RICK @ the RACES ( 8/9 Sept 2013)
8 Sept Autodrome Drummond , Que (Cancelled)
9 Sept Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont (Enduro)
This weeks report, turned out to be a little different than normal, as my original plans, got sidelined.
After many weeks of putting in excessive hours, I came home from work on Thursday night (7 Sept) feeling very rough, I was aching all over and extremely tired. I was in bed early, and when I awoke at 4-15 am on Friday morning, I felt no better. I took a day off, and spent all day Friday trying to recover. I guess I was burned out, and even though there were some important races taking place that night night, I opted to stay at home and get some rest.
The race I’d intended to be at, was Autodrome Drummond’s staging of the 358 Super Dirt Series, which was to be day one of a two day show. In my absence David Hebert was the winner.
On Saturday night, Drummond were hosting a Big Block Modified Super Dirt Race as well as a DIRTCAR round for the Pro Stocks.
In the morning, I got a message from my good friend , Chantal Lesage, saying she and her son Tyrek were heading up to Drummond, and suggested we travel up together. She had some tickets to visit the Botanical Gardens in Montreal, and was planning to use them, on the way there.
By now, I was feeling a bit better, and with ‘batteries recharged’ I took up her kind offer. We arrived at the Botanical Gardens around 1-30 pm and after checking out the Insectarium, we wandered round the grounds.
I must admit, I was really impressed ! A lot of artistic things, had been done with the natural habitat, and it was obvious that many hours of hard work had been put into the exhibits.
Check out the picture gallery from my visit
After we’d seen most of the stuff, we took off in the direction of Drummondville, and after stopping for a ‘Timmies’ we were at the track at about 5-00pm. The weather forecast hadn’t been good, but we’d checked things out before leaving, It hadn’t rained and things were a ‘go’.
The pits were starting to fill up, even though, spectators were thin on the ground. We joined our Pro Stock friends Rob Yetman, Stephane Lebrun and Dave Bissonnette in the pits as we looked and waited as the sky became gloomier.
The Big Block Modified tour teams were there and I chatted with Steve Paine, Billy Dunn, Matt Billings and Billy Vaninwegen.
Two of my local drivers were there too, Chris Raabe and Gage Morin, so I chatted with them also.
At about 5-45 pm with very few people in the grandstands, and rain predicted for later, the event was cancelled.
Well, when this sort of thing occurs at around supper time, you can guess what happened next ! Once the race cars were loaded up, a crowd of us all made our way to a local eatery. We found that most of the restaurants in the city, were full, and with parking difficult for the race car haulers , we all moved on to the Petit Truck Stop on Autoroute 20 at St Helene De Bagot. There was plenty of room in there for the Yetman, LeBrun, and Bissonnette teams, as well as the Jocelyn Roy team that also joined us. A good supper was had by all !
I was back home in Cornwall , at a respectable 11-00 pm and with another early night to help with my recuperation.
On Sunday it was the Cornwall Motor Speedway’s annual Enduro, and with no doable ‘real’ racing taking place nearby, I was going to be there. 
Although I work at the speedway, I normally take a day off when this one takes place, and it’s been quite a few years since I last attended.
My friend Chantal, was going to be there helping out her dad, (and my buddy) Ted Lesage who was inspecting the cars.
Two of my colleagues from work Steve ‘Cowboy’ Deprate and Sonia Rosa were going to be there, taking part, Steve in the mens 4 cylinder and Sonia in the ladies race.
The weather was kind to the Cornwall Motor Speedway for a change, and the grandstands were packed.
This kind of event is not really my cup of tea, but it was nice to get some pics and spend time among friends. The Enduro is always an afternoon show, so I was back home and indoors nice and early.