A Trip to the ‘Slip”   ( 12th April 2024 Blog) 

After a pretty good winter without much snow, April began with quite a big dump.

This was how it looked in Cornwall , Ontario on Thursday the 4th of April.

One thing  good about storms this time of year, is that the snow doesn’t stay around for long . It was melted and gone away in a couple of days.

I’d thought about heading to the races at the Outlaw Speedway (Dundee NY) on the Saturday , but that got cancelled.

So, instead I took a morning drive over to Plattsburgh NY for a race car show.

As I drove into town , it was nice to see the tracks advertising board had been updated, to let people know, it’s now Thursday night racing.

The show was being held at the Taylor Equipement Sales & Powersports, a  business on the outskirts of the city, and was a pre season Expo for the cars at the Airborne Speedway.

 

 

I met up with quite a few friends, including the Branham family, Bucko, Tammy and daughter Billie Joe.

 

I was there for an hour or so and chatted with several of the drivers.

It was getting close to lunch time, so decided to make my exit , and headed for the Jade Buffett before heading home. It’s a great place to eat that I hadn’t been to for quite a while.

So, it was a Saturday night at home, watching the Hockey on TV.

On Sunday the 7th of April , I took a ride across town to check out the progress at the Gage Morin 358 Modified racing team.

Gage and the team were busy preparing the car for the coming season.

They were awaiting the motor and ‘wrap’ to arrive

I had IVIG appointments at the hospital during the first part of the week , before going on another little road trip on Thursday (11th April) ,

I took a ride over to Smiths Falls to drop by my old friend Dave ‘the Slip’ Heaslip.

Back in 2003 , I was one of the ‘middle men’ involved in  arranging a suitable candidate to represent Canada at the BriSCA F1 Stock Car World Final, that was being held that year at the, now defunct Coventry Stadium in England.

I was asked by BriSCA to find a driver with the right credentials.

I’d known Dave , a top 358 Modified driver and his wife Judy, for several years and he was the perfect person for the job.

After chatting with him about it, he was interested , so I put the two parties in touch.

BriSCA covered much of the expenses which included a ‘loan’ car and accommodation. Unfortunately I had other commitments at that time and couldn’t make the trip across the pond .

The car he was using , belonged to an old racing buddy of mine , Nev Woodhull, who’s son Mark was the regular pilot.

While Dave was on his UK tour , he also raced at the Kings Lynn Speedway, a few days before the Coventry W/F.

On the big day , he was fastest of the overseas drivers, which gave him a 3rd row starting spot.

That might sound good when talking about regular racing, but it’s one of the worst places to be, when this race is concerned.

For those that don’t know , the BriSCA F1 brand is full contact, and the bumpers are there for a reason. An overseas driver starting on the third row, may as well paint a target on the rear of the car.

At the start of the race, the inevitable happened.

Any way, back to the present.

A recent  ‘feed’ on one of the UK Face Book racing pages, mentioned Dave’s visit , and through that , I was able to reconnect with my photographer friend Mike Greenwood.

He was present that day and managed to get some nice shots.

Big Thanks , to Mike , who sent me the hi-rez images so I could make some prints.

This was the reason for my ‘Trip to the Slip’ . as I wanted Dave to have them.

He’s rapidly approaching his 80th Birthday, and still puts in a days work at his scrap metal business in town

On Friday the 12th April, my original plan was to attend the Can Am Speedway at Lafargeville NY.

It was supposed to be the first night of the weekend show Thunder in the 1000 Islands. 

Friday was a 358 DirtCar Series race with a Big Block Super DirtCar Series on the Saturday

As the weekend approached the North East suffered lots of rain and the Friday portion got an early cancelation notice on Wednesday afternoon. As the rain continued , by Thursday afternoon it was announced that Saturday was also cancelled.

My plan B, was to head to the Albany Saratoga Speedway at Malta NY on Friday then over to the Outlaw Speedway , Dundee NY on Saturday. 

Both of these succumbed to Mother Nature, with early cancelation notices coming on Friday.

So as I sign off on this Blog, It’s going to be Saturday tomorrow and I have nothing planned, Lets see how things transpire.