RICK @ the RACES (Early December)
It’s now Wednesday 9 December as I sit behind my PC , wondering what the heck I’m gong to write about for my weekly report. As I look out the window of my home in Cornwall (Ont) we are in the middle of the first big snow storm of the year, and I’m so glad it’s my day off. It’s not a good day to be out on the road with anything, especially with a ‘big rig’. I had an appointment first thing this morning at the garage so I did venture out in my car. The trusty ‘Chev’ that takes me to the races was due for it’s emission test.
It’s a 2001 and and as you might guess, I’ve put plenty of miles on it. It’s done 308320 km’s and it sailed through the test easily, which can’t be bad !
I’ve now had three weekends of sitting at home with no racing, so I’ve nothing really to report about . In these parts of North America, late November and December are the worst months for hungry race fans. It’s a shame someone can’t set up a winter Rally Cross Series for these quieter months. It doesn’t matter if it snows, rains or if it’s dry, Rally Cross is an all-weather form of auto racing.
Looking ahead to the next few weeks, I do have something to look forward to. The new owners of the Can Am Speedway at Lafargeville NY are staging a New Year Enduro on January 2. That will be on my agenda.
Winter has been slow to arrive, so I’m guessing that the ice racing season may start late. The CNYIRA announced that their ice racing season is scheduled to start on January 16 , but if there’s not enough ice, they plan to race on the frozen grounds of the Black Rock Speedway.
The following day I notice that there’s ice racing up in Victoriaville , Quebec so that’s a possibility too.
My good friend Claude Hutchings of the AMEC group have also announced their tentative schedule starting at Lake Algonquin (Wells NY ) on January 3. The event on their schedule that I have plans to attend is at Tupper Lake NY on January 31. I visited that track for the first time last year where Claude took me around the circuit at speed in his truck. It was an awesome experience.
What I’m really looking forward to is February and my road trip down to Florida. I’m hoping to do a repeat of last year where I did Volusia, Daytona, New Smyrna, Orlando Speedworld and the East Bay , all in the space of four days.
In the meantime between shoveling snow, I’ll be cheering for the Ottawa Senators. I plan to be at this Saturdays NHL game against Carolina Hurricanes.
Here are some photos to whet your appetite for the forthcoming ice racing season