RICK @ the RACES ( 30 Aug to 2 Sept 2012 )
30 Aug Mohawk International Raceway , Hogansburg NY
31 Aug Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta NY
1 Sept Brockville Ontario Speedway
2 Sept Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont
This weeks report covers the Labor Day Weekend and starts a day earlier than normal, with the Mohawk International Raceway running on Thursday night instead of the usual Friday. This was a work day for me, so right up until the last minute, I was never sure if I’d make it there or not. Lucky for me, I was able to clock out, from my work place in Cornwall, Ontario at 7-00 pm and make the quick dash over the International Bridge to Hogansburg NY.
As I arrived the opening heats for the 4 cylinder Bandits were taking place, and by the time the Mod Lites were doing there thing, I was in the pits. A Mod Lite rollover causing a race stoppage allowed me to get on the center and join my buddy track photographer, Andy Watts, just in time for the Modified heats.
Like most tracks, the Labor Day weekend signaled the final points day at the M.I.R , as the racing season begins to wind down. The Modified Feature was won by local hero Carey Terrance ,
whilst a consistent year gave Billy Dunn the Track Championship.
The Sportsman Feature was a great race as my buddy, Gilles Godard stormed around the top groove to take the win from Track Champion Dylan Evoy. Alan Peters won in the Pro Stocks while Mat Aubin and Brian Green won in the Bandit and Mod Lite races respectively.
With the M.I.R running a day earlier, it gave me the opportunity to go somewhere a bit different on Friday night. As it was ‘Final Points’ week, I fancied making the trip to a track I hadn’t visited for about 10 years.
Back in September 2002 I went on a road trip with my Honda Civic to the Albany area where I took in the Albany-Saratoga Speedway at Malta NY and the Lebanon Valley Speedway.
Over the years I’ve managed to return to Lebanon Valley a few times, but never to Malta. This I wanted to rectify, and soon after lunch on Friday , I set off from my home in Cornwall , Ontario, and drove in to the USA to pick up 187 at Plattsburgh . From there I had a lovely 2 hours drive in the sunshine over the Adirondack Mountains to Malta.
I arrived at about 5-00pm , just as everyone else was arriving. I recall being impressed with the place on my first visit, and wasn’t disappointed this time. After chatting in the pits to my Pro Stock driver buddy Rob Yetman, I moved on to the infield to take my pictures where I was made very welcome by ‘track photographer’ Mark Brown.
The racing was first class with Rob winning the ‘1000 bucks to win’ race for his division. The Modified Feature was a good one too, where another friend of mine, Stewart Friesen (from Niagara on the Lake, Ontario Canada) got the win. I’m proud to say that both Rob and Stewart’s cars were ‘wearing’ www.rickattheraces.com stickers as they sat in Victory Lane.
As well as Mods and Prostocks, there was a good field of Sportsman and Street Stox. Brett Hearn was crowned the 2012 Albany Saratoga Modified Track Champion. At the end of the night I retired to the parking lot for a few hours sleep in the back of my HHR. ( ten years ago it was my Honda ! )
In the early hours of the morning I was on the road again, heading back up 187. I was in Plattsburgh for breakfast at 7-00 am and back in Cornwall by 9-00am. Once home, I relaxed in the sun and caught up with some sleep during the day before hitting the road again at 4-00pm.
After leaving Cornwall , I was soon heading down Hwy 401 on my way to the Brockville Ontario Speedway.
This too was the final points night to end the regular season. The year seems to have flown by really quickly and the B.O.S were lucky to get a 100% record of racing with no dates lost to rain.
As usual I spent some time around the pits and chatted to my friends Tabatha Murphy and her dad Ralph. Once the racing got under way, the winners were
Pat O’Brien (Modifieds)
Dylan Evoy (Sportsman) Jason Power (Vintage) John Gifford (Street Stocks) and Corbin Miller in the (Rookies) .
The racing was over at a nice early time, and I was home in Cornwall by 11-30 pm.
Modified Track Champion at the B.O.S was Kyle Dingwall. Brockville has the big out of season North East Fall Nationals to look forward to that are taking part from 12 to 14 October
On Sunday it was the turn of the Cornwall Motor Speedway to close it’s regular season and it was going out with a ‘Big One’. All the weekly divisions were there for the annual JIFFY 150 and the pits were overflowing with a record number of cars.
One of the first to arrive was the Mario Clair team, and I didn’t waste much time getting a photo of team member Elise Lalancette posing beside the car.
The 125 lap Modified race was not only the final round of the Canadian Nationals but a 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES race too and attracted well over 40 cars.
Prior to the start of the big race, we had a special event taking place during the intermission. Jeff Derouchie our infield safety man ( on the 4 wheeler) got down on his knees in front of the main grandstand and proposed to his girlfriend Amanda. 
It had been 
planned in great secrecy and it went very well ( she said “yes”) .
It was also good to meet up with an old friend during intermission. Dave ‘the Slip’ Heaslip was there as guest of honour to utter those famous words in racing “Gentlemen Start Your Engines” . I had good chat with Dave who stopped racing a couple of years ago.
He, of course, is one of the all time greats of 358 Modified racing, has won many races and has been inducted to the Dirt Hall Of Fame.
Before I got involved in the media side of racing, I could be found helping him and his crew out in the pits, and had the pleasure of joining them in Victory Lane on more than one occasion.
In 2003 , when I was asked by BriSCA to supply a suitable Canadian representative for the F1 World Final at Coventry ( England) , Dave was the one I chose.
Once again I sat in the back of the pace truck taking pics on the rolling lap of the big race .
Like previous years one of the high lights of this race was the “all car mandatory pit stop” on the start/finish line after 75 laps .
On the restart it was a shoot out between Dale Planck and Danny O’Brien with Planck coming off the best. Carey Terrance had looked good for third place until young Mat Williamson powered past take that spot.
Ryan Stabler won the Mohawk Racing Parts Pro Stock race, Dylan Evoy got his first ever Cornwall win in the Sportsman while Derek Cryderman and Micheal Blais won in the Semi Pro and Ministock respectively. Dale Planck became the 2012 Cornwall Motor Speedway Modified champion.
It was a long and late night that ended with the traditional bon fire and pit party.