The March BlOG (31st March 2026)
March is always a quiet month for me as far as racing activities go, and this year was no exception.
It’s usually a time of year when the local ice racing has come to an end and it’s too early for the regular racing to get under way.
This year I never even made it to the traditional March , Motor Sports Expo in Syracuse due to the snowy conditions.
I’ve now lived in Eastern Ontario , Canada for over 30 years , and reckon this has been the worst winter I’ve endured since emigrating here from England in 1994 .
It’s basically been snowing on and off since early November . That’s when I encountered the first winter storm while I driving back from the Charlotte Dirt Track World Finals.
The snow would keep falling, melt away , only to return a day or two later . This has been the trend for the past five months.
Luckily , I was able to escape to Florida in February for a two week racing trip .
Looking on the bright side, the lack of action has helped me with my intentions to ‘slow down’ a bit this year. I turned 72 in February and my plans are to cut back on some of my usual distant events , and make time for some ‘bucket list ‘ things I have coming up this year. The first of which , is planned for the first two weeks in May. More about that later.
In between shoveling snow from the driveway, my March was spent concentrating on other things.
I’ve been a diecast car collector since I was a small kid and have quite a few. I’ve downsized by selling off some in recent years. Mainly the larger scales that take up too much space.
These days my my main focal point is 1/43rd scale , the preferred scale for collectors around the world.
One of my goals is to have an example of all the cars that me and my family have owned and driven over the years. In my many years of driving , there are plenty and the list is long .
FLASHBCACK to 1974 and the Young Family fleet outside our home in Totternhoe , Bedfordshire.
Left to Right Sister Anne’s Vauxhall Viva, Dads Daimiler (Jag) my Austin Westminster and (partly hidded) Mums Simca.
It will be almost impossible to get examples of all the cars we’ve owned , but I’m getting there gradually .
Here’s just a few examples. My Grandfather’s old Morris Minor that was passed on to my Mum , and I later used to learn to drive .
Another Morris Minor , this time the Traveller (Woody) that I later owned.
I wish I still owned that one. It was the only car I’ve owned , that I sold for double what I paid.
Then there was the Austin Cambridge I owned for a few years. I bought it from Bill Shirley, the late father of my brother in law , Pete.
I must have liked the Series V , Hillman Minx , I owned three , during the 1970’s.
The green ‘Spot On diecast ‘ pictured , is painted that color to match the one I used to tow my BriSCA F2 stock car around England in 1977.
Some of the vehicles I need, are not available in 1/43 diecast (or are , but at silly prices) so my recent additions have been 3D printed models which I have had to build myself, in the plastic kit fashion.
Last year , while on a trip to England I picked up a 1/43rd 3D print of an Austin 3 Lire that I once owned . This car was one of my favorites I’ve owned
The end result wasn’t as good as I hoped, but it’s better than nothing.
Now back to the present
My latest project got completed during March, is a replica of my presently owned, 1978 Ford Thunderbird.
Again an example was difficult to obtain , so I had to go for another 3D print.
The 1/24th scale body and running gear were made by a company in the USA. I had it shipped to my daughters place in North Carolina, and I picked it up when I was visiting last month.
I bought the parts and had to do the assembly my self . Like the Austin 3 Liter 3D print , the ‘glass’ was not included . Templates for the windshield etc were included and I had to mould them to shape from the plastic packaging from a fruit carton. The tires provided , are not made of rubber (they are solid plastic) and to make the white walls I sprayed some fiber washers white, and attached to the solid tires.
The whole job was very fiddly, but eventually I got it in a presentable state. This model is a 1/24th scale.
Once finished , I had to wait a few days for the weather to give us a break , before I could get the real thing out of the garage and take the desired photo.
The only racing I managed to see during the month, came on Sunday the 29th of March
My original plan for that day was to make a 9 hour drive down to the Bedford Speedway in Pennsylvania for a SHORT TRACK SUPER SERIES event . I’d been looking forward to this for along time, especially as it being a ‘new’ track to me , and of course , the novelty of it’s name.
I spent much of my early life in Bedfordshire, England and the last house I lived in , prior to emigrating was in Cranfield, a small village just a few miles from the county town of Bedford. It would of been nice to get a picture beside the town sign of the USA version.
As the event got nearer, with the high cost of fuel, the low Canadian Dollar and the unpredictable late March weather, I reluctantly made the decision to give it a miss and stay closer to home.
Instead, I decided to check out something just a few miles from my house .
I went to the RC World & Raceway in Hogansburg , New York, where I found many friends with their Radio-Controlled Race Cars.
Cornwall Dirt Modified driver Brian McDonald with his Late Model
Cornwall Dirt Modified driver Gab Cyr and his father Eric
Cornwall Dirt Sportsman driver Justin Desrosiers
and Akwesasne’s Dudes Thompson with his Sprintcar ,
It was quite impressive and found to be a lot more serious pass-time than what I expected.
The cars are prepped and nurtured just like the real things.
So that was the only racing I got to see in March.
Instead , hockey played a big part in getting me through the month of March.
Firstly , I must mention a nice surprise I had when , just by chance, I bumped into an NHL player that used to be one of my favorites. I happened to be walking through the main entrance of Cornwall’s Civic Complex when I spotted former Ottawa Senators defense man Chris Neil.
I took a ‘double take’ when I spotted him, then realized I was staring . So I quickly apologized and we both laughed when I told him, I’d just recognized one my favorite past players.
He shook my hand and I found him to be real nice , and easy to talk to The guy that was accompanying him, offered to take this picture.
As for the Ottawa Senators, I’ve been glued to the TV recently following their fortunes as they fight for a ‘wild card’ spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Before Christmas they were at the foot of the league as they suffered a lot of adversity while missing some vital players. Since January the results have got better and their standings improved.
On the 19th of March , I bought a ticket and went to their game in Ottawa against the New York Islanders .
The result was a good one with a 3-2 win for the Sen’s.
As I sign off on the 31st of March , the fight for the Wild Card spot continues tonight with a game against the Florida Panthers.