RICK @ the RACES (22 April to 1 May)
22 April Cornwall Colts V Nepean Raiders Hockey
26 April Can Am Speedway, Lafargeville. NY
27 April Cornwall Motor Speedway, (Private Practice)
28 April Cornwall Motor Speedway (Private Practice)
1 May Cornwall Speedway (Press Night) @ Au Vieux Duluth
Before getting on with this weeks report, I must mention something that took place earlier in the week. It was play off time for my local hockey team the Cornwall Colts, and on Monday ( 22 April) I went along to game number three in their championship decider against the Nepean Raiders. After winning the two previous games, they only needed to win this to clinch the series. To cut a long story short, it didn’t happen and they were forced to wait another game, to overtime at Nepean to win the Championship. The reason I’m mentioning this, is because, at our home game, the Cornwall Motor Speedway had a display table set up, promoting the coming season. Track manager, Carol Flanagan and her family were there , giving out 2013 season schedules.
During the intermission, Speedway announcer Hugh Primeau was out on the ice organizing a T Shirt throw into the audience.
Still with hockey, but this time the NHL, there was good news for me on Thursday when the Ottawa Senators guaranteed their place in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They play the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round.
This past February, my work shifts changed once again, and I have to say, they were not welcome by yours truly. Instead of the four day shift pattern I’d been used to, where I was working Monday to Thursday, I’m now doing a five day shift, Monday to Friday, and having to start at 5-00 am in the morning. ( two and a half hours earlier than I did before) It’s obvious to see why I’m not happy !
By lunch time on Friday (26 April) , I’d already done a work week of around fifty five hours, and was hoping for an early finish. It would have been nice to have got done by 3-00 pm , which would have allowed me to make it for my planned trip to the Brewerton Speedway…. but it wasn’t to be !
It was 4-45 pm before I clocked out, so ‘plan B’ was put in action. I would of been pushing my luck to be at Brewerton, by the 7-30 pm start time , so opted for the Can Am Speedway at Lafargeville, NY, instead.
Alas, there were no 358 or Big Block Modifieds on the program, but at least , the Sportsman were there. Joining them were, the ESS Sprint Cars, Late Models , Pro Street and Thunder Cars.
On my arrival, the pits were so full of cars, that the parking lot had to be used to put some of the race teams.
My good friend Joey Ladouceur was there in his Sportsman and many of my local Pro Stock drivers competing in the Pro Street division.
The early part of the evening started off quite mild, but by the time I joined the other photographers out on the middle, it had turned quite chilly.
It’s always good to see plenty of cars in the pits, but of course there is always a draw back. A lot of cars, means a lot of races, and when the Sprint Cars are part of a show, it often means lots of delays. Unfortunately this was the case on this occasion, and it seemed like an eternity to get their Feature race (won by Steve Poirier) in the books.
It was over by around 11-30, but the Sportsman, Late Models and Thunder Cars still had theirs to run.
The winners were Brandon Hagan (Sportsman)
Charlie Sandercock (Late Models) and John Stanley ( Thunder Cars). The other winners prior to the ‘marathon’ Sprint Car race were Glen Forward ( Pro Street) and Nick Webb ( novice Sportsman).
The Victory lane presentations were eventually over at 12-45, and I was ready for my bed. I’d decided before I left home, that I’d staying overnight, so it wasn’t long before I was tucked up snug, under the covers in the back of my HHR.
In the morning, after attending to other calls I had to make, in Prescott and Ottawa, I arrived back home in Cornwall around lunchtime.
My afternoon was then spent at the Cornwall Motor Speedway where a private practice session had been arranged. The Modifieds/Sportsman present included John Mills, Marcel and Shane Pecore, Luke Whitteker and Brian McDonald. I stayed and watched for a while before returning home for an early night. ( the previous long day without much rest had taken its toll, and I was knackered)
On Sunday afternoon I was back at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, for Practice Day # 2 . This time the track was being rented by the Warrior Racing Team of Jeff Sykes, Jenna and Jasmine David plus their good friend Delbert Legrow JR.
I was back at work on Monday and Tuesday for my regular shifts before taking Wednesday off in preparation for my forthcoming trip to the UK.
On Wednesday night, the Cornwall Motor Speedway were holding a Media/Press conference at the Au Vieux Duluth Restaurant in the city.
Many of the tracks drivers were in attendance as race director Scott Hanton outlined the big events of the coming season and some of the staff changes that had been made. The most obvious being , the appointment of my friends Ted Lasage to chief Tech Inspector and Jenay Morin as Assistant Starter.
Many members of the local media were there, which will hopefully generate plenty of coverage during the coming year.