Mid March Blog     (15th March 2023)  

After a great trip South in mid February , it was back to the winter reality of  Canada in March . No sooner had I returned home, the snow storms began again.

Once there  was a break in the weather, I opened the garage up , to check on my baby.

Hibernation should soon be over, so I started the old gal up, and let her run for a bit.

Hopefully it wont be long before I’ll be out on the road again.

On March 2nd,   sad news was relayed on social media , that long time friend and former race track announcer, Brian Mulligan had passed away.

Brian was the voice of the Cornwall Motor Speedway for many years, and his bi-lingual announcing talents were regularly heard at SUPER DIRT WEEK in Syracuse.

R.I. P.     BRIAN MULLIGAN 

 My thoughts and sympathies go out to all his family and friends.

The month of March is always a quiet one, as far as racing is concerned, so I’m grateful to the Ottawa Senators, my favorite Hockey team for adding a bit of interest to my life. From a poor start to the season, the young team have finally got it together and are winning a lot of matches.

As this blog , is being prepared, they are scrambling around for points hoping  for a slim chance of scraping in for a play off spot. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Also for my TV enjoyment the F1 Grand Prix season has got under way.

On March 5th, the first round took place in Bahrein.  Not surprisingly, it was another win for World Champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull , with team mate Sergio Perez taking second.

The big talking point , was the great drive by Fernando Alonso ,  driving for Aston Martin this year,  who joined them for the final podium spot.

The weekend of the 11th/12th had the potential to be a busy one, but Mother Nature had other ideas. My original plan was to visit the Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland, on Saturday and to do the Motor Sports Expo in Syracuse on Sunday.

 Expected cold and snow in the forecast resulted in an early cancelation for the Short Track Super Series race at Hagerstown.

So on Saturday all I had to do was take a leisurely drive down to Syracuse. It’s only a three hour drive from my place in Cornwall, Ontario , so there was no need for an early morning start.

The show opened at 11-00 am and I was there for 12-30,  which was just perfect.

I’ve been attending this annual show for over 20 years, and it’s always a great way to kick start the racing season.

There were plenty of race cars on display and a good number of friends in attendance to catch up with.

By 3-00 pm I’d seen enough , so I made my exit.

I got back to my area in good time for a nice hot beef sandwich at the Twin Leaf Diner in Akwesasne , before crossing the bridge home to Canada.

I finished off my evening with a another night watching the Ottawa Senators game on TV.

Sunday was spent relaxing at home.

I decided to pass on the idea of going to watch the ice racing at Kahnewake. (Quebec) 

 later that day, I found out they had a scary incident , where two of the race cars broke through the ice and got submerged.

Luckily everyone got out OK .

Some amazing dash cam footage of the incident made it on to the prime time Canadian National TV News.

That brings us up to the middle of March, I’m hoping I can get another race in, before the end of the month.