RICK @ the RACES ( 12/13/14 July 2013)
12 July Mohawk International Raceway (NY)
13 July Autodrome Drummond (Que)
14 July Cornwall Motor Speedway (Ont)
After many weeks where rain-outs have been the headline news, things have turned around, and as I prepare this latest report, my part of the north east is currently under heat wave conditions. To top all this, it’s been a busy period at work, and by the time the weekend came around I’d put in a crazy 63 hours. Something I haven’t done ( or wanted to do) for many years.
Straight from work on Friday I made my usual dash across the St Lawrence Seaway from Cornwall, Ontario to the Mohawk International Raceway at Hogansburg , New York.
The racing was good and the program was run in a very quick and efficient manner.
The full show was all over by 10-00 pm, with few holdups and no messing around. My views are the same as most fans, we love our racing but don’t want to be hanging around all night because of unnecessary delays. The early finish was very welcome by me ( and many others) and I was back home sitting on my deck drinking a cold beer by 10-30 pm.
M.I.R winners were Billy Dunn (Modified)
Dylan Evoy (Sportsman)
Ryan Stabler (Pro Stock)
Jean Marc Larose (Bandit) and John Hargrave (Mod Lites)
On Saturday I decided to head up to Autodrome Drummond in Quebec for a change. The Seaway Sportsman series was taking place, and some of my local drivers were going to be making a rare visit, so thought I’d take a look.
The newly completed AutoRoute 30 around Montreal really makes the drive up there , an easy one these days, with no more down town traffic jams to endure. I left Cornwall at around 3-00pm and was in Drummondville just after 5-00pm .
It was a sweltering hot day and really nice to be in the confines of my car for two hours with the air-conditioning cranked up.
On arrival at the track I had my wander around the pits and chatted amongst friends. I bumped in to many , but have to mention two of the more prettier ones ! Elise Lalancette from the Mario Clair team
and Modified driver Susie Langlois ( who wasn’t racing that night) both agreed to pose for some nice pics.
The pits were quite full with a good field of Modifieds, Sportsman and Lightning Sprints.
From the pits , I then went on to the center to take pics of the qualifying heats.
For the Features I decided to move up into the VIP tower where I had the pleasure of meeting Catherine Brunelle the girl friend of the Autodrome Drummond starter Eric Pivin.
She, along with another girl, were working the bar made me very welcome.
Before the Feature races got under way, a minutes silence was held in respect for the victims from the Lac Megantic rail tragedy that had occurred the previous weekend.
The first Feature of the night was a 75 lapper for Modifieds which turned into a good one with at least four drivers always in contention at the front of the pack .
David Hebert took the checkers with Chris Raabe and Danny Bilodeau following him across the line.
The Sportsman Feature was next where Mathieu Desjardins got the win. Chris Herbison, one of my locals, had looked all set to grab the lead with a few laps to go, but a rear end problem put him out.
With another busy day ahead of me, I didn’t stay for the Lightning Sprints and second Modified Feature, and instead I chose to head for home.
It was still scorching hot for Sunday’s races at the Cornwall Motor Speedway.
I was there early as usual and spent most of the afternoon, prior to the races, up in the tower editing pics. I had my regular pit walk about and chat amongst friends.
A surprise addition to the Modified ranks was April Wilson who has been driving Sprint Cars for the past few years.
Once the racing got under way I took up my post, on the Victory Lane duties.
During the intermission, I met up with two of my TRACKCHASER friends. Roland Vanden Eynde of Belgium, who was making his second visit to Cornwall brought along first timer Mike Knappenberger from Reading , PA.
We had some different winners over the course of the night, both in the heats and Features.
Michel Chicoine got a first time win in the Mods, and former track champion Bill Mullin, now back racing in the Sportsman got a win in that Feature. Of course Bill was one of the drivers I used to follow, when I first got interested in Dirt Modified racing shortly after moving to Canada in 1994.
It was also through him that I got to know www.rickattheraces.com webmaster Craig Revelle. Bill ‘Moon’ Mullin was one Craig’s first ever web sites and back in 2001, I supplied a few photos for that site.
Ryan Stabler got his second win of the weekend in the Pro Stocks, while Mark Gaucher and Derek Cryderman were the Mini stock and Semi Pro winners. I must also mention the Sportsman heat win of Terry Ladouceur, his first win since moving up into that division.