All posts by admin

Gilles Villeneuve Circuit & Airborne Speedway (26 Aug 2006)

100_ (Medium)RICK @ the RACES   (26 Aug 2006)

SAT 26 Aug       CIRCUIT GILLES VILLENEUVE, Montreal , Que
SAT 26 Aug          AIRBORNE SPEEDWAY, Plattsburgh  NY,

A late finish at work on Friday prevented me from attending the races at Autodrome Edelweiss, but with a completely free day for Saturday, it allowed me to grab two new tracks to add to my TRACKCHASING totals.

Hard to believe,  but, It`s true,  but one of the race tracks I pass by regularly, during the course of my work day , I’ve never actually seen an actual race there, and that’s the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in  Montreal. The tracks grandstands are very visible when you travel along HWY 132 that runs along the side of the St Lawrence and It`s a route I take quite often. I guess the main reason I haven’t been there before, is the fact that only one or two events take place there each year, the premiere one being,  the Canadian F1 Grand Prix. You can`t get more prestigious than that, but in recent years the North American brand of open wheelers have had their races there too.

This past weekend the Champ Car Series were having their Montreal Grand Prix, but it was Saturdays addition of the CASCAR stock cars to the program , contesting a round of their SUPER SERIES that appealed to me.

As this trip was a last minute decision, I had not applied for Media Credentials , but figured, “what the heck” , I`m going anyway, and I`ll try to sort it out once I get there.

Montreal is just over an hours drive from my place so after a hearty eat as much as you like,  buffet breakfast at the Flying J at Vaudreuil, I was parking my car at the Longueuil subway station soon after 10-00am.

Just one stop on the train takes you right to the Parc Jean Drapeau on the Island where the track is situated. My first priority on arrival was to see if I could gain late Press Credentials, so asked directions  to administration office.

After a long walk and several wrong places, I stumbled upon the CASCAR  creditaion people, who kindly issued me with a ticket, for one day access.

004_4 003_3With this all sorted, it was time to explore, I could hear the Champ cars out in practice, for Sundays big race, so made my base in the hairpin grandstand.095_95

016_16 036_36The first of the two races scheduled for Saturday was for the Formula 1600 single seaters.
I must admit , I didn’t expect these to be much good, as after all they were basically a starter division , but as it turned out, they were quite entertaining.

094_94 081_81A large field of cars containing a mix of good and bad handling cars , with drivers of  varying abilities, some of which , were obviously lacking experience ( I`m trying to put it in the kindest way ! ) made for an interesting race.
Following this, the Atlantic Series cars came out for some qualifying laps before the CASCAR race that was scheduled for 4-00pm.069_69 (2)

As a self confessed dirt racing fan, I don’t watch CASCAR very often, the last time I saw them were at the SUPER SERIES race at the Kawartha Speedway last year when DJ Kennington won .

This 25 lap race was full of action right from the start with these bulky oval race cars fighting there way round the tight corners of this famous racing circuit.08262006b 051_51 045_45

For the entire race , we were treated to a fierce battle for first and second between Kerry Micks # 02 and Robin Buck # 88 , with the last lap being door handle to door handle stuff, with Micks being just enough in front at the line when it mattered.08262006c

GREAT STUFF,  I could get to like this paved stuff if it was always like this ! .  If the planned NASCAR , Busch Series race comes to Montreal next year, it will be a blast.

I was out of  the  track and back at my car by 5-15 pm, it was too late to get to the Brockville or Frogtown Speedway`s , which are my regular Saturday evening haunts, but plenty of time to visit the , paved Airborne Speedway , just an hours drive down Interstate 87 at Plattsburg NY.

I usually try to get there at least once a year and my last visit was in June 05 when I raced Perry Winch`s Mustang in the Media Race.

FLASHBACK  Borrowing Perry Wich's car for the Media Race
FLASHBACK Borrowing Perry Wich’s car for the Media Race

On the program tonight were the usual 4 and 8 cylinder stocks, with the 358 Dirt Modifieds and Flying Tigers (Late Models) topping the bill .087_8 (Medium) 089_89 (Medium) 097_9 (Medium) 092_92 (Medium)

Patrick Dupree took the Mod feature.100_ (Medium)

At the end of the evening, Airborne had their first ever figure 8 race , taking place on the infield, and this was the event that would gain me my second new track in the same day for my totals.

Strangely enough, according to TRACKCHASING rules if a track holds a figure 8 , it can be counted as a second track, ( much the same way as different configurations and surfaces can be counted separately) .

Gordy Killian , me and Mike Knappenberger
Gordy Killian , me and Mike Knappenberger

In attendance that night  were five other leading TRACKCHASERS  to grab the ‘new’ track. PJ Hollebrand of NY , Gordy Killian, Mike Knappenburger,  Guy and Pam Smith of PA. Guy and Gordy are both in the top five World Rankings and have totals above 1000.