RICK @ the RACES (5/6/7/8 June 2014)
6 June Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg NY
7 June Brockville Ontario Speedway
8 June Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont
After a very tiring couple of weeks, of racing, work, and visiting the UK, I finally got a full day to relax on Thursday 5 June. Thursdays are now my mid week day off, and all that I had planned for the day, was an appointment at SEAWAY GM in Cornwall , Ontario for my Chevrolet HHR. The HHR was one of the models effected by the recent GM recall, and a new ignition switch was being installed.
I was back at work on Friday, and had a decision to make, regarding my evenings racing. My local track, the Mohawk International Raceway, at Hogansburg NY , were dropping the 358 Modified division from the program this week in favour of the ESS Sprint Cars. I much prefer watching Modifieds to the Sprint Cars, so if I got lucky with a really early finish at work I could go somewhere else. The permutations went something like this, a 2-00 pm finish could get me to the Albany-Sarratoga Speedway at Malta NY or the Brewerton Speedway NY, where as a finish before 5-00 pm would be good for the Can Am Speedway (Lafargeville ) NY or Autodrome Granby, Quebec.
As things turned out, I finished work just after 4-00 pm , and after giving it a bit of thought, I ended up going to the M.I.R. I was still pretty worn out from the last few weeks, and I figured that a 15 minute drive to my local track for the Sprint Cars was slightly more appealing than a two hour drive for the Modified alternatives.
It meant I could take my time and have a more relaxed evening. After getting my usual steak sub from Jreck Subs and some gas from TwinLeaf, I was at the track early enough to relax in my lawn chair before the action got under way.
Regular readers will be aware, I’m no big fan of the localized Sprint Tours, but still have a lot of friends within the ESS organization, so it was good to chat with Dean Reynolds, Mike Mallette, Sylvain Mercier and John Tiff. They were all there and busy, running this ESS tour race. Aswell as the Sprints, the Sportsman, Bandits and Mod Lites were in attendance.
Once the racing got started, I joined Andy Watts on turn three and four to take my pics. There were’nt too many cautions in the Sprint Car Feature, and it was Jeff Cook who took the checkers.
Dylan Evoy notched up yet another Sportsman win, while Dan Reif and Randy Whiting won in the Mod Lites and Bandits, respectively.
Just as I’d hoped for, the racing was over by 10-30 pm, and I was soon home, sipping cold beer on my porch.
I had a nice long lay in on Saturday morning, and then spent most of the day getting some jobs done. Once again the Brockville Ontario Speedway was my chosen Saturday night destination, so took a nice steady drive down the 401 in the late afternoon.
As usual , I did my pre race trip around the pits, and made for the # 66 Sportsman and hauler of my friends Ralph and Tabatha Murphy. As you may or may not be aware, Craig Revelle of Finish Line Web Design, has had some Rick @ the Races T shirts made up, and I figured who better to help sell them, than the lovely Tabatha. It was a warm summers night, so she agreed to wear one for some photos.
I was out on the middle taking pics by the time the Hot Laps got under way, and soon had an unwelcome surprise. Tabatha had joined a group of other Sportsman cars, to get some Hot Laps in, when disaster struck. The car slid to the top of the cushion, and as the back wheel dropped over the lip and dug into the soft clay, the car flipped over. 
The red flag came out immediately as the rescue crew ( and Ralph) ran to her aid. Luckily she was soon out of the car, and after a checkup by the medics, the only injuries were a scratched arm. The car didn’t look too good as it was towed back to the pits.
I resumed my position on the middle as the Hot Laps continued. Once they were over, and before the actual nights racing began, I made a trip back to the pits to check up on Tabatha, who by now was sitting in the hauler nursing her sore arm, while Ralph and many others were working on the car.
Racing then got under way , and I went back to my place on turn one and two to capture the heat race action.
Wow, what a surprise it was when the # 66 car came out for its heat. Ralph and a bunch of other volunteers had got the car back together, and Tabatha was back behind the wheel. I was even more surprised at her performance, as the car seemed to go like a ‘rocket’ !
From a back row starting position she carved her way through the field and got a creditable second place. Prior to this, they’d been having problems getting the car to perform. (I told them both later, that sometimes a car has to get a little bent before it goes well ! ) .
At intermission time, I paid a visit to the Finish Line Web Design Sales trailer, before joining my friend, Rosie Estevez the B.O.S trophy presenter, in one of the media booths to watch the Feature race action.
Nico Leblanc won the first feature of the night, which was for Street Stocks, that was followed by a win for Connor Dawdy in the Rookie Sportsman.
The Modified Feature was up next and provided Stephane Lafrance with another win, while Shane Pecore won in the Sportsman.
As per normal, I took off in the direction of home before the last Feature, which was for the Rookies and won in my absence by Joe McNichols.
Sunday night once again found me at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, but instead of arriving there soon after lunch, which is what I do normally, I left home a bit later. The reason being, it was F1 Grand Prix Day in Canada, at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal and I wanted to watch the first part of the race on TV. Soon after the start there was a crash, and the cautions came out while they cleared the debris. I watched the restart and before heading to the Speedway , Rosberg was leading with Vettel and Hamilton in hot pursuit.
Once I got to the track and stationed myself in the control tower, I received FACEBOOK updates from friends that were watching at home, from around the world. Both Mercedes had mechanical trouble, with Hamilton dropping out early on with brake issues and Rosberg slipping back to second place to give victory to Australian, Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull Renault.
The program at the Cornwall Motor Speedway was a little different this week, and the Sportsman were absent to make way for the Go Nuclear Late Model tour. Prior to the night, I was a bit sceptical about the Late Models, as my previous experiences of watching them, hadn’t been good. In the past , they seemed to be one of those divisions that suffered from too many cautions and stoppages for my liking. Well I’m pleased to say, my concerns were unfounded and they put up one of the best Late Model performances I ever seen. There were very few cautions and the big 35 lap race was a nail biter , right to the checkers, with Phil Potts beating Adam Turner by .0011 of a second , as they crossed the line together. I take my hat off to them !
The other big winners at the C.M.S were Francis Blanchett in the Mini Stocks, Bruno Richard in the Semi Pro’s, and Stephane Lebrun in the Pro Stocks.
The highlight of the night for many local fans was Cornwall’s Brian McDonald getting the win in the Modified division. It’s been a while since Brian’s last big race win at the CMS and the spectators were well pleased and loud with there cheers of approval.
The show went along nice and smoothly and was over by about 10-00pm , which , once again was very popular with me and the fans and staff alike .