RICK @ the RACES  (DEC 4/5)

With another year coming to an end it’s time for me to look back at the high-lights of my 2010 calender. I will do this in two installments. This weeks report will be part one and cover January to June. Part two covering July to December will follow next week.

As you’d expect , the events I attended during January were either indoor shows or ice racing tracks, and my year starting early with the Winter Enduro at the Can Am Speedway. All the venues visited in January were places I’d been to before except for the Salon D’Auto at the Palais De Congres in Montreal. This wasn’t really a racing show, but more of show to display the latest models and exotic classics. The Aston Martin’s and Bentleys were my favorite, but one ‘everyday’ car I did look at was the Chevy HHR. A few months later I bought one!

Jan 2 Can Am Speedway Winter Enduro , Lafargeville NY

Jan 10 St Guillaume Ice Racing, Que

Jan 13 Capital City Speedway, drivers meeting, Nepean Ont

Jan 17 Salon D’Auto (car show) Montreal, Que

Jan 23 Canadian Motor Sports Expo, Toronto, Ont

Jan 24 Maple Grove Ice Racing, Que

Jan 31 Tupper Lake Ice Racing, NY

February started off when I joined my friend Erin Joyce for a trip up to Maniwaki (Quebec) to watch some of the Perce/Neige Rally. Erin had some friends taking part which added to our interest. The next day I gained my first ‘new track’ of the year when I visited the small town of St Demase for their Winter Enduro. It was held on the towns Showgrounds and was part of their Winter Fair. The following week I accompanied my buddy Roger Aubin on a road trip to the annual DIRTCAR NATIONALS in Florida. As well as our primary destination , the Volusia Speedway, we also visited the Daytona International Speedway for the Gatorade Duels and Orlando Speedworld where three of my local drivers were competing. Capital City Speedway’s Kevin Foisey, Bob Sugrue and Mike Madore were there with their Legend cars.One week after my return from Florida, I added a second ‘new track’ of the year when I attended the Ice Races on Lac Champlain at St Armand , Que. The month was concluded by a first time visit to Top Karting in Gatineau Quebec where I joined a bunch of my local Dirt racing friends for a thrash around the indoor kart track.

Feb 6 Maniwaki, Que Perce/Neige Canadian Rally Series

Feb 7 St Demase, Que Winter Enduro

Feb 10 Volusia Speedway, Florida

Feb 11 Daytona International Speedway, Florida

Feb 13 Orlando Speedworld, Florida

Feb 13 Volusia Speedway, Florida

Feb 20 Lac Champlain Ice Racing , St Armand Que

Feb 21 Clarence Creek Winter Enduro, Ont

Feb 27 Top Karting, Gatineau, Que

The month of March in my part of North America is traditionally a drought as far a racing is concerned, so all the events I attended were in door functions. The usual trip to Syracuse was made for the Motorsports Expo, Mall show in Kingston as well as the annual banquets at my local Cornwall and Brockville Speedways

Mar 13 Motor Sports Expo, Syracuse, NY

Mar 20 Cornwall Motor Speedway Banquet, Ont

Mar 27 Frontenac Mall Car Show, Kingston , Ont

Mar 27 Brockville Ontario Speedway Banquet,

The first bit of regular racing I saw in the North East in 2010 was at the Fulton Speedway NY on April 10 which was a Big Block Modified SUPER DIRT SERIES event and won by Dale Planck. Later in the month I added another new track to my TRACKCHASER totals when I revisited, the Thunder Alley Speedway at Evans Mills NY. The TRACKCHASER group which I’ve been connected with for a number of years have some ‘unusual’ rules with regard to counting tracks, which I don’t necessarily agree with. Some of the tracks I’ve attended over the years are not considered countable ( eg. drag strips, some types of kart racing, motor-cycle tracks, and hill climbs) then on the other hand, there are tracks such as Thunder Alley which can be counted twice. When I first visited Thunder Alley a few years ago it had a dirt surface but for 2010 season it was paved. This meant that my visit on April 24 netted me a new track.

April 10 Fulton Speedway, NY (SDS )

April 17 Cornwall Square Mall Car Show, Ont

April 24 Thunder Alley Speedway, Evans Mills NY

As we moved into May, all of my local tracks had now opened up, so regular visits were made to as many as I could . These included, the Cornwall Motor Speedway, Brockville Ontario Speedway, Capital City Speedway , Autodrome Edelweiss, the Mohawk International Raceway and the Airborne Speedway. I also managed a rare visit to the Five Mile Point Speedway near Binghampton  NY on May 8. The headline event of the month was first CANADIAN NATIONALS Series event at Cornwall on May 23 which was won by Brett Hearn

May 1 Mohawk International Raceway Practice, Hogansburg NY

May 1 Airborne Speedway , Plattsburgh, NY

May 8 Five Mile Point Speedway, NY

May 14 Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg NY

May 15 Brockville Ontario Speedway

May 16 Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont

May 21 Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg NY

May 22 Brockville Ontario Speedway,

May 23 Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont (Canadian Nationals)

May 24 Autodrome Edelweiss, Cantley Que

May 26 Capital City Speedway, Ottawa, Ont

May 29 Brockville Ontario Speedway

May 30 Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont

As we got into June, the racing season was now in full swing and I was kept busy at all of my local tracks. My only deviation, further afield was on Jun 26 when I made a trip to the Autodrome Drummond at Drummondville, Que. The headline shows I attended that month were at the Can Am Speedway and the Cornwall Motor Speedway when the World of Outlaw Late Models paid a visit. NY’s Tim Fuller won at Can Am and Kentucky’s Steve Francis won at Cornwall. There were also a handful of SUPER DIRT SERIES events that I attended that month. On June 13 the DIRT SPORTSMAN series took place at Cornwall which was won by Tim Sears and on June 23 Jimmy Phelps won the Big Block Modified show at the Mohawk International Raceway. June 26 I was at Autodrome Drummond for the Pro Stock Series race which was won by local driver Jocelyn Roy.

June 5 Brockville Ontario Speedway

June 12 Capital City Speedway, Ottawa, Ont

June 12 Brockville Ontario Speedway

June 13 Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont (Sportsman SDS race)

June 15 Can Am Speedway, Lafargeville NY (WoO Late Models)

June 19 Brockville Ontario Speedway

June 20 Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont (WoO Late Models)

June 23 Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg NY (SDS)

June 25 Autodrome Edelweiss, Cantley, Que

June 26 Autodrome Drummond, Drummondville, Que (Pro Stock Series Race)

June 27 Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont