Gary Lindberg wins on my return to Merrittville (22nd May 2025 BLOG)

This past week didn’t work out the way I expected and some last minute changes had to be made to my planned schedule.

I’ve been fighting off , what I thought to be bronchitus for a few days, and wasn’t feeling good . The medics, said to me , no it wasn’t , and after taking X RAYS , informed me it was just a bad cold.

It didn’t feel like that to me, and at lunch time on Thursday 15th May , I decided I would miss out on my regular trip to the Airborne Park Speedway. I had another three days of racing to attend after that, so a break for one night seemed like the sensible thing to do.

Instead , I took the Thunderbird out for a short drive.

While parked at a Tim Hortons, a guy pulled along side in 1977 Chrysler Cordoba, just like the one I owned in the UK.

We chatted until I finished my coffee, then headed home for an early night.

It was a lovely sunny day on Friday.

After missing one night of racing, enough was enough ! and at 3-00 pm, I set off for the Can Am Speedway at Lafargeville NY.

It was the regular line up of 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, Limited Sportsman , Crate Sprint Cars and Thunder Cars (mini stocks).

Once the hot laps were over I moved to the middle for the heat races.

The Sportsman were a little over enthusiastic in their heat races, and got a bit feisty .

Tyler Stevenson came together with a few other cars and did a spectacular flip, right beside me.

I caught the whole sequence, but my camera was looking directly into the bright sun, so only managed to salvage one decent pic.

Tyler was OK and walked away unhurt.

The Limited Sportsman were the first to have their feature.

Once again Genavieve Bartlett took the checkers, making it three wins in a row.

The Crate Sprint Cars were next.

The winner was Josh Verne Jr

The Modified feature was up next .

Tim Fuller passed long time leader Remington Hamm to win this one , after working his way from 12th spot on the grid.

The Sportsman feature followed , and just like their heat races, there was a lot of aggressive driving leading to many cautions

Eventual winner was Josh Reome

It was getting late, so I didn’t stay for the Thunder Car feature,

In my absence Anthony St Mary Jr got the win.

Well that was the end of the nice weather, a lot of rain was on its way.

On Saturday morning at 9-00 am I checked my face book messages, and the evening show at the Brockville Ontario Speedway had already been called off due to heavy overnight rain and more to come .

It was the same story at other tracks and an even worse weather forecast for Sunday.

My local Cornwall Motor Speedway had a headline event taking place that day with the return of the World of Outlaw Sprint Cars after and absence of 11 years.

So, with Saturdays plans scratched, I could only hope that Sunday’s Outlaw show would survive.

Around lunch time on Saturday , I drove across town to see if any of the Out Law teams had arrived in readiness for the next day. There were none, just the Dirt Vision trailer .

I chatted with Jay , the driver , who was up from North Carolina.

I also chatted with one of the track officials that I know well. He tipped me off that with all the rain on its way “an announcement was imminent ” and it would be within the next hour.

My inside information was correct. In order to save race teams and fans making a wasted journey the early call to cancel was made.

So this Ottawa Senators fan spent Saturday night watching TV and savoring the Toronto Maple Leafs getting eliminated from the Stanley Cup by the Florida Panthers.

The early cancelation for Cornwall got my brain ticking !

Sunday would be free , so I’d be well rested and capable of a long haul event on the Victoria Day Monday.

The Merrittville Speedway near Niagara Falls was hosting a ‘special’ 40 lapper for 358 Modifieds, so I hastily messaged the track and obtained the necessary credentials.

I got a quick reply saying I was all set.

On Monday morning I was up early and left home before 6-00 am.

I’d also arranged a die cast purchase on route and met a guy at the Port Hope exit of the 401 at 9-00 am.

It was there I acquired a Dinky Toy Studebaker for my collection.

There wasn’t much traffic at the usual bottle necks around Toronto and I was in Niagara Falls by mid day.

I found a cheapo motel (under 70 bucks) on Lundys Lane, that let me have the room straight away .

This was handy, because I could snooze for a couple of hours before heading to the track.

It was was only just a short drive to the track and I arrived there at 4-15 pm

It’s been a few years since I was at the Merrittville Speedway and it was great to be back. It used to be one of my regular destination when the SUPER DIRT CAR SERIES was held there. Hopefully , it will return some day.

On arrival I had my usual pit wander and soon bumped into many old friends, including , fellow ‘tog’ Derek Smith.

His photographic work can be seen on his web site www.racepulse.com .

I’ve known him for many years and we usually connect whenever I’m at tracks in his area . He comes from Toronto and concentrates his picture taking on the paved tracks in that region.

The program consisted of 358 Modifieds, Late Models , ‘Hoosier Stocks (Street Stocks) and 4 Cylinders (Ministocks) .

I based myself on the third and fourth turns, the spot I usually choose when I visit Merrittville

The 4 Cylinder and Street Stocks features were held first, followed by a big Firework display.

Once this was completed the two main events took place.

Firstly the Late Models .

This turned out to be the best race of the night.

There was a three way battle at the front, between early leader Brady Wonderling , Charlie Sandercock and my local Cornwall driver, Brian McDonald.

Wonderling looked the fastest, but late race cautions bunched them up. McDonald always got the better start, and once in front , he used his trackcraft to prevent a passing lane. The trailing two had to be content with second and third.

The 40 lap Modified feature was the final race of the night.

Darrell Farraway #53 took the early lead and stayed up front until an engine failure took him out.

Nelson Mason #35 then became leader , until the big names came up on the scene.

Shayne Pierce #88 , Gary Lindberg # 37s and Mike Bowman # 71 , all moved up as the field tightened up due to cautions.

Lindberg got himself to the front and stayed there to the checkers, with Bowman and Lindberg following him across the line . Brad Rouse was fourth with Mason dropping back to fifth.

It was all over before 11-00 and it wasn’t long before I was back in the warmth of my hotel room. Yeah , it had been a bit chilly that night .

There was no rush to get home on Tuesday , so left Niagara Falls at 9-00am .

I’d arranged another diecast purchase on the way home from a guy in Milton (Toronto) at 11-00am . Even though there were accident delays on the QEW , I still made it on time .

I was soon on my way again with a nice Dinky Bentley added to my collection .

After another long delay on the 401 at Pickering , for a serious acciddent and various stops along the way, I was back in Cornwall for 6-00 pm.

On Wednesday the 21st, my local Mohawk International Raceway were having a Test and Tune , practice session .

It should of took place on Saturday the 17th May , but that too was another event to get cancelled due to rain.

The practice session took place from 4-00 pm to 8-00pm . I was across the bridge and in Akwesasne for the start .

There was a good turnout of cars from all of the weekly divisions .

It’s the 2025 Season Opener at the M.I.R this Friday 23rd May.

I stayed until 7-00 pm , then had a TwinLeaf supper before heading home.

As I sign off for this week on Thursday 22nd , I must mention , there will be no Airborne Park Speedway tonight. This was announced Wednesday night and due to the wet weather.

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