Rick at the Races

RICK @ the RACES (22/23 January 2012)

Just two weeks after learning that the ‘Voice of BriSCA’ , Bev Greenhalf had passed away, I have more sad news from England to start this weeks report.

R.I.P ‘Mr Stock Car’ Les Eaton

On Monday 23 January, Les Eaton, who was a legend in the history of UK Stock Car Racing sadly passed away at an Ipswich Hospital.

From the sports earliest days, he had been one of the countries leading promoters, and founded the Spedeworth organization, which he controlled, until his retirement a few years ago.

I didn’t know the great man personally , but had the pleasure of meeting him on a number of occasions.

To his family and close friends, I offer my condolences and deepest sympathies.

R.I.P Les Eaton (1928 to 2012)

22 January Borderline Speedway, Kahnawake, Quebec

My original plans for this past weekend were to attend the ‘Euro Style’ Rally Cross that was taking place on the grounds of the Black Rock Speedway, at Dundee NY. It would have meant leaving home at about 4-30 am on Saturday morning if I wanted to get there for the start of the event, scheduled for 9-30 am. I wasn’t looking forward to getting out of bed at 4-00 am , so when I heard about another event taking place , nearer to home, I decided to change my weekend plans.

The social networking forums of Face Book are rapidly becoming the quickest way to hear what’s going on, and it was on the ‘Club Kilowatts’ group that I heard the good news.

Club Kilowatts’ is an ice racing club that race each winter on the frozen St Lawrence Seaway, at either Beauharnois or Maple Grove , Quebec. The two locations are very close and in the past I have attended events at both.

This years winter ‘arrived a bit late’ and it’s only recently that the Seaway has frozen over.

It looked like the racing season was going to be a delayed for a week or two, until Derek White came to the rescue.

Derek who is a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver, ( as well as an Ice Racer) has his own private track, which he built on his land , and named the Borderline Speedway.

It’s located on the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve, between Montreal and Chateauguay. During the summer it’s a dirt oval of about a quarter mile in length, but for this weekend Mother Nature had covered it with snow and ice.

With the Seaway not frozen enough for racing, Derek offered the use of his track for the season opening points races.

The info on Face Book stated that the gates would open at 9-00am for the racing, and the Borderline Speedway could be accessed via Industrial Road in Chateauguay. It’s only about an hours drive from my house in Cornwall , Ontario so I was pleased that I didn’t need to leave home too early.

At 8-00am , I met up with www.rickattheraces.com web master Craig Revelle, at the Fifth Wheel Truck Stop where he boarded the HHR for the journey into Quebec.

We arrived on Industrial Road just after 9-00am and easily found the entrance to the track. One side of Industrial Road is in the province of Quebec, and the other side is on the Mohawk land of Kahnawake ….. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist, to figure out, why the track is called the Borderline Speedway !

The Kilowatts organizers that were manning the gate told us that the action would begin at mid day. With time to kill, we decided to head into town and frequent the local McDonalds and take advantage of their free Wi Fi.

On our return to the speedway, the pits were starting to fill up, and by mid morning the cars were out on the track for practice.

There were about 30 cars in attendance which included about 20 ‘big banger’ V8’s and about 10 compacts.

Driving the # 99 car was track owner , Derek White, who came from the back of the pack to win this historic first race.

As an added attraction, a spectator turned up in a customized 1934 Ford Coupe (ZZ Tops Style) and did a couple of laps of the track. It was quite amazing, because normally cars like this are kept under wraps in snowy weather.