RICK @ the RACES ( 26 to 30 Aug 2009)
26 Aug Capital City Speedway , Ottawa, Ont
28 Aug Mohawk International Raceway, Hogansburg NY
29 Aug Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Que
If things had gone to plan , I would have had five events to report on this week, but once again Mother Nature had other ideas. As usual my weekly report begins with the regular weekly show at Ottawa’s Capital City Speedway.
When I arrived at the sign-in booth the first person I met was my friend Anna Basile – Mould who occasionally helps out on photographic duties when I can’t make it . She turned up riding her bike and told me she’d cycled the 30 kms to the track from her home near Carleton Place.
Anna is no stranger to long distance cycling trips and has recently been involved in a fund raising MS Bike Tour down in the Brampton and Waterloo area of Ontario. Tonight she decided to use pedal power to visit the races.
This week the Late Models were taking a night off and once again Go Karts were taking their place on the program. When I first heard that Go Karts were going to be added, my first notion was to raise my eye brows and in ‘internet language’ thought OMG. I’ve never been a great lover of this kind of motor racing, but I have to admit they’ve always put on a good show. So far I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
The racing has been very competitive and this weeks winner was long distance traveler Michelle Schroer, who’s a regular at the Mosport track near Toronto.
Winners in the regular divisions included, Dave Riopelle (Legends) Greg Ogilvie (Thunder Cars) Mike Oakley (MiniStocks) and Brian Sehl (4 for Fun). Even this late in the season there were two drivers making their 2009 debut this week. Mike Hennick a 2008 Thunder Car feature winner and rookie Pete Bettencourt in the Legends.
Like many other race fans I’m a regular viewer of the SPEED Channel on TV . Most of the stuff on there I find quite compelling but there’s one program that makes me cringe. It’s called ‘Pinks’ and consists of pathetically over-hyped drag racing duels. As soon as it comes on I grab the remote and hit the ‘off’ button.
My Friday night races were at the Mohawk International Raceway at Hogansburg NY and for something different, ‘Pinks’ style duels were on the program instead of the regular heats. Even though my views of the TV program are far from positive I still went along with an open mind.
I think the race drivers enjoyed it, but some fans I spoke to would have preferred two regular heats . Let’s face it, two or three cars racing together is not as exciting as a full field. There were 16 Modifieds in attendance so we could of had two 8 car heats.
The Feature race was ran in the normal way and turned out to be a good one.
Ryan Helm rolled over for the second consecutive time at this track and the race was brought under red flag conditions. After the restart two of my friends led the pack.
It was Gage Morin out at the front with Todd Stewart chasing. Even after a late caution closed the pack these two continued to dominate with seventeen year old Gage taking the checkers from the more experienced Todd.
The Pro Stock Feature was won by local hero Louie Jackson.
The weather forecast for the weekend was for plenty of rain and meteorologists weren’t wrong. My plans for Saturday involved an afternoon at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal followed by an evening at the Airborne Speedway at Plattsburgh, New York. Luckily the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a road course and that type of racing rarely cancel because of rain. Airborne is paved, and these type of tracks too, often survive wet weather better than dirt.
It was the NASCAR weekend in Montreal with the headline race on Saturday being for ROLEX Grand Am Sports Cars prior to Sundays Nationwide Series race. I set off Saturday morning accompanied by my buddy Roger Aubin with me driving his Ford Escape.
Just before lunch we arrived at the Longueuil Metro station where we payed an expensive 15 bucks a day to park. To save paying for extortionate track food we had a burger at the station’s McDonalds before hopping on the subway to Park Jean Drapeau , which is one stop away.
It wasn’t raining at this time but the sky looked full of it so I took along a plastic bag to keep my camera dry. By the time we had entered the circuit it had started drizzling so the first thing I bought was a plastic cape to keep myself dry.
No sooner had I put it on, the rain stopped, but I decided prudently to keep it on anyway.
We then took our seats in ‘Granstand # 31’ which was located on one of the turns just before the hairpin.
During the 74 lap Rolex race the rain returned causing the cars to pit stop for wet tires, as many skidded into the barriers.
The winner was the the # 10 Sun Trust Racing Ford/Dallara of Max Angelelli and Brian Frisselle. Following this race it was the qualifying for the Nationwide Series cars, but we didn’t bother staying for this. Watching cars going round one by one doesn’t appeal to me too much (especially in the rain ! ) and we were still hoping that the Airborne Speedway had survived.
Once back at the car, I made a phone call to Plattsburgh and got the inevitable recorded message saying it was off. Plan B was to make a quick dash down to the Brockville Ontario Speedway, but a phone call to them gave a similar disappointing message.
It meant the days racing was over so we started heading for home, not before calling in to buy some beer in a Baie Durfe grocery store ( beer is cheaper in Quebec and they don’t have to put up with the antique alcohol laws that we have in Ontario, where you have to buy it from ‘big brother’)
While in the shopping plaza parking lot I spotted to lovely old Citroen 1200k vans which must have been at least 45 years old as I remember them well from holidays in France as a kid. I just had to take a picture of them ( check out the photo section). Once Roger had dropped me off at my place, I had a rare Saturday evening at home. The Wok came out, I cooked myself a Chinese meal and washed it down with bottle or two of my recently acquired Grolsch.
It was bright and sunny when I awoke on Sunday and I had high hopes for the evenings races at the Cornwall Motor Speedway. It was the rescheduled finale of the LUCAS OIL CANADIAN DIRT SERIES which had been postponed following an earlier rain out. Things looked good and thought the predicted 40% chance of rain would not happen.
With it being a big event I was there quite early to get all my stuff organized. Around 3-00pm it was still warm and sunny but the sky on the horizon looked very grim. Would it be coming our way, or would it miss us ?
Within 15 minutes or so my question was answered, the heavens opened and it rained heavily for the next half an hour before turning to a light drizzle. By then the damage was done, and at about 3-45pm the cancellation announcement was made. I was soon on my way home for another night in doors.
According to the press release which was issued later that evening, the finale of the LUCAS OIL CANADIAN DIRT SERIES will now be combined as part of the 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES race that takes place next Sunday (Sept 6)