Oh Boy , it was a busy year. I crammed a lot into 2024, the 70th year I’ve been on this planet .
I officially became an ‘old geezer’ on Thursday the 1st of February.
I never slowed up or took things easy, in fact I did just the opposite.
Once January was out of the way and I got my traditional dose of Ice Racing on the 20th (at Ormstown in Quebec) , things began to heat up.
A few days before my 70th, on Saturday the 27th, my good friend and long time local racer, Billy Cook was turning 80.
A party was arranged for him by his family and I was honored to be invited.
Here’s the lovely personalized card I received from my sister Anne.
The day before my birthday I had a hospital appointment, so didn’t stray too far on the big day.
Things changed two days later when on Saturday the 3rd, my Impala was loaded , and I left home in Cornwall , Ontario bound for North Carolina.
An early morning departure meant I was pulling into my daughter Carlas driveway in Willow Springs by 11-30 pm.
I would be spending some quality time with the family before heading further south.
We all went out for my ‘Birthday Supper’ at ‘Napper Tandy’s in Angier on Wednesday the 7th.
Here’s my family , Carla, her husband Alex and grandkids Benji and Sophia.
The following morning , I was out of bed early and on the road , heading south.
My destination was the All Tech Raceway near Lake City Fl, for the first stop on my Florida Tour.
The Sunshine Swing for the Short Track Super Series was taking place . I had two nights planned there. (8th and 9th)
Matt Sheppard was the big winner .
My Saturday night destination was the nearby Bubba Raceway Park for the USAC Sprint Car races.
While there, I met up with UK friends Mick and Tom Harris.
Tom the current BriSCA F1 World Champion was there with his USAC car.
Both All-Tech and Bubbas, were new additions to my TRACKCHASING list.
I based myself at the Red Roof Inn , in Gainsville for all three nights , before leaving Sunday morning and moving on to the Sun Deck Motel in Ormand Beach for part two of my trip.
I stayed there for a total of seven nights and visited the New Smyrna Speedway on Sunday, the day I arrived.
The rest of the week I spent my evenings at the Volusia Speedway Park near Barberville.
The Sun Deck is an older style place , the type that I like, where my floor level room, was just a 100 yard walk from the beach .
Add to this, it’s only a half hour drive to the Volusia Speedway . The races consisted of Sprint Cars and Late Models, but the main reason I was there, was for the Big Block Modifieds SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES .
There were plenty of my ‘tog’ buddies down from the north there too.
Saturday was the final night, which happened to get rained out, so I ended up leaving Florida a day earlier than planned.
Canadian, Mat Williamson had secured enough points over the week to take the DirtCar Nationals Series.
I had a great time down there , before heading back to Canada.
Once I was home, my February ended with another Ice Racing event , this time on the 25th , in Maple Grove, Quebec.
On Friday the 1st of March , I was heading down to Florida once again. This time I was flying out of the Syracuse NY Airport, bound for Ft Lauderdale.
To celebrate my 7oth Birthday, Carla had organized a family cruise of the Carribean.
I joined Carla, Alex , and the grandkids as well as Alex’s mum, Doris for a memorable experience.
We all had a wonderful time on the Carnival Cruise Ship, and visited Peurto Rico, the Dominican Republic and St Martine . Before going on this, I’d never fancied the idea of a cruise, but I loved it , and want to do it again.
It was all over too quickly and before long I was flying back to the cold white North.
One of my bucket list race tracks had been the Port Royal Speedway in Pennsylvania and on the 15th/16th of the month , they were staging a SHORT TRACK SUPER SERIES event .
I had to be there .
Matt Sheppard was the winner, and Port Royal became another track to add to my TRACKCHASER totals.
Into April , and things began to happen at my local tracks.
I attended races at the Can Am Speedway , Lafargeville NY on the 26th , and practice days at the Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh NY (14th) and the Evans Mills Raceway NY (27th)
May is the traditional month for the season openers at the tracks in my area , and I attended races at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, Brockville Ontario Speedway , and the Airborne Park Speedway. I also went to the ‘Le RPM’ Speedway at St Marcel de Richelieu in Quebec.
In total, 13 nights of racing were attended in May .
On Monday the 27th of May, I had a phone call from Carla saying she was in the Wake Med Hospital in Raleigh, NC . A few months earlier she’d been diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, the same condition that I have . After being unwell for a few days the docs decided to get her in to hospital for some infusion treatment and she was expected to be in there for over a week.
Help was needed to look after my grand children.
My car was currently in the shop, having a new transmission installed , so I couldn’t head down there straight away. I informed my friend Corey Wheeler at SEAWAY GM of the situation and by Wednesday morning it was ready to pick up.
That same afternoon, I began heading South.
I had an overnight stop in Wilkes Barre PA and was at Carla’s house in Willow Springs Thursday afternoon .
In the evening I drove to the hospital in down town Raleigh with Sophia.
I made daily trips to the Wake Med until Wednesday the 5th of June when Carla was discharged .
On Monday afternoon, (the 10th) I left North Carolina for the journey back to Canada and stayed overnight, in Winchester VA.
Instead of heading straight home, the following day I dropped in to the Weedsport Speedway, New York for Tuesday nights Big Block Modified show .
Mat Williamson was the winner
Before the month was out, I’d attended nine events at my local tracks as well as the Super Dirt Car Series at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway , Malta , New York (25th).
This was another win for Mat Williamson
Into July ,and I covered 18 racing events
The highlights took place in Quebec, with two back to back Super DirtCar Series events at Autodrome Drummond (22nd/23rd)
Michael Parent won on the first night and Matt Sheppard was the victor on the second
There was also a Short Track Super Series taking place at the Autodrome Granby (30th).
Local hero and Granby track expert , David Hebert won this one
I also attended the Super DirtCar Series event at the Brockville Ontario Speedway (24th) but it got rained-out after hot laps and had to be post-poned.
Rain was a big issue in August and my race-count was down to 1o local shows and one ‘extra curricular’ track.
These included, Short Track Super Series events at the Mohawk International Raceway (6th) and the Cornwall Motor Speedway (7th)
Matt Sheppard won them both .
I also attended the Fulton Speedway , New York for the SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES on the 14th.
This was won by Alex Yankowski.
During the third week of August, Carla and the family were on a road trip north so we spent a couple of days in Niagara Falls
Into September and I attended 12 racing events.
The headline shows were three Super DIRT Car events.
On (5th) I was at the rescheduled Brockville,
This was won by Alex Payne , which was his first SDS win.
The next night , on the (6th) the series moved just over the border for another rescheduled event, at the Can Am Speedway, New York
This was won by Mat Williamson.
Then, on the 21st , there was another SDS race at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway .
Williamson, also got the win at this one .
On the 28th , I was at the Apple Fest Shoot Out at the Brighton Speedway, Ontario .
Yet again , it was Mat Williamson in Victory Lane.
During the month of September , I was also entertaining family and friends from the UK.
My brother Chris and his wife Sue, were on a touring holiday of Canada, and were passing by Cornwall on Thursday the 19th .
Here’s Chris and Sue , with my long time friend Lynn, who was also visiting me from England .
She had arrived on Monday the 16th for a few weeks vacation.
Lynn and I have known each other since we were teenagers.
While she was visiting, we did a few old car shows with my Thunderbird
She came with me to the Albany-Saratoga Speedway for the SDS , which was the start of a road trip with the Impala to visit Carla .
Early Sunday morning following the races , we left our hotel in Albany and were at Carla’s place later that night.
The drive down was quite an experience for Lynn, as she added more States to her check list. We passed through New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland , West Virginia , and Virginia on the way .
Lynn and Carla both have the common interest of horses.
We stayed at Carla’s for a few days before heading back to Cornwall on Thursday .
I attended 12 racing events during September.
October began with a Tuesday the 1st, day trip to Ottawa with Lynn , before her Montreal to London flight back to the UK on Thursday (3rd).
On Saturday the 5th I was heading down to the Fulton Speedway NY , for the annual Outlaw 200 .
It’s always a good show and most of my ‘tog’ buddies were there.
Once again , I was taking pictures of Mat Williamson in Victory Lane.
Fulton is the traditional ‘prelude’ to SUPER DIRT WEEK that began in nearby Oswego NY a few days later.
In the past , I would of been at Oswego too, but in recent years my local Cornwall Motor Speedway has been running a conflicting ‘Canadian Dirt Week’ . With Cornwall being the place where I live , and the speedway just 10 minutes from my house, it would be a ‘no brainer’ to be anywhere else.
My other door step track , the Mohawk International Raceway was also staging a mid-week special, to coincide with the Canadian dirt week..
So for the next few weeks I stayed close to home.
I was at Cornwall on the 6th, 11th, 12th 13th and Mohawk on the 10th.
Big winners were, Carey Terrance (6th) Mario Clair (10th) and Gage Morin (11th) with Mike Maresca winning both big finale races on the 12th/13th
I was back on the road again at the end of the month for the traditional Eastern States Weekend at the Orange County Fair Speedway, Middletown, NY.
Mat Williamson got Saturday’s 358 win and Stewart Friesen won Sundays (26th) 200 lap Big Block race
I attended 10 racing events during the month of October.
After the Eastern States Weekend, I was back in Cornwall for a couple of weeks catching up with things that needed my attention.
My Impala was in the shop for a new starter motor, and I was also having a new washing machine installed at my house. Add to this, I had a handful of medical appointments to attend.
On Wednesday the 6th of November, I had IVIG infusions in the morning at the Cornwall Hospital . As soon as these were over, I was on the road , heading to North Carolina once again.
The Dirt Track World Finals were taking place at the Dirt track at Charlotte .
After stopping overnight in Winchester, Virginia, I was at my hotel in Kannapolis around lunchtime on Thursday (7th) .
I’d be staying at the Rodeway Inn for two nights while attending the three day event.
The ‘World of Outlaws’ World Finals features WoO Sprint Cars, WoO Late Models and Big Block Modifieds for the Super Dirt Car Series.
Of course , my main reason for being there, was for the latter.
Tim Fuller was the Thursday night winner,
Mat Williamson won on Friday,
It was Anthony Perrego who got the victory on final night.
This was also the final race of the 2024 Super Dirt Car Series and the overall winner , my fellow Canadian Mat Williamson from Port Colborne, Ontario was crowned champion.
Once the Modified sector of Saturdays program was over, I made a quick exit.
Carla’s place in Willow Spring is just over two hours away from Charlotte , and I was at her place by mid night.
On Sunday morning I attended Benji’s Lacrosse Tournament in Apex .
I decided to spend the rest of the week relaxing with the family in Willow Spring before heading home on Sunday .
The night before leaving , Carla and I went to see ‘my hockey team’ , the Ottawa Senators, play the Carolina Hurricanes at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh. The ‘Sens’ really sucked that night, and lost 4-0 .
I was back home in Cornwall, at about 8-00 pm Sunday night.
It had been quite an eventful month , and I was burned out, as the year was drawing to an end. I had just one more short trip on my agenda.
Once again , I’d been invited to the Dirt Car Night of Champions awards banquet in Syracuse on Saturday the 23rd of November.
As usual it takes place on the same day as the North Eastern race parts show , also in Syracuse.
As in previous years I planned to attend both.
On the days leading up to these events, I wasn’t feeling too good , but thought, “what the heck”, these were the last happenings of the year and I didn’t want miss out.
I had a rough night on Friday, (the night before) with very little sleep, and was awake early, so decided to leave home early. I hoped I’d feel better as the day went on.
I got to the parts show at the New York State Fairgrounds, mid morning and spent a few hours there, but still wasn’t feeling good .
I wondered what I should do, and after much thought, I decided to head home and miss the banquet.
Such a shame that I had to cancel, but in the end , I think it was a wise decision. It’s three hours away from home , and a late night drive, would not of been in my best interest.
I’ve probably been over doing it, I’m not a young buck anymore. My brain thinks I still have the energy for the crazy life style I had 20 years ago.
I haven’t attended so many events in one year since the mid 1970’s in the days of my youth
In December it was nice to relax at home and recharge the body batteries .
In between medical appointments, binge watching movies and following the plight of the Ottawa Senators on TV , I managed to get to a couple of their home games.
I attended the Canadian Tire Center in Kanata for the New York Islanders game on the 8th, and the Pittsburgh Penguins game on the 14th.
They had a spell of 5 consecutive losses after Novembers poor display against the Carolina Hurricanes .
Then during the lead up to Christmas, they turned things around , got their act together and delivered 6 straight wins.
Only time will tell, how long their good fortunes will last .
Instead of heading to Raleigh this Christmas, I chose to stay at home, as Carla and the family would be away from their place on the big day.
On Christmas Day morning, I decided to take the Thunderbird for a short drive.
I have plans to see the family again in a few weeks time on route to the Florida races in February.
Unfortunately , with everything going on, I never got the chance to get over to the UK this year, but plans are already afoot to rectify that in 2025
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL
This was my Year 2024
January
20th, Ormstown Fairgrounds Que (Ice Racing)
February
4th Lacrosse Matches , Apex , North Carolina
5th Rockingham Speedway , North Carolina (non racing visit)
7th North Carolina Museum of History ‘Moonshine to Motorsports Expo’ Raleigh
8th STSS All Tech Raceway, Lake City, Florida
9th STSS All Tech Raceway, Lake City, Florida
10th Bubba Raceway Park, Ocala, Florida
11th New Smyrna Speedway, Florida
12th DIRTCAR NATIONALS Volusia Speedway Park, Barberville, Florida
13th DIRTCAR NATIONALS Volusia Speedway Park, Barberville, Florida
14th DIRTCAR NATIONALS Volusia Speedway Park, Barberville, Florida
15th DIRTCAR NATIONALS Volusia Speedway Park, Barberville, Florida
16th DIRTCAR NATIONALS Volusia Speedway Park, Barberville, Florida
25th Maple Grove , Quebec , (Ice Racing)
March
15th STSS Port Royal Speedway ,Pennsylvania
16th STSS Port Royal Speedway, Pennsylvania
April
14th Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh, New York (Practice)
26th Can Am Speedway, Lafargeville ,New York
27th Evans Mills Speedway, New York (Practice)
May
3rd Can Am Speedway, Lafargeville, New York
4th Mohawk International Raceway, Hogsansburg , New York (Practice)
6th Brockville Ontario Speedway, (Practice)
7th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario (Practice)
9th Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh , New York
16th Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh , New York
17th Le RPM Speedway, St Marcel, Quebec.
18th Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg, New York
19th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
23rd Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh , New York
24th Can Am Speedway, Lafargeville, New York
25th Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg , New York
26th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
June
1st Cruise into Summer Car Show, Raleigh. North Carolina
2nd Classic Car Show, Fuquay Varina, North Carolina
8th Lacrosse Tournament Pineville, Charlotte North Carolina
11th Weedsport Speedway, New York
13th Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg , New York
14th Autodrome Granby , Quebec
15th Brockville Ontario Speedway
16th Road Warriors Car Show, Lamoureaux Park Cornwall , Ont
16th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
21st Can Am Speedway, Lafargeville, New York
22nd Autodrome Granby, Quebec
25th SDS Albany-Saratoga Speedway, Malta, New York
27th Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh, New York
28th Autodrome Granby, Quebec.
30th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
July
1st Canadian Legion Canada Car Show, South Lancaster, Ontario
3rd Brockville Kart Club, Ontario
5th Autodrome Granby , Quebec
6th Fire Department Car Show, Louisville, New York
6th Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg. New York
7th Aultsville Station Car Show, Upper Canada Village , Ontario
7th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
12th Autodrome Granby, Quebec.
13th Lions Club Car Show. Bonville , Ontario
13th Brockville Ontario Speedway
14th Canadian Legion Car Show , Cornwall Ontario
15th Dock Side Cruise Night. Morrisburg, Ontario
17th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
18th Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh , New York
19th Can Am Speedway, Lafargeville, New York
20th Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg .New York
21st Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
22nd SDS Autodrome Drummond , Quebec.
23rd SDS Autodrome Drummond, Quebec
24th Brockville Ontario Speedway
25th Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh, New York
26th Can Am Speedway, Lafargeville New York
27th Mohawk International Raceway,Hogansburg, New York
28th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
30th STSS Autodrome Granby, Quebec.
August
2nd Can Am Speedway , Lafargeville , New York.
3rd Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg, New York
6th STSS Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg, New York
7th STSS Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
10th Brockville Ontario Speedway
14th SDS Fulton Speedway New York
15th Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh, New York
24th Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg, New York
25th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
26th Dock Side Cruise Night, Morrisburg, Ontario
29th Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh, New York
30th Can Am Speedway, Lafargeville , New York
September
2nd Cornwall Motor Speedway , Ontario
4th Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh , New York
5th SDS Brockville Ontario Speedway
6th SDS Can Am Speedway , Lafargeville. New York
8th Old Car Show, Inglesdide, Ontario
8th Cornwall Motor Speedway. Ontario (ENDURO)
12th Airborne Park Speedway , Plattsburgh, New York
13th Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg, New York.
14th Autdrome Granby, Quebec
18th Cornwall Olde Car Club Cruise Night , Ontario
19th Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh, New York
20th Road Wariors Cruise Night , Cornwall , Ontario
21st SDS Albany Saratoga Speedway, Malta,New York
28th Apple Fest Car Show, Brighton , Ontario
28th AppleFest Brighton Speedway, Ontario.
29th Airborne Park Speedway, Plattsburgh, New York
October
5th Outlaw 200 Fulton Speedway , New York
6th Cornwall Motor Speedway
10th Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg, New York
11th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontatrio
12th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
13th Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ontario
18th Fall Nationals Brockville Ontario Speedway
19th Fall Nationals Brockville Ontario Speedway
26th Eastern States O.C.F.S Middletown. New York
27th Eastern States O.C.F.S, Middletown, New York
November
7th World Finals Charlotte Speedway, North Carolina
8th World Finals Charlotte Speedway, North Carolina
9th World Finals Charlotte Speedway, North Carolina
10th Lacrosse Tournament , Apex , North Carolina
16th High School Old Car Show, Fuquay Varina , North Carolina,
16th NHL Carolina Hurricanes V Ottwawa Senators, Raleigh , North Carolina
23rd North East Race Parts Show , Syracuse, New York
December
8th NHL Ottawa Senators V New York Islanders, Ottawa, Ontario
12th Cornwall Colts V Kemptville Hockey Game, Cornwall, Ontario
14th NHL Ottawa Senators V Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa , Ontario
Well, that was quite a year.
PLEASE NOTE. The web site is currently under reconstruction and some of the archived pages have issues with the script lay-out. I’m not tech savvy so hoping to eventually get it back to normal