24 | July | 2011 | Rick at the Races

RICK @ the RACES (20 to 24 July 2011)

20 July Capital City Speedway, Ottawa, Ont

22 July Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg NY

23 July Brockville Ontario Speedway

24 July Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont

This week I’m able to report on four events, after a combination of good weather and an earlier than usual finish at work came my way.

Wednesday (20 July) was a scorching hot day, and it was my day off from work, so I left home in Cornwall (Ont) early for my regular weekly trip to Ottawa’s Capital City Speedway. As I traveled along Hwy 417 and passed the recently built Calypso water park at Limoges, it was packed with visitors. I must admit while enduring the unbearable mid afternoon heat, it was tempting to forget about racing , and go check it out to cool down !

Despite the heat wave, a good crowd turned out at the Stittsville oval, even if car numbers were slightly down.

Even so, there were two new additions for the Mini Stock and 4 For Fun divisions. Autodrome St Eustache regular, Karol Thibodeau # 49k , of Clarence Creek , Ont joined the Mini Stocks, while a new car out in the 4 For Fun class was a Porsche !

( # 73, I didn’t catch the drivers name) .

Intermission events included presentations to the new inductees of the Capital City Speedway Hall of Fame.

These included, drivers Keith James and my buddy Tim Dorning , now the tracks race director, the race tracks founder Gerry Bisson , and former promoter Penny Bell. Penny was running the place , when I made my first visit to the track back in 1995.

The lower than normal car count didn’t effect the quality of racing, with some good side by side action in all the features. Winners included Steve Munro (Late Model)

Matt Haufe (Legend) Ken Sproule (Thunder Car) Derek Lamoureux (Mini Stocks) and AJ Dickie ( 4 For Fun)

I was back at work on Thursday for the run down to the weekend, and had a pleasant surprise on Friday when I unexpectedly got an early finish ( 6-45 pm) . This allowed me to make a quick dash over the International Bridge to the Mohawk International Raceway at Hogansburg NY.

I was there in good time to join track photographer, Andy Watts on the middle to snap some of the action.

There was a good turn out in all divisions with the features going to Jeff Sykes (Modifieds)

Dave Bissonnette (Pro Stocks)Dylan Evoy (Sportsman) and Nolan Swamp (Bandit).

When the regular show was over, Dale Planck and Carey Terrance did some hot laps in a couple of dirt Late Models. With another work day ahead of me, and the need to get home and sleep, I had to miss the ‘on track demo’.

After working a Saturday morning shift, it was time to go racing and once again I was undecided whether to head to the Airborne Speedway at Plattsburgh or my regular ‘hang out’ at the Brockville Ontario Speedway.

The ISMA Super Modifieds were appearing at Airborne which I’d never seen before, so that option was quite tempting.

After another long work week, and the need to get as much rest as I could , I once again set off in the direction of Brockville. The ‘BOS’ is about 1 hour 15 minutes from my home in Cornwall , where as Airborne takes about 30 minutes longer and has the inevitable border delays.

With just a regular show and only four divisions running at the BOS that night, I was hoping for an early finish.

The only deviation from the norm, was a special Sportsman memorial race for Chantelle and Haley Lake. They were two young girls who tragically lost their lives in a road accident a couple of years ago. After an emotional ceremony where colored balloons were let off in to the sky, the race took place and was won by close friend of the deceased, Dillon Sallows.

Following this, the Features began with Darek Eaton # 17 taking his Street Stock first win.

The Sportsman race was up next as the clouds turned rapidly darker. It was obvious a storm was on its way and when winner Shane Pecore crossed the line to take the checkers, the first few spots of rain began to fall.

No Victory Lane photos were taken as the show was quickly hurried along. The Mods took to the track for their race but the rain got heavier, and they only circled for a few laps before being ordered back to the pits. The night was still young and an announcement was made that, we’d wait for a while and see how things developed.

The rain was soon over and did very little to mess up the track, so the Mods returned after their 15 minute ‘time out’. Once the race got under way , it turned out to be very exciting, where Danny O’Brien stole the lead from his younger brother Tim as they crossed the finish line.

The Rookie race followed this and the show was over at about 10-00pm

On Sunday I was at the Cornwall Motor Speedway early for my weekly stint of taking photos and organizing the Victory Lane. After last weeks premature ending due to rain, it meant double features for the Mods and Pro Stocks. It’s a real pain when you get rained out half way through a show, but there is a bright side to it if you are a photographer.

The postponed features get to be the first races of the night, so you get plenty of cars on track and a lot of good lighting for getting pictures.

As well as the two extra features, the efforts to make Cornwall a ‘fun night’ for the family continue. During the intermission , there were some demonstrations from the kids Karting Club and an exhibition of lawn tractor racing.

There were no ‘Speedway Idol’ singers this week, but instead there was a kids dancing competition to the ‘Birdie Song’ etc.