MONTHLY REPORT for February 2016

roxton1 037 (Medium)As February comes to an end, already two months have gone by in 2016.

Nothing much has changed for me, as I continue to fight the Myasthenia Gravis, I was diagnosed with last summer. I’m still following the doctors orders and taking the medication, so hoping for a return to normal before too long.10603531_577477282400848_8674594370797468507_n

February is usually a quiet month for me, as far as racing is concerned, unless I’m lucky enough to make it down to Florida for the Speedweeks, but that wasn’t going to happen this year.

FLASHBACK to a Florida tour in February 2009
FLASHBACK to a Florida tour in February 2009

I had been offered a ride down there with my buddy,  Ron Morin, but the three weeks away from home , that he had planned,  would not work well for me,  with the various doctors appointments on my agenda, so I had to decline. I had to be content with following the racing news on-line.

On February 2, I took a short drive across the city, to my local Cornwall Motor Speedway, to check out how the new grandstand construction, was getting on. With milder and less severe, winter weather, the work has been able to progress better than expected , and things looked very impressive. A group of workers, including Dirt Modified driver, Chris Raabe, were busy at it, and it was obvious that things were starting to take shape.grandstand 008 (Large) grandstand 001 (Large) grandstand 004 (Large)

The following Sunday , 7 Feb,  it was Super Bowl Day .

I have no time for ‘American style’ football, it does nothing for me , and when the Super Bowl is on TV , I have to avoid it like the plague . I need to get as far away from my TV as possible. The hype and B/S , really annoys me, and I find it unreal, that a sport has to rely on intermission entertainment and ‘gimmicky’ commercials to get viewers.

It was a good day for me to take a short road trip south , and visit one of my racing friends for a long over-due get together and a chat.

 

dawn 002

So,  I joined my good friend  Dawn Kamf  of the ESS Sprint Cars for a supper at  Applebys, in Watertown , New York.

We’ve been friends for quite a few years now, and it’s always nice to meet up for a chat and a bite to eat , when time permits.

A few years back, and it's Dawn and me at the ESS Sprint Car merchandise trailer.
A few years back at the Mohawk International Raceway , and it’s Dawn and me at the ESS Sprint Car merchandise trailer.

 

Once into the middle of February, after a warmer than normal start to the year, things turned a lot colder. It got very cold and the temperature on my cars dash board proved it. It showed minus 26 centigrade, but out side with the windchill it was under minus 30.12745544_10206936549630745_7112465441452288824_n

This frigid cold spell was good news for the organizers of Ottawa’s WINTERLUDE, which includes, the ‘Worlds Longest Skating Rink’ that runs along the cities frozen Rideau Canal.

I’m not a skater, but for many years , one of the things on my ‘bucket list’ has been to walk on the canal during WINTERLUDE and sample a ‘Beavers Tail’

I had some personal business to attend to in down town Ottawa on Friday 12 Feb, and was able to full fill this wish.

I parked  my car in the Shaw Center, which just happens to be right next to the Rideau Canal, at the start of the ‘Worlds longest Skating Rink.

winterlude 272 (Large)I was able to walk on to the ice, watch the skaters while sampling a ‘Quebcoise Beaver Tail’  .  winterlude 280 (Large)There were various varieties to choose from, but I went for that particular one, which was delicious. Best described as fried dough, covered in maple syrup and white icing.winterlude 284 (Large)

The middle of February always means the start of Speedweeks in Florida, and once again I had to miss being there. As  mentioned at the start of the report, I’d been offered a ride down there, but in my present situation, I had to give it a miss.

Most of the Florida speedways, both dirt and paved,  have special events taking place during and around the time the Daytona 500.

These days, the stuff going on at Daytona, is of little interest to me, with my main focus being the action at the dirt track events. My main interest are the, the Big Block Modifieds from the North East,  my regular ‘bread and butter’ during the normal racing season . They were appearing at the Volusia Speedway, at Barberville, on the four days leading up to the ‘500 Sunday’ on Feb 21 .

I was following the results via Face Book, where fans were lucky enough to get a different winner every night. On opening night it was Tim Fuller,  Thursday Matt Sheppard, Friday Rick Laubach and on Saturday it was Brett Hearn.  The series winner was Sheppard.

On Sunday 21 Feb, I had no intentions of watching all of the Daytona 500 on TV, as I had other plans.

I was out of bed early, and by 7-00 am I was on the road. My destination was Roxton Pond , in Quebec to visit a new track for me.

After a two hour drive, I was having breakfast at the Tim Hortons beside the Granby exit of Autoroute 10.

Ice racing was taking place at nearby Roxton Pond, and I was there before 10-00  am, in good time to meet up with my TRACKCHASING friends before the racing got under way. roxton1 073 (Medium)Guy Smith, Will White and Mike Knappenberger had driven up from the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania to claim a ‘new track’.roxton1 044 (Medium)roxton1 037 (Medium)roxton1 023 (Medium)

The days racing consisted of motor cycles , ATV’s and cars.  The cars are the only ones that count, in TRACKCHASING so we had to wait until the motor-cycles and ATV’s had been out before we got our new ‘countable’ track.

Guy Smith and me, at Roxton Pond
Guy Smith and me, at Roxton Pond

There were two different tracks in use during the day, with the cars using the longer of two road course layouts. Therefore, I was able to claim TRACK # 220 on my TRACKCHASING Totals for the cars , plus another track on my “Non TRACKCHASING” list.

Let me explain, the TRACKCHASING  group have some  strange rules when counting race tracks visited. For example, there are many types of racing that can’t be counted, like , certain kinds of go karts, motor-cycles, ATV’s, and car racing events such as Drag Racing, Rallying and Hill Climbs that race against the clock .

This means the motor-cycle racing I once saw at the Homestead Speedway , in Florida  and the Hill Climb at Goodwood , in England are not on my official TRACKCHASING list. Two world famous tracks I cannot count .

Rules are Rules, I guess,  and I have to conform.

12745487_1693580157596441_4329195143269253099_n (Large)By  12-30, the mornings schedule of races had been run, and while they took their break for lunch, me and my TRACKCHASING buddies made our exit.

Before taking off on our separate ways, we made another stop at the Granby ‘Timmies’ where Mike Knappenberger kindly presented me with a copy of the National Speedway Directory . Thanks Mike.

I was back home in Cornwall, Ontario before 4-00pm , just right to catch the last part of the Daytona 500 on TV.

If I had stayed at home, I would of probably watched the start,  seen a few laps, took a snooze, then watched the last ten laps.  They are usually the most interesting parts of the race.

As planned , I got my self comfy on the couch with ten laps to go, and I’m glad I did.

The very last lap turned out to be full of excitment , with the closest finish ( a few inches) in Daytona 500 history. Denny Hamlin edged out Martin Truex for a photo-finish on the line.

During the last part of February , I was kept busy, watching the fortunes of the Ottawa Senators on TV. Just like last year, and after a poor start to the season, they are scrambling to get a Stanley Cup Play Off spot. They are playing a lot better now, and every game counts, as they battle along. Fingers Crossed, Touch Wood !

It was a visit to a hockey game , that ended my month , when , on Sunday 28 Feb, I went to the local arena , to watch the Cornwall Colts take on the Gloucester Rangers.  The game ended with a 6-2 win to the Colts.

 

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *