BUDDIES BLOGS

BUDDIES BLOGS

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands

Craig Revelle – April 25, 2010

Opening night at the racetrack is always an exciting time of the year, but opening night at one of your home tracks is absolutely the best, seeing all of the new cars, and meeting old friends that we haven’t seen since the previous fall. This past weekend I was able to take in a couple of opening night racing events, Friday night, at Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports Park, and Saturday night at Thunder Alley Speed Park in Evans Mills, New York.

The Racing Season in the North Country finally began, as Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports Park opened for the first racing events of the 2010 Season last Friday night. 107 cars signed into the pit area on a frigid evening at the half-mile Lafargeville, New York racetrack.

The temperatures may have been cool, but the action on the track was hot, as AJ Baker and his track preparation crew prepared a great race track for opening night, a track the drew rave reviews from competitors in all divisions at Can Am.

The Modified feature was a classic battle, as 19 year old Rob Bellinger took the lead with a power move on the outside of turn one on the final restart to pass Justin Haers with just 3 laps remaining. Billy Dunn, who is off to a strong start early in the season finished second, rebounding from a flat tire earlier in the race. Haers fell back to third while Tom Sears Jr. and Tim O’Brien rounded out the top five. O’Brien was the highest finishing driver with a Small Block motor, competing against the more powerful Big Blocks. For Bellinger it was his first win at Can Am in the Big Block ranks, and he was certainly excited about how his 2010 Troyer Race Car worked during the evening.

“We have really learned a lot,” Bellinger claimed from victory lane. “We traveled a lot last season and it’s really paid off by what we have learned. It’s a great way to start off 2010 and I can’t thank Tiger and Chip and everyone for the great surface they gave us tonight.”

The Sportsman feature was a fantastic battle between Jordan Bennett and last years track champion and 2 time defending Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Champion Chris Raabe for most of the race. Raabe pressed to take the lead on the restarts, but was unable to complete pass. Bennett crossed the finish line first, but was soon disqualified after his car came across the scales weighing several pounds under the required weight that all sportsman cars must weigh. Raabe was declared the winner, with Shane Pecore second, Josh Van Brocklin third, Matt Hulsizer fourth and Dylan Evoy completing the top five. Lansdowne, Ontario driver Steve Barber finished 10^th.

Ryan Scott of Kingston, Ontario started on the pole and lead every lap of the IMCA Modified feature with Dale Jewett finishing second and Chris Thurston finishing third. Jewett made up some ground in the late stages, closing in on Scott, but couldn’t get by the 2008 IMCA track champion.

The Pro Late Model class saw the return of familiar face behind the wheel of a Late Model. Lee Gill ran a 6cylinder late model for several year at Can Am winning several races and championship in the late 80s. When the old Late Model class was phased out, Lee ran in the Modified division for many years, before moving on the asphalt racing a couple years ago. Lee returned to Late Model racing in style, picking up the opening night victory, with protégé, Brandon Kidd in hot pursuit. Mike Trapp finished in third, marking a very successful debut in the Late Model division at Can Am. Trapp started in the 4cylinder class, and has recently worked his way up through the ranks running Sportsman the past few seasons. Jordan Keruskie was fourth and Brighton Speedway regular Phil Potts was 5^th.

Russ Marsden was the winner of the Street Stock feature at Can Am. Marsden held off a late race charge from Tiger Chapman to pick up the win. Chapman is the current owner of Can Am Motorsports Park. Chapman was second, Dave Mannise was third followed by Taylor Caprara and Kenny Hamm.

Steven Gilmore won the opening night Pure Stock feature event, after passing Shane Ray with just three laps remaining. Ray finished second followed by long-time Pure Stock competitor Roger Bushey.

The next stop on my weekend schedule was a return visit back across the border to the Thunder Alley Speed Park. Opening day practice was held early in the afternoon for drivers to shake their cars down, and more importantly it gave some drivers a chance to get some laps on the track, which underwent a major change last fall when they removed the clay surface that was on the track since 2000, and went back to the underlying asphalt that had been under the clay. Disappointing car counts gave me second thoughts about staying for the feature events, and I am hopeful that as the season progresses, the car counts will get bigger, as Thunder Alley has the potential to be a premiere racing facility in this area.

With an early exit at Thunder Alley, I did stop at Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports Park to check out the Go-Kart action. Participants as young as age 5 were having a blast racing around the 1/10^th mile oval behind the main grandstands. This is where the stars of tomorrow of born, and it was great to see everyone having fun. Again, there were well over 100 karts in action.

Next Friday night I will be back at Can Am for their second show of the season. Speaking of Can Am, they have just recently release 1000 presale tickets for the biggest event in the 37-year history of Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports Park. The World of Outlaws will be coming back and racing on Tuesday, June 15^th and will be competing for a total purse of $50,000. For ticket information, go to www.canammotorsports.com or call track General Manager Chip Burdick at 315-778-3407.

Brockville Speedway remains closed for one more week before opening for practice on Saturday, May 8^th. The BOS opens for business on Saturday May 15^th for the opening night, which will be a regular show for the Small Block Modifieds, Sportsman, Street Stocks, and the 4-cylinder “rookie” division. Cornwall Speedway will open on Sunday, May 16^th with twin 25 lap features for the Small Block Modifieds as well as a regular show for all classes.

I hope you have enjoyed my weekly column. Any comments or suggestions can be sent to crevelle@ripnet.com

**Chris Raabe does some work on his new look Sportsman car before Opening night. Raabe would go on to win the Sportsman feature. (Finish Line Web Design Photo)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - April 25, 2010

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - April 18, 2010

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - October 19, 2009

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - October 11, 2009

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - October 4, 2009

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - September 27, 2009

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - September 20, 2009

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - September 13, 2009

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - September 7, 2009

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - August 30, 2009

Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - August 23, 2009