RICK @ the RACES (24/25/26 Oct 2014)
Friday, Saturday and Sunday 24/25/26 October 2014
Eastern States Weekend
Orange County Fair Speedway, Middletown NY
One of my favourite events of the racing calender is definitely the Eastern States Weekend, held towards the end of October each year at the Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York. I made my first visit there in 2001 and since then, I have only missed it a handful of times.
I had to work on the Friday, but this year I’d booked a vacation day for Monday, so I didn’t have to leave Middletown early, as I’ve had to do on previous occasions.
The HHR was loaded up on Thursday and with an early finish at work for Friday that I’d requested, I could head south as soon as I was done. I was finished by around 2-45 pm and after dropping in at my house for about half an hour to do some last minute things, I was crossing into the USA at my local border point of Cornwall at 3-45 pm.
I took my preferred route, via Binghamton NY and made very few stops on the way down. The journey takes about six hours of actual driving time, and I pulled in to the track at about 10-15 pm. I was able to get inside, and watch the start of the 50 lap Sportsman race ( won by Brian Krummel) before retiring to the 31st Lap.
The 31st Lap is the track bar, that makes this particular racing weekend one of the most enjoyable. There is alway music and partying going on there and is famous for it’s Saturday night ‘New Years Eve Party’ .
I met up with a few friends , which included Ms Motorsports Cassie Pinder 
and Big Block drivers Justin Haers and Gary Tomkins . At about 1:30 am , and after a few beers, my ‘long day’ caught up on me and it was time to get some sleep. My accommodation for the first night, as planned was the bed made up in the back of the HHR .
I was leaving my accommodation options open for Saturday night. (last year I got a room at the Super 8)
After waking up on Saturday morning, I had breakfast and free wi-fi at the local Panera Bread Shop before trying to get a room at the Super 8. They were full up so tried the Middletown Motel, that sits high on a hill over looking the Interstate and boasted cheap prices. It was an older type Motel ( hence the prices) and they only had smoking rooms available. I didn’t fancy the thought of a stinky room, but for 65 bucks, I thought I’d put up with it for one night, as it seemed better than the car. Once booked in, I drove straight down to the nearby Walmart and bought some air fresheners.
I then returned to the track where I met up with many of my photographer friends. Harry and Jane Cella, Mike Petrucci , Boris Rudzinski and Ralph ‘Gypsy’ Corwin, to name a few.
In the past , turn three has been my favourite spot, so that’s where I chose to shoot. I also tried a few shots from high up in the grandstand, but soon returned to my usual spot.
The big event of the day was the 100 lapper for 358’s with 360 Sprint Cars as the support.
There hard packed clay allowed very few racing lines and it wasn’t the most exciting race I’ve seen over the years, with Brett Hearn cruising to an unchallenged victory.
I had quite a surprise while doing the Victory Lane pictures !
When I was at the Brewerton Speedway during Super Dirt Week and taking pics of Brett in Victory Lane, I got talking to Don Kruger, who is one of his sponsors. Don spotted me again on this occasion, and invited me to join him and Brett in Victory Lane. That was different ! I was standing in front of a mass of photographers, getting my pic taken instead of the other way around. Thanks to my buddy Mike Petrucci for sending me the pic.
Another good thing I like about the Eastern States Weekend, is that on most occasions, the Saturday show is over at a sensible time ( before 8:00pm) which allows people to go out for an evening meal, before returning to the 31st lap for some serious partying.
Last year I visited the Texas Roadhouse and had such an excellent Steak, I decided to do likewise this year. While I was waiting for a table I got chatting to Gypsum Express Modified driver Pat Ward aswell as a few members of the Justin Haers team.
Just as I was about to be directed to my table, I bumped into my Quebec friend, Nicole Pearault, who was there with her brother Claude and their buddy Alain. So rather than eat solo, I joined them at their table, where I enjoyed yet another excellent steak.
My original plan was to return to the 31st Lap and to spend a bit of time at the New Years Eve Party, but by now, I was getting tired, and decided to give it a miss, in favour of my Motel bed. It must be old age creeping up on me ! My mind wants to party but the body doesn’t !
Things start happening early at the track on Sunday morning and gets under way at 9:00 am with the on track ‘Pit Party’ where fans can meet the drivers. Most years I go along to this, but by the time I’d had breakfast at the ‘Panera’ it was almost over.
I resumed my spot on turn three for the days races. The big race of the day was the Eastern States 200 for the Big Block Modifieds with Street Stocks, and a Truck demonstration race as the back up.
I was pleased to see that Matt Billings, one of my local drivers from Brockville, had made it to the Big Block main event.
Compared to other years, the 200 lapper had very little carnage, and it turned out to be similar race to Saturdays , with Brett Hearn taking the checkers without too much opposition.
The race was over , just after 5:00pm and following the Victory Lane ceremonies I popped into the ‘Panera Bread’ once more, for a cup of tea, and some wi-fi to upload my pics to the media.
I left Middletown at about 6:15 pm and at around 9:45 pm I was in the Dunkin Donuts at Central Square.
After a coffee and washroom break, I was back on the road, and by 12:45am I was crossing back into Canada at Cornwall.
Five minutes after clearing customs, I was back at my house, with another Eastern States in the books.