Rick Young's 'Rick at the Races' for July 31 through Aug. 3, 2010

From Rick Young // www.rickattheraces.com

31 July                    Brockville Ontario Speedway

1 Aug                      Cornwall Motor Speedway , Ont

2 Aug                      Merrittville Speedway , Ont

3 Aug                     Fulton Speedway , NY

Even though work commitments once again ruled out any chances of Friday night racing, I still managed to attend four events over the past week.

On Saturday 31 July I was once again at the Brockville Ontario Speedway for a regular night of racing which included the vintage division. There was a couple of notable new additions to their ranks, one car that sported an AMC Gremlin body and another that used one from an Opel Manta. This was a pleasant surprise, because I'd always been led to believe Modifieds had to use North American built bodies. ( Opels are made in Germany). I hope this trend continues ! Who knows, some one might like to try a BMC mini body, and that would look good.

I always enjoy watching these guys in action and on this occasion they provided plenty of it. Their Feature had to red flagged following a big pile up on the first turn. On the restart former Modified driver and now Sprint Car pilot, Paul Pekonen took the checkers.

Fans were treated to a great Feature race in the Modified division where 'young guns' Gage Morin and Matt Billings fought it out. They both showed great maturity as they diced side by side and lap after lap in a very clean and sporting way. As they both approached slower traffic Morin found the quicker way through to grab his third BOS victory of the year, The SPORTSMAN feature was again won by Chris Raabe, while Kevin Fetterley did like wise in the Street Stocks.

On Sunday (1 Aug) it was the final race in Cornwall Motor Speedway's Canadian Nationals where 125 laps would decide the winner. The race was split in to two segments. After 75 laps the race was paused for a mandatory 10 minute pit stop ( on the front stretch) then continued for the remaining 50. There were around 40 modifieds in attendance but only 30 would be allowed to start the big 'dance'.

New Jersey's Brett Hearn who won the first race back in May, had all the eyes on him to see if he could do it again. Dale Planck and Lee Ladouceur made all the early running and amazingly the first 75 laps were free from stoppages with zero number of cautions. By this time Hearn had worked his way up to second place and was next to pole sitter Planck for the restart.

On lap 100 Hearn edged past Planck , and still there'd been no cautions. The continuous 'green flag' racing must have had an effect on Planck's tires as he slipped back to third as Pat O'Brien moved up. At this stage O'Brien looked the quickest, but with no stoppages to help him out, Hearn remained at the front. As the checkers came out after 125 laps of non stop racing Hearn was at the front to take the win and the 'Nationals Series ' All credit must go out to the drivers taking part, their crews and the CMS track staff for the excellence we witnessed in this race. I've never seen a race with 125 'green flag' laps before, and I doubt if I'll see it again. It was an awesome experience for everyone who saw it.

There were familiar winners in the SPORTSMAN and Pro Stock divisions with Chris Raabe and Joey Ladouceur taking the honors respectively , while Mike Gaucher won the Mini Stock event. 

Monday August 2 was a Statuary Public holiday in Ontario and with Tuesday being my regular day off, it gave me the opportunity of making a road trip. I decided to do a 'lap' of Lake Ontario and set off early Monday morning in the direction of Toronto and Niagara Falls. My destination was the Merrittville Speedway located at Thorold, and just twenty minutes away from the Falls.

The event that prompted me to make the 6 hour drive was their annual staging of the Big Block Modified SUPER DIRT SERIES. I arrived at the track at about 3-15pm in good time to relax and watch the haulers arrive. The first person I met was Gary Tomkins who was sitting in his 'road' car waiting for his racer to arrive. He hasn't had a regular drive this year and tonight he was to be driving the 76 x car ( I think it was a spare Travis Braun car). Gary also told me he'd been racing a borrowed car at the New Egypt Speedway in New Jersey on Saturday night.

Once I got in side, I toured the pits and chatted to Stewart Friesen who was debuting a brand new car. Also in the pits, I briefly spoke to Darren Latimer a visiting Australian driver. He was at the wheel of the one of Pete Bicknell's cars.

Intermission entertainment was provided by Billy Decker, Stewart Friesen and Steve Paine who took part in a kiddies bike race.

Before the big race got under way three National Anthems were played instead of the customary two. As well as the Canadian and American anthems, the Australian one was also played, in respect of Latimer.

At the drop of the green flag Steve Paine took the lead , followed in hot pursuit by Friesen and Decker. On lap 42 of the 100 lapper Friesen got past and looked all set to maintain his position until a fast moving Matt Shepherd arrived on his tail. By lap 71 Shepherd had edged past and stayed at the front until the checkers. Friesen was runner up and Dale Planck was third.

I stayed over night at the track in my personal RV, ( my Chevy HHR with the back seats folded down ! ) before crossing over into the USA at Niagara Falls the next day. I would be returning home via the southern side of Lake Ontario and taking in another event on my way.

My destination was the Tuesday night staging of the World Of Outlaws Sprint Cars at the Fulton Speedway NY. I had to be back at work early on Wednesday morning so I knew before I got there that my time in attendance would be limited. I couldn't stay much later than 10-00 pm but figured if things went well , It would be enough to get some good pit shots and some heat race photo action .

It was lovely and sunny when I arrived mid afternoon and the pits were already filling up with many of the big names . I took advantage of the situation and got plenty of pics before the crowds arrived. Danny 'the Dude' Lasoski , Steve and Craig Kinser , Donny Schatz were there as well as NASCAR Sprint Cup star Tony Stewart and his team mate and friend Jessica Zemken. Jess took time out from changing her gears for a quick chat and photo session. She told me about her WoO visit to the Oshweken Speedway at the weekend.

Not long after I took her photo we had quick rain shower which saw me taking refuge and sheltering in the back of the WoO tech trailer. It didn't last too long and the track soon dried out.

I then moved onto the center in readiness to take more photos. The SPORTSMAN support division did their warm up laps and the National Anthems signaled the start of the evening. Just as the final few bars were being played the heavens opened once more.

The skies were pitch black and things did not look good. Even if the rain was to stop, I thought it would take a long time to dry. I made a run back to my car and decided to make my exit. With work commitments the next morning, I couldn't 'sit it out'. As I traveled home , I drove through torrential rain and was back home in Cornwall, Ontario before 11-00 pm . It was then that I heard via internet that the show had survived, and after a late start the eventual winner was Steve Kinser

PIC 1       An Opel Manta bodied Vintage racer at the BOS
PIC 2        An AMC Gremlin bodied Vintage racer at the BOS
PIC 3       Paul Pekonen wins the BOS Vintage race
PIC 4       Gage Morin wins the BOS Mod Feature
PIC  5       Team Mates Terrance and Planck at the CMS
PIC  6       Four wide parade lap for bthe CMS Candian Nationals
PIC  7      The Brett Hearn during the CMS mandatory pit stop
PIC  8      Brett Hearn celebrates at the CMS with promoter Ron Morin
PIC  9       Australian Darren Latimer at Merrittville
PIC  10      Gary Tomkins in action at Merrittville
PIC  11      Stewart Friesen in action at Merrittville
PIC  12      Matt Shepherd wins the Merrittville SDS race
PIC  13       Merrittville Intermission bike race Decker and Friesen, side by side
PIC  14       Yours Truly beside Tony Stewarts Sprint Car at Fulton
PIC  15       Jessica Zemken at Fulton
PIC  16       Fulton drivers meeting ,Tony Stewart next to Danny Lasoski
PIC  17       Fulton drivers meeting, Donny Schatz next to Steve Kinser
PIC  18       Donny Schatz car at Fulton
PIC  19       Tony Stewart's car at Fulton
PIC  20      Jessica Zemken's car at Fulton