RICK @ the RACES (9/10 April 2011)

9 April Can Am Speedway, Lafargeville (NY)

10 April Cornwall Square Mall Car Show, (Ont)

On the first day of this month, the company that I work for were taken over by a larger concern, and this past Saturday, a meeting was held for the employees to meet the new bosses. Obviously it was important ( and mandatory) for me to attend, so my original racing plans for the day had to be shelved. In previous years I would be down at the Fonda Speedway in New York for the annual ‘Ice Jam’ season opener but this time I had to give it a miss. In my absence, Ronnie Johnson took the victory.

The meeting at work started at 8-00am and ended around 11-00am so once it was over , I put ‘Plan B’ into action. I left Cornwall (Ont) and headed south for the Can Am Speedway at Lafargeville, New York, where their pre season practice day was taking place. There were about fifty cars in attendance which included most of the tracks divisions.

After wandering around the pits and chatting to friends, I joined track photographer Rebecca Eisele out on the middle, to take some pictures. I stayed for about an hour before heading for home. As usual, once I got home , I downloaded my memory card to see what my pictures were like.

For a couple of weeks now, the quality of my pics have been poor, with blemishes appearing on the images. At first I thought it was dirt on the lens but, after checking my latest batch, it confirmed my theory. The CCD sensor was due for a clean, which is a job that needs to be done professionally. On Sunday I took a drive to HENRY’S the camera specialist in Orleans (Ottawa) where my Pentax SLR was left in their hands for a ‘service’. I was told that their maintenance work is sent to Toronto, and it would take up to 6 weeks before I get it back. I had no choice, it is something that has to be fixed, so for the time being I have to make do with my small FUGI digi cam.

The Fugi was put into action on Sunday evening when I visited the Cornwall Square Mall .

At 5-00pm the race cars from the Cornwall Motor Speedway entered the mall for the start of the annual car show.

There was a good turn out of cars that included Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stock, Vintage, Rookie’s, Go Karts and even lawn tractors. Yes that’s right ! you can even see Lawn Tractor racing at the Cornwall Motor Speedway. The season opener is on May 15 with Dual 25 lappers for Mods and a 50 Lap Mohawk Race Parts Series race for Pro Stocks topping the bill.