Granby and Cornwall Weekend ,  Weekly Report 24 Aug 2020

One thing is for sure , during these awkward times of Covid 19, I’ve learned how to be flexible.

Normally at the start of the year I fill my diary with the events I expect to attend. This year it’s been very different, with no racing at all to start with, then as the various tracks began to open, my scheduling  became a week by week thing.

This past weekend , my original plan was to do Merrittville on Saturday and Cornwall on Sunday, then I changed my plan  to go to R.P.M Speedway instead of Merrittvile. The management then decided to transfer the R.P.M date to Granby, and that’s where I ended up going   

So on Saturday my buddy Don Simpson, arrived at my place at our usual 1-30 pm departure time and headed off in my Impala. 

We arrived at the track in good time for a wander and chat with friends. The nights program  consisted of  Mods, Sportsman, Sport Compact, Lightening Sprints and Mod Lites.

The first person we met , was our good friend Josee Fortier, who  not only works  there as an official,  she also races her Mod Lite at other tracks in the area.

I then met Martin Roy and his two sons, Jeremy and Felix. Martin has been a top runner in Dirt and NASCAR for many years. It’s now the turn for them to take to the track.

Here’s a couple of shots of Martin in a Modified at the Airborne track and at the ICAR Circuit with NASCAR.

Once the racing got under way I shot pictures from both ends of the track, but once the darkness sets in, turn one and two are my preference.

The first of the features was for the Sport Compact, and the race went to Alex Charboneau.

Next was the 50 lap feature for the Modifieds. This turned out to be an exciting race where Mathieu Desjardins and David Hebert had a great battle up front, while keeping  track champion of the moment, Francois Bernier at bay. 

The two chopped and changed positions , but when the checkers fell it was Desjardins there to collect the win.

The Sportsman feature followed this and once again they put on a good show, with Evan Racine taking the honors.

It was Good to see young Donovan Lussier, son of promoter Dominic , get the Rookie award. 

The program had been running along swiftly, and it was still early in the night with just the Lightening Sprints and Mod Lite features remaining.

Both divisions are not mine or Don’s ‘cup of tea’ so at 9-45 pm we were able to make our exit, during a red flag situation for the Sprints. It’s perfect when the divisions of choice are done first, and by midnight we were back at my place in Cornwall.

Next day I was back at my local Cornwall Motor Speedway and once again we were haunted by a gloomy weather forecast of bad weather. We had a lot of overnight rain, but by mid morning it had all dried up. Alas, more was expected in the evening.

For the last couple of weeks the track has had weather issues to deal with, but have ended up winning the battle, so things went ahead, hoping for the best.

Racing got underway a bit late due to moisture still on the track from the earlier rain.

Once things got going, we had a program of Modifieds , Sportsman, Pro Stocks and Mini Stocks. I guess you could say it was a regular show. 

Unfortunately the Pro Stock numbers were down, with only four in attendance, but looking on the bright side, there was nice new color scheme on the Stephane Lebrun car.

With the light fading I decided against taking my usual  early evening shots from the pit tower, and went straight on the middle.

In recent weeks the 124 Pierre Dagenais car has had various pilots, and on this occasion, young Sportsman driver Moise Page was out there getting his first drive in a Modified. He did pretty good too. 

Even with the late start, the show moved on quickly and the  Ministock feature was first to go.

Once again it was James Clarke in Victory Lane. He sure is having a good season.

The Modifieds were next , and what a race that was !

My good friend Corey Wheeler came up from the middle of the pack to take this one.  Early contenders included , Ryan Arbuthnot , Kyle Dingwall and Yan Busiere , but they either dropped back or had mechanical issues. Corey held off Steve Bernier to get the win.

It was nice to see one of our local guys get  the win .

As the Sportsman took to the track for their feature we began to feel a few spots of drizzle, so our fingers were crossed,  we’d get it in. 

The drizzle continued through out the race, but the lapping race cars kept it from being a problem.

We got treated to another local Cornwall driver  win, when young Gab Cyr took the checkers.

As we took the Victory Lane shots , it was drizzling harder and the Pro Stocks that had been lining up for the final race of the night were ordered  back to the pits. 

The heavy rain that followed brought the night to and early end, and I was soon back home editing pictures.