Things Are Getting Busy (BLOG 8th May 2024)
Once again , for various reasons, my plans for the past week didn’t go the way I wanted.
Leading up to the weekend , my Chev Impala developed transmission problems , and at present , it’s at Seaway GM in Cornwall , getting sorted . I’ve been a customer of theirs for over20 years, and have always been treated well.
My good friend , and 358 Modified driver , Corey Wheeler is the service manager there and arranged for a Chev Equinox as a ‘loaner’ while it gets fixed.
I used it in on Friday the 3rd of May for a trip to the Can Am Speedway at Lafargeville NY.
It was a nice dry day and the track was in good shape.
Headline divisions were the Modifieds and Sportsman .
Support divisions were the Limited Sportsman, Crate Sprints and Thunder Stocks (Mini Stocks)
I took a few hot lap pics from the outside of turn four before moving to the middle.
First of the features were for the Limited Sportsman and Thunder Stocks .
These were won by Logan Brown and Damien Bechler respectively .
First feature for the headliners, was the Modifieds .
This was initially dominated by Ryan Arbuthnott , but a late caution allowed Tim Fuller to close the gap and make a pass for the checkers.
Next up was the Sportsman feature.
Ryan Shanahan passed Brennan Moore for the lead on lap five, and stayed in front until the end.
After getting my Victory Lane pictures , I made an exit, deciding to ‘pass’ on the final race of the night, which was for the Crate Sprints.
My original plan for the weekend was the same one as planned for the previous week (that didn’t materialize) and head down to Fulton on Saturday and back up to Airborne on Sunday. I didn’t want to stray too far from home with the ‘loaner’. so returned to Cornwall after Can Am.
On Saturday , there was a practice session scheduled at my local Mohawk International Raceway so I took the easy option.
As the practice session only meant a short time away from home, I drove my Thunderbird over there , to give it a run .
There were a lot of friends in the pits and I chatted with Claudia Tarbell .
Sadly , her father Eugene Tarbell , passed away in the fall of last year , so her son Bryan was making his track debut, using his late grandfathers Sportsman.
I shot pictures from various locations throughout the afternoon, taking advantage of the sunshine.
Once I’d seen enough , I was soon back over the bridge and home.
I had a cozy night indoors watching the Bruins eliminate the ‘Leafs’ in the Stanley Cup Play-Offs.
It was sometime, Saturday evening I found out that my Sunday plans were changing.
I was going to the Airborne Speedway at Plattsburgh with my ‘Tog’ buddy Don Simpson in his car for that one.
This show was postponed from the previous week due to rain, and alas, the same thing occurred this week.
Another day of wet weather forced the second consecutive cancelation.
We are hoping for better luck for the season opener , rescheduled to Thursday the 9th of May.
The forecasters were right and it rained for much of Sunday .
In the morning, I took a short drive to Champions Race Shop , that’s just a couple of miles from my home .
Sandy MacFarlane and his helpers were preparing his son Gavin’s 358 Modified for Tuesday nights practice at the Cornwall Motor Speedway.
My Sunday afternoon was spent behind the TV watching live coverage of the F1 Grand Prix from Miami.
What a race that turned out to be .
A very memorable occasion. The young Lando Norris from the West Country of England won his first ever Grand Prix in a McClaren .
It’s been a long time since the McLaren team have been in Victory Lane and it made a refreshing change from the usual winners.
On Monday , the Brockville Ontario Speedway had a practice day scheduled.
I left home soon after lunch and killed a bit of time in Brockville, before the pit gates opened.
It was beautiful sunny day and there were plenty of cars in attendance.
Promoter Paul Kirkland had worked hard to get the track in a ‘raceable’ condition after the previous days heavy rain.
I was there early enough to chat with friends.
Bobby Herrington was back racing for the Dan Dawdy backed team, and was showing off a new color scheme.
I chatted with Dylan Evoy and his dad, who told me they were planning on a full season this year. He’d made spasmodic appearances in recent years due to pressure of work.
Lee Ladouceur was there with his Sprint Car , and during the course of the night, his youngest son Liam was getting his chance behind the wheel.
As you’d expect Jarrett Herbison who only lives a few miles from the track was there.
Charles Marchand had hauled his Street Stocker over from Gatineau , Quebec . His car was sporting a brand new body and was awaiting the wrap.
I shot pictures of two complete sessions before calling it a day.
While I was out on the middle , one car caught my attention.
From 2006 until the facility ceased to operate, I was the track photographer at Ottawa’s Capital City Speedway.
One of the regular Mini Stock winners in 2007 was Matt Mould from Pakenham, Ontario, who drove the white # 28. He later moved up to the Legend Cars driving a white # 28 .
Well, there was a new Sportsman out on the track , that was a white # 28 , and it had Matt’s same sponsor on the side.
Once back in the pits and before heading for home, I had to investigate.
Sure enough it was Matt.
His brother Doug (who also raced at the CCS) was with him, so we all had a good chat about ‘old times’ .
I look forward to him achieving success in his new venture.
So that was another Practice Day over.
One more to go, with the Cornwall Motor Speedway having theirs on Tuesday.
The Cornwall event went well , and had plenty of cars just like the others. I did my pit wander and chatted.
I got a picture of Pierre Picard and his nice looking Sportsman, as well as young Madie Wallace with hers.
I later caught my good friend Techman Ted Lesage giving hers an inspection.
The smart 2024 ride of my buddy, Luke Whitteker was unveiled that night.
He is now driving for a new team owned by James Marshall McDowell and Martine Dagenais. (daughter of Pierre Daganais).
It’s a real looker .
There were a lot of cool looking cars in attendance, and too many to name them all.
I stayed at the track until about 8-30 pm before heading home to start the picture editing.
Wednesday the 8th of May , was going to be the start of my classic car season , with a regular cruise night in Cornwall. The heavy rain that fell most of the day, meant the Thunderbird never came out of the garage.
The twice rescheduled Airborne opener is on tomorrow (Thursday night) , so fingers crossed it’s third time lucky.