RICK @ the RACES (25 to 27 July 2015)
Sat 26 July Brockville Ontario Speedway (RAIN)
Sun 27 July Cornwall Motor Speedway
It’s now been 2 weeks since I was released (13 July) from the Ottawa Civic Hospital following my Five days of plasma transfusions, and a course of medication to try and fight off my Myasthenia Gravis condition..
I have had some signs of improvement, but not as much as I was hoping. The medication seems to have helped with some things, but not with others. I guess I have to patient, and give things a chance to work.
On the negative side, I still don’t have much energy to walk more than a few hundred yards, without the need to take a rest.
At this time, my main problem is with my mouth and speech muscles/nerves. I find that if I over-work them, by talking for too long ( about 5 minutes at a time) I start talking with slurr. I’m finding this embarrassing, and have to keep apologizing to people.
I’m missing my friends at the tracks, so this past weekend I tested the water, but I’m a long way from recovery.
During the day on Friday I’d dropped into see my friend Jenay Morin at the Deke and Squeaks Bar and Grill in Cornwall, to see what my chances were of getting a ride to the Brockville Ontario Speedway on Saturday.
Most of the Morin family go along to watch, her brother Gage race his Modified. My friend Ron Morin, their grandfather, had a prior engagement planned for that night, so I knew he would not be available. This weekend was a busy one for D & S with the annual Rib Fest taking place in the city at the nearby waterfront, so Jenay was doubtful if she’d be going, but promised to see what she could do.
Well thanks to Jenay, I later had a message from Gage, saying they had room in the truck with the race team, and did I want to join them.
I remained at home on Friday , but once again my good friend Andy Watts sent me some pictures from the Mohawk International Raceway, which has been part of my regular weekend stomping ground for many years. 
Well , Guess who won on Friday night at the M.I.R ! It was Gage Morin. I wish I’d been there. 
My friends from the ESS Sprint Cars were also there and Steve Poirier took the big one in their races.
Also on the program, was the Lussier GM Sportsman Series race which went to Martin Pelletier
On Saturday I was picked up from my front door, by Gage , the young race driver, I’d known since he was a kid starting off in the karts and then the onset of his career with the Mini Stocks.
I’ve watched over the past few years , how he has matured into one of the most competent race drivers in my area.
We then drove over to the race shop , where we met up with car owner Doug Young (no relation) and jumped into the hauler for the short trip to Brockville .
Also joining us in the hauler , were crewman Kevin, and the teenage rookie Sportsman driver Gab Cyr # 94. It was a nice relaxing journey being chauffeured down Highway 401 to the track with Doug at the wheel
Once we arrived, it soon became evident, I wasn’t ready yet for my typical night at the races !
I could hardly walk to the end of the pits and back, without stopping for a rest, and after talking to several friends, my voice became ‘garbled’ and slurred.
I guess I’m not ready yet for plenty of chat and lot of walking.
It started to drizzle with rain, so I ended up sitting in the cab of the truck for shelter , and to avoid overdoing it by talking to people and walking too far.
You can imagine how difficult this was, when concerned friends obviously wanted to chat and ask how I was doing.
It was nice to see everyone and I did my best to chat with them on my mini ‘walk-about’ . I made my usual Brockville pit calls to see Tabatha and Ralph Murphy as well as the Lasalle Race Team. There were plenty more concerned friends that I spoke too and must apologize for all those not mentioned.
It was also much appreciated, the gesture of Jordon McCreadie who made a point of coming over to the hauler to check me out.
Before the cars took to the track, the rain got heavier , until it became inevitable we would be rained out.
Once officially called off, we returned home to Cornwall, and I was delivered to my door by Gage.
Thanks very much to Gage, Jenay and Doug for making it happen.
Considering the lack of energy and the slurred speech problems I had at Brockville, I had seriously thought about not going along to my local Cornwall track (ten minutes from home) on Sunday night , as I didn’t fancy the embarrassment .
I was going to play it by ear and see how I was nearer to the start time. I decided to have a relaxing afternoon, sitting in Cornwall’s Lameroux Park listening in solitude to the music at the Rib Fest .
Well, you know me !
The Lavergne Family (owners of the Cornwall Motor Speedway) had offered me a quiet seat on the V.I.P tower, which is far enough from people, that I wouldn’t be tempted to go around chatting and overdo my voice muscles/nerves.
I decided to creep in to the Speedway just before the start ( in disguise , yep I dressed differently LOL ) and try to keep a low profile.
I met Jacques Lavergne in the parking lot, who then ferried me to the front entrance on the courtesy bus . After a quick chat with my track official friends in the control tower I got a ride by golf kart to the Pit V.I.P Tower.
I sat up there all night with my friends Ron Morin ( the former track owner) and Brockville boss, Paul Kirkland .
So , my plan worked, I did very little walking, and I managed to give my mouth a rest !
Gage Morin who I’d been with the night before, was a ‘hired gun’ for the night, driving the former Bill ‘Moon’ Mullin # 3 , Cliff Merpaw owned car. He came home with good second place behind feature winning Carey Terrance. # 66x.
Gab Cyr # 94 , his helper from the night before, was also racing in the Sportsman division.
As a bonus, I got some pretty good shots with my zoom lens from where I was seated !
I didn’t stay to the end, but when I wanted to leave, I also managed a quick escape.
At the end of the Modified feature, Ron drove me out on his golf kart to Victory Lane where I took a picture of the winner Carey Terrance, before heading straight off the track and out to the parking lot.
I was soon home without too much strain on the body.
Like I said earlier, this weekend proved, I still have a long way to go before I get back to a normal life, but I hope to gradually get along to more races as I resume my strength.