Weekly Report (10 June 2019)

Weekly Report  (10 June 2019)

This week began , as last week ended, with unseasonable cold weather.

On Tuesday night (4th June) I decided to drive across town to the opening night of the Cornwall Motor Speedway Kart track, and it felt just like November .

They should of opened the previous week but rain postponed it to this week.  The night  was cold and warm clothes were needed.

On the program, all three weekly classes were on hand, Karts, Lawn Tractors and Dirt Demons . 

As the week went on, it began to warm up, and by Thursday, the weather forecasters were predicting a hot and sunny weekend. This was great news, as I looked forward to the racing I had planned.

On Friday 7th June, the Modifieds were taking a night off and being replaced by the Sprint Cars at my local Mohawk International Raceway, so that was my cue to head somewhere different. I was awake early, and sure enough the sun was shining and it looked great out doors.

By 9-00 am I was leaving home in the direction of the Brewerton Speedway NY.  Although it’s less than a three hour drive from my place in Cornwall , Ont, I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and make it leisurely trip.

On my way down I stopped off at Morristown , NY , to check out the status of the St Lawrence Motor Sport Park, a track I visited in 2012 .

I wanted to see if it was still there and take a look.

From here I continued to Brewerton, after stopping off in Watertown , for some lunch and shopping.

I arrived at the track about 3-30 pm, which I know , was way to early, but what the heck, it was a beautiful day, and just perfect for relaxing in the sun.

As it got nearer to start time, the race teams, and my CNY ‘tog’ buddies began to arrive so I chatted in the pits as we waited for the races.

I placed my camping chair on the center , by turn 1 and 2, and was ready to take my pics.

The program consisted of Modifieds, Sportsman, Mod Lites and 4 Cylinders.

Following the Intermission and an ‘on track’ Autograph session the Feature races began.

First was for the Mod Lites, which was won by Justin Williams.

Next up was the race that I’d come for, the Modified feature.

Up until this point, I had seen 13 dirt Modified events in the North East this year, and seen 13 different winners. As none of the drivers on my list were present on this occasion, I knew I would be extending my run.

The big question was who it would be. There were many of the big names there, but it was the # 11R of Rob Bellinger that took the checkers.

By now it was about 10-15 pm, so after the Victory Lane pictures were done, I chose to make my exit.

After a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts for a cup of tea, I was back home for 1-30 .

The gorgeous weather continued, so late  Saturday afternoon (8 June) I headed for The Brockville Ontario Speedway.

It was a big night for the speedway , with races for Modifieds and Sportsman in their Ogilvee Series. 

Like M.I.R on Friday night, the Airborne Speedway at Plattsbugh had replaced the Modifieds with Sprint Cars this week, so the B.O.S gained a few extra cars.

After my pit walk about, I got my self comfortable on the middle, by turn 1 and 2.  Joining the Modifieds and Sportsman were the Street Stocks and the Mini Stocks.

I still couldn’t get away from the Sprint Cars, L.O.L, as Rick Wilson had his there, for some test and tuning.

First of the Features was for the Street Stocks, and this was won by Tyler Bushey.

Next was the 50 lap Modified race for the Ogilvee Series.

As mentioned earlier, I’d been having a good run  this year of seeing different Modified feature winners , and after seeing Rob Bellinger win at Brewerton on Friday, I now stood at 14 for 14.  I had a feeling that my streak would come to an end at Brockville, and I was right …. but only just.

Ryan Arbuthnot got his second B.O.S win of the year after dueling with Tim O’Brien for most of the race.

If Tim had won, I would of been at 15 for 15.

The nights racing had run very smoothly with no long delays, and the Sportsman feature, won by Ryan Scott, was over before 10-00 pm.

 

That was perfect, so I opted for an early night, deciding to miss the Rookie Sportsman and Mini Stock features. It was nice to be back home in Cornwall, at a sensible time.

The weather forecasters had got it right this time, and Sunday was another scorcher of a day.

My friend Chanty, was accompanying me to the Cornwall Motor Speedway in the evening, but before going there, we sat at my place watching the live TV coverage of the F1 Canadian Grand Prix from Montreal.

It was a great race to watch that was spoiled by a controversial decision by the stewards, that gave a five second penalty to race leader Sebastien Vettel .  This followed an incident where he rejoined the track after missing the chicane. As the race reached its conclusion, Vettel crossed the line first, with Lewis Hamilton on his tail. less than five seconds behind. This gave the win to Hamilton. Charles Leclerc was third.

After this Chanty and I  headed off to the Speedway.

We thought we had timed it well, so we would be there just before start time, but track prepping took longer than normal, and racing was delayed for some time.

The program consisted of Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Vintage Mods and Ministocks.

We had plenty of time to  chat with friends and hang out at the Tech booth, where Chanty’s dad, Tech Man Ted , can be found.

One of our mutual friends , Stephane Lafrance was making a comeback following a long lay off, and was driving the spare Kayle Robidoux car.

We also chatted with long time friend Gary McColman, who’s son Tim was racing. I’ve known Gary,  “Big G” , who is a DJ on one of the Kingston radio stations for many years.

When racing  got started I took my heat race pictures from the pit tower, before moving to the Center for the Features.

First Feature was for the Mini Stocks followed by the Vintage, that were won by Justin Jodoin and Kenny Polite respectively .

The Modified feature was the first of the DirtCar divisions and by now the track was tacky and fast.

Mario Clair and Dany Gagne duked it out for this one, with Clair being at the front when it mattered.

Next up was the Sportsman race where once again Shane Pecore showed his dominance .

The Final race of the night, was the Pro Stock feature, where my buddy Dave Bissonnette,  another friend making a comeback , took this one.

The delayed start, meant a slightly delayed finish, but thankfully it turned out to be a lovely night with some great racing.