RICK @ the RACES ( 8th/ 9th /  10th SEPT 2006 )

Sat 9 Sept           LEBANON VALLEY SPEEDWAY, NY
Sun 10 Sept       GLAD RAG SPEEDWAY, NY
Sun 10 Sept       CAN AM SPEEDWAY, NY

This past weekend ( 8/9/10 Sept) turned out to be another hectic one, with three tracks visited, it should have been four, but once again Mother Nature decided otherwise.

After missing out on Autodrome Edelweiss two weeks running because of late finishes at work, on this occasion,  I`d arranged with my bosses to be done early. I`d planned to meet up there with Randy Lewis , the Worlds # 1 TrackChaser .

He`s a TrackChasing friend who I’ve met on more than one occasion, and was flying in to Montreal from his home in California for a blitz of Canadian tracks. Edelweiss, located just north of Ottawa, was going to be his # 1100th.

With favorable weather throughout day, I set off down the 417 Hwy heading towards the capital, until ahead of me I could see some really dark skies. I switched on the local radio, to hear that the city was being hit by a wild storm, but still kept going, until I saw race cars on trailers heading the opposite way.

I  pulled over onto the shoulder, and rang the track , only to hear the recorded message saying it had been cancelled. Not a good start to my weekend, or Randy`s !

Things were not much better the following day (Saturday) when I visited the Lebanon Valley Speedway for the “Race of Kings” Coors 200 weekend on another of my SUPER DIRT SERIES camping trips.

I took off from my home in Maxville , Ontario at 7-00 am, crossed in to the USA at Cornwall , then got on the I 87 at Plattsburgh and drove down to the Albany area where the track is situated.

I arrived around 1-30pm and soon had my tent erected as the racing was due to start at 4-00pm.

I wandered the pits to take pictures , and bumped into my friend Bonny Burnham from the Steve Paine Team.

There were just two heats completed when a massive thunderstorm  accompanied by fierce winds came through the area. I`d already looked at the sky,  and could see it coming, so hastily got a “pass-out” and returned to shelter in my tent. It was one heck of a big storm and as I laid down inside, the wind was so strong, it forced the sides to collapse , and almost ripped it off the ground . It was only my excess weight !  that kept it from taking off.

After the storm subsided, I emerged to re-erect my ‘home at the races’. It must have provided the neighbors in their Winibagos and the other fancy motor homes with a good laugh. Don`t worry folks, you wait and see, when my lottery numbers come up, I`ll be traveling the circuits with a fifth wheel camper !

Any way, back to the action.  Following the storm they did a great mopping up operation, miraculously getting the track ready to resume racing, only to have another quick shower shortly after.

The Lebanon Valley management were determined not to be beaten and once the track had dried out for the second time , things got under way.

Andy Bachetti won the 358 SDS race and JR Hefner won the 200 lapper for the big block Mods, with the checkers finally dropping at around 1-45am .

I was still out on the track taking Victory Lane photos at 2-00 am in the morning ! , so it was about 2-30 before I got back under the canvas.

I Guess some of you may ask, “what`s an old geezer his age doing, camping in a tent when there are hotels around ? ” . the answer is simple, there`s just more fun to be had when you`re where the action is .

There was no Sunday morning lay-in for me, as the next track on my agenda, started at 11-00am and was about an hours drive away.

My destination was the Glad Rag Speedway, just north of Sarratoga and near to Corinth NY. where on this day history was about to be made, with what is believed to be the first European-Style RallyCross to be held in the USA.

I had a very small part, in making it happen, so wanted to be there.  First of all let me explain very briefly , to those that don`t know what a RallyCross (European style) is all about.

It`s a race usually consisting of 4 cars , racing wheel to wheel around a course of both paved and dirt surfaces . The sport was first devised back in the late 60`s / early 70`s for TV audiences. Back then in the UK,  we still had black and white sets, and the sole channels , BBC and ITV regularly transmitted sports on Saturday afternoons. This was usually horse racing or rugby, but occasionally there was some motorcycle scrambling (moto-cross) or saloon car racing from Silverstone to keep us ‘petrol heads’ happy.

The scrambling always came over good on TV so I guess somebody figured it out that cars might work too…. hence RallyCross was born.

Now, the big difference between this and how it`s done in the USA is the ‘wheel to wheel’ bit, with the North American guys preferring to race , solo, against the clock.

The Glad Rag event came about when a group of ice racers ( CNYIRA) were planning an out of season RallyCross and mentioned it on their forum. I saw the posting and asked them if it was going to be the kind I was familiar with, (at this time I didn’t know much about the ‘going it solo’  thing) .

I can`t remember  exactly what followed, but I sent them some info, on how it was done in Europe, and there was a lot of interest. Their efforts came to a dead end when insurance cover became a problem, and the idea looked all set to be forgotten,  until Mike Kamm of the AMEC  (ice racing) group took on the task.

He chatted with Sam Holland the owner of the disused Glad Rag Speedway and the two of them came up with an excellent RallyCross track .

I arrived in time to meet some of the drivers and join them for the pre race , walk of the track .

I met up with the father and son team, of Claude and Claude Jr Hutchings in their Saabs, as well as Randy Zimmer who had brought his Subaru from Buffalo .

There were about fourteen or fifteen cars in attendance of varying types , which included Honda, Nissan, Subaru, VW and Saab which seamed the most popular,  which didn’t surprise me, as the Swedish marque has always done well in this sort of thing.

After each driver had one lap of timed practice , the real thing got under way.

It turned out to be a great success with first place overall going to “Mr Excitement” Darryl Carl driving the 84B Saab 900 Turbo.

Another event is planned for October.

At this historic event, I had the pleasure of meeting six other leading TrackChasers, Guy and Pam Smith, Gordy and Sue Killian, Mike Knappenberger and former World # 1 , Rick Schneider.
This was TRACK # 148 on my totals.

I didn’t stay long enough to see the trophy presentations as I had another appointment to attend at Lafargeville NY for the 358 Modified SUPER DIRT SERIES at the Can Am Speedway.

I left Glad Rag at 2-30pm and pulled into Can Am soon after 6-00pm, so missed the time trials, but like most fans I talk to, they`re the part of the SUPER DIRT Series shows I don`t mind missing ! I find time the trials about as exciting as ‘watching paint dry’ !

The actual racing was top quality stuff with a race long battle between winner, Alan Johnson and runner-up Tim Fuller, with third place Pat O`Brien always in contention.

With the event being a Sunday night show, full credit must go to the Can Am promotional team for getting the program completed before 9-30pm, allowing me to be home before mid-night.