RICK @ the RACES (21/22 Sept 2012)
21 Sept Brighton Speedway, Ont
22 Sept Kawartha Speedway, Ont
22 Sept Brighton Speedway , Ont
For this weeks report I stayed in Ontario, but the story has quite a big flavor of the ‘Belle Province’ of Quebec.
It was that time of the year for me to make my annual pilgrimage to the Brighton Speedway for APPLE FEST races. As usual this event, was greeted with an uncertain weather forecast.
At around 1-00 pm on Friday when I left my home in Cornwall, it was raining, and that’s how it stayed for most of the drive down Highway 401. During the course of my journey I spotted NASCAR driver Andrew Ranger in his Motor home, close behind a trailer hauling the Martin Pelletier Sportsman car. There was still a slight drizzle as I past by Belleville but in the distance the skies looked brighter and I was starting to feel more hopeful. Sure enough, just 30 minutes more driving and I was at the dry and sunny, Brighton Speedway.
Each year the APPLEFEST weekend gets better and better, and for 2012 a 358 Modified SUPER DIRT race had been added to the Saturday night program. Friday night’s top attraction was a Sportsman Super Dirt Series race.
On arrival, I could see there was a good turn out of cars from both the Niagara area , my part of Eastern Ontario and Quebec. There were a few from south of the border too.
Joining the Sportsman on Friday night, were the Vintage Mods, a division I always enjoy .
Their Feature race was a joy to watch , as guesting , Sprint Car driver, April Wilson wrestled the ‘Bat Mobile’ to the front of the field to grab the checkers.
As well as Vintage Mods there were races for the full fendered budget divisions.
Cody McPherson drew pole position for the Sportsman Feature and led right from the start. He was only really challenged in the last few laps, as Quebecs Martin Pelletier got close to his back bumper. McPherson took the checkers followed by Tessier and Chris Herbison.
Once the racing was over , I joined the Turner Family , from Picton, Ontario at their camp fire, for a beer or two, before retiring to my ‘hotel’ for the night. (which was once again my HHR with the seats folded down)
I was awake by 7-30 am and my first port of call was the Trenton ‘On Route’ Service area on Highway 401 for a wash and clean up, Tim Hortons breakfast and the use of their free Wi Fi.
The 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES race at Brighton , wasn’t until the evening , so I had other plans to keep me occupied during the day. So from Trenton, I set off towards my day time destination.
The final round of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series was taking place at the Kawartha Speedway, close to Peterborough and my intention was to get a few pit shots during the morning preparations and few practice laps on the track before heading back to Brighton.
I arrived just after 9-00 am as the teams were getting set up on the infield. The first person I bumped into was Kahnawake , Quebec’s Wallace Stacey and his son Dexter , who were busy at work with their car. ( Both Wallace and Dexter also compete in Dirt Modified racing)
As I walked further down the grid I met another Modified racer that had joined the NCTS, Martin Roy of Napierville, Quebec. Over the years I’ve taken many pics of Martin, and have seen him win big races on a number of occasions. In recent years he’s been the Airborne Speedway at Plattsburgh NY, champion. Following the days races at Kawartha, Martin was to be crowned NCTS ‘rookie of the year’.
The next Quebecer I bumped into was former NCTS champion , Andrew Ranger ( His father, Robert, was a Modified driver too). We stopped and chatted and remarked about our ‘eyeballing’ on the 401 the day before. I then told him about Pelletier’s near win at Brighton. Andrew also told me how much he still loved dirt Modified Racing, and happened to mention that after Kawartha, he would be heading down to Syracuse to take in SUPER DIRT WEEK.
Finally, last but not least, another Quebec buddy I met up with was Isabelle Tremblay and her friend Annie Ouellet. They were on their way to their pit stall to light up a barbecue.
Not long after chatting with Isabelle, the rain started to come down and I took shelter in the main concourse building. In here I met Kawartha promoter and race car driver Derek Lynch. He verified the stories, I’d heard that after 2012 he would be giving up as the tracks promoter. He gave no hints as to what his immediate plans were, but I kinda got the feeling he’d got something in the pipe line !
The rain relented slightly , but not enough for the scheduled , 11-00 am ‘on track’ warm ups to begin. I could see no point in hanging around waiting to see what the weather was going to do, so decided to head back to Brighton.
Once again the Brighton area of Ontario was having better luck with the weather and when I arrived, promoter Mark Rinaldi was even out on the track ‘watering it’ !
There were over 30 small block Modifieds in attendance that were joined by the Late Models and domestic Pro Stocks ( Street Stocks) for a continuation of their ‘Duel in the Dirt’ between the Brighton and Merrittville Speedways.
Just like last years APPLEFEST , the Modified feature turned out to be one of the best races I’ve seen this year, with enough lead changes in the last few laps to make it interesting.
As expected , Series leader Dale Planck made the early running after getting past his team mate Carey Terrance. It looked like it was going to be a first and second for the Twin Leaf team, until Planck’s car got some kind of rear end trouble ( It looked like a rear shock came off) forcing him to limp round for the remainder of the race.
Niagara area drivers Chad Chevalier, Tommy Flannigan and Travis Braun were running well, not far behind new leader Terrance, but it was Quebec’s Mario Clair that everyone was looking at.
From a middle of the pack starting spot , he’d carved his way through the field, picking off the opposition one by one. It wasn’t long before he was on Terrance’s tail and soon the two of them were trading positions.
At the checkers, it was the Quebecer , Terrance was runner up and Braun was third. A great finish to Brighton’s historic first ever 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES race.
With the long journey ahead I chose to miss the Late Model feature ( won by Adam Turner) and head for home.
R.I.P BRIAN HOLMES
Just as I was finishing off this weeks report I heard the sad news that Brian Holmes, a long time friend and former racing partner had passed away. Brian had raced stock cars all over England from the 1960’s up until two years ago when ill health forced him to take a break.
I’ve known Brian since I was a teenager, when he lived close to my Mum and Dads house in Bedfordshire. I have fond memories from the mid 1970’s when we traveled all over England together racing our BriSCA F2’s.
Since I moved to Canada in 1994, he and his family also relocated, to Devon in the West Country where he raced alongside his Grandsons Paul and Wayne. We all reunited last year when I visited the Standlake Arena in Oxfordshire where the boys were racing.
My thoughts and sympathies go out to his wife May, son Colin, daughter Trisha, Wayne, Paul and all the rest of the family at this difficult time.
