RICK @ the RACES (1/2/3 June 2007)

Fri Jun 1,        Autodrome Edelweiss (Que)

Sat Jun 2,       Shannonville Motorsport Park (Ont)

Sat Jun 2,        Can Am Speedway (NY)

Sun Jun 3,        Cornwall Motor Speedway (Ont)

Things looked good for me to see four events in three days this past weekend, but once again, Mother Nature had other ideas.

An early finish at work gave me ample time to get to the Autodrome Edelweiss for their regular Friday night show. It had been hot and humid all day with threatening dark skies, but like many others, I took a gamble, and drove up to the Gatineau Mountains of Quebec.

The track was in good shape and the heats for all divisions, plus the four-cylinder Feature, were done in double quick time , before the short intermission. During the break, a few spots of rain were felt, so the Modified Feature was quickly brought to the line. By now there was a light drizzle, but with the cars circulating, the track kept dry.

As the drizzle continued , it was still OK for racing after an early caution. We weren’t so lucky after the second yellow, when the track had become wetter, causing the race to be abandoned, and a premature ending to the night.

I was out of bed early the next morning for a full day of racing, which involved two different tracks, my first port of call being the Shannonville Motorsports Park near Belleville (Ont).

Like, last weekend when I visited the Peterborough Speedway (Ont) my game-plan was, to carry on tying up the loose ends of attending another reasonably local track, I’d still yet to visit.

Shannonville is a 4-03 kilometer racing circuit (road course) that mainly caters for motor cycles, but on a few occasions each year , cars are on the menu.

The event was organized by the CASC ( Canadian Automobile Sports Club ) and a wide variety of classes took to the track. There were open wheeled single-seaters, saloons and sports cars. It was great for me to see so many classic British cars in action. There were MG’s, a ‘frog eye’ Sprite, Lotus, Triumphs, a TVR and a very rare Marcos. One car that really impressed me was a 350 V8 Chevy powered Triumph TR7. Following practice and qualifying, the afternoon races took place which lasted for twenty minutes each. It was well organized and the facilities were what I’d expect from an ‘up market’ type event.

I had two choices, on my homeward bound direction, for the second track of the day, either the Brockville Ontario Speedway ( for a regular show plus Sprints) or the Can Am Speedway NY ( for a regular show plus the Five Star DIRT Modified Series)

I stayed later than expected at Shannonville, so I chose the nearest of the two, and headed for LaFargeville NY for the evening show at Can Am.

Pat Ward # 42p won the Modified Feature

with Billy Eisele # 18 , (the brother of my Can Am Speedway photographer friend Rebecca) taking the DIRT Sportsman checkers.

On Sunday, everyone was hoping for ‘third time lucky’ at the Cornwall Motor Speedway opener, after the previous two attempts were lost to rain. It was warm and sunny as the gates opened and the race car haulers started to fill the pits.

I’d arranged to meet up with SHORT CIRCUIT MAGAZINE, Asst Editor, Paul Huggett and his wife Stella from the UK , who’d be staying at my place for a few days while on a racing vacation. They’d been to the Kawartha Speedway on Friday, the Brighton Speedway on Saturday and next weekend will be at the Oshweken and Humberstone tracks. While Paul and Stella were wandering around , I got chatting to Billy Cook # M70 and his crew, just as a big black cloud passed over the speedway without trouble. Our sense of relief didn’t last long, as moments later the heavens opened with monsoon like rain. While I was taking refuge, in Billy’s hauler the announcement was made that it was all over, making it three rain-outs in a row.