
Heading South 4th February 2025 BLOG
With January finally over, my big plans for February got under way.
I left home in Cornwall, Ontario at 5-00 am on Friday morning (31st of January) to head south once again.
After a week of snow, the roads were thankfully in good shape and no hold ups.
By 8-30 pm I was pulling into the driveway of my daughter , Carla’s place in Willow Springs (near Raleigh) North Carolina.
It was nice to be spending time with my family , and on Saturday morning I attended grandson Benji’s basketball game in Fuquay Varina.

I’ve never been a fan of basketball, but now he’s in a team , I’d better take some interest.

Saturday, also happened to be my birthday, so that night , we all went out for supper at Chilli’s in Holly Springs.
On Sunday morning, Carla had to be out of the house early , in order to catch a 5-30 am flight from the local Durham Airport. She had a two day business trip in Boston Mass, on Monday and Tuesday .
I was also leaving early that morning , but not as early as early she was. When I left the house at 7-30 am , she’d already gone.
I was heading to a day time race , only two hours away but wanted to be there in good time .
I was going to the Lake View Motor Speedway , at Nichols in South Carolina.
The main reason for me being there, were the appearance of the North East Sportsman Modifieds , that were added to the program . I attended the same event , two years ago.
Things were scheduled to get under way at midday, but I wanted to be there before .

I had plenty of time to get there so stopped in at the Waffle House in Lumberton for breakfast.
I reached the track at about 11-30 am, so took my usual wander around the pits .

They had Sprint Cars, Late Models , and Crown Vics, joining the North East Sportsman on the program.
It wasn’t long before I spotted a few familiar faces.
I found Donovan Lussier from Granby, Quebec, having a pre race snack before the drivers meeting.

Of course Donovan is the current Airborne Park Speedway Sportsman Champion and is the son of Dominic Lussier, the Autodrome Granby promoter.
I then spotted 358 Modified car owner, Denis Frappier, who was there with his car , giving it the once over prior to the Short Track Super Series coming up at the All Tech Speedway in Florida in the coming week.

He told me Mario Clair would be driving it for that show. Mario was flying down to Florida that day from the Plattsburgh Airport.
I then spotted young Derrick McGrew .

It’s hard to believe that it was five years ago, in 2019 , that I witnessed him, winning a feature at the Airborne Park Speedway in Plattsburgh as an 11 year old rookie.

FLASHBACK TO JUNE at the Airborne Park Speedway , June 2019
Once the drivers meeting was over , there was a short break before the hot laps.
I moved to the middle , and chose a raised vantage point on turn one and two to do my shooting.
It was here I met up with local photographer Wallace Moody and his son. We had a long and interesting chat.

He’s from Dillon, SC , the town made famous by ‘The South of the Border’ .

The well known, tourist stop that travelers pass along I 95.
For most of the day, I shot my pictures from the same position. It suited me well.






The track was in great shape and not dusty, which is very rare for afternoon dirt races. I didn’t see any pot holes or bumps so it provided an excellent racing surface. It was quite a chilly day, so I’m pleased to say the program was run smoothly with no time wasting delays.
There was a short intermission after the heat races, and before the main events .
At this point I grabbed something to eat.

It’s been a long time since I’d bought hot cooked mini donuts at a race track . More tracks should have them.
The first of the features, was for the Sportsman.


This gave New Yorker, Payton Talbot a run away victory.
Next up , it was the Sprint Cars.


Jadan Bowling was the winner of this one.
The final race of the day, was for the Late Models.


Michael Batten took the checkers in this one.
It was all over by 6-45 pm and I was back at Carla’s place by 8-15 pm.
The next few days were spent relaxing in Willow Springs , before the next part of my trip south could begin.