Great Racing At Can Am and M.I.R  While Others Suffer Rain-Outs   Weekly BLOG 5th July 2023

This weeks BLOG begins on Wednesday the 28th of June.

It was the annual Pabst Shoot Out at the Can Am Speedway , in Lafargeville, New York, and that was my destination.

The weather forecast wasn’t good , but , after hearing positive news via social media, I set off from home soon after lunch. The skies were pretty gloomy when I arrived, and got there with plenty of time to have a nap in the car before Hot Laps .

One of the first things I saw was the DIRTCAR Pace Car, advertising this years Super Dirt Week.

The program consisted of Dirt Car 358 Modifieds, plus a Dirt Car Sportsman Series race as well as the ESS Sprint Cars.

I took up my usual position for Hot Laps on the middle by turn three.

Just as they were done, it started to sprinkle with rain and continued to do so for some time.  As far as I know, there are no curfew rules at Can Am , so the packers were out, as management were determined to get the show in.

I spent some of the time, sheltering in the Cedric Gauvreau trailer.

That gave Cedric plenty of ‘Man and his Dog’ time while we waited it out.

The rain delay put the show back a little bit, but no big deal . The Sprint Cars were scheduled as the final feature of the night, so I’d already decided not to stay for that.

For the heat races I shot from turn one.

When these were over , there was a ‘Dash for Cash ‘ for the Sprint Cars which was won by Kelly Hebing.

Then there was a short intermission for track prep, before the Features.

The first feature was for the DIRTCAR Sportsman Series .

Tyler Stevenson got the win in this one, which was his first DIRTCAR Series win.

The Pabst Shoot Out for the 358 Mods was up next and already the time had gone past 11-00 pm.

This race was dominated by three of the local Watertown drivers.

Billy Dunn was chased over the line by by near neighbor Tim Fuller, who had Jordan McCreadie following him.

It was now getting near to mid night as I made my exit. As planned, I got out before the Sprint Car feature.

In my absence, Quebecer Jordan Poirier took the checkers.

Thanks to my ‘tog’ buddy John Lyng for sending me the Victory Lane Picture.

I was home before 2-00 am , certainly not the late night I was hoping for, but it is what it is, You can’t help what Mother Nature throws at you.

My next race date was on Friday the 30th of June.

My local Mohawk International Raceway had a special show for all the regular divisions 358 Modifieds, Sportsman , Limited Sportsman, Pro Stocks and Mini Stocks.

As usual I was over there nice and early, with plenty of time to spare.

The nearby Can Am Speedway was taking a night off  (as they’d  had the Pabst Show in the mid week) so it meant a few additional cars for the races.

My usual ‘tog’ buddy Don Simpson was missing for the night (he was in Granby) but I was joined on the middle by another ‘tog’ buddy , Kyle Coryea from Plattsburgh, who took this picture. Thanks Kyle

 

The big races had extended laps but the show still managed to move along swiftly.

First of the features was for the Mini Stocks and was won by Francis White.

Next up was the Limited Sportsman Feature (Rookies)

 

This was won by Devon Guyette.

After the Intermission it was the turn of the  regular Sportsman to have their feature. 

Oh boy what a race this turned out to be.

We had an early ‘red flag’ situation when ‘Can Am invader’ Tyler Stevenson  (who won the Wednesday nights DirtCar Series race) had a nasty roll over on the back stretch.

Luckily he walked away OK, but his car was ‘toast’ . Thanks to Kyle Coryea for taking this pic.

Once the race got restarted , we were treated to one of the best races I have ever seen. (and I’ve been watching races for over 50 plus years). 

For most of the remaining laps,  Thomas Cook and Nick Heywood dueled side by side exchanging the lead.

It could of been either of them taking the checkers, and as they crossed the line side by side, it was only the transponders that told us the that Thomas was the winner.

Great Job you guys you put on a fantastic show.

The Modified feature was next, and although it would be difficult to beat what we’d just seen, it was still a very good race.

Ryan Arbuthnot grabbed the lead early on,  and managed to hold on to it following serious challenges towards the end from Chris Raabe and Tim Fuller

At the the checkers, it was Arbuthnot, from Raabe and Fuller, 

The Pro Stock Feature ended the night , and gave Zack Daniels the win.

It was all over , soon after 11-00 pm , and it wasn’t long before I was back home indoors.

A heavy shower of rain on Saturday morning , almost put a stop to my first engagement of the day, but it cleared up by 11-00 am and I was able to continue with my plans.

The Louisville  (NY) Fire Department were holding a Car Show as a fund raiser, and I planned to take along my Thunderbird.

This was my first ever , venture across the border to the USA in this car. Louisville is located just out-side Massena , New York, and only a few miles from the border.

I had no problems at the customs,  in my very conspicuous vehicle and it wasn’t long before I was signing in at the show just after mid day.

There must have been about 130 cars at the show.  I arrived later than most , and my registration number was 121.

There were a lot of nice cars there and the event was well organized.

One of the more modern cars , was a Chevrolet Impala , just like my ‘regular’ car.

It was a beauty.

I only stayed at the show until about 1-30 pm,  as I had other places to go.

I was back across the International Bridge and home by 2-00 pm , to switch cars.

I had to load up my Impala for a trip down Hwy 401 to the evenings races at the Brockville Ontario Speedway.

It was CANADA DAY and they had a special show planned for their domestic Ogilvee  Series. I left home around 4-00pm and arrived at the track about 5-15 pm.

Not long after arriving , it started to rain. I put my ‘brolly’ up , and took a wander around the pits where I spent most of the time sheltering in the Johnathon Ferguson trailer.

You may recall , in my last BLOG , that Elizabeth , his mother, and the wife of his father Todd,  had sadly passed away just a week earlier.

Along with my ‘Tog’ buddy Don Simpson we wanted to personally express our sympathy and we sat there chatting .

Then the inevitable cancelation message came over the tannoy.

So it was back to Cornwall , and a race less Saturday night at home.

On Sunday , the Cornwall Motor Speedway had their ‘Run What Ya Brung ‘ races scheduled.

Not my ‘cup of tea’ but a lot of people get excited about them.

I arrived at the track about 3-45 pm to see some some really dark clouds hovering in the sky. 

At around 4-00pm,  just as I was getting my stuff ready to drive the Impala on to the middle, the rain began . Not just regular rain, it was monsoon type conditions. This went on for a full 20 minutes. Like many others I took shelter in the Tech garage to wait things out.

As rivers started to run through the pits it became obvious , no racing was gong to take place that night.

Once the rain eased off, I took a few pit pictures with my phone, before heading home for another raceless night.

Monday the 3rd of July was the ‘Celebration of Life’ for Elizabeth Ferguson and was being held at the Roebuck Community Center  in Spencerville.  Don and I wished to attend so we arranged to meet up and travel together.

The hall was full,  with people from the racing fraternity joining personal friends and family.

After paying our respects, we headed back to Morrisburg where Don had left his car.

It was the Morrisburg  Waterfront Car Show that night, so the Thunderbird was once again put on display.

 

There were a lot of nice cars were  in attendance, some I hadn’t seen before.

So that ended this weeks Blog, with just two race nights in the books and a lot of rain.