admin | Rick at the Races

RICK @ the RACES (3/4/5/6/7 AUG 2007)

Fri Aug 3 Brewerton Speedway NY

Sat Aug 4 Frogtown International Speedway NY

Sun Aug 5 Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont

Mon Aug 6 Autodrome Drummond, Que

Tues Aug 7 Autodrome Granby, Que

If last week was crazy, then this week was even worse. My schedule was for five races in five days, and it all started at the Brewerton Speedway NY on Friday ( 3 Aug) night.

Regular readers will know, that on Friday nights, if, and where I go racing depends on what time I finish work.

I had hoped to finish at around 3-00pm , but a busier than expected day, and heavy Montreal traffic delayed things to 3-30pm. I’d loaded my car the night before, in anticipation, and a 3-30pm finish was definitely still ‘do-able’ for the three hour drive south and my hopes to attend the SUPER DIRTCAR Series at the Brewerton Speedway , New York.

After the minimal stops for gas, US currency, ‘pee’s’ and a Steak Sub to go, I pulled into the parking lot at Brewerton at 6-45pm, just as the warm up laps were starting.

All the usual SUPER DIRT CAR Series contenders were there, and after taking a few photos around the pits I returned to the parking lot to put up my tent.

I had already decided, there was no point in returning home that night, and thought that camping at the track was the best solution.

It was a hot and humid night and many of the female fans were dressed accordingly . In between races , It was necessary to remove the dust from my system , so I remedied things with a ‘cold one’ while enjoying the scenery !

Once on the middle, I began taking some more pics.

The 100 lap SDS race got under way with the Johnson brothers ‘AJ’ and the ‘Doctor’ on pole.

It was ‘AJ’ in a smart new car who took the lead , hugging the bottom groove, for the first half of the race, but the man every one was watching was Dale Planck. Planck who earlier in the evening had been the fastest in time trials was running on the top, and was gradually moving to the front. On lap 41 he made his move on Johnson and powered past, to an unchallenged trip to Victory Lane.Dale was a regular weekly racer at my local Cornwall Motor Speedway a couple of years back, and I still think of him as one of ‘our local guys’ so it was good to see him back at the top, with a big win. It was Cornwall last year where he got his first ever Big Block SDS victory.

The complete show was over around midnight, and before retiring for the night I joined some friends in the bar, located next to the track where they’d put on some live music. A talented three piece band were thumping out some good old bluesy numbers.

On Saturday morning my camping gear was packed in the trunk and I set off back towards Canada. It was too early in the day to stop off for the evening races at the Can Am Speedway or the Brockville Ontario Speedway when I passed their exits on I81 and the 401. With my busy agenda, I figured the best plan was to get home ( before lunchtime) take it easy for a few hours, then hit my local Frogtown Speedway at night.

I was about to leave home when my phone rang.

It was Carla, my daughter calling me from her home in Austin , Texas. I’d spoke to her earlier in the week, and she told me she’d met a friend, serving in the military. Her call on Saturday night was to tell me that he’d asked her out, and she wanted to guess where they were going . Of course I hadn’t got a clue, so she had to tell me. “We’re going to the races” .

Carla was just a few months old when she was taken to her first race at the Brafield Stadium (UK) in 1983 and between that day until 1994 when we emigrated, she visited most of the stock car tracks in Europe. Her destination this time was the TEXAS THUNDER SPEEDWAY at Killeen, about an hour away from Austin. It’s a Dirt track and the headline division was IMCA Modifieds. They both enjoyed themselves , and even though she rarely goes racing these days , she added another track to her TRACKCHASIN totals….

Meanwhile, I was at the ‘Frog’ for a regular night of racing .

Local girl Caudia Tarbell won in the Bandits ,while local guy, Carey Terrance took the Modified feature.

Sunday was spent relaxing, before heading off to the evening show at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, for the holiday classic featuring a 50 lap Syracuse Qualifier, for 358 Dirt Modifieds.

A faultless, flag to flag drive by Alain Boisvert earned him a spot on the ‘Moody Mile’ at Syracuse this coming October during SUPER DIRT WEEK.

Following Alain across the line was fellow Quebecer, Clement Therrien and Stephane Lafrance.

Joey Ladouceur was the Pro Stock winnerWith no wet weather situations to deal with, the show went along nice and quickly, finishing around 10-30pm, which was just what I needed with the racing schedule I had planned.

Monday, is a statutory holiday in Ontario and my original plans were to take an extra day’s vacation, and do the Merrittville Speedway’s SUPER DIRTCAR race followed by a Tuesday night at the Ransomville Speedway for the Summer-Nationals. This Niagara region trip has been one of my annual favorites for the last few years. My itinerary gradually got changed around as various of events occurred.

The first thing to happen was the LUCAS OIL Canadian Dirt Series race at Autodrome Granby on July 13 got rained out, and was postponed to Tuesday Aug 7. I’m committed to the CDS as part of the media team, so this meant missing out on the Summer-Nationals.

The next thing that happened was the Autodrome Drummond CDS round ( July 14) got rained out too, and got re-scheduled for Monday Aug 6.

As a result, my Niagara trip got transformed into a Quebec trip.

Once again Drummond was subjected to heavy rain the night before and into the morning, but a determined management, persevered to get the track raceable.

I arrived at around 5-00pm where I met up with fellow Canadian Dirt Series officials, Martin Belanger and Denis Moquin, and was still in doubt if the show would go on. Heavy equipment was at work in the pits moving the sloppy mud so the race haulers could enter, while the track was getting the attention of packing vehicles.

As start time approached the race cars came out to join the packers until the track was suitable for racing. A great effort by everyone involved .

Going into this round, Laurent Ladouceur, had a healthy lead over Clement Therrien, and his second place behind Yan Bussierre in the 100 lapper, helped bolster his points lead even more. I stayed overnight at Drummond, joining the wagon train of haulers and RV’s in Ladouceur team and Brian McDonald camp, chatting to the early hours around the barbecue supping cold ones.

On Tuesday the traveling show, moved on to Granby, located about an hour away, for the Final round in the Series.

After the math was done it appeared that if Clement Therrien, the nearest contender in points, was to win, Laurent would have to come in, no worse than, eighth or ninth ( I’m not 100% sure) to claim the championship.

Failure to qualify in his the heat put Ladouceur towards the rear of the grid for the big one, and it was Kayle Robidoux ( who was earlier top time in trials) that made the early running. Alain Boisvert then took control and looked set for the win, until Martin Roy came on the scene. He’d been making good progress throughout and for the last few laps the two of them gave us some great side by side action. Roy eventually got the better of Boisvert, and powered his way to victory.Laurent Ladouceur’s nineteenth position ahead of his nearest rivals , Therrien ( twenty-first) and Bussierre ( twenty-third) was enough to take the 2007 LUCAS OILS CANADIAN DIRT SERIES.