RICK @ the RACES ( 27 March 2010)

27 March Frontenac Mall Car Show Kingston, Ont

27 March Brockville Ontario Speedway Banquet.

It was the opening round of the SUPER DIRT SERIES this past weekend, at the Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland, but I decided to give it a miss. My record for visiting this track isn’t good ! It’s a ten hour drive for me and after four attempts, I have only seen racing once. This early season fixture has often succumbed to bad weather, so this year I decided to stay local and attend two events in my own area.

On Saturday morning I drove down to Kingston , Ontario for the annual Frontenac Mall Show. This time I made a point of arriving earlier, because last year I got there in the middle of the afternoon just as the show was closing. There were over 20 cars from the Brockville and Brighton Speedways crammed into the small shopping mall .

Many of my friends from the racing world were there including Dirt Mod drivers Todd Stewart (72)

and Steve Bilow (20) with their cars. I had long chats with both of them. Steve, known around the tracks as ‘Stock car Steve’ said this was his thirty-ninth year of racing. I also chatted with Mike Raabe, father of SPORTSMAN champ Chris (01) who told me of the busy schedule their team had this year. It looks like they will be at the Mohawk International Raceway (NY) on Fridays, Brockville Ontario Speedway on Saturdays and the Cornwall Motor Speedway on Sundays.

After spending a couple of hours at the show my next engagement was an hours drive back up Hwy 401 in Brockville for the Speedway’s annual awards banquet. Before going there, I killed time in the photographic department of the local Walmart downloading images to CD’s . I then used the washrooms in the nearby Tim Hortons to change into my ‘posh’ clothes before heading to the banquet.

As expected there were many friends in attendance and I was joined on my table by Cornwall Speedway promoter Ron Morin and his good lady Raine. The meals main course was ham followed by a dessert of Strawberry’s and ice cream which was excellent.

My buddy Steve Young ( no relation) did a great job of comparing the evening as the awards were presented. The Track Championship winners included .

Danny O’Brien ( Modified), Matt Billings ( Sportsman), Steve Billings ( Street Stock), Steve Barber (Mini Stock), and Paul Billings (Vintage).

On my return home, a quick look on the internet informed me that in my absence, Hagerstown had survived the weather and Billy Decker won the SDS opener.