Drummond and Airborne (10/11 Sept 2011)

09142011aaRICK @ the RACES (10/11 Sept 2011)

10 Sept                         Autodrome Drummond , Drummondville, Que

11 Sept                        Airborne Speedway , Plattsburgh , NY

It seems strange that as the years pass by in my life, I can still remember exactly where I was, and what I was doing when some of the worlds historic events took place.

I recall back in England, as a small kid ( November 1963) I was watching the BBC with my mum and dad one night, on our old ‘black and white’ TV set when the programs were interrupted to announce that US President JF Kennedy had just been assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

As an adult I can remember back in 1986 I was driving my truck around London, and listening live as the ill fated launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle unfolded .

Later in life, on August 31, 1997 while living in Maxville, Ontario, I remember returning home from a night at my local bar and hearing the late night breaking news that Princess Dianna had sadly lost her life in a Paris automobile accident.

Ten years ago, on Sept 11, I was having treatment in my dentist’s chair in Cornwall ,Ontario and with the radio playing in the background we listened as the terrorist attacks on mainland USA were relayed to the shocked world. This happened to be my day off from work, and when I returned home from the surgery , I watched the grim TV film coverage of the events that took place at the World Trade Center in New York City and other parts of the USA.

My daughter, Carla was living in Washington DC at this time and from her apartment window, she could see the smoke coming from the Pentagon, which had been one of the targets of the air plane attacks. When I eventually managed to speak to her on the phone, she was naturally scared and feared there were more attacks to come. She wanted to get out of Washington , and quick !  I took the next day off from work and drove to the USA to get her, and by supper time on Sept 12 she was back in the safe little town of Maxville. Ontario. Nearly 3000 people lost their lives on Sept 11, 2001 and in many ways, the world has never been the same.09142011j

09142011pThis past weekend was the tenth anniversary of this evil crime against humanity , and both racing events I attended joined the rest of the world in remembering those who perished in the ‘911’ attacks.

There were plenty of events, I’d like to have attended this particular weekend , but a busy period at my place of work, had narrowed down my choice.

If money was ‘no object’ and I had the free time, my priority destination, would have been the Northampton Stadium ( or Brafield to us who have been around for a while !) in England where the BriSCA F1 World Final was taking place. Before moving to Canada in 1994 this event was the ‘biggy’ of the year that I didn’t want to miss.

Another event on my hit list for the weekend was the Barrie Speedway (Ontario) for their round of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. I really enjoyed my first ever visit to this track last year when I used it as a ‘spring board’ for my Bristol Speedway (Timmins) road trip.

09142011dThis years race at Barrie, was even more tempting as my friend Chris Raabe was making his NCTS debut alongside Scott Steckly in the Canadian Tire Team. I’d like to have been there to see how he got on but the logistics didn’t look good.

My other possibilities for the weekend were either the Capital City Speedway in Ottawa for their Saturday Special, or the Autodrome Drummond , in Quebec for the Big Block Modified Super Dirt Series. I hadn’t managed to get to there this year so Drummond became my favorite destination.

On Friday (Sept 9) it was day one of their back to back SUPER DIRT SERIES races. The 358 Mods and the Pro Stocks were having their tour races on Friday with the Big Block Mods topping the bill on the Saturday.

A late finish at work on Friday and a request to go in for a Saturday morning shift prevented me from attending the first night. I luckily managed to get a  2-00pm finish at work,on Saturday and  was able to get straight on the road for the two and a half hour drive to Autodrome Drummond .

I even had time to stop at the McDonalds in the city to use their free WiFi and have a bite to eat. Once connected to the internet, I heard the good news from England that Paul Harrison # 2 ( son of the great Willie # 2 ,who raced back in ‘my day’) had won the BriSCA F1 World Championship.

09142011aWhat a year it’s been for Paul ! Back in June while I was in the UK , I witnessed him winning the British Championship at the Norfolk Arena (Kings Lynn). My good friend and top UK ‘Media Man’ Colin Casserley sent me some pics of Paul’s win…

09142011bThanks Colin and Congrats to Paul and all the # 2 Team.

09142011cIt’s also worth noting , that ten years ago Alexandria , Ontario’s , former 358 Mr Dirt Champion , Laurent Ladouceur became the first Canadian to represent his country in the BriSCA F1 World Final when he raced the loaned Mark Gilbank car at the Hednesford Hills Raceway.

It was lovely and warm in Drummondville at the start of the evening when I arrived and did my pre race wander around the pits. I had a good chat with Luke Whitteker one of my local drivers from the Cornwall area, who has chosen to race a lot in Quebec this year.

09142011gDirt Racing Legend ‘Barefoot’ Bob McCreadie happened to be on hand, accompanying  Pierre Dagenais in the next pit stall , so Luke asked me to get a picture of him beside his hero.

09142011eI also spoke to Steve Bernard from Granby who’d got an ex Brett Hearn Big Block under his hood. I always have good chat with bilingual Steve when our paths cross, so it wasn’t long before a ‘Rick at the Races’ sticker was attached to the side of his car.

I also met up with one of my work buddies from Cornwall who had a tale of woe to tell me. He and few other Cornwall area race fans had been at the track for the weekend and while staying overnight in a Hotel had awoken to find his Chevy Silverado truck had been stolen. It just goes to show there are still a lot of villains in the Drummondville area, only a few years ago the race team hauler of New Jersey’s Vinny Saleno got stolen overnight while parked at one of the cities hotels.

09142011fThe back up divisions for the night were the Tobias Speedsters and the Sportsman. Prior to the start of the 100 lap Modified race , DIRTCAR announcer Shane Andrews said a tribute to the memory of those that lost their lives in the ‘911’ atrocities  , as the City of Drummondville fire trucks displaying huge stars and stripes flags, did two laps of the circuit.

When the race got under way , the ‘Doctor’ Danny Johnson and Billy Decker made the early running but the most impressive drive came from my friend Steve Bernard . He was the fastest car out there for a time, as he worked his way to the front and took the lead for a short period . It looked like the race might have fairy tale ending until his motor started to smoke and Steve had to retire.( he later told me, that it wasn’t a major, problem, just a pipe that had come loose)

09142011m09142011k09142011lAlso on a charge was Matt Shepherd who’d moved up to the front and not surprisingly ,when the checkers fell , he was there to collect , with Dale Planck and Jimmy Phelps behind him.09142011n

When the racing was done, I retired to the parking lot for a couple of bottles of Grolsch before getting my head down for the night in the back of the HHR. It had turned a bit chilly, but not enough cold enough to make my sleep uncomfortable . I awoke about 7-15 am and made my way down Autoroute 20 to the Irving Truck Stop for a wash and scrub, before sampling their on site Tim Hortons.

From here it was a trip through Montreal down to the Canada/USA border at Lacolle. I killed a bit of time in the Plattsburgh Panera Bread Cafe , which, like McDonalds, also has free Wi Fi. While in there with my lap top hooked up and snacking on a sandwich, I learned that Chris Raabe had a good run at Barrie. The info came via Rick at the Races web master, Craig Revelle who had attended the event.

09142011oOnce at the track I joined my buddy Andy Watts on the center for this beautiful late summer Sunday afternoon.

09142011tThe big race of the day was a 100 lapper for Modifieds which had attracted a few rare entrants. Brett Hearn was there guest driving the loaned # X ‘skull and cross bones’ car of Adam Bartemy as well as long distance traveler Keith Flack.

09142011uAlso making a rare appearance ( at his own track) was my friend and Airborne promoter Mike Perrotte. It was Sunday Sept 11, and as you’d expect, prior to the start of the show we remembered the events of ten years ago. Sunday’s races were part of a two day weekend special where the Modified 100 lapper would be the final race of the day. The Sportsman(Late Models) and the Rengades had their heats on Saturday and came straight in on Sunday with their

09142011v 09142011wFeatures. Joe Warren # 13 was the Rengade winner while Danny Sullivan # 3 won in the Sportsman (Late Models). 09142011r

09142011xAlso on the program were the Dirt (type) Sportsman, and after their two heats, the 25 lap Feature was won by Jessey Mueller #19.

09142011yThe big race of the day proved to be a ‘cat and mouse’ chase between between Mike Perrotte # 35 and Airborne Modified champion Martin Roy # 90. Mike was challenged throughout the race by Martin, and as the checkers fell, he’d managed to pull away by about three car lengths.

09142011z It’s been a few years since Mike had raced at his own track and there were many friends and family there in Victory Lane to join him in the celebrations. The show was over by 5-00pm and it wasn’t long after that I was heading back home towards Cornwall, Ontario.

Once I was back, the news started filtering through on my PC about Saturdays Capital City Speedway races. My friends Greg and Dale Calnan of www.ontariooval.com were there to give my Wednesday night home plenty of coverage. Finally , before signing off for this week, I must just mention a few up and coming events. Next Friday and Saturday (16/17 Sept) we have the SUPER DIRT SERIES races at the Mohawk International Raceway (Hogansburg NY). Then the following weekend we have some big ones in Ontario with the Brighton Speedway ‘AppleFest’ on Friday and Saturday (23/24 Sept), followed by the rescheduled 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES/CANADIAN NATIONALS race at the Cornwall Motor Speedway on Sunday. (25 Sept)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *