RICK @ the RACES (12/13 June 2010)
12 June Capital City Speedway , Ottawa, Ont
12 June Brockville Ontario Speedway
13 June Cornwall Motor Speedway , Ont
A busy week at work for me meant yet another Friday without racing, but I made up for it on Saturday and Sunday.
My plans for Saturday (12 June) involved ‘double duty’ at Ottawa’s Capital City Speedway and the Brockville Ontario Speedway.
When I woke up that morning it was pouring with rain and I feared the worse. Thankfully, by mid morning it had stopped , the CCS website gave the all clear, so I set off on my merry way. Sure enough, when I arrived the sun was shining and things looked good for one of their rare weekend events. 
The program consisted of all the weekly divisions, Late Models, Legends, Thunder Cars, Mini Stocks and 4 for Fun. Practice got under way at 1-00 pm with the first heats scheduled for 3-00 pm. Over the past few years I’ve made a lot of new friends at the CCS and it’s always a pleasure when I wander around the pits.
I took many photos from the out side of the track , then when the heats began I moved to my usual spot on the center between turn one and two. There were no surprises with all the usual top runners on form. The first session of heats came to an end just after 4-00 pm which was my cue to make an exit.
The Brockville Ontario Speedway is just over an hours drive from the CCS and after a quick ‘pit stop’ at Tim Hortons in Smiths Falls , I was there at 5-15 pm.
As usual a lot of time before the racing was spent chatting to friends in the pits. One of the first people I spoke to was Todd Stewart who told me of his Mohawk International Raceway win, the previous night. It was a victory he hadn’t expected, Apparently , he’d been tailing Gage Morin the leader, when towards the end, Gage over shot one of the turns.
Chris Raabe’s luck at the MIR hadn’t been so good. Mike, his dad, told me of their motor problems and the need to loan the Dillon Sallows car .
Another of my SPORTSMAN friends Bruce Makinson had a nice surprise for me with a www.rickattheraces.com banner attached to the side. Thanks Bruce and Lynda ! That’s now the fifth race car that’s promoting the site.
I also chatted with Brian McDonald and car his owner Mike Lasalle. The Patriot Sprint cars were an addition to the program so Brian wasn’t just driving a Modified but his Sprint car too.
I’ve never tried to hide the fact that, ( with the exception of the World Of Outlaws) Sprint cars are not my favorite form of oval racing. I won’t dispute that they are fast, but it’s all the messing around I don’t like. For instance, every time one ‘falls over’ the race is (obviously) stopped, then with no self starters, they all need a push to get going again. Starter motors are available for sprints but for some reason they choose not to use them. The Sprint Car feature was much as I expected, with various stoppages for mishaps. One of the wildest rides of the night came from McDonald who flipped several times, on the exit to turn four.
The Modified feature provided us with another rollover when Adam Moore clipped the spinning Tim O’Brien car. Brian McDonald now driving his Modified worked his way from the back of the pack to chase Gage Morin over the line. This was Gage’s second BOS win of the year.
The SPORTSMAN race turned out to be much like the Sprint Cars with plenty of stoppages, but this time it was due to over enthusiastic driving. They all seamed to have forgot the ‘talk’ that promoter Paul Kirkland had with them the previous week.
I felt sorry for Tabatha Murphy, She had been leading the race, then on one of the restarts she got punted off the track by the car behind her.
Randy Earl who’d been chasing, inherited the lead and went on to take the checkers.
The fastest one out there was Chris Raabe in the borrowed Sallows car which was a joy to watch. A flat tire forced him to make an early pit stop and it was great to watch him work his way back through the pack. There were just not enough laps to catch Earl !
It was about 11-30 by the time the SPORTSMAN feature was completed, and departed from the track. It had been a long day where I hadn’t had the chance of a decent meal so the 730 TRUCK STOP on the HWY 401 was on my agenda.
It was bright and sunny on Sunday and perfect weather for the evening show at the Cornwall Motor Speedway. The big event on the program was the SUPER DIRT SERIES for SPORTSMAN and when I arrived at 3-00 pm my good friend DIRTCAR media man Tom Skibinski was already there in the tower setting up his stuff.
As well as the Series race there was a full program for the regular divisions except Semi Pro’s who were taking a night off.
I have to give mention to the Mini Stocks. This division rarely gets praised but I’m going to compliment them on their driving standards and track attitude. With just a few exceptions they all acted in very ‘professional’ way and gave us some excellent racing. Full Marks you guys ! Ben Nurse won the ‘photo finish’ from Ronnie Tyo.
Actually the whole show went very smoothly with few delays. The SPORTSMAN race was held up for a short time to free Randy Earl and Chris Raabe who had tangled. Raabe was back in his regular mount for this event and along with Earl was able to return to the race after some attention in the pits.
The race was won by Tim Sears of Clay NY who was chased all the way to the flag by Chris Herbison and third placed Ryan Susice.
The Modifieds were next on stage where Carey Terrance took the victory after mid race leader Danny O’Brien had a car failure on the front stretch.
The final feature of the night was for Pro Stocks which had to be red flagged early in the race when Ryan Stabler flipped over.
Ricky Thompson was the winner after late challenging Cory Wheeler dived by Dave Bissonnette to take second.
It is now Tuesday 15 June, I have a day off from work and tonight I will be heading to the Can Am Speedway ( Lafargeville NY) for the World of Outlaws Late Model Show. They are currently in the area as part of their northern tour and will be also be at the Cornwall Motor Speedway this coming Sunday. Don’t miss it !