Weekly Blog (25th July 2022)

Weekly Blog (25th July 2022)

One thing’s for sure, I’m not getting any younger 🙂

Turn the clock back a few years and I could do five or six race shows a week  in my stride.  Now at the fine old age of 68 , it’s getting more difficult to keep up the pace. Add to that , my ongoing Myasthenia Gravis condition that slows me down, especially in hot weather.

For those that don’t know, I was diagnosed with the condition in 2015, and since then I’ve been having monthly I.V.I.G infusions at my local hospital. That’s how this week started with a Tuesday and Wednesday trip to the Cornwall General.

As for racing,  I had the possibility of six days of consecutive shows, so I needed to put on my ‘Mr Sensible’ hat , and figure out what was physically possible for an old guy like me.

I had to decide from. 

Thursday 21st July Mohawk International Raceway.

Friday 22nd July  Can Am Speedway or Autodrome Granby

Saturday 23rd of July , Brockville Ontario Speedway, Le Rpm Speedway or the Airborne Speedway.

Sunday 24th  of July Cornwall Motor Speedway

Monday 25th July Autodrome Granby (Big Block Series)

Tuesday 26th of July Autodrome Drummond (Big Block Series)

Mohawk and Cornwall were obvious choices as they are both less than 15 minutes from my home, but the other places needed some thought.

So , on Thursday night I was heading over the Seaway Bridge to the M.I.R.

The program consisted of Modifieds, Sportsman , Pro Stocks and Mod Lites. The Rookie Sportsman and Bandits were taking a night off. The advantage of it being a Thursday night, meant it wasn’t clashing with Can Am like it normally does. This tempted a few of their drivers to pay a visit.

Once the heats got under way , I took my position on turn four.

 

With only a few cautions and delays the heat races were soon over, and it was time for the Mod Lite feature.

Just like the previous week , there were only a handful of cars and after long time leader, Wayne Dibble spun out on the last lap, Harley Brown was there to capitalize on his mistake.

Straight after this , it was the intermission.

Following the break , Mike Maresca took to the track in the Carey Terrance Big Block Modified.

Carey wasn’t there that night , and Mike told me afterwards, he was just ‘shaking it down’ and checking out a brake issue , in preparation for the forthcoming Big Block shows in Quebec.

The Pro Stocks were up next for their feature.

After almost getting a win last week, until a late in the race engine issue, Zack Daniels made sure of it this time to claim his first ever DirtCar Pro Stock feature.

The Modifieds were next and it was Mike Maresca who took command of this one.

After an early challenge from Chris Raabe, the man to watch was Gage Morin.

Morin who started 9th on the grid had gradually carved his way through the field. Once past Raabe, he was on Maresca’s tail, but there weren’t enough laps to make the challenge.

If there’d been a late caution , the result could of been a lot different , as the Morin car looked like the fastest one out there, but “that’s racing” 

The Sportsman feature ended the night, and this one gave Cedric Gauvreau a popular win. 

The racing was all over by 10-00 pm , and I was home by 10-15 pm ,  ” just what the Doctor ordered”  to start the busy schedule ahead.

On Friday,  I’d originally thought of taking the night off, but with the early finish at M.I.R , and it being so hot to do much at home, a nice little drive to Can Am seemed like a good idea.

With the sun roof open , and windows down on my Impala, I set off from Cornwall in the early afternoon. (I have A/C but prefer real air).

With the full schedule in mind, I decided before leaving home, that I would only stay until about 10-00 pm so I could be back before mid night.

The program was a full one, with Modifieds, Sportsman, Rookie Sportsman, Pro Stocks , Sprint Cars and Street Stocks (Mini Stocks).

The Modifieds were one of the earlier Features so it looked good to get that one in. Unfortunately the Sportsman and Pro Stocks were the last two features , so it looked like I’d miss them.

I stationed myself in my usual spot on turn three  for the heat races.

Worthy of note , was the rare appearance of Quebec Modified driver Paul St Sauveur.

He would normally be at Granby on a Friday night.

It wasn’t long before my good friend Rebecca Eisele joined me on the middle . She used to be the official track photographer, but these days only attends occasionally . 

Things went well for the heat races , and they were all done just after 8-00 pm .

It looked good at this stage and then for some reason things started to drag  . The first features were for the Rookie Sportsman and Sprint Cars which had a few delays .

The Modified feature was a quick one and it went from green to checkers .

This  provided a career first win for Jordon Kelly.

The Victory Lane presentations for the  Limited Sportsman Rookies  (Keegan Nier) and Sprint Cars (Josh Verne Jr) were also done after the Modified race.,

It was now 9-25 pm and the Street Stocks came on track for their feature. I thought , if it went quickly, I might get to see the Sportsman race too before my self inflicted curfew.

Well , it wasn’t too be. There was a big wreck at the start of the race and the red flag was out. It was about 9-45 before it got re-started , so that was my cue to leave. My chances of seeing the Sportsman were zero.

After a coffee stop in Ogdensburg I was back home in Cornwall just before mid night.

Leading up to Saturday, my plans were un clear.

Le RPM Speedway is a long drive, so that brought my choice down to either Brockville or Airborne. In the end, I decided on the nearest, and at 4-00 pm . I set off down Highway 401 to the B.O.S. It also had the potential of an early ‘get away’ with the Modifieds and Sportsman being the first features.

On arrival it was great to see three cars from the Watertown , New York area.

Joining  Jeff Sykes, a B.O.S regular (in 2022) was Lance Willix and Jordon McCreadie. Lance has made a few trips North of the border this year but this was Jordon’s first. 

He hadn’t raced in Canada since Pre Covid days and it was nice to see him back .

I relaxed in my lawn chair on the middle of turn one and two, then for the heat races , I was joined  by my good friend Nate Vandermeer.

He was taking a night off from his flagging duties, and using this opportunity to shoot some action shots. (not a lot different from your day job Nate ! ) , He’s a reporter on CTV New.

The program consisted of Modifieds, Sportsman , Rookie Sportsman , Sprint Cars and Street Stocks.

Unfortunately , it was going to be “one of those nights”, and my hopes of things getting done early were daunted by all sorts of race delays.

Tristan Draper rolled over in one of the Modified heats and a Sprint Car(think the drivers name was Bardier)  fell over in their one and only,  five car heat race ! 

The first feature race was for the Sportsman, and ‘boy oh boy’ it was long winded.

There were cautions after caution. The eventual winner , after Josh Powers led for the early stages was, once again Bobby Herrington.

Next up were the Modifieds and although they too had the need for cautions, their 30 lapper went along a lot quicker than the Sportsman’s 25 laps.

This gave Chris Raabe his third win of the year, after getting past Kalen Draper in the closing laps.

The time was approaching 10-00 pm and I decided to watch the Rookie Sportsman feature from under the grand stand.

Young Holly Denard got the checkers in this one.

Her first ever win.

With the Street Stocks feature and Sprint Cars still left to run, I made my exit .  I was back home in Cornwall ,  before mid night again.  “Mission Accomplished” 

Sunday morning was spent on my couch watching the French Grand Prix on TV. This provided another win for World Champion, Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, after early leader Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari spun off the track.

Around lunch time the announcement came from the Cornwall Motor Speedway , that the evenings races had been canceled. Severe thunderstorms were forecast, and this decision proved to be a good one. We had a huge rain storm around 6-00 pm which would of decimated the show.

So I got my day of rest. 

The next two days were the two Big Block shows in Quebec.

As for the Monday night event at Granby, I decided to give it a miss.

I have so much going on right now , I needed the day at home. I’m in the process of buying another car (There will be more info about it when the deal is completed) . At the moment , I’m waiting for a message to go and collect it, just as soon as the Safety Test is done. I’m hoping it will be some time this week.

It’s  now Monday afternoon as I sign off for this week .

Regarding the Big Block race at Drummond tomorrow night, I’m hoping to be there.

Find out in next weeks report if I made it .