June | 2017 | Rick at the Races

Weekly Report (20 to 26 June 2017)

As mentioned in my last report, my buddy Robin Shaw had been over from the UK , staying at my place while trying to get to as many races as he could. He flew back to Manchester Airport on Monday 19 June.

On Tuesday ( 20 June) I had a doctors appointment and various other medical matters to attend to during the week.

The weather forecast for the weekend looked grim, and it was no surprise to hear the early wet weather cancellation from my local Mohawk International Raceway.

One of my other alternatives for Friday night , Autodrome Granby in Quebec, had also cancelled , where as the Brewerton Speedway in New York, was still quite hopeful.

I decided to take a chance and head to Brewerton. Alas , just a short while into the drive I received a couple of messages from friends, informing me that this too had rained out. So it was turn around and go home.

The weather looked better for Saturday , so I made my usual trip down Hwy 401 to the Brockville Ontario Speedway. It was just a regular show, so I had optimistic hopes of an early finish.

I was joined out on the middle taking pics, with my buddy Don Simpson.

As usual I took shots of the heat races before retiring to one of the booths to watch the features.

Things were going well and the first Feature after the intermission was for the Mini Stox. This was plagued with cautions and took over 30 minutes to complete. There goes my chance of any early finish.

This was won by Dustin Bode.

Next up was the Sportsman Feature where last weeks winner Ryan Scott made it two in a row.

The Modified feature provided another win to Danny O’Briens tally of victories.

I was out of the gate after this one, and soon heading back to Cornwall.

I was up early on Sunday morning to watch the 9-00 am , F1 Grand Prix from Azerbaijan on TV .

This turned out to be the best race I saw all week, and had plenty of drama, to keep even the most critical race fans happy.

Early leader Lewis Hamilton had an incident with Sebastien Vettel during a caution, while under Pace Car status. This resulted in Vettel getting a 10 second stop and go pit penalty. In the meantime Hamilton was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop when his head rest became loose. This opened up the race completely. Australian Daniel Riciardo took the checkers in the Red Bull, with Finlands Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes passing Canada’s Lance Stroll in the Williams on the line. It was a great first ever podium finish for young Stroll.

The weather in Cornwall on Sunday morning was appalling , with thunderstorms happening on and off through out the day.

As I expected the races for the evening at the Cornwall Motor Speedway were cancelled.

I’d heard from friends near Watertown , New York, that the weather was still good down there, so took a gamble and set off for the Evans Mills Speedway.

This is a paved track, and obviously, survival from sudden rain storms are easier than at dirt tracks.

It was a 5-00 pm start time and I got there just as the first race was starting. On the program, were Legends, Late Models, 4 cylinders, Pick Up Trucks, Bandoleros, and what appealed to me most, Asphalt Modifieds,

I took pictures of the heats from the middle and then watched the Features from the Grandstand. Although I prefer dirt racing, it made a nice change to see some paved stuff again. I was really impressed with the ‘paved’ Modifieds which I haven’t seen for over ten years at the New Smyrna Speedway in Florida.