RICK @ the RACES ( 5/6/7 JUNE 2009)

Brockville Ontario Speedway , 6 June 2009

On Wednesday (3 June) it was my day off from work, and my itinerary included picking up two VIP’s from the Pierre Trudeau Airport (Montreal). Mum and dad were flying in from the UK to Canada for a vacation.

It wasn’t the first time, they’ve made the trip every year since I moved to Ontario in 1994 , and on many occasions have joined me at the races .

Once again work commitments prevented me from going anywhere on Friday, but on Saturday night, the Brockville Ontario Speedway was on my agenda.

During the day I took mum and dad for a drive to Ottawa where we watched the D DAY veterans parade on Parliament Hill before having lunch in the Byward Market. After returning home to Long Sault for an hour or so, I took off in the direction of Brockville while mum and dad stayed behind to relax.

It was a nice sunny night and I found a few surprise visitors in the pits.

Young Gage Morin of Cornwall, was making his first appearance at the BOS in a 358 DIRT Modified , and taking a night off from his local Autodrome Drummond was LUCAS OIL CANADIAN DIRT SERIES Champion David Hebert from St Damase , Quebec.

It was also good to see Kingston, Ont, Pat O’Brien back in action after a short lay off following an accident at the Big Diamond Speedway ( Pennsylvania) last month.

Unfortunately all three of these guys were involved in the same first lap wreck in the Feature, and only Hebert managed to complete the race.

The 30 lap main event was dominated by Kingston , Ont Todd Stewart after being chased by Kyle Dingwall for most of the race then Danny O’Brien in the closing stages. It was great to see Todd in Victory Lane.

The 25 Lap Sportsman Feature is best forgotten !

It was one of those races that never got into a rhythm after what seamed like a dozen cautions, but for the record, it was Matt Billings who took the checkers.

The Vintage Stock car race was a lot better with Jason Power taking the honors.

In the Street Stock Feature Kevin Fetterly Jnr of Massena, New York took his first ever Brockville win.

It was pretty much de ja vu for this Sunday, with wet weather causing the Cornwall Motor Speedway to cancel for the second week running. Heavy rain in the late afternoon forced the decision.

R.I.P     FRANSISCO PEREIRA  #37P

At the start of this past week I learned the sad news about the passing of one of my racing buddies, Fransisco Pereira of Etobicoke (Toronto) . I first met Fransisco, a 358 DIRT Modified driver # 37P and his crew at the 2005 SUPER DIRT WEEK in Syracuse. He had been down there competing in one of the satellite events. We became friends and always made a point of getting together for a chat when paths met during our travels on the 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES. He was one of the earliest to be included on my RICK @ the RACES mailing list and when visiting his hauler in the pits, he and his family always made me very welcome .

In recent months he’d returned to his great love of Rallying, and I last saw him flashing past me in his Mitsubishi # 29 during a special stage of the Tall Pines Rally at Bancroft,Ont last November. It was a big disappointment and a shame that we never got a chance to chat that day, we just weren’t in the same place at the same time. Not only was he a Dirt racer and Rally driver, he was also an Ice racer and competed with the AMEC group in New York.

According to the reports ( www.dirttrackdigest.com ) Fransisco passed away in his native Portugal where he’d recently returned to undergo treatment for cancer. My thoughts are with his family and friends at this difficult time.

Rest in Peace , Fransisco, you were a great guy, we’ll miss you.

Rick Young