REPORT (12th to 18th Sept 2016)

This week was another quiet one as many of the mid week specials come to an end as we gear up for SUPER DIRT WEEK and the other big events of Fall.

Instead of midweek events, the weekend was crammed full of conflicting races for the fans to choose from.

I had to decide between missing two SUPER DIRT SERIES races at the Brewerton Speedway NY on Friday and  the Weedsport Speedway NY on Saturday or staying local for a  trio of DirtCar Series events at the Mohawk International Raceway , which is located less than a 15 minute drive from my house.

The M.I.R  were staging series races for 358 Modifieds ( on Friday 16 Sept) , with the Sportsman and Pro Stocks , having theirs on Saturday (17 Sept). There were other events also, taking place in the North East, but these ones mentioned , were the important ones for me.

I’ve been following most of the SUPER DIRT SERIES races this year, so would of preferred to be at Brewerton and Weedsport, but it made more sense to stay local , and cover the lower divisions, appearing ‘on my doorstep’ than to have a drive of over three hours.

I must admit , when I crossed the border to the USA from Cornwall, at about 3-00 pm on Friday, it was so tempting to take a right turn down Route 37, instead of a left, as I had plenty of time to make it to Brewerton.

I stayed with my plan, and after supper with my buddy Don Simpson at the Twin Leaf Diner, we were at the M.I.R nice and early.

The pits were full, not only with 358 Mods for their series race, but also the visiting Go Nuclear Late Models, and the returning Mod Lites , to finish  a Feature that got rained out in August.

It was a nice warm, and dry evening, and as normal I wandered the pits chatting , before things got under way. My friend Josee Fortier was there , for another go in her Modlite. She’s in her Rookie year.

 

With so much going on, with the DirtCar Calendar , staff were stretched to the limit, and my friends Kathy and Chris, were brought in to help out.

 

I’ve never been a big fan of the Go Nuclear Late Models, but I must admit, they have improved in leaps and bounds. When they were first introduced , and toured my local tracks, I remember how unreliable they were, but these days, the driver and car quality has improved, big time, and they usually put on a good show.

Once the drivers meeting was over, the  hot laps and time trials began

 

I joined Don out on the middle as the action began.

 

First race of the night was the rain delayed Mod Lite Feature from August which was won by Jeff May. He later won the second Mod Lite Feature of the night

 

The Late Models were up next , and I was keeping my eyes open for my friend Adam Turner in the #92 car, who had put some Rick at the Races stickers on his car earlier in the evening, while I was on my pits walkabout.

 

 

Brandon Mowat was the Late Model Feature winner

 

The big event of the night, the 358 Modified Dirtcar race followed, and started with the traditional Four Wide fan appreciation lap.

 

Early leader was Gage Morin , who was chased and challenged by Billy Dunn for some time, before Dunn finally got past.

 

Behind all this Erick Rudolph was close behind and ready to pounce. As Morin slipped back Rudolph moved up to chase Dunn.

 

 

Corey Wheeler was up there too, and as the 75 lapper expired, this was the order they crossed the line, 1st Dunn, second Rudolph and third Wheeler.

 

 

The program  had gone quite smoothly, so I was out of the place and back over the border in my home in Cornwall before mid-night.

Meanwhile down at the Brewerton Speedway, Matt Sheppard scored another SUPER DIRT SERIES Victory.

Thanks to my good friend Alex Bruce for this Victory picture

The weather forecast for Saturday (17 Sept) was not good, but the day had been warm and sunny in my area of the City of Cornwall, which is about a mile away from the Mohawk International Raceway.  While the SUPER DIRT SERIES headed for the Weedsport Speedway NY and the 358 Modifieds DirtCar series was heading to Autodrome Granby in Quebec, I would be staying local again for DirtCar Series races for Sportsman and Pro Stocks, plus another dose of Late Models and Mod Lites.

I arrived mid afternoon and met up with my friends Chantal Lesage and the Rob Yetman Pro Stock team who had driven up the Albany area of NY.

I also bumped into former Modified driver, Eric Gauvreau and his son Cedric, who was starting off in a Sportsman , following a few years in karts and Dirt Demons at the Cornwall Motor Speedway.

I later found Chantal with her dad , Ted in the Tech shed , giving the floor a sweep.

Rob Yetman and PJ Peters seen here relaxing before the races.

 

There was a little bit of rain and drizzle just before start time, but nothing too serious.

News filtered through the grapevine, that the races at Granby, Brighton and Oshweken had succumbed to the rain, and also Weedsport were getting a shower.

After some track packing and the drivers meeting, it was ready to go.

The warm ups followed then the heat races got under way.

 

 

Friends had been looking at the radar on their fancy phones, and kept telling me more rain was on its way, but nothing serious had occurred before the Late Models took to the track for their Feature.

Like I said earlier in the report, these Go Nuclear guys have improved big time  in my opinion, and put on real good show, which was enjoyable to watch, with only one ( I think) caution.

Charlie Sandercock was the winner

By now it was past 10-00 pm, and the Pro Stocks then took to the track for their Feature.

The race had got just 7 laps in the book and the rain began. It was pretty heavy and we all knew, we were done for the night.

Sunday had already been given the option of a rain date, so it was a announced that racing would resume at 12-00 the next day.

I was home a bit earlier than I expected, and once the lap top was plugged in, I found out that Danny Johnson had won the SUPER DIRT SERIES race at Weedsport, and ending the Matt Sheppard winning streak.

Once again thanks to my buddy Alex Bruce for the Victory Lane picture .

My alarm clock was set for 7-30 am on Sunday so I could be sitting comfortable on my couch for the 8-00 am start of the live TV coverage on TSN of the F1 Grand Prix from Singapore.

Once again it was a Mercedes win, with Rosberg taking the win, and reducing the championship points, between him and team mate leader, Lewis Hamilton who came in third. The likable, Aussie, Daniel Riciardo, was second in the Red Bull.

The Grand Prix was over around 10-00 am and I was soon heading back across the bridge to the USA, for the third time this weekend. Originally , and prior to the previous nights rain out, I had thought about going to the Devils Bowls Speedway, in Vermont, on Sunday night, but things had now changed.

In contrast to the day before, it was a lovely sunny day, and a pleasure to be out in the middle taking pictures.

The Pro Stock Feature resumed from lap 7, where it had left off the night before, with Stephane Lebrun taking the early lead. Within a few laps Jocelyn Roy and Rob Yetman had got past, and a dog fight between the two began.

This went on for a number of laps before Yetman took control. In the meantime, Shawn Kirby was moving up through the pack and got past Roy.  He then moved in on Yetman, and the fans were treated to side by side racing all the way to the checkers. Kirby crossed the line first with Yetman an Roy following.

 

 

 

 

 

Following the post race tech inspection, Kirby was disqualified, and later , I understand, Yetman was declared the winner by DirtCar.

Me and the Yetman crew following the race ( prior to the Kirby DQ)

 

Next up was the Mod Lite Feature, where Jeff May got his third win of the weekend.

During intermission, the redraw for the 100 lap Sportsman DirtCar Series  took place on the front stretch where Thomas Cook got the lucky number one on the grid

 

Once again there was a Four Wide parade lap for the fans, to get the race going.

This race had the front stretch mandatory controlled pit stop at the half way point in similar fashion to the Modifieds have had at the Cornwall Motor Speedway

 

The pit stop made things interesting for the fans, but as far as the race was concerned, in comparison to the Pro Stocks it was a bit lacking .

Once Shane Pecore had got the lead, there was no one able to catch him. Thomas Cook tried hard, but could not get by.

 

 

 

 

So it was a Dirtcar Sportsman Series win for Shane Pecore, one of my local Cornwall drivers who picked up the coveted Pete Mitchell Memorial Trophy