Weekly Blog (23rd August 2022)

Weekly Blog (23rd August 2022)

This week I have only two events to report on, due to the Sunday  21st August races at the Cornwall Motor Speedway , getting rained out once again. 

The action started, on Friday the 19th of August when I was joined by my good friend Chanty to attend the Mohawk International Raceway for the 358 Modified Memorial Cup . 

This special annual event at the M.I.R is usually held earlier in the year, but was postponed twice due to Mother Nature. This was the third attempt to get it in , and with no racing taking place at the nearby Can Am Speedway, a large field was expected.

We weren’t disappointed, the pits were full and we had many visiting drivers from other tracks .

As well as plenty of Modifieds , the other divisions (Sportsman , Rookie Sportsman, Pro Stocks and Bandits) all had good numbers.

We arrived early and hung out in the Tech shed 

While I did my pictures,  Chanty spent time with her father, Ted Lesage.

I did a pit tour and chatted to Pro Stocker Steph Lebrun and wife Carole.

Once the racing began , I took up my usual spot on turn four.

Even though there was a long program to get through things moved along smoothly  without too many delays,

The first of the Features was for the Rookie Sportsman.

Ty David took the checkers in this one.

 

The Bandits were next and this gave Francis White another M.I.R win.

It was then intermission time.

After the break , it was the Sportsman feature. 

It was nice to see a different winner when Dustin Bradley took this one.

Next up was the nights headline event, the Memorial Cup for the 358  Modifieds.

Mike Maresca took an early lead and was chased for much of the race by Jordon McCreadie, while Chris Raabe and Gage Morin were dicing for third and fourth place.

Raabe got ahead of Morin and joined the three way battle at the front.

Maresca was still defending his lead as the white flag dropped.

On the last turn of the last lap Raabe powered past him to take the win.

It was a great race for all to see.

The Podium  consisting of Chris Raabe, Mike Maresca and Jordon McCreadie. 

The final feature of the night was for the Pro Stocks.

Zach Daniels led this one with Bruno Richard on his tail. They came together while dueling for first place , which eliminated both their chances of a win.

Justin White capitalized on the situation to take an unexpected Victory.

The racing was all over by 11-00 pm and we were soon back across the bridge to my place.

Saturday the 20th of August we headed up to Autodrome Drummond in Quebec for the penultimate round of the Canadian Big Block Series. 

While we’d been at the M.I.R on Friday night , David Hebert won, the Big Block show at Granby.

After attracting a few well known names like Matt Sheppard , Mike Mahaney, and Mat Williamson to the earlier rounds, the series had now reverted back to a localized ‘thing’ with Erick Rudolph as the ‘out-sider’  to remain following it. 

Carey Terrance had been doing it also, but he has to be considered a ‘local’ .  He wrecked his car at Granby so was not in attendance at Drummond.

With the last rounds being week end events, it didn’t help matters, as most of the drivers have points championships at their local tracks to concentrate on,. So with the exception of Rudolph it was pretty much a regular show.

As usual , Promoter Yan Bussiere put on a great night of entertainment with fireworks and all the razmataz. You can’t beat the ambience of a night at Drummond.

We arrived early and as usual hung out with our friends at the PierreDagenais/Luke Whitteker hauler.

When the racing began I based myself on turn three and four to get my pictures.

Joining the Modifieds on the program were the the Sportsman, Lightening Sprints and STR’s .  The Sling Shots were also doing their thing on the inner oval.

The minor divisions had their features before the intermission. 

The Modifieds were up , following the break.

As you’d expect from a Yan Bussiere promotion, the build up to the big race was awesome, with driver intro’s, loud music and fireworks.

Here’s Luke Whitteker and Erick Rudolph chatting, prior to the intro’s.

After the big build up, I was back on the middle for the start of the race.

David Hebert was the front runner for the first half until Steve Bernier took the lead.

Erick Rudolph was chasing him closely but back markers prevented him making the pass.

The checkers came down on Bernier, and he headed for Victory Lane.

Thiat’s where the drama began.

After the front stretch presentations were done, and while the Sportsman feature was taking place, the announcement came over,  that following the post race weigh-in , Berniers car had been DQ’d and Rudolph was declared the winner.

So , all the Victory Lane pictures I’d taken became meaningless and poor Erick Rudolph missed out on his moment of glory.

This is why the first three cars should always be weighed before going to Victory Lane. Let’s hope the lesson has been learned.

So once, my track photographer buddy Dan Mailhot and me had done the Vic Lane pictures for the Sportsman (won by Antione Parent), we tracked down Erick in the pits for his checker flag picture.

His car was already loaded up on the trailer, but at least he had a memory of his win.

Here is  Antoine Parent with his Sportsman win picture.

Our  night was ended at the Dagenais/ Whitteker hauler where we socialized until long after the races.

On Sunday we were planning to do the final round of the Big Block Series at my local Cornwall Motor Speedway, but a forecast of heavy rain caused an early cancelation.

It’s been a rough year for my local track , as this is the seventh cancelation of the year.