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Capital City, Kawartha & Brighton (25/26 Sep 2009)

2009_0827Image0073 (Medium)RICK @ the RACES (25/26 Sept 2009)

25 Sept Capital City Speedway , Ottawa (Ont)

26 Sept Kawartha Speedway , (Ont)

26 Sept Brighton Speedway, (Ont)

Once again I had a busy day at work on Friday (25 Sept). I didn’t get done until after 6-00pm , but still managed to make it to the season finale at Ottawa’s Capital City Speedway. I arrived thereĀ  about 8-00pm half way through the heat races, but that was better than not at all. I’ve made a lot of friends there over the past couple of years and I didn’t want to miss the last night.

0930bThe Friday night races in Ottawa are definitely taboo for me, the traditional Wednesday nights are far more compatible with my work shifts. Feature Victories on the final night went to Sean Ethier (4 for Fun), Nathan Gould (Ministox),

0930aGreg Ogilvie ( Thunder Cars)

0930cand Kevin Foisey (Legends). The Late Models were absent from the program so the evening ended with a 100 lap Endruro.

Racing at Capital City Speedway was over before 10-30pm and I was home soon after mid-night. I was very grateful for this as I had a full schedule planned for the next day.

I was up early Saturday morning and left Cornwall at 9-00am bound for the Kawartha Speedway, near to Peterborough (Ont). It was bright and sunny when I left home and I was dressed in shorts and T shirt. I’d packed warmer clothing for later because the weather forecast was not looking good. Showers were supposed to start some time in the evening.

By the time I’d reached the Port Hope exit on Hwy 401 ( the exit for the track) the sun had disappeared and already was turning overcast and cloudy. After a burger at the Port Hope ‘Harvey’s’ I was soon driving in to the speedway just after 1-00pm.

Kawartha were staging the final round of the NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES and my plans were to watch the afternoon practice before moving on.

0930d2009_0827Image0060 (Medium)One of the first people I met was Derek Lynch who is not only the Kawartha promotor but a participant in the series in his # 77 Dodge Charger.

0930eParked a few spots away from Derek was Dexter Stacey # 55 one of my local drivers from Kahnawake ( Montreal, Que). He and his father Wallace are regulars on the DIRT Modified circuits and this year he’s added this paved Late Model Series to his resume.

0930jI also chatted with Andrew Ranger who was leading the points and only needed to start the race to clinch his second Championship. He’s also from a DIRT racing background, as I can remember his father Rob racing Modified at my local tracks.

0930fOn pit road I bumped into Mike Hennink , one of the Capital City Speedway Thunder Car drivers. He quit racing this year to work for NASCAR Canada and I found him busy lining cars up for the practice.

Once the practice session got under way I joined my buddy, Kawartha media officer, Jim Clarke on the center to take photos.

0930g 0930h 0930iThe session lasted for about an hour and when it was over I took the opportunity of checking out the vendor booths.

For some time now I’ve been contributing to INSIDE TRACK RACING NEWS (Canada’s leading monthly auto racing journal) so dropped into their stand.

0930k I not only chatted to Laura who was busy selling subscriptions but also to Sales Manager and ‘fellow Brit’ Rob Morton . He’s originally from Glasgow (Scotland) and I enjoyed reminiscing with him about some of the tracks ‘across the pond’.

The big race at Kawartha was to take place in the evening, but I had other plans ! I made my exit around 3-00pm and set off in the direction of the Brighton Speedway (Ont) . They were staging their ‘APPLEFEST SHOOT OUT’ for 358 DIRT MODIFIEDS. It’s an event I always look forward and didn’t want to miss.

Before driving to the track, located just outside of town, I took a look at the ‘Applefest’ attractions taking place in Brighton.There was live music and a street fair taking place with all kinds of stalls to grab your interest. The vendor that got my attention was the one that sold imported food from the UK such as ‘Cheesy Wotsits’, Branston Pickle and ‘real’ Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Chocolate.

I stacked up on a supply of Cadbury Flake’s. I’m like most ex pat Brit’s, one of the things we miss most from the UK is ‘real’ Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Chocolate. The stuff that is made in North America and goes by the same name, just doesn’t taste as good as the ‘real’ thing. ( from Bourneville, (Birmingham) UK) . I had every intention of taking them home to enjoy, but have to admit that most of them were gone before leaving Brighton !

Once I’d parked my car at the track, the first person who came up for a chat was Steve Young ( no relation ! ) from Ottawa. He’s the track announcer at the Brockville Ontario Speedway and was making a guest appearance at Brighton for the ‘Applefest’ show. As well as chatting about the forthcoming SUPER DIRT WEEK at Syracuse, we discussed our mutual winter passion, of supporting the Ottawa Senators , Ontario’s number one NHL team ( I bet that statement, will get edited by www.rickattheraces.com webmaster Craig, who is an ardent Toronto Maple Leafs fan ! )

Steve and I then wandered around the pits and after a quick count up, it looked like there were about 20 Modifieds in attendance. I’m glad to say we were wrong and in fact there were actual 24. Top names included Pete Bicknell, Todd Stewart, Brian McDonald, Danny O’Brien and New Yorker Chad Brachman.

0930l 0930m 2009_0827Image0165 (Medium) (Small)As the racing got under way the sky seamed to get more cloudy and I began wondering if the weather mans predictions would come true. A few spots of rain were felt but nothing to worry about, so then I thought we might be lucky and get the show in.

The other divisions taking part were Comp 4, Pure Stock’s and Canadian Modifieds ( similar to IMCA Mods). The Comp 4’s ( 4 cylinders) had completed their qualifiers the previous night so came straight out for their Feature race straight after the Pure Stock and Modified heats. The race was a delayed for a while to get the the Comp 4 car of # 8 Zac McBride ( according to the program) towed out of the infamous Brighton Creek.0930o 0930p

The Canadian Modifieds were next to have their feature, and just as the checkers fell, a few more spots of rain started to fall. The Pure Stock Consi then took to the track, and circulated slowly while we waited for the light drizzle to stop. Our hopes of this happening never materialized and instead of subsiding , the rain got heavier. It soon became obvious the wet conditions were set for the night, just as the forecast predicted. After waiting a while to see if it would stop, the inevitable cancellation announcement was made. Fans were advised that a press release would follow when the make up date had been decided. Meanwhile the nearby Kawartha Speedway was having the same problems and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series was postponed to Sunday.

My plans for Sunday were to attend the dirt Sportsman races at the Stadiaume St Guillaume in Quebec , but the wet weather put doubt in my mind. My command of the French lanuage is limited, so I put an early morning ‘help’ request out to bi-lingual ‘face book friends’ . It wasn’t long before I got a message back from Rejean Martineau informing me that it had been cancelled . This savedĀ  me from making a two and half hour wasted journey.

So it was a Sunday afternoon at home for me, where I awaited the Kawartha result from Adam Ross, another ‘face book friend’. DJ Kennington took the checkers and Andrew Ranger the Championship.