REPORT   (8 to 14 August 2016)

Monday  (8 Aug) was a relaxing day at home, spent catching up with things around the house, and preparing for my next little trip. I was heading for the SUPER DIRT SERIES race at the Weedsport Speedway, New York, that was taking place on Tuesday night. The Hall of Fame Classic.

My first visit to the Hall of Fame, at Weedsport, in 1997, wasn’t for racing, it was on a family weekend away to the Finger Lakes, with our friends , the Mayhew family. We were in nearby Auburn, and went along to take a look.

 

 

So, I set my alarm clock for 7-30 am and the next morning, I was ready to leave home, in Cornwall , Ontario at 9-15am. By lunch time I was passing Pulaski NY , a convenient place to stop, and have a bite to eat with my friend Dawn Kamff who lives nearby.

By 1-00 pm I was back on Interstate 81 and heading for my Motel at Camilus, near Syracuse. Once settled in my room , I drove the short distance to the Weedsport Speedway.

I was there early enough to get my HHR parked up, right by the pit gate. Already the place was beginning to fill up with race car haulers, and the pre -race tech was in progress.

 

As expected, with a big event such as this taking place in Central New York, most of my photographer buddies were present.

Sharing the bill with the Big Block Modifieds were the Sportsman and Vintage division (which I guess, was very appropriate for this occasion, for the Hall of Fame Classic) .The place was packed, and there was plenty of  razmataz to get the fans excited. It was great to have Shane Andrews back behind the mike, as the mouth of the SUPER DIRT SERIES

Prior to the Redraw , where Erick Rudolph got pole, a moment of silence was taken, to respect the loss, at the weekend of race driver Bryan Clauson.

 

The Feature races came next, starting with the Vintage and then the Sportsman , which was won by Adam Hilton.

The Big Block Mods then took to the track for the Super Dirt Race we had all come to see,

 

It turned out to be a great race , and one that will be remembered for a long time. Erick Rudolph dominated most of the race with Stewart Friesen chasing close behind. The man everyone was watching was Gary Tomkins, who was definitely on a roll. He was closing in on Friesen and his car looked quick. Once he’d made the pass, you could see he was catching up on Rudolph, and with two remaining of the 100 lapper, we had a dog fight on our hands. They went into the last lap side by side, and as the checkers fell, it was Tompkins by a few yards,

What a great race, Click Here For U Tube

Gary’s win went down well (especially with all my photographer friends)  Gary is a ‘Mr Nice Guy’ who most of us know well.  It’s been a long time since his last Super Dirt Series win, which made it that much sweeter. I’ve considered him a good friend for many years and it was only the week previously, at Merrittville,  that he stuck two Rick at the Races stickers on his car .

Let me digress , Gary’s first ever Super Dirt Series win was at the Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland back in 2002,  and I was there to see it. Later that year , I chatted with him at the Cornwall Motor Speedway when the series made it’s annual call.

Since then, of course ,  he went on to race the James Beachy owned,  Pillsbury  car for a while , and during the years that followed, we’ve always chatted , and I’ve got to know his Mum and Dad too.

 

 

So, as you can guess, I was one of the happy campers that night.

I wasn’t camping actually  LOL, and after the races I returned to my Motel at Camilus.

On Wednesday  morning (10th Aug)  I left my motel early, grabbed a cup of tea and something to eat from the Dunkin Donuts opposite and headed straight back to Canada, By 12-30 am I was home in Cornwall, and ready for a dentist appointment that afternoon.

That evening was spent at home editing pictures, but while I was doing that , it was the Brockville Ontario Speedway’s Kart night.

Normally I would not mention this, but on this occasion , I feel I must. As many of you know, the co-founder of this web site www.rickattheraces.com was my late friend Craig Revelle of Finish Line Web Design. The Revelle family are still very much involved in the racing scene , and on Wednesday night, Craig’s brother Randy put the Finish Line Kart in to Victory Lane for the first time.  Congrats Randy

On Thursday  (11 Aug) , I had another appointment with the medics, this time my family doctor in Cornwall, who was wanting to follow up and explain what procedures were in store for me, after visiting the MYASTHENIA GRAVIS specialist in Ottawa the previous week.

Once home ,  I had a nice surprise arrive on my Face Book Page from my good friend at the Mohawk International Speedway, Hilary Jacobs.

She’s done a very nice collage for me , with some very touching words.  It was lovely of you Hilary , and I really appreciate your kindness.

On Friday (12 Aug) my local track, The Mohawk International Raceway , were taking a week off, for the county fair, so my plans were to visit a new track.

The Eastern Ontario Vintage Stock Car Club, were visiting the newly opened track at Maniwaki, Quebec. The track runs on Friday nights and is located over an hours drive north of Ottawa. That’s why I’ve never made it there yet. This was my golden opportunity.

Well the weather forecast for the weekend was not looking good (unless you were a farmer ) , with plenty of rain in store. I woke up in Cornwall to torrential rain, and it was the same up in Quebec. By mid morning I heard that the racing had been canceled, so decided to put Plan B into action. Even though , the ‘Outlaw Speedway’ ( Black Rock Speedway NY ) had been canceled early, things still looked good for the Brewerton Speedway NY.

It’s a three hour drive, so before setting off at 2-30 pm I contacted my friend Dawn , who lives at nearby  Brewerton, and asked her to text me if she heard of a cancellation.

I got as far as Ogdensburg , just one hour into the journey, when I got Dawn’s text , telling me it had been cancelled.  So it was a matter of turning round and heading for home. By now it was too late to, implement Plan C and try Autodrome Granby.  Instead I relaxed at home on the front porch, with a cold beer, listening to the ships sail up the St Lawrence.

I later found out, that Granby escaped the rain , and Gino Clair took the victory.

I awoke Saturday (13 Aug ) to more rain in Cornwall, and before lunch I’d already heard confirmation of cancellations at Canandaigua, R.P.M and the postponed Maniwaki event in Quebec.

The Brockville Ontario Speedway, my usual  Saturday night home, was still looking good, so kept my fingers crossed.  Alas , around mid afternoon, as I got ready to leave, I got word, that it too had canceled.

I made a quick posting on Face Book, asking on the status of the Can Am Speedway at Lafargeville NY and within minutes got positive news that it was still ‘ a go’. I quickly got hold of my track photographer friend Rebecca Eisele, and asked her to call me on my cel if she heard it got cancelled .

I took off from my place in Cornwall,  and within minutes was over in the USA , heading along Route 37  between Massena and Ogdensburg.  I’d just gone through Waddington, when my cel phone went off. It was Rebecca with the unwelcome news that Can Am had also succumbed to the rain.

After turning round in someones driveway , it was homeward bound again.

Every now and then you get a border guard, that is a pain in the butt, and this was one of those occasions. After a number of dumb questions and a search of my car , I was back in town , and ready for another night at home.

On Sunday (14 Aug) I awoke to another damp and overcast morning in Cornwall, and by mid morning I’d learned that the races at Utica-Rome had been called off due to wet grounds and with more rain possible.

It wasn’t too bad in Cornwall , so at 10-30am  I decided to take a trip across town to see what the state of affairs were at my local speedway. I was really surprised how good the track and grounds looked, considering how much rain we’d had. I spoke to promoter Raymond Lavergne and Ron Morin, who were out inspecting the track, and they were both confident things would be OK for the evening.

I then returned home to put my feet up, and relax until it was time to head back for the races.

I was back there for 5-30 pm  and already the pits were filling up with race starved fans and drivers.

There were no Mini Stocks on the program, with their place being taken by the Lightening Sprints.

 

As usual I took pictures of the heat races from the pit tower before moving down to join my photographer friends , on the middle.

The big race of the night was a 50 lapper Dirt regional series race for the 358 mods..  This was won by Chris Raabe, with Mario Clair in second and Bobby Herrington in third .

Prior to this the Lightening Sprints from Quebec had their Feature which was won by Alex Therrien, son of Modified veteran, Clement Therrien.

 

Winner of the Rookie Sportsman was Junior Delormier,

 

Thanks to Julie and Michelle for the hugs, I didn’t realize you missed me so much . The other nights winners ( in my absence) were Stephane Lebrun in the Pro Stocks, and Briana Ladouceur in the Sportsman, who earlier in the evening had won the Dash For Cash