RICK @ the RACES (16 Feb 2013)
16 Feb Valcourt, Quebec
This past weekend I went to something a little different. I’m not a big fan of snow-mobile racing, but when I heard that their big event of the year, the Grand Prix de Valcourt was adding cars to this years program, I wanted to attend.
The Rev Star (Tobias) Speedsters were scheduled to run at the end of Saturdays show, following the completion of the regular divisions. The snow mobiles, sleds, ATV’s and Ice Speedway Motor Cycles are not ‘countable’ classes in the TRACKCHASING rules, but The Speedsters, definitely are. This factor was the thing that tempted me, so on Saturday morning I set off to Valcourt, Quebec
It was bitterly cold when I arrived at the track , located between Granby and Sherbrook, at about 11-15 am. Lucky for me, I was able to park my car near to the track , so I could return every so often for a warm up.
There was quite a full program during the day, which included events on the half mile ice oval and the snow cross track in the center. The oval is owned by the Bombardier company, that make snow mobiles, and is normally used as their test track.
Soon after my arrival I recognized a familiar voice on the PA system, It was none other than my good friend Brian Mulligan, the announcer at my local Cornwall Motor Speedway. I decided to track him down, and before long I’d joined him in the warmth of the commentary box. His bi lingual talents are used at this event each year.
After leaving Brian, I wandered around the facility checking out the pits and a good place to take photo’s from. While I was in the pits, I came across Autodrome Drummond promoter Yan Bussierre’s race hauler and sled, that looked very impressive. 
It turned out to be a long day, with the Rev Stars finally coming out for practice at about 3-15 pm.
The big attraction for many people was the appearance of NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver Andrew Ranger behind the wheel of one of these machines.
While I was watching the snow mobiles and Ice Speedway bikes on the oval I met up with three of my Pennsylvanian TRACKCHASER friends. Guy Smith, Will White and Mike Knappenberger had traveled up for this event for the same reason as me, to gain a new track !
Eventually at around 6-00pm the Rev Star’s did their ten lap race, and we’d all gained a new track to add to our lists.
The Valcourt Ice Oval became track # 208 on my TRACK CHASER totals.