RICK @ the RACES

15 June          Can Am Speedway Lafargeville NY (WoO Late Models)

19 June          Brockville Ontario Speedway

20 June          Cornwall Motor Speedway ,Ont  (WoO Late Models)

Regular readers of my reports will be well aware of the recent major changes in my work schedule. No longer do I have Wednesdays off and I’m putting in longer hours. It came to a point a few weeks ago where I amassed over 66 hours in five days, which definitely isn’t good for someone my age. I discussed things with my bosses and I’m now back on a four day week and hopefully not too many 50 hours plus work weeks. The only snag is, having Wednesdays as my midweek day off. It’s too busy that day so I had to settle for Tuesdays.

This week my new schedule worked well for me, and I was able to head down to the Tuesday night World of Outlaw Late Model show at the Can Am Speedway at Lafargeville NY. The OutLaws were in the area as part of their annual Great Northern Tour.

I traveled down in my Chevy HHR and was accompanied by my buddy Roger Aubin. We crossed over into the USA at Ogdensburg and after a having lunch at a chinese buffet in the town we arrived at the track mid after noon. We then met up with our friends Jim Clarke and ‘webmaster’ Craig Revelle. It wasn’t difficult for them to spot me in the parking lot.

My car was the only one there with a St George’s flag on it in support of the ENGLAND football team at the World Cup in South Africa. I was also wearing my ENGLAND Football Team T shirt. ( The poor way that the ENGLAND team are playing could see my flag and shirt discarded by the time my next report reaches you )

When racing got under way I joined up with yet another good friend, track photographer Rebecca Eisele. We always have fun when we’re ‘snapping picture’s’ together and tonight was no exception. We share the same interest in a good bottle of wine, and at the end of the night she presented me with a nice Merlot. Thanks Rebecca ! , I’ll save it for one of those nights I’m sitting at home on a ‘rain out’.

There was a good field of Late Models in attendance, but alas the big race was a bit of a disappointment with very little to get excited about.

Tim Fuller of Edwards NY started on pole and drove virtually unchallenged to the flag. The major fan interest had been with last years winner and other top local driver Tim McCreadie , who failed to make an impression.

The premier support division on the program were the Dirt Sportsman and my eyes were on Tim McCreadie’s younger brother Jordon.

The youngster is the third member of the famous racing family to hit the racetracks. His father ‘Bare Foot’ Bob is a legend and Tim (who now goes under the name of ‘T Mac’ ) is one of the hottest dirt drivers of the present time. Jordon showed quite a bit of promise in what looked like an aging car.

The result of the Sportsman feature came as no surprise with Napanee, Ontario’s Chris Raabe taking the checkers once again. I think I must have taken more Victory Lane shots of Chris than any other driver ( and he’s still just a teenager ! )

After my mid week sortie to Can Am, I was back at work on Wednesday morning for another three days. For the fourth consecutive week, work commitments on Friday meant me missing out on my trip to the Mohawk International Raceway NY.

Once again wet weather was a factor on Saturday, but although it rained heavily for a while in Cornwall it stayed dry in Brockville. My morning was spent catching up with the jobs around the home, before taking my regular leisurely drive down the Hwy 401.

My pre race pit wander included chats with Sportsman drivers Tabatha Murphy and Dylan Evoy. Dylan told me about his win at the MIR on Friday night. The nights program included all the regular divisions plus a tour race for the TUSA Mod Lite’s .

The skies surrounding the track looked dark, but by the time I took my spot on the center things had brightened up. The Mod Lite’s provided plenty of photographic opportunities as I captured one of their two rollovers.

The Modified feature became a family affair for the O’Brien’s with Danny taking the checkers, Pat second and Tim third.

Other winners were Chris Raabe (SPORTSMAN) Wayne Riddell (Vintage), Paul Klager (Mod Lite) Kevin Fetterly (Street Stock) Jean Marc Larose (Mini Stock).

Bob Dini was present at Brockville, with the DIRTCAR tech truck and following the Modified feature an inspection was ordered. Full details are not yet on hand but I heard that a number of cars were deemed to be illegal.

Sunday was the ‘Big One’ for the Cornwall Motor Speedway as the Great Northern Tour for the WoO Late Models came to town. They had been scheduled to race at Autodrome Drummond the night before but this event got rained out. We got a brief shower in Cornwall at about 2-30 pm in the afternoon but it soon dried up and turned in to a scorching hot day.

I was at the track at 1-30pm getting my stuff organized and meeting up with the WoO tour team, which included my friend and media man Kevin Kovac.

Another of the early arrivals was Laura Lamb from INSIDE TRACK publications. She was busy setting up her promotional subscription booth. INSIDE TRACK Magazine is one of the media outlets I supply and I first met Laura at the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race at the Kawartha Speedway last year. We spent a lot of time chatting before I introduced her to Hugh Primeau one of our announcers to guarantee INSIDE TRACK got a good ‘plug’ over the PA.

As you you’d expect from a ‘blockbuster’ event such as this there was plenty of media attention, not only from photographers like myself, but film units too.

As for the big race, Kentucky’s Steve Francis drew pole, and like Tim Fullers win at Can Am earlier in the week it was a flag to flag victory. Even so, it still turned out to be a good race, with plenty of action to keep your interest. Crowd favorite Tim McCreadie shot over the cushion between turn one and two, while Francis was being chased for most of the race by Tim Fuller and Darrell Lanigan.

The battle for second place was a joy to watch with Lanigan getting the better of Fuller before crossing the line.

Winners in the other divisions included Laurent Ladouceur (Modifieds) Dave Bissonnette (Pro Stocks) Kevin Fetterly ( Semi Pro) Marc Usereau.

Coming up this Wednesday (23 June) , it’s the Big Block Modified SUPER DIRT SERIES show at the Mohawk International Raceway ( Hogansburg NY). As you would expect, I’ve put in a special request at work to be finished early for this one and will be keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll be there. Of course Wednesday is also the next WORLD CUP game for the ENGLAND Football team so I’ll be hoping for a win against Slovenia.