RICK @ the RACES ( 3 to 7 Aug )

3 Aug               Capital City Speedway , Ottawa, Ont

6 Aug                 Brockville Ontario Speedway

This weeks report will be a short one, with just two events to cover, thanks to Mother Nature and work commitments. My weekly racing, started as normal on Wednesday night at Ottawa’s Capital City Speedway.

The regular show was part of a fund raising drive for CHEO ( Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario).

Through out the night various things took place to raise money for the cause including an intermission ‘wheel chair race’. The participants were made up of race teams and aswell as promoter Todd Gow.

As for the real racing, the nights winners included Kenny Baird (Late Model)

Chad Windsor (Legends)

Greg Ogilvie (Thunder Car)

Kyle Baker (Mini Stocks)

Jason Moss (4 For Fun)

As expected a late night at work on Friday prevented me from getting to the Mohawk International Raceway on Friday. I never got finished until 8-30 pm so never attempted the trip. I found out later I would not of missed anything. Apparently there were problems with the track surface which meant the races never got under way until after 9-00pm. In my absence , Perry Francis was the Modified winner.

After doing a morning shift at work, I made my usual Saturday evening drive down Hwy 401 to the Brockville Ontario Speedway. It was a regular show with the Vintage Mods taking a night off. Apart from Beau Miller’s Street Stocks victory,

there were no other unusual winners with Stephane Lafrance taking another Mod Feature, while

Dylan Evoy in the Sportsman ,

and Joe McNichols in the Rookies did likewise.

It was another warm and sunny Sunday afternoon when I arrived at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, but the weather forecast looked more like a lottery. According to the radar pictures Cornwall was going to be on the edge of a big storm that was heading east from Southern Ontario. There was a possibility we might just miss it, but just as much chance we’d get blitzed. It was still lovely and sunny as the pit gates opened at around 4-00pm but in the distance black clouds were approaching. Some race teams unloaded their cars while the more cautious ones decided to wait and see what would develop. At around 5-00pm the first few drops of the ‘wet stuff’ arrived, then as the rain got heavier cars were put back in the haulers as fans looked for shelter. By 6-00pm it was still raining when the call was made to cancel. I then drove home to my place, just ten minutes away in the East of the city where everything was as dry as a bone. There had been no rain ! And it was only later in the evening we got a few sprinkles.

Finally, I must mention my good friend David Kipling, another ‘exPat’ Brit and former ‘BriSCA F1 race fan’ who also lives in Canada. Residing near to Vancouver BC his nearest dirt track is the Skagit Speedway across the border in the State of Washington. While I was at Brockville he was down there for a Sprint Car show and sent me a pic of himself, in the pits, which I’ve included.