Well, Christmas is over for another year and within the day or so we will be starting a new year. Most of us North American race fans just can’t wait for the action to resume. Some of the important dates for 2010 have been filtering through and already I’ve penciled them in on my Calender. I’m really looking forward to making another trip down to Florida this February. I’m hoping to follow the same agenda as I did last year, and visit Five tracks in four days. Volusia, Daytona, New Smyrna, Orlando Speedworld and East Bay.
Before then, if ‘Mother Nature’ permits I have a few other events lined up.
This coming Saturday (Jan 2) the Can Am Speedway have a ‘Hangover Enduro’ and ‘Demo Derby’ planned, and on Sunday (Jan 3) the ice racing season is scheduled to begin in Quebec. There are two different events I’m tempted to attend. One is at St Eulalie north east of Drummondville and the other is at Lac Morin between Cap De La Madelaine and Shawinigan.
On the weekend of January 23/24 I plan to be at the Canadian Motor Sports Expo in Toronto. I was there last year and met Jacques Villeneuve. It was a good show but there was very little to interest dirt racing fans. This year they plan to rectify this and it has been announced that the Chris Raabe 2009 MR DIRT SPORTSMAN car will be on display, as well as the appearance of Sprint and Modified star Jessica Zemken.
On the weekend of January 30/31 The AMEC group have ice races planned for Tupper Lake NY, not far from me in the Adirondack Mountains. I went to their inaugural event there last year, and I have to say this is one of the better ice racing facilities. My friend, Claude Hutchings the organizer took me round the track in his truck. The good thing about Tupper Lake is, if you don’t want to walk out on to the ice, you can park on the beach and watch from your car.
Following this, (Feb 6/7) and on the weekend before my Florida trip, I have plans to attend a new ice racing track at St Damase in Quebec.
Looking further ahead, news came to me this week of a dirt track that will be reopening in New Hampshire 2010. A speedway near to Rumney that formerly operated under various titles such as, Pines, Nor-Way Pines, Legion and Rattlesnake will now be running under the name of Big Daddy’s Speedbowl. They plan to race on Sunday nights and their opener is on May 9th. That’s the week before my local Cornwall Motor Speedway opens up, so I hope to get along to that one. My one and only track visit to New Hampshire was to the Canaan Fair Speedway back in 2003. That is one one of the tracks promoted by CV Elms, his other being the Bear Ridge Speedway in Vermont. Canaan runs on Friday nights, Bear Ridge on Saturdays, so Big Daddy’s Speedbowl will give the New England dirt fans somewhere to go on Sundays. Check out their website, you can see the reconstruction work taking place.
Finally before I sign off, I must mention a photo I received this week from one of my UK racing photographer friends Mike Greenwood. He enjoyed reading my latest 1978 RETRO report ( that was added to the site this week) and it prompted him to send me one of his shots taken of a very snowy Sheffield Stadium (UK) pits in December 1981. Many of my North American speedway friends find it hard to believe that we used to ( and still do) race on the UK ovals in the rain, so Mike’s picture of stock cars in the snow will be even more surprising !
HAPPY NEW YEAR to Everyone