It’s now been over a week since I was released from the Civic Hospital in Ottawa, following my emergency admittance after being diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis. I was in there for six days and underwent five daily transfusions that each lasted for two hours . I’m now back home, under doctors orders, and getting plenty of rest to enable the treatment to take effect.
I haven’t been to a race since Saturday 20 June when I was at the Brockville Ontario Speedway, so I can’t wait to get back to all the tracks. It won’t be happening just yet, as for once in my life, I have to be sensible , and take things easy.
While, I rest and take each day as it comes, I’m going to try to keep posting my weekly reports , about the local and important events, that I’m reluctantly having to miss. I’m lucky that in more than 10 years of being involved in the racing media, I have plenty of friends willing to let me add their pics.
If you are a regular reader of Rick@ the Races, you will know that one of my biggest interests are the DIRT Modifieds, and their premier series, the SUPER DIRT SERIES.
Well I missed out on three of them this past week, one of which was unavoidable due to a ‘rain out’.
Tuesday 14 July, the day after I came out of hospital , the series returned to the Five Mile Point Speedway, at Kirkwood NY and my good friend Alex Bruce was there to capture Stewart Friesen’s Victory.
At the weekend, the regular Friday show at my local Mohawk International Raceway was cancelled due to rain , but while I was at home relaxing, I had a visitor drop by. It was long time friend, and former Cornwall Motor Speedway owner Ron Morin , so a home delivery supper was ordered and we ate and chatted out on my front porch. Ron asked me ‘have you heard the hot news’ ? I replied no, so he said that I should go and check the local newspapers web site on the internet, and see.
I did so, and there it was ! Ron was going to be back out in a race car, this coming Sunday, driving the spare car of another friend of mine, Dave Bissonnette. He then told me all about it, and how he’d been along to get his race seat adjusted for him. It’s been about 10 years since Ron was out on the track.
My other two local tracks, the Brockville Ontario Speedway and the Cornwall Motor Speedway had the Patriot Sprints added to their program this week, but I had planned to follow doctors orders and continue my convalescence.
Track Photographer, Henry Hannewyk was there to get Danny O’Brien’s Modified victory picture for the B.O.S media.
I would of really liked to have been at the Cornwall track on Sunday night to see how Ron got on, but thunderstorms were forecast and I wasn’t feeling up to it just yet. So I had another night at home, watching the reports come in, via Face Book.
My buddy, Sylvain Lauwers has been covering for me during my absence, and he forwarded these pics direct from the track.
Here is Ron beside Dave Bissonnette from Sunday night
The Patriot Sprint race was won by Steve Poirier, with Lee Ladouceur second and Glenn Styres third.
Lee was doing double duty that night and also went on to win the main event for the Mods
While Cornwall was running on Sunday night, the Utica-Rome Speedway at Vernon NY was also taking place, and I later found out, my friend, Claude Hutchings Jr was involved in a bad wreck.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery Claude.
On Monday night, the SUPER DIRT SERIES was up at Autodrome Drummond for day one of a two day visit to Quebec.
I have to thank my good friend Mike Petrucci and his girlfriend Alicia Rossi of www.raceproweekly.com for the pictures from this one. I’ve known Mike for many years and the two of them were traveling up from their home in Connecticut for their first taste of racing in the ‘Belle Province”.
The speedway had a full house, that was packed with enthusiastic fans to see Brett Hearn’s victory. I’m pleased to say , my two friends were impressed with what they saw.
I was feeling a bit more energetic on Tuesday, and when my buddy and fellow photographer Don Simpson offered to drive me up to Autodrome Granby for day two of the Quebec SDS tour, I willingly accepted.
Alas, we never got to see any racing, as just one hour into a journey we spotted race car haulers heading back south in our direction. It’s never a good sign when this happens, so we quickly pulled off Autoroute 30 to find a McDonalds with a wifi connection.
Once on line, it didn’t take long to confirm, that Granby had called an early rain out .
So, it was , an ‘about turn’ , and a return drive home to Cornwall.
Finally I end this weeks report on a sad note.
R.I.P Dan Mountney
In the early hours of Sunday morning my racing friend Dan Mountney passed away in Ottawa after a long battle with cancer.
We’d become friends over the last seven or eight years , as he was big fan of Dirt Racing in the North East.
We had some great times at the races, with ‘Brother D’ , as my close friend Chantal Lesage liked to call him. Chanty called him that , because he was like the brother she never had, so I know how difficult it is for her right now.
My sympathies go out to Chantal and all of Dan’s friends and family at the very sad time.
were impressed