RICK @ the RACES ( 29 Jul to 2 Aug 2009)

29 July           Capital City Speedway , Ottawa, Ont

30 July           Mohawk International Raceway , Hogansburg, NY

31 July            Autodrome Edelweiss, Cantley, Que

1   Aug             Brockville Ontario Speedway

Life’s not getting any slower, another busy week has just gone by with four more events in the books. It would have been five races in five days, but Mother Nature spoiled the run, with another day of wet weather in Cornwall.

This Wednesday on my regular day off, I started off by making an early trip to my local U-Haul depot where I picked up a rental truck. With the help of Roger Aubin, one of my racing buddies, we spent most of the morning and afternoon shifting furniture from my rented accommodation in Long Sault (Ont) to the house I’ve just bought in Cornwall.

I will be gradually moving the rest of the stuff over the next month.

Soon after 3-30 pm with the job completed, I returned the truck to the rental yard before heading off in my car to the Capital City Speedway in Ottawa . It had been warm and sunny all day and it was a great night to be at the races. All the domestic divisions were racing, with a Jet powered ‘funny car’ dragster providing added entertainment for the race fans.

For those that dont know, the Capital City Speedway has a small drag strip that incorporates part of the front straight and a stretch of track that leads into the bush.

The headlining Feature winners were Kevin Foisy in the Legends and Justin Holtom in the Late Models.

It was back to work on Thursday, before heading off to my next engagement. This weekend the LUCAS OIL CANADIAN DIRT SERIES would be coming to a climax with four back to back 100 lappers at four different tracks.

Thursday’s race was at the Mohawk International Raceway at Hogansburg NY. This track is so close to Canada, just a five minute drive from the border, that it has been included in the Series. I can finish work in Cornwall and be at the track within 20 minutes. I was lucky and didn’t have to work late that night and was there in plenty of time.

While walking the pits one of the first people I bumped into was Jessica Zemken, the young racer from Sprakers, NY. I’ve know ‘Jess’ for a number of years, and it’s always good to see her in my neck of the woods. Last year she was a regular at my local tracks while driving for Mike and Lori Lasalle. We had a quick chat and she told me that tonight she would be driving the spare # 007 car of Roy Tarbell .

She was joined for the evening by one of her friends , NASCAR driver Tony Stewart who was there helping her out in the pits. Yep, that’s right ‘the’ Tony Stewart, who turned up in a nice white T shirt, soon to get grubby after crawling under the car and working on the handling set-ups. Of course there was a steady flow of onlookers wanting to catch a glimpse of the big NASCAR star , and a couple of Mohawk Police officers were always close at hand.

Of course Tony is not new to DIRT Modifieds. I saw him at the Lebanon Valley Speedway NY about six years ago.

On that occasion, he was doing well in a loaned car when he was put out by a back marker.

As for the nights racing, there were about 45 small block Modifieds in attendance including, top SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES performers, Dale Planck, Danny and Alan Johnson.

The 100 lapper got off to a bit of a punctuated start after a caution for David Hebert who’s car ended up in the ‘rhubarb’ on the back straight. He was pulled out by the tow truck and rejoined the field at the back of the pack. Early front runners included Dale Planck, Danny Johnson and Kingston Ontario’s Todd Stewart. ( not Tony’s cousin as Todd tried to make me believe ! ) .

As the race went into the last quarter, Planck looked all set for the win until he appeared to skid off the track with a front end failure. In hot pursuit at the time were Quebecer , Steve Bernard and Todd Stewart. Meanwhile, early race casualty David Hebert had been working his way back through the pack and following a couple of late race cautions was in contention once more.

With just two laps to go Todd Stewart was out in front and had victory in sight until another yellow, gave us a ‘Green, White, Checkers’ situation. Hebert was now in second place and with one lap to go the St Damase, Quebec driver edged past Stewart to take the victory.

This turned out to be one of the best races I’ve seen all year.

It was work again for me on Friday, and with a prearranged early finish I was off to the evening races at Autodrome Edelweiss for the second LUCAS OILS CANADIAN DIRT SERIES 100 lapper of the four day tour.

Just like the evening before it was a beautiful summers night. The Modifieds were joined on the program by the Mod Lites that were on ‘tour’ from the Niagara region.

The big race was another good one with David Hebert once again taking the checkers.

The third stop for the LUCAS OIL CANADIAN DIRT SERIES ‘traveling road show’ was the Brockville Ontario Speedway. Once again the touring Mod Lites joined the program.

There was drama early in the evening when John Mulder flipped his # 12 Modified in turn two. Luckily John walked away unscathed but his care was done for the night.

It’s obvious that David Hebert is the man to beat on the LUCAS OIL CANADIAN DIRT SERIES ( he’s been champion more than once) but when the tour visits Brockville it’s always a different story.

Kingston, Ontario driver Danny O’Brien has made this track his own, and is rarely beaten. Tonight was no exception and even though most of the race was dominated by Hebert and Mario Clair, it was O’Brien who came charging past in the closing laps to take the win.

Sunday was to be the final race of the LUCAS OIL CANADIAN DIRT SERIES, and staged at the Cornwall Motor Speedway (Ont) , the traditional crowning venue of this popular annual attraction.

I awoke Sunday morning at about 9-00am ( I needed a lay in ! ) and I could hear the rain outside. Throughout the morning it got heavier and I feared the chances for the evening races. I’m still living in Long Sault ( for the next week or so) which is just a few miles from the Speedway so wasn’t surprised when I heard the news it had been canceled. The rain finally came to end around 2-00pm , but by now the damage was done.

The Final round of the LUCAS OIL CANADIAN DIRT SERIES will now be held next Sunday 9 August at the Cornwall Motor Speedway