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EASTERN STATES, OCFS (21/22/23 Oct 2007)

110_110 (Medium)RICK @ the RACES .  EASTERN STATES WEEKEND (21 / 22 Oct 2006)

ORANGE COUNTY FAIR SPEEDWAY, Middletown, NY

About this time of year, just after I’ve attended SUPER DIRT WEEK, and a whole bunch of the other end of season specials, I tend to get ‘raced out’, which is my way of saying, that even race chasing me , needs a break.. and so, on the weekend of the 14/15 Oct, I did just that.

The big event scheduled that weekend , in Dirt racing circles, was the SUPER DIRT SERIES race at Williams Grove PA ( won by Jimmy Phelps) , but instead of making the ten hour driving trip, I decided to stay at home and relax. I took it easy around the house, until I got involved in rescuing a couple of kittens (as well as the mother)  that had made their home under my car port. ( good homes required ? )

001_1My break from racing  for a week , did me some good, as it made me look forward to my next excursion to the EASTERN STATES WEEKEND (SUPER DIRT SERIES) at the Orange County Fair Speedway , Middletown , NY.

Although this is one of my favorite annual events, I had intended to miss it this year in favor of the Foxhall Stadium , Ipswich back in the UK. I was born in Ipswich, and saw my very first stock car race there as a toddler in the late 1950`s .My Mum and Dad were followers of the “Witches” Motor Cycle Speedway team, and when stock cars were first introduced in the mid 50`s, they went along to see them too.

One of the countries top drivers,  Doug Wardropper,10222006a lived locally, and my father bought his first ever car , a 1931Standard Nine, ( for 60 quid) from his car sales in the town. 10222006bAfter my family moved to Bedfordshire , about ten years later, I became a regular race-goer at the Brafield Stadium (Northants) , and as a school kid ,  when returning to Ipswich for visits to my grandparents (who still lived in the town, just off the Foxhall Rd) , I would walk to the races. So, as you see the Foxhall and Brafield Stadiums both have a big place in my heart.

This past weekend ( the 21 / 22 Oct) both tracks were scheduled for back to back races for the BriSCA F1`s, the original and premier division of UK stock car racing , so I wanted to be there. My original plans were to fly over to the UK for a few days and take in both… but to make a long story short, my lottery numbers , just failed to come up ! , so instead of East Anglia, it was the Eastern States for me .

My sources in the UK tell me that Frankie Wainman Jnr won the British Championship race at Ipswich, with the Superstox “World” Final (which was also taking place) being taken by Steven Jackson.  Rob Cowley, who started his F1 career in the mid 70`s, at about the same time as me won at Brafield.

Once I decided, that I`d be heading for Middletown, I made arrangements at work to be finished early on Friday , which all went to plan and I finished shortly after 4-00pm.

It was then that things got challenging ! . It had been raining most of the day, and just as I pulled on to HWY 401 from my work place in Cornwall, the rain turned to snow. Within half an hour there was about an inch of the stuff laying on the shoulder and most of the traffic was down to 90 klicks.

Snow at the service area on Highway 401
Snow at the service area on Highway 401

To avoid long delays at the border , I chose the Ogdensburg crossing and this is where my next bit of frustration came. Since 911 , and the increased security that followed, driving between Canada and the USA has become a nightmare for citizens of both countries, never knowing when it`s going to be your turn to get extra scrutiny.

Well guess what ? it was my turn to day,  so the Chevy got treated to the ‘full works’ of the X RAY machine, which of course, added more time to the journey.

Let`s just digress for a moment , while I get up on my soap box ! Why,  Oh , Why can`t our two friendly countries, follow the example of modern day Europe, and do away with the frontier crossings ?

It`s about a six hour drive to the OCFS , and once I`d driven out of the storm I made pretty good time , arriving around 11-00 pm where I faced my next hiccup.

It had been two years since my last visit to the OCFS , and things had changed quite a bit. “Frankie`s Diner” which sat opposite the track, was now a ladies tanning salon, and the adjacent parking lot where the friends I`d arranged to meet, and parked their motor-home , now had industrial units built on it.

While I was ‘dilly dallying’ in the road , trying to figure out where I was, I must have cought the attention of the ‘Old Bill’,  ( the Cops , to my North-American friends ) , and before long I had a cruiser come up behind me , with his’ cherries’ flashing , and urging me to pullover.

I explained to the officer, I was lost and I`d just driven six hours down from Canada, so after a lecture about stopping on the road, he let me go.

It had rained there earlier in the day, so the planned Friday night 358 Modified heats never took place, which was good news for me, as it meant I never missed anything.

After eventually finding my friends Motor-home among the 100`s of other campers,  I parked the car for the night, and wandered down to the “31st” Lap ( the speedway bar) where I let myself un-wind. My bed for the night, was folded down seats in my Chev.

SATURDAY
The weather forecast for the rest of the weekend was for sunshine, and as Friday dawned, that`s how it was.

008_8 (Medium) 016_16 (Medium)After the heats for both Big and Small Block Mods, the big event of the day, the 150 lap 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES race took place. 039_39 (Medium)054_54 (Medium)029_29 (Medium) 10222006d 049_49 (Medium)055_55 (Medium)This was the final round in the series, had a big Canadian interest to it, with Kingston Ontario`s , Pat O`Brien # 6 leading the points. He only had to come home in front of second place man Brett Hearn # 4 of nearby Sussex , NJ. to win it.

The big problem for Pat was, that , this was ‘Brett`s track’ , it`s where he started his racing career and has amassed numerous features to his credit, over the last thirty years. To make things worse, Pat had to contend with a 13th position starting spot, while Brett was on pole.046_46 (Medium)

As expected, it was the local New Jersey man who led the opening laps , until O`Briens , Gypsum team mate, Billy Decker took control and held on to it til the checkers.

Hearn followed him home in second place to seize the series, with the unfortunate Pat O`Brien having to be content with 12th place after crashing in the early stages. 057_57 (Medium) 066_66 (Medium) 068_68 (Medium)The race was over by 4-00pm and there was a break of a few hours before the Saturday night DIRT SPORTSMAN events took place, where Russ Hefti was the feature victor. 070_70 (Medium)While this was going on, ( and some time after ! ) the traditional “New Years Eve Party” was taking place in the “31st Lap”, complete with streamers, garlands, party hats and all the other traditional favors.074_74 (Medium) 078_78 (Medium) 076_76 (Medium) 075_75 (Medium)

SUNDAY

Surprisingly, under the circumstances, I woke up quite early on Sunday, without a sore head,  and was able to drive into town for a ‘pig out’  buffet breakfast before the scheduled 11-00am ‘meet the drivers’ on-track Pit Party .

This is a great chance for the average race fan, who rarely enters the pits, to get close up to the cars and their favorite drivers. Danny ‘the Doctor’ Johnson was out there with his Syracuse winning Troyer inviting fans to put their names on the car.

080_80 (Medium)Of course yours truly had to oblige !  I’d met up with my buddy, Don Shelley (of Fire Mod Fame) from Binghamton NY,  and he added his name too.084_84 (Medium)

Also on-track was the beautiful Al Tasnady “Cozee Coach” vintage modified. 088_88 (Medium)086_86 (Medium)With the pit part over, the fans returned to their seats.094_94 (Medium)Once the track was cleared, it was time for the racing to start. The afternoons racing got underway, with the Pro Sock race which was won by Eric Mahr105_105 (Medium)After the driver introductions it was time for the big one .

 

The 200 lap EASTERN STATES race provided Brett Hearn , this time driving the # 20 Wentworth Homes , Big Block Modified with his third consecutive win in this, the 45th staging of this classic annual event. 115_115 (Medium)

120_120 (Medium)108_108 (Medium)Like the 358 race the day before, it was over by 4-00pm and after taking my Victory Lane photos I was on my way back to Canada.

The Eastern States Weekend is usually my last race meeting of the year, although last year was an exception.

I celebrated the USA Thanksgiving Holiday with my daughter, Carla,  in Los Angeles where I visited the Irwindale Speedway for the USAC Midget Turkey Night Grand Prix.

This definitely wont be happening this year, as Carla recently moved to Austin, in Texas, so the OCFS will probably be my last trip of 2006.

As for RICK @ the RACES , I`m planning to do some retro stuff, with stories of my travels from the early days, until the ice racing starts up in January.