Back to Back wins for Corey Wheeler (16th July 2025 BLOG)
My last Blog ended on Monday the 7th of July. It was coming to the end of my friend Lynn Longdens , visit to Canada, so on Tuesday the 8th we went out for supper with my buddy Ron Morin and his wife Reina.
We had a lovely meal at Philos, a restaurant in Cornwall.
Wednesday the 8th was Lynn’s departure day and she was heading back to the UK.
Her flight back to London , wasn’t until late that night, so we left Cornwall in the morning , to spend time at the Old Port of Montreal in the afternoon.
Once we’d done the tourist thing’s , I dropped her off at the Airport.
It’s always nice for us to meet up, we’ve been friends since we were teenagers. Her first visit to see me in Canada was 20 years ago. Since then we’ve regularly reunited , either this side , of the pond or the other .
On Friday the 11th of July, I was back across the bridge racing at the Mohawk International Raceway. It was a regular night of 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, Rookie Sportsman , Pro Stocks and Mini-Stocks.
Francis White was the Mini Stock winner and Jackson Welling got his second consecutive win in the Rookie Sportsman.
The headlining event was the Modified feature and was up next.
Chris Raabe started at the front , which was good enough to give him a green to checkers victory.
The Sportsman feature followed.
Tristan Ladouceur was the early leader, but was soon overhauled by Shane Pecore.
Pecore then went on to collect the win.
The Pro Stock main event brought the night to an end .
It was Dakota Sharp who took the checkers .
On Saturday the 12th, , it was another local track on my agenda, and would be heading to the Brockville Ontario Speedway.
A few days before, I noticed a diecast for sale on Market Place that got my attention . An antique store in Kingston had a Corgi Toy , Oldsmobile Super 88 for sale at a good price. So before going to the B.O.S , I did a bit of a detour . I got to Kingston by 3-30 pm to make the purchase. The seller also had a Corgi Buick Rivierra available that I couldn’t resist so ended up buying that too.
Once I’d finished in Kingston , I headed off to the track .
I was there a little earlier than normal , which gave me a good chance to spend some extra time in the pits.
I spotted the Steve Bernier team so went for a chat .
Steve introduced to Zac McDonald .
He’s an Australian Dirt Modified driver who is currently lodging and helping out the St Hyacinthe , Quebec based team.
We had a long chat, and he told me of his plans to make a North American track debut in the near future.
The B.O.S was staging a round of their domestic Ogilvee Series, so the Modified and Sportsman features were extended lap races.
Crate Sprint Cars , Rookie Sportsman and Street Stocks were also on the program.
The first feature was for the Street Stocks and this was won by Vincent Charbonneau .
The 50 lap Modified feature then followed.
The Draper Bros , Kalen and Tristan, made the early running but after the help of a couple of cautions , Corey Wheeler # 47s was able to catch up and pass them both .
As Tristan Draper then dropped back and the fast moving Steve Bernier homed in on Wheeler.
As the laps wound down the gap between them got narrower , but not enough to make a difference . So Corey in the 47 S went on to take the checkers.
I’d already decided , I wanted an early night, and wouldn’t be staying to the end ,so when the Modified feature was done at about 9-45, I made my exit.
Sundays weather forecast wasn’t favorable for the Cornwall area, and my side of the city got two early afternoon rain storms . As I sat at home I was expecting to hear a cancellation call.
It didn’t happen and I got word , that the storm had missed the speedway.
After hearing this , I headed across town to the track.
Sure enough it was dry and in fact they were watering the track when I arrived.
It was a regular show that included the annual Autograph Night and an extra Pro Stock feature , resulting from a rain cancellation a few weeks ago.
It was the first race of the night and Jocelyn Roy took the win. Once this was in the books the regular nights heat races began.
The on track Autograph session then began,
Zac McDonald who I met at the B.O.S was there with Steve Bernier.
Once the fans and cars had cleared the track, and a bit of track prep , the Modified feature began .
There was some early race dueling between Corey Wheeler and Brian McDonald, where Wheeler managed to gradually put distance between them .
In the meantime Steve Bernier was looking like the fastest car on the track as he passed McDonald, and homed in on Wheeler.
As the race wound down there were not enough laps for the challenger, so the # 47s got his second checkers in two days. It was ‘Back to Back’ wins for Corey Wheeler
The Min Stocks feature followed this and was won by Antoine Dumouchel
Tristan Ladouceur then dominated the SPORTSMAN feature and took a popular win.
This gave us a great opportunity to get a ‘three generations’ picture.
Tristan the winner , with father Joey a current Modified driver and grandfather Laurent a former 358 Modified Dirt Series Champion
The Pro Stocks feature ended the night
It was Marc Lalonde that took the win,
On Monday the 14th, I took a break from racing and made my first visit of the year to the Morrisburg Cruise Night.
I have to end this weeks BLOG on a sad note.
R.I.P Judy Heaslip
During the past week I learned the news that Judy Heaslip had passed away after battling a long illness.
Race fans who have been around as long as I have , will remember her fondly as the loyal wife of former top Modified driver Dave Heaslip.
When I first got hooked on the sport of Dirt Modified racing , over 25 years ago, my usual spot in the local Frogtown Speedway grandstands (now known as the Mohawk International Raceway) was with Judy and the rest of the # 84 race team.
I got to know the team very well, and became good friends . Often you’d find me ‘mud scraping ‘ in the pits after a race.
Judy was always there beside Dave and was an inaugural part of the team .
Here’s a picture I took at the Ottawa Airport after Dave returned from the UK when he represented Canada in the 2003 BriSCA F1 World Final at Coventry.
Judy will be sadly missed by all family and friends