THE SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES RETURNS TO MY PATCH (7th JULY 2025 BLOG)
I’m a bit late with this BLOG , it’s been crazy busy. so the race reports will be short and sweet.
THURSDAY 26th June
Another week got started with a trip to the Airborne Park Speedway In Plattsburgh NY. with my Tog Buddy Don Simpson. We had to leave Cornwall a bit later than usual because I had a new stove being delivered. I wasn’t even sure if I’d be going racing as the window of delivery I was given, was between 1-00 and 5-00 pm.
Luckily it came at 2-00 pm so I confirmed with Don, I’d be going.
My long time friend Lynn Longden from England is still visiting me, but she stayed at home while Don and I went to the races.
We arrived at the track as the drivers meeting was taking place. I took my position on the out side of turn four and was ready to shoot the Hot laps and heats.
The regular program consisted of 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, Rookie Sportsman, Renegades and Mini Stocks.
Mike Mahaney was the Modified winner
Jason McClatchie was the Sportsman winner .
Saturday 28th June.
There was a regular night of racing at the Brockville Ontario Speedway, so Lynn and I , left Cornwall early to check out the waterfront and historic railway tunnel .
It was a lovely sunny day and the area was busy, and packed with tourists , some of which were attending a boat racing event.
Once we’d done the tourist thing we headed to the Speedway.
Winner of the main event, the Modified feature, was Kyle Dingwall.
We made our exit after this so missed Bobby Herrington getting the Sportsman win.
Sunday 29th June.
This was the big day of the year at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, the return of the SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES .
The CMS are now back under the DIRTCAR umbrella , a move that has brought much credibility back to my local track.
The greatest event in Dirt Modified racing was coming back , and was an event we’d all been looking forward to.
It was the first time back since ‘pre-covid’ .
The Surprise winner was one of our regulars, Mario Clair from St Edmund, Quebec.
In fact it was a Canadian 1st , 2nd and 3rd, Runner up was Dalton Slack from Welland , Ont and Mat Williamson from St Cathrines Ont was third.
The SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES was staying in my area , with a stop over at the nearby Mohawk International Raceway the following night.
Monday the 30th June.
Just like Cornwall, the Mohawk International Raceway , just over the bridge in Akwesasne NY, was also welcoming back the SUPER DIRTCAR Series after a few years of being independent.
The headlining Big Block tour was making it’s second night of two back to back comebacks in my neck of the woods.
This race was one by Stewart Friesen
Mat Williamson was second and Peter Britten was third.
Tuesday 1st of July
This was CANADA DAY so we were up early to put the Thunderbird on show at the Royal Canadian Air Force Association at Lamoureaux Park
We didn’t stay there long and were happy to have quiet day at home.
Wednesday 2nd of July .
I had a physio appointment in the morning before heading to the Can Am Speedway , Largeville NY.
It was their annual Pabst Shootout, which comprised of two DIRTCAR SERIES races for both 358 Mods and Sportsman, which were complimented by the ESS Sprint Cars.
The Sprint Car feature was up first and won by Dylan Swiernik
. The Modifieds followed this, where Mike Mahaney added to his recent string of wins.
This didn’t finish until 11-00, so with a busy couple of days coming up, I had to miss the Sportsman race.
In my absence Donovan Lussier got the win.
Wednesday 3rd July
At 10-00 am in the morning , Lynn and I were setting off on a road trip to Northern Ontario, to relive a journey I used to take every day.
In late 1995 I began a trucking job where I’d be driving to Espinola , north of Sudbury to pick up wood pulp for the paper mills in Ottawa.
I did the run for about five years , so the area and places on route became a big part of my life. Instead of a Freightliner, we’d be doing it in my Impala.
By the middle of the afternoon we’d reached Mattawa, which is about the half-point
Around 7-00 pm we were rolling into Espinola.
The mill that I used to pick up from is now sadly shut down , but it’s still there.
Our accommodation for the night was the Clear Lake Inn .
Before settling down for the night we’d spotted an old car cruise on the way through town so decided to go and check it out
Friday 4th of July
We’d reached Espinola and re-ran , half of my old daily drive ( Back in the day , I drove from Ottawa to Espinola and back in day)
This time we were coming back a different way.
We left the motel at 7-30 in the morning and drove on to Manitoulin Island.
We were going to return home via the South Baymouth to Tobermory ferry that sails across Lake Huron. ( It’s a trip I did four years ago during covid).
I tried getting a booking the night before but all the sailings were fully booked , so we decided to take a chance and be on the stand by list.
We arrived at 9-00 am for the 11-15 am ferry and already there were six other cars waiting in the stand by lane.
We got lucky and there was room for all of us.
The crossing took about 1 hour 45 minutes and we were in Tobermory on the Bruce Peninsula around 1-00pm .
From there we ,drove south trying to skirt the busy Toronto area. We didn’t have much luck with that , and much of the drive was a slow crawl.
Lynn wanted to see the Big Apple at Colborne which closed at 8-00 pm. We got there at 7-30 pm in good time to look around.
Once this part of our agenda was completed, we had a more relaxing drive up the 401 to Cornwall.
Saturday 5th of July.
With our whistle stop trip to Manitoulin Island now in the books, I decided to give my local Brockville Ontario Speedway a miss this week and have a day of relaxation.
Sunday 6th of July
Once rested up , it was time to go racing again.
It was only a local show , so not too strenuous . The Cornwall Motor Speedway was my destination.
The program consisted of a postponed DirtCar Sportsman Series race, plus a regular night of racing for the domestic divisions, with the addition of Street Stocks.
‘On paper’ this looked like another long night, but luckily the car count was low and the night moved along swiftly .
The postponed Sportsman feature started the night off, and was won by Shane Pecore.
After this the regular heat races began for all the divisions .
The Mini Stocks, Street Stocks and Rookie Sportsman features were run before intermission and before the headline events started.
First up were the Modifieds.
Winner of this was Ryan Stabler after being chased to the checkers by his buddy Corey Wheeler.
The Pro Stocks were next and this gave Marc Lalonde another win to his repertoire
The Sportsman feature ended the night.
This gave Donovan Lussier yet another win.
It was all over by 10-15pm,and just what I needed , a nice early finish .
Monday 7th of July,
Time to relax again . Then it was an early evening supper in Morrisburg with my Tog Buddy Don Simpson and his wife Lise.
Lynn has just two more days in Canada before she flys back to England.