M.I.R, Cap City, B.O.S, Granby SDS (11 to 13 Sept 2009)

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0916mRICK @ the RACES (11 to 13 Sept 2009)

11 Sept          Mohawk International Raceway , Hogansburg NY

12  Sept         Capital City Speedway, Ottawa, Ont

12  Sept          Brockville Ontario Speedway

13  Sept              Autodrome Granby, Que,

Regular readers will be aware that when I’m not gallivanting around the North East doing media stuff, my regular work ( that pays the mortgage ! ) sometimes forces me to change my racing agenda. I work as a driver for a logistics company with a dedicated contract to the ‘worlds biggest retailer’

This past week things at work had been really busy, which coincided with a busy period on my racing calender. The chances of getting away early on Friday looked bleak. I wanted to be at the Mohawk International Raceway ( Hogansburg NY) for the start of three back to back 358 Modified SUPER DIRT SERIES races in my area.

Sure enough Friday turned out to be hectic and at around 3-00pm I was dispatched from my base in Cornwall (Ont) to deliver a trailer to one of the stores in central Montreal. At this point I assumed my plans for the evening were over.

Well, surprise, surprise !   I managed to dodge the weekend bottle necks and arrived at the store soon after 5-00pm. The guys were waiting to accept the trailer and I was out of there by 5-45pm. It wasn’t long before I was on my way back to Cornwall and hopes of getting to the races were alive again.

The traffic wasn’t as bad as expected and I was back at my base and ‘clocked out’ by 7-30pm. After a quick dash across the city of Cornwall then over the St Lawrence River bridge into the USA , I got to the track just as the first Modified heat was starting.

0916a 0916b 0916c 0916dBy the time the second heat had began I was out on the center taking pictures with my buddy Mike Watts, the tracks photographer.

0916e 0916fThe big 100 lap race was a good one with Kingston, Ontario’s Pat O’Brien taking the win from Cortland, New York’s Dale Planck and Akwesasne’s local hero Carey Terrance.

Once the racing was over, it was time to go home to Cornwall for some sleep, before my Saturday schedule of attending two events.

With the Wednesday  night shows at the Capital City Speedway ( Ottawa, Ont) now over for the year, only a handful of weekend events remained ( one for this past Saturday and the two coming Fridays) .

Unfortunately this Saturdays show clashed with the Brockville Ontario Speedway round of the 358 Modified SUPER DIRT SERIES, so my time in the capital was limited.

0916g 0916hRacing started at the Capital City Speedway at 4-00pm so I arrived around 3-00pm with the intention of staying for a couple of hours. The first person I met on arrival was my buddy Jim Clarke of the Kawartha Speedway who was helping out Brian Goudge with anouncing duties.

All the regular classes were in attendance including a visiting Alberta Late Model driver (Tony Lambert) . For some extra entertainment a Monster Truck Show was added.

0916iAs an ardent race fan these type of attractions aren’t really my ‘cup of tea’ but all the kids enjoyed them and I’m sure it was a major factor for the larger than normal crowd.

Due to the problems I had preparing last weeks report I failed to mention a conversation I had with Thunder Car driver Mike Hennink at the last event at the CCS. He has quit racing completely to work for NASCAR (Canada) and his race car is now up for sale. If anyone is interested, he can be contacted via the ‘For Sale’ section of the CCS website. www.capitalcityspeedway.ca

After the first batch of heats had been run the Monster trucks came out to do their thing, so I took a few photos before taking off for the short drive to the Brockville track ( about 1 hour 5 mins).

I was there in good time and the pits were already full with a large entry of Modifieds and the other regular classes.0916l 0916j 0916k

Like the night before, it was a classic race with Pat O’Brien making it two wins in a row after passing Gypsum team mate Billy Decker (Unadilla NY) on lap 71 of the 100 lapper. In third place was Pat’s younger brother Danny in the Global Warranty Bicknell.

This year the Brockville Ontario Speedway celebrates it’s 40 year aniversary and a couple of weeks ago a big announcement was made. On the weekend of 17/18 October a special weekend event is going to take place. The North East Fall Nationals will include Sprint Cars and SUPER DIRT SERIES tour races for 358 Modifieds, Sportsman and Pro-Stocks. It should be a great weekend. More info can be found on the BOS website www.brockvillespeedway.com

While I was at Brockville I met up with my busy DIRTCAR media friend Tom Skibinski from Rochester NY . He’d been at the Lernerville Speedway in PA the night before covering the (rained out) Big Block Modified SUPER DIRT race. His schedule has been even busier than mine, so to give him a break from driving we arranged to travel together in my car for the next days race at Autodrome Granby in Quebec.

On Sunday morning we took a leisurely drive up into Quebec, going via Valleyfield to avoid possible construction delays that seam to be plaguing the Montreal area at this time. After stopping for an excellent pasta lunch on Autoroute 10 we arrived at 1-00pm for the scheduled 2-00pm start time.

This was one of the rare day time event we get towards the end of the Dirt racing season ( I wish there were more of them ! ) The $10,000 to win show attracted many of the big names in DIRT racing from south of the border, including Brett, Hearn, Matt Sheppard, Danny Johnson, Steve Paine, Billy Decker and Dale Planck as well as the top Canadians from both Ontario and Quebec.

0916nThere were 50 entries.

Pat O’Briens chances of making it three in a row ended after a brush with Danny Johnson put him in the inner wall. He recovered and made it back to the pits for a quick tire change, but was forced to retire a few laps later.

0916oThe track was very slick and on lap 49 the race came under red flag conditions for Alain Boisvert . His car ricocheted into the wall after hitting the sideways car of Sabastien Cougeon.

Meanwhile Brett Hearn was forging ahead and after 75 laps looked unbeatable. The race was a 150 lapper and at the half way point the race was stopped for a mandatory refueling.

Soon after the restart Hearn began to slow up and had to limp back to the pits for attention. This handed the lead to Decker who had been quite a way back in second fending off third placed Mario Clair.

I watched as the Hearn team worked on the car. I wasn’t sure what the problem had been so asked a crew member who informed me that the battery had died.

By now Decker had got a commanding lead with most of the action happening further down the field between Clair and the other Gypsum car of young Larry Wight. As the race drew to a close the youngster got passed Clair and as the checkers fell it was another first and second for the Gypsum Team.

0916pBy now it was getting well into the evening so once Tom had completed his report we were on our way back to Cornwall. The 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES returns to Quebec this Saturday ( 19 Sep) when the Autodrome Drummond stages it’s round.