M.I.R, AIRBORNE, C.M.S (23/24/25 AUG 2013)

Standing by the Mike Watts Tribute Plaque at the Airborne Speedway
Standing by the Mike Watts Tribute Plaque at the Airborne Speedway

RICK @ the RACES (23/24/25 Aug 2013)

23 Aug            Mohawk International Raceway (NY)

24 Aug           Airborne Speedway , Plattsburgh (NY)

25 Aug           Cornwall Motor Speedway, (Ont)

This past week, it was back to doing more crazy hours at work, and by the time Friday night came around, I’d ammassed 63 hours plus a mandatory 2 hour Safety Meeting. I finished work in Cornwall (Ont) at 5-30 pm and after dropping in at home for a quick wash and change, I was heading to the border.

For some reason the line up at the U.S Customs was longer than normal, and after a 40 minute wait I was in Hogansburg NY and driving the short distance to the Mohawk International Raceway. At least the hold up gave me a chance to relax, and tidy up the glove compartment of my car.

Once at the track, I joined my track photographer buddy Andy Watts on the infield to capture the action. andy and me mir 13The headline event of the night was for the Pro Stocks , with a 50 lap race in the Mohawk Race Parts Series. Winner of this one was Rock Aubin, roch aubin win mir 23aug13

while Chris Raabe won the Modifieds feature, and  Randy Whiting in the Bandits.raabe win mir23aug13

We had a brand new face in Victory Lane for the Sportsman feature , when young Mike Maresca took his first ever win.maresca win 23 aug 13

The racing was over by 11-00 pm and I was back home in Cornwall before mid-night.

My Saturday morning was spent catching up with non racing things that needed my attention, before getting ready for my Saturday night appointment. The Sprint Cars had a big thing going on,  this weekend with back to back shows at Brockville and Cornwall, so rather than seeing them  two days in a row, I decided to go to the Airborne Speedway at Plattsburgh (NY) on Saturday night. I try to get there once or twice a year, and this was the perfect time.

I crossed back into the U.S again, at Hogansburg around 2-00 pm and after traveling cross country, I was in Plattsburgh before 4-00pm.

My M.I.R photographer friend, Andy Watts also takes pictures at Airborne, and on my arrival I joined him in the middle.

me and hhr airbone 13Andy, of course is the son of the late Mike Watts who was ‘My Buddy’ for many years around the tracks. mikewatts sign airborne 13On the center, beside the spot where Mike used to stand and take pics, a small plaque has been erected, in his honor. I got Andy to take a picture of me beside it.

Airborne is a paved track that now runs DirtCar 358 Modifieds on its black top. Since the introduction a few years back, they have quickly become favorite with the fans. The nights Feature was won by Todd Stone who also clinched the 2013 track championship.stone win airborne 24 aug 13

The Late Model race was won by Bucko Branham, , who was the winner, the very first time I visited the track, a few seasons ago.bucko win airbone aug 24  13

While taking the Victory Lane shots. I had the pleasure of meeting Kathy Caldwell , a member of the Airborne media team, who also has the job of holding the sponsors advertizing banner during the shots.mods airbone 24 aug 13

As usual, the other weekly divisions were on hand to keep the fans happy, as well as the visiting Vintage racers.vintage airbone 13 With the main features completed, I made my exit and came back via Montreal. It’s longer in distance than the cross country route, but a much better drive at night, now that Auto Route 30 has been completed. I was back home before midnight.

The Modifieds were taking a night off at the Cornwall Motor Speedway on Sunday as the Sprint Cars moved in to take center stage alongside the Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Semi Pro’s and visiting Vintage Mods .vintage cms 25 aug 13

I got there around 3-00pm and took up my usual pre race position in the tower, to do some lap top work before the action began.

The forecast was calling for rain later in the evening, so the show was run as quickly as possible and with no time consuming intermission. The first Feature of the night was a ‘special’ 25 lapper for the Semi Pro’s where Bruno Richard took the checkers.

The Sprints ‘behaved’ themselves quite well, and only had a few stoppages during the 25 lapper, that Jason Barney took the checkers.barney sprnt win cms 25 aug 13

The Vintage race was won by Dave Wilgosh and the Pro Stocks by George Renaud.

The last race of the night, and the one which I’d been looking forward to most, was for the Sportsman. It was scheduled as a 20 lapper, but with 13 in the books, the rain started to fall. The racing came under caution as the sprinkles came down, and we waited to see if it was going to be short lived. Alas, instead of subsiding, the rain got worse, and the race was deemed over. Mitch Primeau, who’d been leading at the time of the caution, was declared the winner. primeau win cms 25 aug 13By now, it was just after 10-00 pm, and we’d almost beat the rain, but not quite !

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