RICK @ the RACES

July 6               Capital City Speedway , Ottawa, Ont

July 7             Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg, NY

July 9             Brockville Ontario Speedway

July 10          Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont

Once again , Mother Nature was kind to me , and this past week I was able to attend four events.

As usual I got things started on Wednesday night at the Capital City Speedway at Stittsville. The weather forecast had been a bit dubious with a good chance of rain, so I left it a bit later than normal before leaving home. At 5-00 pm the web site was still showing green, so I set off and

took my chance. On arrival there were still a few teasing dark clouds in the sky, but they soon disappeared to make way for an enjoyable night ‘in the pines’.

It was also autograph night, a chance for fans to meet their favorite drivers.

Before the racing got under way I chatted with Legend driver Kevin Foisy and his wife Kelly. He’d been racing in Charlotte, North Carolina, the night before and had picked up a second place in the Summer Shootout Series . This year he has been competing in the Series and commuting back and forth to his home in Carleton Place Ont. One of his race cars is kept down at the work shop in the USA , and another back in Canada. He flew back Wednesday morning and was ready to race at Capital City that night.

As usual, he was in a class of his own, and went on to win the Feature.

Up until now, the Late Model division had someone different in Victory Lane each week , but things changed after Kenny Baird became the first repeat winner of the year.

Brooke Cordick was a winner in the Four for Fun

while Qincey Roberts took the Mini Stock Checkers. Todd Musker crossed the line first in the Thunder Car division, only to be DQ’d in the post race inspection, for a weight issue.

Even after considering the added time for the on track autograph session, the show was all over five minutes before the 11-00pm curfew.

I was back at work on Thursday, and a surprise early finish ( 6-00pm) allowed me to attend the mid week ALL STAR SPRINT CAR ‘special’ at the Mohawk International Raceway. After a quick dash home to get rid of my work stuff from the car, and I was heading across the International Bridge from Cornwall , Ont to Hogansburg NY.

It’s always wise to get rid of unnecessary items before crossing the border, because I often get asked what various items are for . This time I was asked why I carried a ‘real’ spare wheel , in addition to the factory supplied donut , and why a few tools were needed . It’s pretty obvious, you would have thought ? but it’s best not to get ‘smart’ with these guys and you have to refrain from being sarcastic .

As well as the visiting ALL STAR SPRINT tour it was a regular show with all the weekly classes. This was good for the people like me, that prefer Mods and Sportsman to the Sprints.

Amongst the touring Sprint Cars was Jessica Zemken, no stranger to my part of the world and a previous good runner at the MIR.

The big race for the Sprint Cars was won by Steve Smith, Tim Shaffer was second and David Gravel was third.

Chris Raabe notched up yet another modified win

while Brandon Hagan picked up a surprise win in the Sportsman. With another work day ahead of me, I made my exit at 11-00 pm, which meant missing the Bandits and the Pro Stocks, that were won by Ernie Cree and Dave Bissonnette, respectively.

I never expected to be seeing any racing on Friday, what with late finishes at work, and the fact that quite frankly I needed a break .

On Saturday night I was back at the Brockville Ontario Speedway for a regular show.

In the Modified Feature, young Matt Billings had a convincing win over BOS experts, Danny O’Brien and Stephane Lafrance.

After many years of trying, Chris Herbison got a BOS victory in the Sportsman division.

Alex Gagnon won in the Street Stocks while Jean Marc Larose took the Rookies. Intermission fun for the kids consisted of a Tire Race around the Go Kart Track.

The show was over nice and early and I was home in Cornwall before 11-30 pm.

The sunshine continued through the weekend and on Sunday night i was at the Cornwall Motor Speedway.

I was there early as usual and was able to watch as visiting Stunt Man ‘Rocket Roger’ set up his act. He would drive cars up a ramp, then rollover after hitting another car.

This was part of the intermission entertainment and the evenings finale. Danny O’Brien was the driver of the kids ‘Fun Bus’

The other intermission item, I really enjoy, is the ‘Speedway Idol’ competition, and this week we had two young ladies ‘strutting their stuff’.

Just like Brockville, the previous night, the show moved along swiftly and was all over by 10-00pm. I think I speak for all racing fans, when I say , that no matter how much we love our racing, it’s always appreciate when we get an early finish.

Winners at Cornwall were Stephane Lafrance ( Modifieds)

Shane Pecore (Sportsman)

Joey Ladouceur (Pro Stock) Derek Cryderman ( Semi Pro) Dan Desnoyers (Mini Stock).  I must also mention two of my friends , Jenna David and Dillon Sallows  who got their first heat wins in the Sportsman division.