20th Sept 2021 Weekly Report . A Win For Yan Bussiere
Things turned out a little different to how I planned this past week.
After a great weekend of racing in Quebec, I had a busy Monday at home, editing pictures and up dating the web site.
I had time that afternoon to get an annoying noise coming from under the dash of my car checked out by Corey Wheeler and the team at Seaway GM in Cornwall. It was diagnosed as a Vent Mode Actuator and Corey told me he’d let me know when the part arrived.
On Tuesday I was scheduled for the first day , of my two day I.V.I.G infusions at the Cornwall Hospital. My appointment was for 9-30 am, and as I was just leaving my house at 9-00 am ,the phone rang.
It was the hospital, apologizing for the short notice, and asked me if I could re-schedule to Thursday and Friday. Apparently there was an emergency in the chemo department and they were short of space.
It was no big deal for me, so Tuesday was now free. Or so I thought , thirty minutes after that phone call , I had another call, this time from Seaway GM. The Actuator had arrived, and they were ready when ever I cared to book the car in.
No time like the present, so off I went.
I must have been tired while I was in the waiting room . I was caught napping by Corey.
Over the years , I’ve had a lot of lot of laughs with Corey , and I guess I should of expected it . LOL
The job was all done before lunch time and my afternoon was then free.
Thursday and Friday , I attended my re-scheduled hospital visits.
On Thursday night I heard the sad news from fellow racing photographer Pete MacDonald, that one of our own , Dave Dalesandro had passed away .
I’d known Dave for a long time and he was one of the close knit group of New York race track photographers , I’ve hung out with for many years.
We had good times snapping pictures together when ever our paths met.
He will be dearly missed.
R.I.P Dave Dalesandro
There was no racing at Autodrome Granby this week, so I had a frustrating Friday night at home.
There was a 358 DirtCar Series taking place less than a mile from my house at the Mohawk International Raceway , but once again I had to go through the agony of listening to the race engines from my front porch.
When are these damn COVID border restrictions going to end ?
A heavy rain shower early in the evening delayed things and when I went to bed at midnight, I could hear them still racing. Apparently , it didn’t finish to around 3-00 am.
Erick Rudolph was the winner.
On Saturday my buddy Don Simpson joined me for a trip to Autodrome Drummond.
We were up there nice and early and in good time to chat with friends in the pits.
On my pit walk about I was lucky enough to catch the Clair racing family for a rare group photo.
Father Rene, who at 81 years old is still racing. Sons Mario and Gino. Mario’s son Gorden and Gino’s son Kevin.
I also had a nice chat with Raphael Lessard # 24 , the young NASCAR driver that has been racing Modifieds this year.
He was debuting a nice new car with a fresh looking wrap.
The nights program was a full one , consisting of Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stocks , Mod Lites , STR’s , Lightening Sprints, plus Sling Shots on the inner oval.
So the start time was at 6-00 pm.
My strategy for the night, was the same as I often do , at Autodrome Drummond.
I stayed out on the middle taking pictures until the Modified Feature, then move to the grand stand.
Three of my local drivers were there, the Alexandria trio of Chris Raabe, and the father and son team of Joey and Tristan Ladouceur.
Drummond is one of the most exciting speedways to watch dirt racing and there’s very few tracks better to be a race fan , high in the grandstands,
When I’m there, I like to turn the clock back in time, and be a regular race fan for the night, which means watching the feature from the stands.
Prior to the headline features, a presentation on the front stretch was made to Dominic Dufault on his retirement from racing.
As usual the Modified feature was an exciting one. with four top contenders.
Yan Bussiere, Michael Parent , Sebastien Cougeon and David Hebert.
They all looked good for the win and were up there together at the front .
It could of been anyone of them.
As the remaining laps got fewer, Bussiere, pulled away far enough , to get a comfortable win.
It was great to see Yan get a modified Victory at his own track, and a memorable night for his family.
The next race was the Sportsman feature.
Once again I watched this from the grandstand, and it was William Racine who got the win.
The last race of the night was for the Pro Stocks which was won by Bruno Richard.
The race finished a few minutes after 11-00 , and it wasn’t long after that Don and I, were out of the gate ,
We were both scheduled to be at the Cornwall Motor Speedway Enduro the next day. Sunday was day two of the Cornwall Enduro,
Daniel Coulombe had taken care of pictures at the Saturday show.
I’m not a big fan of the Enduro’s and in the almost 20 years of being the official track photographer, quite often I’ll be absent.
Let’s face it, the racing media are not really interested in Enduro pictures, and I’d rather be attending proper racing.
So this year preventing USA travel, and nothing else going on, I was there taking pics.
One of the first things that got my attention was a lovely 1952 Plymouth out there on the track .
There were some people taking part who were familiar faces from the regular racing.
Ricky Thompson and Derek Cryderman would normally be expected to be seen driving a Sportsman.
My good friend Suzanne Thomas, who would normally be seen working with the tracks safety crew was there having a go.
She had some bad luck when her front suspension gave way.
As mentioned earlier, Enduro’s are not my thing, but it was a lovely day and I enjoyed myself sitting in the sun , with no pressure to get pictures for the media.
The day ended with a ramp jumping competition.