The Mohawk Nationals (Weekly Blog 21st Sept 2023)

There were a lot of big races taking place in the North East this past week, and I had plenty of places to chose from.

In New York State on Saturday , the Short Track Super Series was taking place at the Fonda Speedway and at Canandaigua (the Land of Legends) the Gerald Haers Memorial race was happening. In Betchtelsville in PA , at the Grandview Speedway it was their annual Freedom 76. 

Nearer to home, the Autodrome Drummond in Quebec had a show, but even closer to home, it was the Mohawk Nationals, which was less than a 15 minute drive away from my house, at the Mohawk International Raceway.

The ‘M.I.R’ had Modifieds on Friday night and the Pete Mitchell Memorial for Sportsman on Saturday.

My original plan was to attend the M.I.R on Friday and Drummond on Saturday.

In the end I decided to take the opportunity of a less busy weekend and do both nights at the Mohawk Nationals .

I was over at the track early on Friday,  and because there were so many race cars in attendance, my usual parking spot next to the pits wasn’t available, so I parked inside , next to the tech garage.

It was handy for later on in the evening when it got cold and I needed to warm up.

On my pit walk-about , I chatted with Craig Marshall, of the REZ X team.

He informed me that Josh Jock would be racing the Carey Terrance Modified that night, as Carey was away , with his son’s hockey commitments.

The program consisted of 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, Pro Stocks and Mini Stocks.

I  took a few hot lap shots from out-side of turn four. and Gars of The Course Photographer Cedric Savoie, caught me in action.

So I returned the compliment

 

The first of the features, was for the Mini Stocks .

This was won by Francis White.

Next up it was the Sportsman Feature.

Nick Heywood took this one,  after early leader, Dustin Bradley clipped a marker tire.

The Modified feature was next.

Johnathon Ferguson fended off a challenge from Jorden McCreadie , as well as Ryan Stabler to grab the victory in this one.

The final race of the night , was the Pro Stock feature.

It was the Lebanon Valley Speedway ‘invader’ Luke Horning , who beat our locals to get the victory.

The racing was over just before mid-night and I was home indoors by 12-30  .

There were long delays at the border, with a all the race traffic and they only had one booth open.

Once rested, On Saturday I was back over the bridge to the M.I.R , for day two of the Mohawk Nationals.

Once more the pits were packed with race cars an I was able to squeeze my car in next to the tech garage again.

I was joined on the middle that night by my Plattsburgh ‘tog’ buddy Kyle Corea.

Don Simpson , who usually joins me, chose to go to Fonda instead.

The program differed a bit from the first night.

No 358 Modifieds were in attendance,  so the Sportsman became the premier division.

The Pro Stocks and Mini Stocks were there again , with the Limited Sportsman and Vintage Modifieds  replacing the missing 358’s.

The first feature race was for the MiniStocks

Kevin Greenfield was the winner.

Next up it was the turn of the Limited Sportsman

Thunder Anderson got the win in this one .

It was then intermission time.

After the break the Vintage Modifieds took to the track for their feature.

As normal with the Eastern Ontario Vintage cars, there were two winners in the same race.

One for each for the two age differing classes.

It was then time for the Pro Stock Feature .

‘Invader’ Luke Horning made it a sweep by getting his second win of the weekend. 

The headline event was the final race of the night.

It was the Pete Mitchell Memorial Race for the Sportsman , where the Akwesasne Fire Service saluted as the cars took the rolling lap

Shane Pecore dominated from start to finish, but almost lost it to a challenging David Rogers in the last few laps.

While trying to make the pass, Rogers grazed a marker tire, forcing him to be content with runner up spot.

So that was it for the Saturday show , with a slightly earlier ending than the previous night.

I was home at mid night.

On Sunday the 17th of September my local Cornwall Motor Speedway’s ,  Kart Track, which they choose to call The Cornwall Dirt Raceway Park were having a season finale ,

I went along on a beautiful sunny afternoon.

There’s usually a few of my friends from the regular racing there, with their kids or grandkids .

Cliff Merpaw from the Gage Morin team was there with his Grandson. 

It was also nice to catch up with my old friend Erin O’Connor and her family.

I first got to know her 15 years ago when she was racing the red # 33 Legends car, at Ottawa’s Capital City Speedway.

Her name back then,  and before she got married was Erin Joyce.

On Sunday she was with her family at the Cornwall Dirt Raceway Park, watching Liam , her eldest child, racing the red # 33 Kart.

I had a really enjoyable afternoon, watching the kids in action.

A few  big names of the future, no doubt .

The rest of my week was a quiet one, but I did make one more trip to the Cornwall Motor Speedway on Wednesday.

I went along to see my good friend Ron Morin, who has come out of ‘retirement’ to help with the track prep.

Earlier in year Ron was seriously ill in hospital, but has since made a remarkable recovery, and ready to offer his valuable knowledge and advice.