Edelweiss, B.O.S and Cornwall (7/8/9/ Sept 2007)

09092007dRICK @ the RACES (7/8/9 Sept 2007)

Fri   7  Sept         Autodrome Edelweiss, Cantley, Que

Sat  8  Sept      Brockville Ontario Speedway

Sun 9 Sept        Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont

This past Friday the 358 SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES tour revisited Autodrome Edelweiss after an absence of a year or two. It was touch and go whether I’d make it there or not, as we’re really busy at work right now, and getting away early has become more difficult.

I was still in Montreal at 6-00pm, and had to get back to Cornwall (Ont) before making the one hour and forty-five minute drive to Edelweiss.

I pulled in to the track at 8-30pm, too late for the heats, but not for the important stuff, like the 100lap SDS Modified race and the 50 lap Mr DIRT Pro Stocks which had yet to begin.

I had time to wander the pits, and have a late supper of  Cheeseburger and ‘Poutine’ before the action started.

LtoR Gage Morin, Don `Farmer`Renshaw and Sylvain Mercier
LtoR Gage Morin, Don `Farmer`Renshaw and Sylvain Mercier

By now it was intermission , and I was able to have a wander around and chat to friends. I found my Portuguese buddy, Fransico Perera  / 37P busy working on his car.065_65 (Large)

069_69 (Large) 073_73 (Large) 072_72 (Large)067_67 (Large)Roy Tarbell and Dave Heaslip, were on the front row and as the green flag dropped, Tarbell took the lead. Second row starter, Pat O’Brien was quickly on his back bumper, and it wasn’t long before he was at the front. He was soon joined by his brother Danny, and for a number of laps the crowd were treated to some great side by side action by the O’Briens.

On lap 14 Danny got past, and gradually pulled ahead of his elder brother. As the race progressed, his lead increased as Pat slipped back . Meanwhile Mario Clair and Carey Terrence  moved up to follow the younger O’Brien past the checkers for second and third.076_76 (Large) 083_83 (Large) 084_84 (Large)

The DIRT ProStock race, as I expected, had plenty of cautions, with the over- exuberance of a few drivers, getting the better of them. Pete Stefanski the eventual winner led for most of the race, but there were some great battles going on for the remaining places. Towards the end,  during a great duel for second place, Louie Jackson got too close to Joey Ladouceur, he made contact with the rear end, resulting in Ladouceur spinning out. On the restart, Jackson was ordered to the back of the pack, as punishment. Stephane LeBrun and Nicolas Vaillant who’d been running well throughout , and earlier contesting positions with Jackson and Ladouceur came through to get second and third.088_88 (Large)

On Saturday, the 358 SUPER DIRTCAR tour moved down to the Lebanon Valley Speedway NY, but I decided to ‘stay local’ and go to the Brockville Ontario Speedway for their “Run What Ya Brung” show which also featured DIRT SPORTSMAN , Antique stock cars plus 4 cylinders. 09092007c

059_59 (Large)Once again Stephane Lafrance was there with his radical ‘projectile’ that he used to smash track records at Autodrome Edelweiss and the Cornwall Motor Speedway just two weeks ago.

001_1 (Large)Most of the participants, were the same ones that had been to these earlier events, but one addition worthy of note was Pierre Berthiume from Quebec. 004_4 (Large)For most of this year he has been a regular at the paved Airborne Speedway at Plattsburg NY.026_26 (Large) 030_30 (Large) 027_27 (Large)

From the drop of the green flag it was obvious who was going to win. Lafrance blasted in to the lead , blowing away the opposition and lapping most of the field. 034_34 (Large)The awestruck crowd loved it , cheering their local hero, ‘Steph’ , to the checkers and another track record .

09092007eJason Riddell won the Sportsman feature.045_45 (Large) (2)

I got home around mid night, and checked my e-mail to find that Kenny Tremont had won the 358 SDS race at Lebanon Valley race, but rain had delayed the Big Block race that was also scheduled that night. It was now to be held on Sunday.

My destination on Sunday was the Cornwall Motor Speedway for the ‘Fireball Enduro’ . For my UK readers, let me explain. Enduro’s are the nearest thing in North America to Banger Racing. Most tracks have one at the end of the season. There were four 50 lap races on the program which consisted of , a Ladies and Mens 4 cylinder race, a 6 cylinder race and one for the big V8’s.045_45 (Large)

I was there early and one of the first people I bumped into in the pits was Patrick Mulligan who’s company PM Promotions, as the name suggests promotes race teams, drivers and events. He had two cars running and introduced me to Katelin Wilson who was driving one of his cars in the ladies 4 cylinder race. 09092007fShe was quite a personality, lots of fun, and loved posing for the camera. During the race she hit the front stretch wall on one occasion but made a quick recovery . At the end of the 50 laps , it was first thought she’d won , and was brought to Victory Lane, 102_10 (Large)but after lap charts had been checked, it was discovered she was in second place, with the winner being Emily Sloan.110_110 (Large)

It was then the turn of the 6 cylinders where there was one special car that caught my eye. 09092007hIt was a 1978 Ford Mustang, ( I didn’t know they did one with a six-pot ! ) and it bought back some fond memories for me. Time to digress once more ! … When I lived in the UK one of my other interests, apart from auto racing was classic American Cars.09092007i

Mustang Owners Club of the UK Rally St Albans , Herts, 1993
Mustang Owners Club of the UK Rally St Albans , Herts, 1993

You don’t see too many of them over there, but there is quite a lot of interest, and quite a few people import good examples from the dry states.

I was a member of the Mustang Owners Club of the UK, and the American Auto Club of the UK and did quite a few of their shows. My first ‘Yank Car’ as they are know over there was a 1977 Chrysler Cordoba which I sold off to buy a 1978 Ford Mustang Ghia , the model featured in the TV series ‘Charlies Angels’ ( so I’m told) . It had lots of chrome, and a very quick 302 cu in V8 which ‘went like shXX of a shovel’ as us ‘Brits’ would say. . It was sold a few weeks before emigrating to Canada in 1994. So seeing one of these in my local Enduro was a real surprise.

Following the six cylinder race it was the mens four cylinder race with a field of 106 cars ! … yes you read that right, “ONE – O – SIX” cars in a race on the small quarter mile oval. As you can imagine it was quite a hectic race with one guy rolling his Mercury Topaz right in front of me.045_45 (Large)

The eight cylinder class finished the day, where once more a few rare beasts had their final drive.

There was a nice mid 70’s Oldsmobile two door coupe similar to my old Cordoba, a tidy Chevy Camaro plus an abundance of Cadillacs. 117_117 (Large)This was the first time I’d seen the complete program at the Cornwall Enduro, as in previous years I’d either arrived late or had been away attending ‘regular racing’ events south of the border.

Even though I’m a racing purist, I have to admit I quite enjoyed it.

On arrival back home I discovered that Sundays delayed ‘Big Block’ Mod Show at Lebanon Valley (postponed from Saturday night) was also rained out. The make up date is for next Saturday (15 Sept) at the ‘Valley’ which unfortunately clashes with the 358 SUPER DIRT SERIES at Brockville, where I will be.