The Short Track Super Series comes to my patch (11th August 2024 BLOG)
With the races cancelled , due to rain ,at the Cornwall Motor Speedway on August the 4th , I was looking forward to the two big shows coming up on my ‘doorstep’ .
The Short Track Super Series was making it’s first visits to the Mohawk International Raceway and the Cornwall Motor Speedway.
The two back to back events were starting on Tuesday the 6th of August at the M.I.R before crossing the St Lawrence Seaway for a Wednesday show at the Cornwall Motor Speedway.
I was there early on Tuesday to watch it all un fold.
When I arrived the banners for the tour sponsors had already been erected on the infield.
The STSS cars , and the support divisions of the Pro Stocks and Sportsman began filling the pits .
Then the tour boss Brett Deyo, gave his mandory drivers meeting.
The track was in good shape, after track crews had worked hard fixing it after the continuous rain from the previous day.
Once the cars had taken to the track for hot laps , it was time for the anthems.
All three of them. the Canadian, American and Mohawk anthems.
A nice thought
It was now time for the heat races
Heat races for the support divisions followed STSS cars.
The big race of the night was up first, and after the intermission.
What a great race this turned out to be.
Race fans certainly got their moneys worth with this one.
First of all we had David Hebert and Stewart Friesen trading places for the lead.
As Friesen took command and Hebert slipped back, Matt Sheppard and Chris Raabe came on the scene as they worked their way towards the front.
As the laps wound down Sheppard was catching Friesen who was hugging the top groove.
The last five laps were nail biting as Sheppard came in striking distance.
On the final turn, of the final lap , he pounced. Unable to get by on the top , he dived low, to snatch the lead , for the drag race to the checkers.
What a race that was !
Chris Raabe completed the podium.
The night was brought to an end with feature races for the Pro Stocks and Sportsman.
The first one, was the Pro Stock where Dakota Sharp got the win.
The night came ended with the Sportsman feature.
Cedric Gauvreau made it look easy in this one.
The race was in honor of the late Eugene Tarbell , a local Sportsman racer that recently passed away.
A special cheque was made ( with his image on it) was presented to the winner. A nice memory of this much loved family man and a local hero.
Like most ‘Deyo Shows’ everything was over at a sensible time and I was back home in Cornwall soon after 11-00 pm .
The two STSS shows in my area were planned back to back because of their close proximity . Although both tracks are in different countries , they are only a few miles apart.
The M.I.R is only a five minute drive to the Canadian border, and the C.M.S is about 10 minutes from there.
I got to Sundays race just after lunch time and most of the long distance teams had already arrived in the pits.
One of my local drivers, Brianna Lascelle was also there, checking out the track conditions with her young son.
I chatted with Brett Deyo and captured this shot of him and Cornwall Promoter Raymond Lavergne.
I was there in plenty of time to watch as my good friend Ron Morin prepping the track.
The Sportsman and Mini Stocks were joining the STSS cars on this occasion.
Following the drivers meeting , the Hot Laps began
As usual I took these shots from the Pit Tower.
Before the Heat races , it was time for the official opening with the playing of the Canadian and American Anthems
For the heat races , I’d moved to various positions in the middle.
Then came the intermission, for the re draw and track prep.
Emelie Lalancette, was designated by Kevin Hammel , to make his drawer and she picked the #1 pole position .
Once track prep was completed it was time for the driver intros for the lead up to the big race.
For this they walked down through the stands towards the their cars , so the fans could see them.
Then it was ‘Show Time’ .
The race began with the traditional 4 Wide ‘salute to the fans’.
For the second night running, fans were treated to a ‘Sheppard and Friesen Show’ with the race climaxing in a battle between the two.
This time Sheppard was the leader with Friesen having to attack .
As the race neared the end, back markers were getting in the way of the challenger , and made it hard to make the pass.
So it ended up with two back to back STSS wins , for Matt .
Stew was runner up, with David Hebert taking third spot
It was very much like deja vu from the previous night , for the Sportsman too.
Just like M.I.R , it was Cedric Gauvreau who took the checkers,
The last race of the night was the Mini Stock feature.
This was won by Christopher Cordeau.
So, the first Short Track Super Series in my patch, went very well , and I look forward to more of them to come.
There was no races scheduled for on Thursday this week at my local Airborne Park Speedway, so I had a night at home.
Friday my plans were to be at the Can Am Speedway at Lafargeville NY, but just like so many other places in the North East , heavy rain was everywhere.
There were plenty of cancelations and this was one of them.
By Saturday the 19th of August , the rain had stopped and my destination was the Brockville Ontario Speedway.
The program was for 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, Rookie Sportsman, Vintage Mods, Street Stocks , Crate Sprints plus an end of night mini-enduro. Considering all the rain they had from the day before, promoter Paul Kirkland had worked hard to make a good track surface.
The order of events started with the Vintage
These had two winners 50/60’s Chris Wilson and 70/80’s Matt Barbour.
The Rookie Sportsman followed and history was made , when 12 year old Melcolm Banks got his first win.
He’s the son of long time Brockville Modified driver Joe Banks.
The Sportsman race followed .
Gavin Eisele . passed early leader Shane Stearns , to go on and get this win.
With both head-line divisions in the books, by 10-00 pm , I took advantage and made an early exit.
In my absence , Charles Marchand won in the Street Stocks and Josh Verne JR was the Crate Sprint winner.
After a quick stop for a Tim Hortons coffee in town, I was back home in Cornwall by 11-15pm.
On the 11th of August , it was the second consecutive Sunday night that the Cornwall Motor Speedway had a cancelation due to expected wet weather.
So this weeks Blog ends the same way as the last one , as I take another night off.