St Sulpice and Tupper Lake Ice Races (31 Jan and 1 Feb 2009)

0204i RICK @ the RACES (31 Jan/ 1 Feb 2009)

Sat 31 Jan     Marina Brousseau, St Sulpice, (Que)

Sun 1 Feb       Raquette Pond, Tupper Lake, (NY)

This weekend I had two ice races within easy distance of my home in Long Sault (Ont) and both were two day events. At St Sulpice , close to Repentigny ,Quebec the Coors Light Ice Fest was taking place at the Marina Brousseau and at Tupper Lake in Upstate New York, they were having the inaugural ice races staged by AMEC ( Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club). Both events would give me two new tracks to add to my TRACKCHASING totals.

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I chose to visit Quebec on Saturday and New York on Sunday. Actually I’ve attended the St Sulpice races in the past but at that time they were racing on an oval. This year a road course configuration was being utilized and according to TRACKCHASER rules, this counts as a ‘new track’.

I arrived around midday as the ATV races were taking place.

2009_0101Image0205 (Medium)It was bitterly cold so I took shelter in the bar/canteen while I waited for the cars to start. ( ATV’s and MotorCyles, are not countable in TRACKCHASER rules).

It wasn’t long before I spotted the Worlds # 2 TRACKCHASER, and Area Auto Racing News columnist Guy Smith and his wife Pam who’d traveled up from Effort, Pennsylvania.( Pam is also a listed TRACKCHASER , lying # 21 in the rankings). They had the same weekend agenda as me, and were also waiting for the next car race. ( I’d arrived late and missed the first two) . 0204b 2009_0101Image0180 (Medium) 2009_0101Image0181 (Medium)

We didn’t have to wait long before the cars were out on track again and I got the ‘countable’ road course race under my belt. There was then a wait of about 30 minutes while the track was plowed and swept.

Next on track were the sprint cars which were making their first appearance. 0204c 0204d 0204e

There were four of them in the pits, but only three took to the track for the 8 lap ( or 10 , I’m not sure) race. This time the oval was used and they looked very fast. I hope the Sprint Car idea catches on, as a good field of ten cars would really be entertaining. I watched one more car race on the road course before making my exit.

The St Sulpice (ice road course) was # 173 on my TRACKCHING totals.

Sunday February 1, happened to be my Birthday and I was up early for a buffet breakfast at Cornwall, (Ont’s) Fifth Wheel Truck Stop before crossing the International Bridge in the direction of the Adirondack Mountains.

Tupper Lake, which was my destination, was about an hour and a half away from the Canadian / USA border. The racing was taking place on Raquette Pond, a large bay with it’s own ‘summertime’ pick nick area , washroom/toilet building and parking lot.

Coincidentally, I pulled in at the same time as Guy and Pam, who’d stopped over night in Plattsburgh. There were plenty of race cars in the pit area and it wasn’t long before I bumped into another couple of friends,

0204gClaude, and Claude Jnr Hutchings. Claude (Snr) the AMEC President had been busy during the week preparing the track and after hosting the drivers meeting, took me for a lap of the 0-7 mile track in his truck.

0204fHis son Claude (Jnr) was competing in their # 84 Saab powered Super Modified. I guess they like Saab’s ! as a couple of years back Jnr campaigned the Swedish marque successfully at the Brewerton Speedway NY. Last year he moved in to the DIRT SPORTSMAN division at the Fulton Speedway, and ( according to his Dad !) they maybe following the DIRT SPORTSMAN Series in 2009.

0204jAlso from the dirt track world was Fonda Speedway champion Matt Delorenzo in his small block V8 powered Super Modified. It was also great to meet up with Mike Kamm once more. Mike was the person responsible for organizing “what is believed to be” the first Euro Style RallyCross in the US, that took place at Corinth NY in 2006. He was racing today in the same Nissan that he used for the Rally Cross.0204h

Once the practice session was over, I ventured out on the ice to shoot some of the action.

0204k2009_0102Image0286 (Medium)There were three divisions, first out, were the cars with street tires, followed by the ones with ice tires, then came the Super Modifieds.

2009_0102Image0244 (Medium)The event turned out to be a great success and I’m sure it will become a regular fixture on the AMEC calender.

TUPPER LAKE , NY . (AMEC ICE RACES) became track # 174 on my TRACKCHASING totals

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