RICK @ the RACES (SUPER DIRT WEEK 2009)

PART 1

Wed 7 Oct     Can Am Speedway    (canceled)

Thur 8 Oct    New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse , Media Conference

Thur 8  Oct   Brewerton Speedway NY (358 SUPER DIRT SERIES)

Fri   9 Oct     New York State Fairgounds, Syracuse , (Twin Twenties, canceled)

Fri  9 Oct    Rolling Wheels Raceway Park , Elbridge NY ( canceled)

Fri  9  Oct   Cayuga County Fair Speedway, Weedsport NY (canceled)

This year I took a few days off work to attend the full schedule of SUPER DIRT WEEK that takes place annually in the Syracuse area of Central New York. The base for all the action is the New York State Fairgrounds where racing takes place on the ‘Moody Mile, from Thursday Oct 8 to Sunday Oct 11. As well as the Fairgrounds there were satellite events planned at the Can Am Speedway ( Lafargeville) , Rolling Wheels Raceway Park ( Elbridge) and the Brewerton Speedway.

After witnessing some great racing at the Fulton Speedway NY, last weekend I was hyped up and looking forward to one of Dirt racings premier attractions. The fairgrounds opened up on Tuesday 6 Oct for car inspection and racing was scheduled to get under way on Wednesday night for a 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES race at Can Am. After a happy start to my week on Tuesday when the Ottawa Senators beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 in the NHL (webmaster Craig adds “Ottawa should never beat Toronto”), things turned sour after Can Am’s race had to be canceled due to wet weather. I was just about to leave my place in Cornwall, Ontario when I heard it was off . My last minute internet check of the tracks status relayed the bad news. This gave me an unplanned extra night at home before I could start my SUPER DIRT WEEK.

I was up early on Thursday morning for the trek down to Syracuse. I have a forthcoming trip to the UK coming up soon, so this years SDW was going to be done ‘on the cheap’. Instead of staying in a Hotel, I brought my old tent out of retirement and the plan was to camp over night at the Fairgrounds.

I arrived there at around 11-00am and made my way to the same spot I’d used for camping in the past ( from 2003 to 2006). I found this had been closed off for a Halloween ‘Fright Night’ attraction so I had to look elsewhere. After checking around, I discovered a nice grassy area, behind the fence on the back straight.

Once the tent was up, I had a quick clean up before moving over to the infield Media center.

A Media conference had been called for 12-30, which I wanted to attend.

This was opened as usual by Joe Marotta, but before it got underway he invited the media to leave the building and go out side to the cinder track where some pre-meeting fun was about to take place.

The Grand Starting Marshall for Sundays big Rite Aid 200 was Gerry McNamara who I’m told is a famous basketball player , I don’t follow the sport at all, ( it does nothing for me ! ) so I have to admit , I hadn’t heard of him .

Seven of the top competitors in the big race Frank Cozze, Billy Decker, Ryan Phelps, Tim McCreadie, Gary Tomkins, Matt Sheppard, and Justin Haers, were about to take on McNamara in a challenge at the hoop. Decker turned out to be the top driver and went on to do well against the expert in the 30 second play off.

Following this bit of fun, the gathering returned to the hall for the conference. There were two exciting announcements for the coming 2010 racing season. Firstly, the North East Fall Nationals at Brockville, that have their premier this coming weekend (for Sprint Cars, and DIRTCAR Series races for 358 Mods, Sportsman and Pro Stocks,) will include Big Block Mods in 2010. Secondly, and probably the hottest bit of news, is the inclusion of a Big Block Modified SUPER DIRT SERIES race in the 2010 DIRT WORLD FINALS at the Dirt Track @ Lowes Motor Speedway at Concord , North Carolina (4 to 6 Nov). Now that’s a ‘must’ for me next year.

While I was at the conference I met up with Ben Graham the media officer for Autralian Dirt racing. He was visiting SUPER DIRT WEEK for a racing vacation with his family.

While walking around I bumped into one of my buddies and local Pro Stock driver Gilles Godard from Cornwall who had just arrived with his crew. During our conversation, I mentioned my plans to sleep under canvas in my tent. He then quickly offered me the use of the spare bed they had in their camper.

With cold and damp weather being predicted , I quickly excepted his kind gesture. THANKS GILLES, it was really appreciated.

After lunch, I left the Fairgrounds for the evenings 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES race at the Brewerton Speedway. This is an event I don’t like to miss, as it often turns out to be the best race of the week. This year was no exception.

All the top runners were there including Watertown, New Yorks Tim McCreadie  # 4 who was driving for the Vinnie Salerno team.

Both Tim and Vinnie have recently been through some rough times , McCreadie was injured in last winters indoor Chilli Bowl Sprint car show in Oklahoma and Salerno only last month had his equipment stolen while visiting Drummondville, Quebec. In front of a packed and ecstatic crowd T MAC worked his way through to the front, First fighting off Ronnie Johnson, followed by Brett Hearn and Pete Bicknell. He was in a class of his own and took the checkers ahead of Hearn and a late challenging third placed Stewart Friesen. Oh what a great race it was !

After Brewerton, it was time to return to the fairgrounds for a session at the mid field bar. Thursday turned out to be a nice fall day, but the forecast for Friday showed nothing but gloom.

Sure enough, when I woke the next morning it was drizzling and the wet stuff looked set for the day.

I spent much of the morning in the media center waiting to see what would transpire.

Mother Nature teased us with on and off rain showers throughout the morning and early afternoon until the show was eneventually canceled at around 3-00pm. The evenings 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES show at the Rolling Wheels Raceway Park (Elbridge) was still ‘on’ at this stage so I set off in that direction.They hadn’t had quite so much rain there and on arrival I thought we had a 50% chance of being lucky.

Just as the pit gates were opening the rain returned and not long after, the cancellation announcement was given.

At the same time, it was also stated that the alternative Friday evening show at the Cayuga County Fairgrounds at Weedsport for Sprint Cars was still on.

Weedsport is only about a 20 minute drive from the ‘Wheels’, so that’s where I went. On arrival I found it was definitely dryer, the track looked good and the packers were out on the track.

A good number of Sprint Cars were in attendance including my friend Lee Ladouceur from Alexandria, Ontario.

Lee had driven down by himself without his crew. They were already in the Syracuse area helping his brother Joey with his Pro Stock at the NYS Fairgrounds. Lee was expecting to see them at Weedsport, but as start time rapidly approached , they hadn’t arrived . To cut a long story short I ended up getting my hands dirty ! attaching wings, shockers and changing wheels until they arrived.

After I’d listened to Bob Miller conducting the drivers meeting the warm ups began. Once these were completed, it was time for the heats so the cars took their place in the staging lanes. Just as they were about to enter the track a light drizzle began, so that’s where they stayed for a while. The drizzle turned to rain and as the cars were told to return to the pits I did likewise to my car. I didn’t bother waiting for the outcome, it was obvious the night was over, so I made my way back to Syracuse for some more socializing . The only winner on Friday was Mother Nature.