Two good midweek SUPER DIRTCAR RACES make up for another Saturday without racing (10th September 2024 BLOG)
My week began with a full agenda of racing , but once again Mother Nature whittled it down .
After attending a rain-dated Cornwall Motor Speedway on the Labor Day Monday, I had Tuesday the 3rd of September ‘off’ to catch up and relax before the next batch of racing resumed.
On Wednesday the 4th of September , Don Simpson and I made our usual weekly trip to the Airborne Park Speedway, at Plattsburgh.
Their normal race day this year is Thursday , but with a SUPER DIRTCAR Series event taking place at the Brockville Ontario Speedway , it was brought forward a day .
We arrived in good time , for a regular program of Modifieds, Sportsman , Renegades and Mini Stocks.
As normal , the premier divisions have their main events first .
We usually, only get to see the Renegades and Mini Stocks heat races before we leave. This week there was a special intermission event for them.
Their respective crew members had a ‘Mechanics Race ‘ during the break.
First of the regular features was for the Modifieds.
Early leader was Steve Bernier, who was eventually passed by Tim Fuller for the win.
The first feature was in the books, with Tim getting his third win of the year.
Next up was the main event for the Sportsman , which was a good one .
Travis Bruno moved up to the front and took the lead but a late caution closed the field, which allowed Donovan Lussier to close the gap and steal a last lap win.
This was Lussiers sixth win of the year.
With Victory Lane pics all done soon after 9-00 pm , Don and I , were out of the gate and heading back to Cornwall.
I was looking forward to Thursday, as it was the re-scheduled SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES at Brockville. I was there in July when it got rained-out .
This time Mother Nature was kind to us.
I was there early and did my usual wander around the pits
When the original race was scheduled back in July, the program consisted of just three divisions, Big Block Modifieds , Sportsman and Late Models , but this time the Mini Stocks had been added .
I decided to take most of my pictures from turn three and four , for this one . instead of my usual one and two.
After the time trials, heats and LCQ were in the books , it was time for the first of the features.
Unfortunately the Mini Stocks, the ‘additions’ to the program, were up first.
I say unfortunately, because it took about 45 minutes to get through.
It dragged on and on , with stoppage after stoppage.
Winner was former Modified driver Adam Turner who was guest driving the Brandon MacMillan car. He was on personal quest to claim a win in his sixth different division at the B.O.S.
So, eventually we got to see the main event and the Big Block Modifieds entered the track.
This was dominated from start to finish by Alex Payne.
He was gradually caught up and challenged by Matt Sheppard , but held his own .
During one of Sheppard’s attempts to pass , he went up too high , and over the lip.
The mistake allowed Payne to increase his lead and for Anthony Perrego to snatch second spot.
Sheppard recovered well , and was challenging Perrego as the checkers fell.
This was a history making result for young Alex Payne earning his first career Super DirtCar Series victory.
Time was marching on as the Sportsman took to the track for their Feature.
This was won by the 2024 Brockville Sportsman Champion Bobby Herrington .
By now it was getting late , so I decided to miss the Late Model feature and head for home.
A late night wasn’t what I had in mind , as there was another SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES at the Can Am Speedway, taking place the next day.
I got home to Cornwall around 1-00 am so there wasn’t much time to do too much editing, before setting off to Friday nights show at Lafargeville, New York.
The weather was fine when I left my place and it was still dry , yet a bit overcast when I arrived .
I soon learned from other photographers and from what I heard at the drivers meeting, that a lot of rain was on its way. So much so, that there was a lot of doubt if they would get the show in.
The plan was to ‘go go go’ , cut out some of the usual ‘time wasting’ activities and concentrate on getting the actual racing in the books
Both DirtCar officials and track staff worked hard to make this happen.
I started off by taking Hot Lap pictures from the pit entry road before venturing on to the middle.
When I did so , I was fortunate to get a ride in one of the tow trucks.
The program not only had a Big Block Modified SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES, but there was also a DIRTCAR SERIES race for the Sportsman . As well as this, they had Late Models as a support.
The time trials, heat races and LCQ went well with no major delays and soon after 8-00 pm they were done.
There was hardly any time spent for an intermission and a slight bit of track prep, before the Big Block Modifieds came onto the track for the 67 Lap series race.
Mat Williamson took the early lead while being chased by Felix Roy.
As Roy began to drop back Billy Dunn and Tim Fuller began to chase.
As the laps ticked away, Fuller passed Dunn and homed in on Williamson. The Can Am track champion eventually got passed and built up a good lead.
He looked all set for the win , until lap 46 when he made contact with a lapped another car. He spun around with a flat left front tire bringing out the yellows.
This put Williamson back at the front, with Dunn following him to the checkers .
Tim Sears completed the podium .
Actually there was no podium. To save time, the presentations to the first three were cancelled.
The Sportsman quickly entered the track for their Series race.
Eric Neir took this one, with Shane Pecore chasing him to the finish .
Tyler Corcoran came home in third.
The result was quite a big deal for Neir.
Just one week ago he got his first ever Sportsman win, and followed it on this occasion with a Career first win in the DIERTCAR Series .
It was still only 9-15 pm , when we’d done the Victory Lane presentations , and as yet, no rain had fallen.
It shows what can be done when everyone works together .
I didn’t stay around for the remaining Late Model feature .
I got to see what I came for, and was pleased to be getting back to Cornwall at around 11-00 pm. I wish all big events could be hurried along like this.
My Saturday plan was to attend Autodrome Drummond in Quebec, but by now, the expected heavy rain had reached the North East .
Most tracks were forced to cancel , so I had my second consecutive Saturday night at home.
One of the shows affected, was the ‘ENDURO’ at my local Cornwall Motor Speedway, which had to be postponed to the next day, which had a better weather forecast.
Sunday morning was dry and sunny , although a bit chilly, so I took my Thunderbird to a local car show at nearby Ingleside.
I stayed there until lunchtime , before heading for home.
I’m not a fan of ENDURO’s , but with nothing else planned , I headed to the Cornwall Motor Speedway in the afternoon .
I had no intention of staying for long , just enough time to get a few pictures.
I missed the first race , which was for the 4 cylinders, but got there as the Pick Up Trucks were beginning.
After the pick ups, it was one ENDURO race I do enjoy watching .
The class for 8 Cylinders and above.
There were some classics out there on track , including an Oldsmobile Toronado , an El Camino, and a V12 Jaguar.
When they’re not bogged down in mud, this class is quite spectacular.
One guy hit the wall , rolled over and continued the race.
There were two more races left after this , a trailer race which was up next and an open race that ended the day.
I stayed for the trailers , then headed for home.
So it was another weekend without Saturday night racing but I’m pleased to say the two SUPER DIRTCAR races during the week , made up for my loss.