Weekly Report (3 Sept 2018)

Another week began with a hospital visit, but this time it was for minor surgery. This took place on Tuesday 28th August, and once that was over I could look ahead to a busy weekend of racing.

On Friday 31 August it was the start of the Labor Day Weekend, where all my local tracks come to the end of their points championship races.

To kick off the weekend, my destination was my closest track, which is located about a mile away from my house “as the crow flys”. 

The Mohawk International Raceway is located on the opposite side of the St Lawrence Seaway in the USA, and it takes me about 15 minutes to get there if there are no hold ups at the USA/Canada border.

With it being a holiday weekend, I expected long delays, but I was lucky and passed through quickly.

After a bit of shopping and some supper at the Twin Leaf Diner I was at the track in good time to chat with friends.

There were two fifty lap feature races on the program, so the potential was there for a long night. One each for Mods and Sportsman.

The heats were run, with the Features for Bandits, Rookie Sportsman and the Mod Lites following .

Francis White won the Bandits.

Jon Rush won the Rookie Sportsman

and Kevin Foster took the Mod Lites  .

Also before the intermission break , two Consi’s were required for the Sportsman.

Just as the second Consi came to an end, it started to rain.

It was coming down heavy for a bit but it didn’t last long, so after an extended intermission, for track prep, the show continued .

The first 50 lap Feature was for the Sportsman where Brent Kelsey held the lead for most of the race.

A few laps from the end, Brianna Ladouceur powered past Kelsey, and no body could catch her.

Brianna also captured the 2018 Sportsman Championship.

She’s really done well since I first saw her 5 years ago in the Go Karts and Dirt Demons on the small oval at the Cornwall Motor Speedway.

The last race of the night was for the Modifieds, where once again Tim Fuller got the win.

After 8 Feature wins at the track this season, it was pretty obvious he would also get the Track Championship .

Even after the short rain delay, the racing was all over by about 11-15 pm, so it wasn’t too long before I was home.

Saturday it was Brockville’s turn for my attention and for their Final points night they had a lot on the agenda. I arrived just as the warm up laps were starting.

There were rain delayed Rookie and Street Stock features to run, before the regular nights program could begin. Two old friends of mine got themselves in Victory Lane for these ones.

Marc Dagenais won the Mini Stock and Sheldon Hoogwerff.

I didn’t want to have a late night, what with the busy weekend I’d got planned , so was pleased to see the headline event of the night, the Modified Feature was to take place before the Intermission. That way, I could make my exit earlier and avoid a late night.

After all the various heat races were ran, the 358 Mods took to the track for the main event.

It didn’t take long for Luke Whitteker to get passed early leader Steve Barber, and as the race dragged on after an abundance of cautions, Steve Bernard was in hot pursuit.

At one time it looked like Bernard could get passed leader Whitteker, but didn’t have that little bit extra, that was needed.

At the checkers it was Luke Whitteker.

After the race Danny O’Brien was brought to the line to be honored as the 2018 Track Champion.

It was about 9-30 pm as the intermission started, so with the big race in the books, I took advantage and got an early get away.

I later found out that Johnathon Fergusson # 44 took the Sportsman Feature and Ryan Scott # 33 took the season Championship.

Sunday morning started with some armchair racing as I watched the televised Italian Grand Prix from Monza. It was an exciting race where Lewis Hamilton got the win in his Mercedes, beating the Ferraris in front of the home crowd.

Late in the afternoon I crossed town to the Cornwall Motor Speedway, which was staging an extended length Canadian Nationals race for Modifieds and a DirtCar Series race for Sportsman. Also on the program were the Pro Stocks and Ministocks.

Just as I arrived, and with the pits full of race cars, it started to pour down with rain. I took shelter in the back of the Lebrun Team trailer as it got heavier .

Once it had stopped, management took the bold step by announcing, that they were still going to try and get the show in.

It took a lot of hard work by the tracks packing equipment and at least over 50 race cars at one time, to get it dried out, but eventually, a lot later than the programmed start time, the racing began.

The 125 lap race for Modifieds was dropped down to 100 in an effort to save some time.

By now it was too dark for me to take the heat race pictures from my usual spot on the pit tower, So went straight to the middle. First of the features was for the Ministocks, where one of the unfamiliar Maniwaki Speedway drivers took the win.

After taking the Victory Lane pictures, he told me his name was Sylvain Mercier. Meanwhile

Chris James collected the season champion ship.

Next up was the Sportsman DirtCar Series race where Martin Pelletier had a flag to flag victory.

The Sportsman Track Championship went Shane Pecore.

The ‘down-sized’ big race for the Modifieds was up next, and by now it was passed midnight. The next day , I had plans to be at the Weedsport Speedway NY for the Labor Day Monday races, so a late finish was not what I wanted. Modifieds are my particular favorite, and were top of the bill,  so I wasn’t going to leave just yet. 

Before the race got to the half way stage there was a huge wreck on the front strech, that took out eight cars.

This included Tim Fuller, Steve Bernard, Maxime Plante, Carey Terrance, Louie Jackson, Steve Morris , Kevin Hamel and Dan Bilodeau . As you can imagine, it took a long time to clear up, and added even more minutes to an already long night.

Steve Bernier had been leading at the time of the stoppage, and on the restart continued where he left off with Mario Clair chasing.

As they crossed the line,  a fast moving Luke Whitteker was homing in on them, but alas, there were not enough laps left for him to alter the outcome.

Thats how they finished 

Carey Terrance celebrated winning the 2018 Track Champion with a little help from his biggest fan ‘Crew Chief’ Chris Hearne .

By now it was 1-30 am in the morning, so chose to miss the Pro Stock feature and make my exit.

In my absence Rock Aubin won the race and C d Beauchamp took the championship.

The big show on the agenda for my Labor Day Weekend was the Super DirtCar Series and ESS Sprints at the Weedsport Speedway NY, so after a long lay in bed, following early morning finish at Cornwall, I set off around lunchtime.

I was in the Syracuse area by 3-00 pm so decided to book a room at the Quality Inn, in preference to driving home afterwards.

I then made the short drive down I 90 to the track.

Just as I was signing in at the pit gate, the heavens opened. just like Cornwall the night before. I was hoping for the same outcome, and the show could be saved, but the rain continued, and eventually the cancellation was made.

Like so often happens, soon after a call is made, the sun comes out, so I stayed around for a while chatting to friends as the race cars were reloaded .

I made a point of finding Ryan Harrison , the BriSCA F1 driver who’s been over  from the UK driving his Sprint Car.

Along with his Dad Murray and Mum Sally , they had been hoping to get in five different tracks during their trip, but have been rained out at three of them.

Very disappointing  for them, as the prepare to fly back to the UK for the upcoming BriSCA F1 World Final coming up within two weeks at the Skegness Stadium.

I then made my way back to Syracuse and to my Hotel.

It was still only about 6-00 pm and I could of easily driven home, but with the room booked and paid for,  I figured that after the busy weekend I’d had, a relaxing early night would be better.