The Super DirtCar Series and more

This past week there were two back to back SUPER DIRTCAR Series races scheduled, for Tuesday and Wednesday (13/14th June) in New York State, and both were on my agenda.

The Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta was on Tuesday and the Airborne Speedway at Plattsburgh was scheduled for the next day.

Don Simpson joined me in my Chev Impala , for this trip and we set off from Cornwall  at 10-30 am and were in the Saratoga area by around 3-00 pm. 

On the way down , we got news that the Airborne Speedway had cancelled the Wednesday show, due to forecasted wet weather.

Even with his disappointing  news, we decided it would be best to still stay overnight in the area , and booked our accommodation at the Roosevelt Inn & Suites at Saratoga/Malta exit of I87.

It’s only a ten minute drive from the Speedway, so we were parked up at the track by 4-00 pm. The Malta track is one of my favorite Speedways in New York, and I always enjoy my visits there .

Once we were signed in , and our official vests were acquired from track photographer Mark Brown, we were all set.

Before heading off to get some action shots I watched as Denis Moquin presided over the mandatory drivers meeting.

After this I joined, Mark up on the roof of one of the guest suites , located on turn four , to get some hot lap shots.

It’s a great place for pictures. I’ll have to try it again.

After taking a few time trial shots from the pit entrance , I moved on to the middle for the heat races.

Joining the Big Block Modifieds as the support division, we had the DirtCar Sportsman.

There were two Features for the Sportsman , which took place before the main event.

These were won by  Cody Ochs and Mike Ballestero, respectively.

Now for the big one

The main event was next , which was dominated from start to finish by pole sitter Chris Hile .

This was his first , SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES win.

Matt Delorenzo came home second, and Adam Pierson was third.

After the Victory Lane Pics were over , we made the short drive back to our accommodation.

Before heading back to Canada in the morning, we took a ten minute drive to the nearby Saratoga Automobile Museum .

There was quite an impressive display of  vehicles used in some of the James Bond movies.

These included some of the iconic Aston Martins and the amphibious Lotus

There was also a hall devoted to racing.

In  a small section there were some exhibits high-lighting the years of New York’s Super Dirt Week.

I was quite honored to find that the Official Programs displayed, were ones that included some of my pictures.

After our museum visit, we were on the I87 heading back to Canada, and passing the Airborne Speedway exit, where the evenings races had been canceled.

Thursday (15th June) was a quiet day , with just an evening drive in the T Bird  to Alexandria, for their weekly Old Car Show.

Friday the 16th was supposed to be race day , but that didn’t materialize.

With the ESS Sprint Cars scheduled for my local Mohawk International Raceway, I’d already decided to give it a miss and go to the Can Am Speedway for Modifieds instead.

Mother Nature then took over,  and soon all of my do-able Friday night tracks got called off.

Can Am, Brewerton, Granby and M.I.R. all canceled due to a wet forecast

So I had a rare Friday night at home.

On Saturday it poured with rain all day in Cornwall, and once again tracks began to cancel .

Around 2-00 pm I saw a face book post from the Brockville Ontario Speedway, saying the weather radar was looking better, and they were hoping to get the show in.

So off to the B.O.S , I went.

It was raining when I left home in Cornwall and it rained all the way down Hwy 401 to Brockville.

As I left the town and headed up towards the speedway, I could see a small break in the clouds , hovering above the track.

It wasn’t raining there, but shortly after I arrived , we had some slight drizzle for a few minutes.

Racing got underway a little later than scheduled, but that was no big deal.

It was a regular show, but a down side of it for me was, that it happened to be ‘Topless Night’ for the Modifieds and Sportsman.

Definitely , not my favorite ‘gimmick’ that some tracks put on occasionally.

The cars have their roof panels removed, which spoils their looks so I would of preferred a normal night of Modifieds at Drummond if it hadn’t been one of the cancelations.

Oh well, it is what it is and at least its racing  LOL.

As support divisions for the Mods and Sportsman, we had Action Sprint Cars, Street Stocks and Rookie Sportsman.

First Feature was was for the Sprint Cars and this was won by Lee Ladouceur.

Next up was the main event, the ‘Topless Modified’ feature.

The early leader was Kalen Draper, but as the race progressed, Kyle Dingwall managed to work his way to the front and take the checkers.

This was his first feature win of the year.

The next race, was the Topless Sportsman Feature.

This added another win to Bobby Herrington’s tally.

At this point,  I decided to make my exit and miss the Street Stocks and Rookie Sportsman features.

In my absence , Stephane Phillipe won the Street Stocks and Maddie Wallace got her first Rookie Sportsman win.

I left the track at 10-00pm , so I’m guessing I  would of been heading towards Cornwall on Hwy 401 when this took place.

On Sunday (18th June)  , The Cornwall Road Warriors Car Club, were holding an old car show on Montreal Rd, just a short distance from my place.

It was being held on a grassed area , on land that was formerly the site of an old Courtaulds Mill.

It turned out to be a very large gathering that began at 9-00am and went on to 3-00pm. I took the T Bird down there for a while in the morning.

I stayed there until mid day before heading back home and getting myself comfy in front of the TV. 

The Canadian F1 Grand Prix was was on, live from the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal.

It wasn’t the most exciting race I’ve seen 🙁 which gave Max Verstappen and Red Bull yet another win. 

Around 4-00pm it was time to head across town in the Impala to the Cornwall Motor Speedway, for a regular night of racing. 

I had a nice surprise in store when I wandered round the pits. 

Elizabeth Ferguson mother of Modified driver Johnathon and wife of former driver Todd , asked me to come over to the hauler as they had something for me . 

It was a lovely replica of the side panel of their race car. 

This was a very thoughtful gift from the Ferguson family , who told me it was in recognition of the help I’ve given them with photos over the years.

This was very nice and unexpected.

Once again with the 11-00 curfew in place, the show moved along quickly .

The divisions on offer, were Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stocks, Rookie Sportsman and Mini Stocks.

First of the nights features was for the Rookie Sportsman.

This gave Matt Prunner the win.

This was followed by the Mini Stocks Feature.

Antoine Dumouchel was the winner.

The headline race was the next to take place, the 35 lapper for the 358 Modifieds.

This turned out to be a great one with Corey Wheeler and Brian McDonald in side by side action for most of the race.

As we moved to the closing stages, Wheeler pulled away , to claim his second consecutive victory.

The Pro Stock featured followed.

Just like Corey had done in the Modifieds , Marc Lalonde did the same thing, and got his second win in a row.

The final race of the night, was for the Sportsman, and what are the odds ? 

Continuing the trend, William Racine, got the checkers again, just like he’d done the week before.

The night had gone along smoothly, and we were all done at a sensible time. I was back home at 10-00 pm. Perfect !