RICK @ the RACES (17 to 21 Aug)
17 Aug Capital City Speedway, Ottawa, Ont
19 Aug Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg NY
20 Aug Fulton Speedway, NY
21 Aug Cornwall Motor Speedway (RAINED OUT)
My racing week starts, as usual on Wednesday night (17 Aug) at Ottawa’s Capital City Speedway. Just two days earlier I’d learned the sad news about the tragic road accident of Ken Sproule, the tracks Thunder Car points leader, and I knew it would be an emotional night for all of us regular race goers.
The evening started with Ken’s fellow drivers parked on the front stretch facing the spectators while announcer Brian Goudge said a tribute and asked for a moments silence.
Once the racing got under way, our thoughts moved to happier things as Capital Speedway welcomed a special guest. As part of the Speedway’s Golden Anniversary celebrations NASCAR driver JR Fitzpatrick was in attendance on route to the weekends Nationwide Series race at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal.
The original plan was for him to guest drive the Mike Hennink # 71 Thunder Car, but after the motor blew in practice, another idea was hatched.
To make sure the fans didn’t go home disappointed , Nolan Gould came to the rescue with the offer of his Ministock.
In the Feature JR showed his class as he edged the Dodge Neon to the front of the pack to take the checkers.
This was not only his first ever appearance at the track, but the first time he’d raced in a front wheel drive car !
In the Legends race our Californian visitor Steve Cantrell won his second consecutive Feature with his friend and host Kevin Foisy having to take second place.
The other Feature races went to Steve Munro (Late Model) Todd Musker (Thunder Car) and Jason Moss (4 For Fun).
The 4 For Fun Feature was marred by a nasty crash where AJ Dickie’s car hit the back stretch wall. The race had to be stopped while the young driver received medical attention. I heard from his family ( via Face Book) that he was kept in hospital overnight, but is now back home and hopefully on his way to recovery.
Once again I got lucky on Friday , and finished work in time for a visit to the Mohawk International Raceway (Hogansburg NY). This track is rapidly becoming a popular place for both fans and drivers to start their racing weekend.
There were 28 Modifieds in attendance as well as a good field of Sportsman, Pro Stocks and Bandits .
Todd Stone of Vermont took the Modified honors , while Dylan Evoy racked up yet another Sportsman win.
Dave Bissonnette took the checkers in the Pro Stock race while
Dan Desnoyers got his second win in the Bandits.
Regular readers of these reports don’t need to be ‘rocket scientists’ to figure out that my racing preference is for Dirt Mods. This weekend , they were taking a night off from my regular Saturday base, the Brockville Ontario Speedway , so I thought it would be a good opportunity for a change of scenery. After doing a mornings work I jumped into my HHR and set off from Cornwall , Ontario towards New York State.
My destination was the Fulton Speedway located just north of Syracuse where the Big Block Modifieds headlined the show. 
Joining them on the program were the Sportsman, Late Models and 4 cylinders. I left home at 2-00pm and was pulling into the speedway at 6-00pm.
I had my normal pre race wander around the pits and met up with my Sportsman buddy Johnny Scarborough of Bomoseen, Vermont. He normally races at the Fonda Speedway (NY) and like me, fancied a change, so was returning to Fulton after many years of absence. 
Once I’d moved onto the center to take pictures, I met up with another good friend of mine, Mike Johnson ( from Oswego. NY ) one of the local photographers.
The Modified Feature was a good one with, eventual winner Chad Phelps #X fending off a race long challenge from Tom Sears JR # 62.
Jeremy Pitcher #14 took the Sportsman race
while Larry Wight # 99L was the Late Model winner.
Once the racing was over , I retired to the parking lot for the night and the bed I had made up in the back of the HHR. I awoke about 7-00am and my first port of call was the Maple View Travel Plaza ( better know as the Mexico Truck Stop) on 181 for some breakfast. While I was there a big thunder storm raged out side, and it was still raining heavy when I left.
I thought it would soon clear up, but I was wrong, and ended up driving through constant rain all the way home. My original plan was to go home for a few hours before heading out to the evenings races at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, but because of the conditions I decided to check out the track first. When I arrived at about 11-00am , the rain was still coming down, and the place was deserted. Things didn’t look good and then ten minutes later after I’d arrived home, I heard the news it had been canceled. This meant a quiet Sunday night at home editing my pics from Fulton.