Lance Willix wins at Can Am (7th May 2025 BLOG)
On Thursday the 1st of May, I had a big decision to make.
Do I go to the regular weekly show at the Airborne Park Speedway , in Plattesburgh, or do I stay at home and watch TV.?
After a terrible start to the Stanley Cup Play Offs, ‘my Ottawa Senators’ were clinging to life, with another sudden death game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. I’d been following their progress as usual, and this could be the last game they play this season. They needed to win, to stay alive.
Well ‘racing’ won and I headed off to Plattsburgh with Don Simpson.
There was a good turn-out of twenty Modifieds in the pits , along with the regular divisions of Sportsman, Rookie Sportsman , Renegades and Mini Stocks.
There were a some rare visitors too, among the Mods including Thomas Cook in the Moody Mile Motorsports car and Akwesasne’s Carey Terrance.
Rain was expected later in the evening so I’m pleased to say , the Modified feature was up first.
Jeremy Roy dominated this one, and lead the race right up until a few laps to go.
A caution occurred , and while circulating for the restart , he had a tire go down. It also began to drizzle with rain, so more laps were needed under yellow until the track was deemed raceable.
Roy was able to rejoin at the rear , so the race resumed with David Hebert and Carey Terrance at the front.
Hebert soon took control and that’s how they finished. Terrance was second, with Mike Mahaney completing the top three.
With rain still falling during Victory Lane pictures , we decided to take our camera equipment back to the car .
From the car we heard the next feature for the Ministocks get under way. With cars on track , and only a light drizzle , it allowed the racing to continue. We didn’t venture from the car for the Victory Lane ceremonies, for this one .
The Sportsman Feature followed and just as before , we listened from the car, as the racing got under way, and able to keep going as long as cars were circulating and keeping it raceable.
Before the race ended , we were out of the car and watching the final laps from the front stretch.
The winner was Codie Aubin .
After getting the Victory Lane shots , we made our exit . The rain had got too intense and as the Renegade Feature entered the track , it caused an early end to the night .
While I was at the racing , I’d been following the Sens V Leafs game on my phone. Sad to say , the Leafs got the win and that was the end of the Stanley Cup road for the Sens.
On Friday the 2nd of May , I was heading down to Lafargeville NY, for the second show of the year at the Can Am Speedway. Just as Airborne, the night before, there were 20 Modifieds in attendance.
Sportsman , Limited Sportsman, Crate Sprint Cars and Thunder Cars (Mini Stocks) joined them on the program.
The first feature of the night was for the Thundercars .
This was won by Corey Valade,
The Limited Sportsman were up next..
Genavieve Bartlett, daughter of promoters , Tyler and Michelle , got her second consecutive win of the season.
The Modified 25 lap feature was up next.
Early leader was Tyler Meeks #9 until he had to retire with mechanical issues.
Andy Howard 21 looked good until Larry Welling Jr, Addison Bowman, Matt Caprara and Lance Willix all started moving up.
Willix was gradually reeling them in and went on to take the checkers.
Caprara was second and Billy Dunn was third.
It was then time for the Sportsman Feature .
It was Tyler Corcoran taking the checkers once again.
It was his second consecutive win.
With just the Crate Sprints feature left to run, I made my exit.
On Saturday rain decimated most of the racing in the North East so it became a night of watching TV.
One of the events that got canceled was the pre season practice day at the Brockville Ontario Speedway. This got postponed to Sunday , with the cars due on track at 11-00 am.
It was a lovely sunny day so I decided to get the Thunderbird out for a cruise down there.
I left home early and visited the Morrisburg Flea Market on route.
I arrived at the track about 10-45 so had plenty of time to check out the pits before things got under way.
I soon spotted the Kyle Dingwall ride for 2025. He will be driving the #1k Steve Polite owned car that was raced last year by Matt Billings.
I then caught up with my friends at the 124 race team , Luke Whitteker and team owner James Marshall McDowell.
There were cars representing all the regular divisions at the B.O.S
I stayed at the track for a couple of hours, before heading home.
On Monday I visited my buddy Ron Morin for a coffee.
He’s the former owner/promoter of the Cornwall Motor Speedway , and still lives beside the track. Work was taking place in the pits , constructing a new pit tower and concessions.
I took this shot from a distance.
On Tuesday morning (6th May) I was saddened to hear news today that OVIDE DOIRON had passed away.
He was one of the first people I got to know when I became interested in Dirt Modified racing , 30 years ago. He lived in nearby Alexandria and was one of our top local drivers at that time.
I remember back in 1996 when he gave me a tour of his race shop and engine building company.
Photo Courtesy of Mike Quesnel
When his son Joel started racing he took a back seat and concentrated on his engine building company.
Many of the top drivers , including Dave Heaslip and Pierre Dagenais were among his regular customers.
When Joel retired from racing Ovide stayed connected to the sport when his grand daughter Emelie became married to Chris Raabe.
He had been unwell for while when I heard the sad news on Tuesday morning.
My deepest sympathies go out to all the family,
R.I.P to the Flying Frenchman OVIDE DOIRON