RICK @ the RACES (17/18/19 August 2012)
17 Aug Mohawk International Raceway, NY
18 Aug Brockville Ontario Speedway,
19 Aug Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont
Following last weeks hectic racing schedule, my last seven days were a little quieter, with just three of my local tracks to attend.
After taking a break for the County Fair, the Mohawk International Raceway were back in action for their normal Friday night show.
I had an interesting journey to the track, which I have to mention. After crossing the border at my home town of Cornwall, Ontario, like normal , I stopped for gas and refreshments at the Twin Leaf location in Akwesasne ( It belongs to top DIRT Modified driver Carey Terrance and I can definitely recommend anyone to drop by if you are passing).
Once my HHR was tanked up with gas I attempted to make the 5 minute journey to the track. It wasn’t going to be as easy as that, as there was a long line of traffic backed up along Route 37. Apparently a tractor trailer driver hadn’t taken an intersection wide enough, and had dropped his trailer wheels into the ditch, and was blocking the road. I waited a while until I spotted Chris Raabe’s dad (Mike) who was driving their hauler, head down a side road. I decided to follow , as did Sportsman driver Wyatt Mullin with their hauler. The small convoy was soon traveling down the back lanes of Mohawk Territory where I’d never been before. It was quite an enjoyable experience, and after all these years of attending the MIR ( FKA Frogtown Speedway) , I now know what is at the end of Frogtown Road.
The nights program was run nice and quickly with only a few stoppages. I’m pleased to say that my Akwesasne ‘tour guide’ won the big race of the night . ( yes, Chris Raabe was the Modified Feature winner.)
We had a new face in Victory Lane again in the Sportsman division with Dana Aikins taking the checkers.
It was also big night for my buddy Joey Ladouceur, who’s been top of the Pro Stock division for many years.
After winning the nights Feature race, he reached a mile stone in his career and DIRTCAR Pro Stock history when he notched up win # 100. Quite an achievement, Congrats to you Joey ! Of course in his usual flamboyant style, he celebrated his Victory with a tire burn out against the home stretch wall.. The fans loved it !
On Saturday I was back at the Brockville Ontario Speedway, after missing the previous week, for my Watkins Glen trip. Unbelievably, so far this season, the weekly programs at the B.O.S haven’t been victim to rain outs , and yet again , on my arrival at the track it was bright and dry. After walking around the pits it was good to see Stephane Lafrance back in action, after he’d been advised by the medics to take a short break from racing.
The Modified Feature provided a well earned Victory for Matt Billings, while once again the Sportsman race was won by Dylan Evoy .
Other winners included Dave Wilgosh (Vintage) Danny Mocibob ( Street Stocks) and Corbin Miller (Rookies) .
I must also mention, that on Saturday night we were all said our fare wells and Good Luck to announcer Steve Young. I’ve worked along side Steve , who is one of the best racing announcers in the business, at various tracks over the years, and I know everyone will all miss him. He will be moving to Nova Scotia within the next few weeks to take up a new employment position.
The next day it was the turn of the Cornwall Motor Speedway , where a big show was in store. A few weeks back, race two of the Canadian Nationals were cancelled due to rain, and this week was the make up date. As usual I was there nice and early ( about 2-00pm) and it was another beautiful summers day when I arrived. As I sat in the tower catching up with work on my lap top, I was surprised to look out the window at about 3-30 pm to see it was pouring with rain. Luckily it didn’t last long, and by start time it was warm and dry once more.
It was good to have Greg McPherson joining us on the center taking pictures. Greg is the Editor of the Toronto based INSIDE TRACK magazine, and he was paying us a visit on his way home from Montreal, where he’d been covering the NASCAR race.
The Canadian Nationals race was a 100 lapper and I was going to try something different for the ‘four wide’ parade lap photo. On Friday night, Cornwall promoter Ron Morin had been at the M.I.R with the Cornwall Pace Truck , and I did some rolling lap shots of the Pro Stocks, while riding in the back in the back with my camera stuck out of the tail gate window. The Pics turned out quite good , so Ron asked me to do the same for Sunday nights race. The big race turned out to be a good one with plenty of drama, as Dale Planck did most of the leading until a late caution livened things up. Through out the race Mario Clair and Kyle Dingwall hadn’t been far behind, and when the yellow flags came out with five laps to go , Clair made his move. On the restart the hammer went down as he edged passed Planck , never to be caught.
It was an emotional occasion in Victory Lane for the ecstatic crew members, with ‘Super Mario’ getting his first Feature win at Cornwall since his early Sportsman days.