , Plattsburgh NY
The headline event was a round of the American Racer Series for Modifieds, as well as Sportsman and the domestic divisions.
19 Modifieds turned up for this and Chris Raabe got the win.
I never stayed for the Sportsman feature, and in my absence Bucko Branham got the win.
Friday 26th of July I was at the Can Am Speedway, Lafargeville NY .
This was a regular night of racing that had the Ontario Vintage Cars added to the program.
Billy Dunn won the Modified Feature and Mike Fowler was the Sportsman winner.
Saturday 27th July I was back at the Mohawk International Raceway NY.
It was a regular night of racing with Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stocks Rookie Sportsman and Mini Stocks.
There were double features for the latter, to catch up from the previous weeks rain out.
Young Bryan Tarbell got both wins in the Rookie Sportsman , which were his career first.
His mother Claudia is a past Champion at the track, and his late grandfather used to race in the Sportsman division.
The Modified winner was Chris Raabe.
Josh Jock was the Sportsman winner.
The night ended with a Pro Stock Victory for Zack Daniels
Sunday the 28th of July, I was at the Cornwall Motor Speedway again.
It was a night that only had one of the premier divisions in attendance.
Modifieds took center stage while the Sportsman and Pro Stocks had a night off.
The program was made up of Mini-Stocks, Street Stocks, Vintage Mods and Late Models.
The main event of the night , was a 35 lapper for the Modifieds .
After winning last weeks event , it gave Johnny (Louie Jr) Jackson his second win of the year.
I also had cause to celebrate , as I smashed my own personal record that has stood for many years.
48 Years Ago , back in the summer of 1976, I managed to attend six or seven (not 100% sure) consecutive days of racing .
At that time , I was living in the UK and did most of those races while vacationing with my girlfriend . We drove to the races in her little Hillman Imp to a number coastal resorts that had mid week races (Devon, Cornwall and Dorset)
Over the years, I’ve equaled those numbers of consecutive days (with the help of Super Dirt Week) , but I’ve never surpassed those numbers from the 1970’s .
After the Cornwall Motor Speedway last night , I’d done a 12 day consecutive stretch of racing.
I never thought I’d do this at my age, and I doubt if I’ll ever do it again.
As a memory of this occasion I joined Johnny Jackson in Victory Lane. (Thanks to Don Simpson for the Pic)