RICK @ the RACES (24/25/26 Aug 2012)
24 Aug Mohawk Raceway – Hogansburg, NY
25 Aug East Broughton Speedway – Quebec
25 Aug Riverside Speedway – St. Croix, Quebec
26 Aug Cornwall Motor Speedway – Ontario
This weeks report starts with my regular Friday night visit to the Mohawk International Raceway, at Hogansburg NY .
As usual the racing was good and the earlier start time and slick presentation, meant the show was completed in plenty of time to be home by 10-30 pm. Race winners were Carey Terrance (Modified)
Dylan Evoy (Sportsman)
Stephane Lebrun (Pro Stock)
Matt Aubin (Bandit) and Bryan Green (Mod Lites).
I had a busy day planned for Saturday and was on the road before 9-00 am. Instead of heading for my usual Brockville Ontario Speedway, I had two new ( to me) Quebec tracks as my target. The first on the agenda was the East Broughton Speedway and the second was the Riverside Speedway at St Croix. Both tracks had been on my ‘hit list’ for quite a while and on this occasion I had the opportunity to do both in the same day. The races at East Broughton were starting at 4-00 pm and Riverside, about an hours drive away started at 6-00 pm.
East Broughton is a small town out in the ‘boonies’ about 30 minutes north of the asbestos mining town of Thetford Mines, where I arrived at about 1-30 pm.
I’d never been to these parts before and I’d been warned there were quite a few hills as you get nearer. I was coming from the Plessisville direction , and as you come down in to Thetford Mines there’s a real steep one. Once I’d reached the bottom , I was pleased to find a Tim Hortons, and like most of them now a days, it had Free Wi Fi. After a bowl of soup and a cup of tea I was ready to head to the track. Lucky for me, just as I was leaving ‘Timmies’ a couple of race cars on trailers went by, so decided to follow them. I’m glad I did, because it would have been difficult to find the place otherwise. After taking a left turn off the main highway 112 we came across the Speedway at the top of another steep hill , surrounded by piles of rock that must have came from the mines.
The track was a dirt oval of about a quarter mile in length. I’m guessing this Speedway has been around for many years, judging from the aging admin building and grandstands that look out over the hillside. 
There were various classes of cars taking part ranging from 4 cylinder (Mini Stocks) to dirt style Sportsman modifieds. I wandered around the pits prior to the races and sampled one of their ‘poutines’ from the RestoBar . I got chatting to the girl that served me, and before long a ‘Rick at the Races’ sticker was on her boy friend Eric Grenier’s 8 cylinder Street Stock. Racing got under way just after the advertized 4-00 pm start with Slingshots ( Go Karts with Modified Style bodies) taking the track first.
With Dirt Sportsman, being so much a part of my regular weekly racing diet, these were the cars I’d been looking forward to seeing. There were about 7 or 8 in attendance and they all put up a good show. East Broughton Speedway became track # 204 on my TRACKCHASING totals.
At about 5-15 pm, I needed to make my exit , if I didn’t want to miss too much of my next event. I was in luck, as the route to St Croix is pretty straight forward, as I followed HWY 271 all the way there. I arrived at the Riverside Speedway just after 6-15 pm just as the first qualifying race was taking place. Like East Broughton , The Riverside Speedway was a track I’d never been to before and on this occasion it was hosting a very important event. Tom Curley’s ACT Late Model Series was there and the place was packed with enthusiastic fans. 
The Riverside Speedway has to be one of the most beautifully located tracks I’ve been to , as it sits on the banks of the St Lawrence River.
Race fans can watch the action, (and the passing ships) from the steep embankment that overlooks the circuit.
Tom Curley’s races are renowned for being well disciplined and this was no exception.
I first met him at his Thunder Road track in Vermont, when I was doing a magazine article concerning one of his drivers , Jean Paul Cyr who was taking part in the 2005 BriSCA F1 World Final at Brafield ( in England) . 
I met Tom again a few years later when his series came to Ottawa’s Capital City Speedway.
As for Jean Paul, he happened to be racing at Riverside that night, and I was eager to say hello again. I found him in the pits next to his familiar # 32 car.
He posed for a pic beside his car, just prior to the nights big 200 lap race.
I also met up with another old acquaintance, Nicole Perreault, a former Gater Racing News columnist . She was there with a bunch of friends enjoying the races and a beer or two.
The 200 lap Feature was like most ‘long haul races’ I get to see, where the best part seems to be the last few laps. Vermont’s Brian Hoar, managed to overhaul long time leader Jean Fracois Dery as the checkers loomed. Crowd favorite, Patrick Laperle was third.
The Riverside Speedway, St Croix , Quebec, became Track # 205 on my TRACKCHASING totals
I had a long drive home ahead of me, so once the Victory Lane pics were done at around 10-00 pm , I was on my way . After a quick stop for a cup of tea, south of Drummondville I was back at my place in Cornwall Ontario around 2-30 am. As you will probably guess, I had a long lay in bed on Sunday morning before getting ready for my next event. I didn’t have far to go this time, as it was the regular weekly show at my local Cornwall Motor Speedway. Things were a little bit different this week, with the 4 cylinder Ministocks taking a night off, to make way for the visiting Vintage Modifieds.
I always enjoy these cars and just like last year, they put on a great show. Winner was Renfrew Ontario’s Steve Arbuthnot.
His son Ryan also got into Victory Lane that night, by winning a ‘wreck fest’ of a Sportsman Feature.
That race had to be red flagged after about 10 cars got involved in the same crash. Another survivor of the carnage was Matt Aubin, making his first ever Sportsman appearance.
Matt , of course has been a regular winner in the 4 cylinder division, and only this Friday night I was taking his Victory pic at the M.I.R.
The other winners at Cornwall were Chris Raabe (Modified) Ghislain Valade ( Pro Stock) and Benoit Dubois ( Semi Pro)
