Another Win for Mat (4th July 2024 BLOG)  

This weeks offering begins on Thursday the 27th of June, when I took a leisurely drive over to the Airborne Park Speedway, in Plattsburgh , New York.

Before going to the track I paid a visit to an old friend .

Over the years Mike Perrotte, has been a Modified driver, a DirtCar Series director, and a race track promoter, at the present  he’s the manager of the Clinton County Fairgrounds.

I dropped by his office to catch up and have a chat .

We’ve know each other for over 25 years, since the days he was the Modified Champion at my local Frogtown Speedway. (now known as the Mohawk International Raceway)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After visiting Mike at the Fairgrounds I did a bit of shopping in Plattsburgh before heading to the track

It was a regular night , with Modifieds and Sportsman as the headliners. They were joined by the Renegades and Mini Stocks

The first of the features races was for the Modifieds.

We had a different winner for this one , when Justin Stone , from Middlebury Vermont, took the Checkers .

This was the first Modified win  for Justin ,  the son of long time racer Todd Stone.

The main event  for Sportsman  followed.

This was a great race only to get spoiled by a caution half way through the last lap.

Young Charlotte Morin had just made a pass for the lead , and was about to take the checkers, when the caution flag was dropped.

Another caution followed the restart , so the gap was reduced and the top guys obviously took advantage.

This gave Donovan Lussier another win .

By now, it was 10-15 , so I made my exit and headed for home.

The Can Am Speedway at Lafargeville NY,  is my regular Friday night track and they were taking a night off, so my friend Chanty joined me for a trip to Autodrome Granby .

Once we got there,  we based ourselves in the pits with our friends at the Luke Whitteker Team.

Don Simpson took this shot of me and Chanty

While wandering the pits I chatted with Kayle Robidoux.

He was back driving a Modified after a four year lay off.

As I passed the 124 hauler I captured this shot.

I caught Mario Clair relaxing  with car owner Pierre Dagenais .

The nights program consisted of the regular divisions of Modifieds , Sportsman and Sport Compact (Mini Stocks) as well as the cars of the Ontario Vintage Club.

The first feature was for the Sport Compacts.

This was won by Mathieu Deschamps.

Next was the Vintage Feature.

Randy Gaudet was the winner of this one.

The main event , the Modified feature then followed.

This was a good one, and at the checkers it was Felix Roy who got the win.

Second was Mario Clair , and completing the podium, was David Hebert in third

The final race of the night was the Sportsman feature.

This provided Donovan Lussier with his second win in two days.

Racing was all over well before the tracks 11-00pm curfew and we were soon heading back to Cornwall.

Things didn’t look good anywhere in the North East for Saturday.

Rain was forecast all over, and sure enough, my ‘do-able’ tracks all got cancelled.

Autodrome Drummond, Mohawk International Raceway, Brockville Ontario Speedway and Fulton Speedway NY.

This meant a rare summer night at home.

Things were a bit ‘iffy’ for Sunday too, but luckily things turned out good and the Big Block Modified Show at the Cornwall Motor Speedway went along as planned.

A huge crowd turned up to see plenty of cars in action.

The Big Block Modifieds were joined by Sportsman , Pro Stocks, Mini Stocks and the Lightening Sprints.

It was quite an ambitious agenda to get through, but with the help of Mother Nature , the show got in the books

The first feature race was for the Mini Stocks

This was won by Travis Lamarche .

Next up was the Lightening Sprint feature.

Jeremy Lafleur was the winner.

The race most people were there to see, the  100 lap Modified race followed.

Mat Williamson took the lead from the off set,  and kept everyone  at bay to capture the win.

The first three were Williamson, Tim Fuller and Steve Bernard

 

The next race was the one I had been dreading .

50 laps for the Pro Stocks feature is far too m any , with a full field of cars on such a small track as Cornwall .

Sure enough they never managed to do a lap before they wrecked.

More cautions followed as time dragged on.

Before the checkers fell, race control took the initiative to reduce the laps to 40 .

Eventual winner was Bastien Caron.

The final race of the night was for the Sportsman who had been waiting patiently in the pit lane.

This was taken by Bobby Herrington

That was it, we managed to get the show in the books .

A Great job by all involved.

The next day was the 1st of July and it was Canada Day.

With no local racing taking place, I took my Thunderbird out for a morning cruise to the Lancaster Canadian Legion celebrations with the Cornwall Olde Car Club.

Later in the day I drove it down to the harbour and waited around to see the Fireworks at Lamoureux Park.

The next two days I had IVIG infusions for my Myasthenia Gravis at the Cornwall Hospital.

After Wednesdays treatment, my plans were to head down to the annual Pabst Shoot Out races at the Can Am Speedway at Lafargeville NY.

I was done at the hospital before lunch and after returning home for a couple of hours , I set off for the races.

I had a nice relaxing drive via my local Cornwall border crossing, and arrived at Can Am just after 4-00 pm .

Imagine my shock to find the place locked up and just one sole RV parked outside.

Apparently a cancellation notice was posted after I’d left home (It must have been about 2-00 pm and I was already on the road at that time)

So , to salvage my day I decided to cross back to Canada via the 1000 Islands and drop into the Brockville Ontario Speedway for their Wednesday night Kart racing.

 Eventually I got to Brockville after a 45 minute delay at the border. (There were long lines of traffic and only three gates open) .

At the track , I chatted to a few friends and took  some pictures .

Then about 15 minutes into the racing , it started to rain.

That was that, and the end of my night.

It poured with rain all the way home.

So, it wasn’t  a good end to my week, hoping for better things next time.

As I sign off for this Blog, on Thursday night (4th July) I have just learned that it was ‘Another Win For Mat’ at this evenings SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES at the Land of Legends (Canandaigua NY)