Dale Planck Memorial at the M.I.R (18th Sept 2025 BLOG)
The last BLOG came to an end following the Canadian Big Block event on the 7th of September at the Airborne Park Speedway.
I then had most of the week to recharge my body batteries before the Friday night start of the Mohawk International Raceway’s annual September big weekend finale. I always enjoy this one , and what makes it so much better , it’s close to home !
Both days of racing had headline events honoring two of the tracks greatest hero’s who’d recently passed away . I knew both of them personally .
On Friday night it was the Ovide Doiron Memorial .
He was from Alexandria , Ontario and I first got to know him back in 1996 , just a few years before he retired from racing and concentrated on his engine building business.
There was a 40 lap race for Modifieds in his memory .
On Saturday night they were honoring Dale Planck .
Although Dale lived in Cortland , New York , he was a regular racer at all the tracks in my area from the early 2000’s, and he was loved by many .
He won many races, so in my roll as a track photographer it wasn’t long before I got to know him and his family well .
He was a great guy and all ways fun to talk to .
So, on the opening night I was over bridge early and at the M.I.R by mid afternoon . Already the pits were getting full.
There were five divisions on the program which included, 358 Modifieds, Sportsman , Limited Sportsman, Pro Stocks and Mini Stox .
The headline event was the Doiron Memorial and the Sportsman division had a DirtCar Series race. This was 3rd time lucky for the memorial race after succumbing to a couple of rain postponements.
During my pit walk about , I spotted the Chris Raabe car with his Ovide Doiron livery (Chris’s wife Emelie is one of Ovide’s grandaughters) .
Even though the following night was scheduled as the Dale Planck Memorial it didn’t stop young Jackson Welling having his Limited Sportsman decked out with Planck panels.
THERE WERE OVER 180 CARS in attendance, and it was obvious, it was going to be a late night .
A huge car count , with the pits being extended to the infield, meant a lot of racing was in store .
When considering the full program of races, the night moved along quite swiftly .
The first of the features was for the Ministocks and Antoine Dumouchel took the checkers .
The Limited Sportsman were up next , and their race was won by young Jackson Welling in his Planck Tribute car.
The Sportsman Series race then followed .
Richard Murtaugh dominated , once he passed early leader Pascal Payeur .
Tristan Ladouceur was hot on Murtaugh’s tail for the last quarter , but hadn’t got that little bit extra that was needed to make the serious challenge.
Shane Pecore came home third to join them on the podium.
Next up was the 40 lap Ovide Doiron Memorial race
Tyler Meeks and Louie Jackson Jr looked good with their early leads, but once Tim Fuller got to the front on lap 18 , he stayed there to the checkers with Billy Dunn chasing.
Ovides two daughters were on hand to present the trophy .
Chris Raabe in the # 40 tribute car got passed Jackson in the late stages, to join them on the podium .
The Doiron Family then posed for a photo beside the Chris Raabe Tribute car
It was now past midnight as the final race took to the track.
This was the Pro Stock feature and was won by Bastien Caron.
With over 180 race cars booked in to the show, the 12-30 am finish wasn’t too bad.
Of course there was a long delay at the border, going home, but this always seems to be the case after a big race.
On Saturday afternoon, two good friends of mine, local racer, Luke Whitteker and Taya Heldens were getting married and I was invited to see them tie the knot.
I have known both of them for many years.
Over fifteen years ago my travelling companion to the races was the late Roger Aubin , who was a good friend of Luke’s grandfather.
So, I soon got to be friends with the Whitteker family, as the young grandson Luke started off his racing career in Sportsman.
As for Taya, we worked alongside each other for a number of years at the Brockville Ontario Speedway.
She was at the B.O.S , working as the Victory Lane hostess .
She then met Luke and the rest is history .
Congratulations to them both .
After the vows they both took off in Lukes El Camino
The wedding ceremony, which was at the Morrisburg Golf Course , near Ingleside began at 4-00 pm and by 5-30pm, I was heading back towards Cornwall and the border crossing to the US .
A change of clothes and my camera stuff had been pre-packed in the car, and I was at the track around 6-00 pm.
Once again the pits were full with around the same amount of cars as the night before.
The program consisted of the 77 Lap Dale Planck Memorial for Modifieds, and a DirtCar Series race for Pro Stocks. The Sportsman , Limited Sportsman and Mini Stocks were back as well as the Vintage Mods.
Once again it was obvious that a long night was in store
On my pit walk about, I spotted two more Dale Planck tribute cars, one driven by Carey Terrance and one by Jackson Gill,
There were no long delays throughout the night , but the shear volume of cars meant , that the big races didn’t get under way until around mid night.
The first feature race of the night was for the Vintage
Ian Gordon took this one.
It was then time for the main event, the Dale Planck Memorial.
Billy Dunn took charge of this one, with Tim Fuller close behind in second place. Jackson Gill in his tribute car completed the podium.
The Pro Stock Series race then followed.
Quebecer, Bastien Caron made it two wins in two nights by taking the checkers.
Bruno Cyr had to help announcer, Robert Hill in the interview to do some translating.
It was well past 1-00 am when Bryan Tarbell won the Limited Sportsman feature.
The race had come under red light conditions when young Lea Jeanne Lauziere got involved in a back straight wreck.
It was during the stoppage, Pat Dumouchel, father of Mini Stocker , Antoine walked up and handed me a coffee.
It was very much needed and appreciated. Thanks Pat
The Sportsman then took to the track for their big race.
It was worth the late night wait , just to see Travis Bruno, the regular weekly flag man take the win.
His father Wayne had filled in for him on starter duties for the night
The final race of the night was for the Mini Stocks , which finished at 2-40 am .
Mathieu Voghel was the winner .
My record for doing late night Victory Lane pics is 3-00 am , which I did a few years back , so my personal record is still in tact. Oh Boy , I’m so glad the track is just a few miles from home.
That was it, time to go home . Luckily there wasn’t a long delay at the border this time and by 3-15 am I was back home behind the lap top doing a quick bit of editing before grabbing some sleep.
I was out of bed at 10-00 am on Sunday morning , and at 1-30 pm , Don Simpson was out side my house , picking me up to head off to the Airborne Park Speedway at Plattsburgh New York.
It was the final points night for the Modifieds , and they also had two Sportsman features on the bill. (Plus Renegades Limited Sportsman and Mini Stocks)
We’d both been at the M.I.R until the early hours, and were obviously tired, so we’d pre planned not to be there for the full show.
Our main concern was the Modifieds and to see who won the Championship.
Going into the last night, it could go either way , to Mike Mahaney or Felix Roy.
So we saw the heat races , the first Sportsman feature and the Limited Sportsman feature , before the Modified race which would decide it all.
The first of the two Sportsman features was won by Lonnie Rivers .
Up next was the Limited Sportsman feature, which was won by Brogan Roberts.
It was then time for the race we’d come to see, the Modified feature
Tim Fuller dominated , from the early stages , with Jordan Fornwalt coming home second and Mahaney 3rd.
Roy’s fourth place , was enough to clinch the Championship
We then made our exit before the second of the Sportsman features .
In our absence Tanner Siemons took the checkers.
So that was the end of another busy weekend . Time for a few days rest before the next batch of racing.
Meanwhile over in the UK , it was the BriSCA F1 Stock Car World Final on Saturday night at the Norfolk Arena in Kings Lynn.
Congrats to Tom Harris on his sixth title.
Thanks to my buddy Colin Casserley for the pics
Flashback to February this year when Tom was this side of pond racing his USAC Sprint Car in Florida
