RICK @ the RACES …..THE FINAL EPISODE (14 to 18 June 2006)
Just for fun, after attending a few ice races this past winter, I put a few words together along with a photo or two, detailing my exploits and sent them to family, friends and racing aquaintences. I named my report “RICK @ the RACES” and over the last few months, as the content has grown, so has the mailing list, and a couple of web sites have even started to columnise it. With an increase in my media work, and spare time becoming more scarce, I`ve decided to make this the “Final Episode” (for a while at least), but if things change, I may revive it later in the year. Thanks for taking the time to read it
RICK @ the RACES (JUNE ROAD TRIP)
Wed 14 June LERNERVILLE SPEEDWAY (PA)
Thur 15 June SUSQUEHANNA SPEEDWAY (PA)
Fri 16 June BREWERTON SPEEDWAY (NY)
Sat 17 June BROCKVILLE SPEEDWAY (ONT)
Sun 18 June CORNWALL SPEEDWAY (ONT)
One of the things I enjoy the most, is to visit different tracks and meet new people, so a few times a year, I like to take off on a road-trip.
On most occasions, I travel by myself, but for my latest excursion, I was accompanied by a buddy of mine, Roger Aubin, a race fan, who`s been part of the DIRT racing fraternity for many years. ( His wife Marie, is the sister of DIRT “Hall of Famer” Marcel “the hammer” Lafrance`s wife, and of course, 358 Modified driver Stephane Lafrance is his nephew.)
We set off from Maxville, Ontario at 5-45 am on Wednesday morning, destined for the Lernerville Speedway where the SUPER DIRT SERIES for Big Block Modifieds was making the first of two mid week stops in Pennsylvania.
We got to the track, located at Sarver , just north of Pittsburgh at 4-00pm, and as fans and drivers were already starting to arrive, we quickly selected a good camping spot.
A nice early arrival , meant there was time for exploring, and picture taking.
I soon met up with DIRT Media man Tom Skibinski and tagged along with him for a tour of the pits , meeting some of the drivers
Lernerville is a very tidy facility and the racing was impressive too, with the Late Model feature going to David Hess Jnr 
All the big names were there for the 100 lap SUPER DIRT SERIES race, which went to Billy Decker
The next day the SUPER DIRT SERIES moved on, and so did we , to the Susqehanna Speedway (Newberrytown) , about a three and a half hours drive to the east, where we arrived mid afternoon.
This time, sharing the program with the Big Block Modifieds we had a top class Sprint Car feature, rain-delayed from the previous week, Street Stocks, Vintage Stocks, plus a “School Bus Race” !
I’ve been a regular race fan for over 40 years, and in my time , I’ve seen plenty of novelty races, but this was one of the best ( if not THE BEST)
There were about a dozen taking part, and the guys and gals (a lady won it) really got stuck in to some fierce and fast racing, which resulted in three roll-overs and one catching fire… thrilling stuff !
The Sprint car feature provided a win for Micheal Carber holding off some strong challenges from “Fast’ Freddy Rahmer, Lance Dewease and Greg Hodnett.
The SUPER DIRT SERIES race was led for most of the way by Dale Planck, but a determined Jimmy Horton managed to edge past with a few laps to go, giving the veteran a long awaited return to the SUPER DIRT SERIES Victory Lane.
On Friday morning , it was time to leave PA , and head towards Canada, but not before making two more stops, the first being at Binghamton NY where we dropped in on another buddy of mine, Don Shelley.
Don, an ex-New York fireman, is the owner of “FireMod”, a street-legal Modified he uses to promote fire safety awareness. He was in the process of getting it ready for a parade he was doing the next day.
Next stop, after Binghamton was the Brewerton Speedway NY , to take in the action of a regular Friday night show, of DIRT Mods, Mod-Lites, IMCA Mods and the 4 cylinder Street Stocks.
While walking around the pits I spotted a beautiful looking Saab lined up for the 4 cylinder heats, which just happened to belong to Claude Hutchings, of the AMEC ice racing group.
I`d seen Claude race his Modified ice racer at Lake Algonquin, this past winter, and since then , we’ve been in touch via the internet.
Tonight, his son Claude Jr, was at the wheel of their dirt car.
The DIRT Modified feature , which included many SUPER DIRT SERIES top runners from the previous two nights, was won by Matt Shepherd.
After Brewerton, it was time to drive back to Canada, arriving home in Maxville , around 2-00 in the morning,
and time to catch up on some rest, before the evenings racing at the Brockville Ontario Speedway .
On my arrival I had my usual wander around the pits and found my buddy Craig Revelle, helping out the Todd Stewart team.
About 20 Modifieds were there and the highlight of the night was a last lap charge from Danny O`Brien to snatch the lead from Brian McDonald in the feature.
There were double features for some of the divisions, and worthy of note were the two feature wins of Bob Ray in the Street Stocks while B.O.S promoter Paul Kirkland’s son, Brad, won his first DIRT Sportsman feature. 
Ryan Poole won the other
It was back home again after Brockville for a bit more sleep before setting off to the Cornwall Motor Speedway (Ont), the first time in a couple of weeks , after bad weather had caused cancellations to the last two shows.
It was a scorching hot night with the ESS Sprint cars joining the Modifieds, ProStocks and Semi-Pros for a great night of quality racing.
Former Modified driver Steve Poirier took the Sprint car feature with Carey Tarrance claiming his first Cornwall Modified victory after being chased constantly by Dave Heaslip.
So , after visiting, five tracks in five days , it was time to return to work on Monday for a rest ! ! !