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Border Patrol – A weekly look at racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands

Craig Revelle – August 15, 2010

This past week, I started it all off with something a little different. For the past several years, Brockville Speedway has run Go-Kart racing on Wednesday nights, and last week, I decided to stop by, and see the Go-Karts in action. Then, it was back to Brockville on Thursday night for the O’Reilly All Star Late Models. On Friday night I traveled across the border to Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports Park in Lafargeville, New York and then back to Brockville on Saturday night, before finishing the weekend off at Cornwall Speedway on Sunday.

The Go-Karts are great way for people to get out with their family, with one of these inexpensive racing machines, and have some fun. There were a lot of familiar faces at the Kart track, as second generation racers get their start in the karts, but there were some new faces as well, and many of these young drivers will eventually move up to the bigger track at the BOS just like many of the top young drivers in the Modified and Sportsman divisions today. I must give kudos to a trio of young Gananoque area racers Ryan McIntosh, his brother Matthew and Braeden Nichol-Carne, all of them winning feature events in their respective divisions. Go-Kart racing isn’t just for the young men, as several young female racers are also very competitive. After just a handful of starts, Megan Ciglich nearly won her qualifying heat, and Lansdowne’s Kathryn Mitchell is second place in points in one of the toughest karting divisions.

Just a few hours later, I was back at the Brockville Speedway for a special Thursday night event. The O’Reilly All Star Late Models made their first ever appearance to the BOS. The Sportsman and Street Stock classes were also on the schedule. Tim Fuller, fresh off a win the previous night at Autodrome Granby in Quebec with the same All Star tour, he was able to back that up and take home the win and a $5000 payday. Fuller normally drives in the World of Outlaw Late Model Series beat up on O’Reilly All Star competitors Greg Satterlee, Jared Miley, Rob Blair and Boom Briggs, who finished second through fifth respectively.

Shane Pecore won the Sportsman feature over Jessica Power. Power scored her career best Sportsman finish. Mike Mainse, Dylan Evoy and Adam Turner rounded out the top five in the eventful Sportsman feature. Kevin Fetterly Jr. won the Street Stock feature over Kevin McRae, Danny Mocibob, Darrick Eaton and Steve Kearney.

At Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports Park on Friday night. Billy Dunn won the Modified feature over Rob Bellinger, Steve Paine, Vinny Vitale and Scott Parliament. Danny O’Brien was sixth and crossed the line as the top finishing Small Block Modified. Josh VanBrocklin won the Sportsman feature. Jeff Stevenson finished second, Christine Martin posted her best ever finish with a third place run, Beth Schneider was fourth and Jamie Platt was fifth. Sid Harmer Sr. won the Street Stock feature, Lee Gill once again won the Late Model feature, JJ Courcy was the IMCA Modified winner, Steven Gilmore topped the Pure Stock division, Zak Petrie won the Thunder Car main event and Matt Rainville was the winner in the Mod Lites.

Back at Brockville on Saturday night, Stephane Lafrance picked up the win in the Modified feature event. Todd Stewart led the race early, with a strong challenge from Matt Billings. Just past halfway, Billings was forced to pit with a flat tire, and Stewart continued to lead. With just a few laps remaining, Lafrance used the outside lane and powered past Stewart. Stewart finished second, Pat O’Brien was third, Kyle Dingwall moved from his 16^th starting position up to fourth, and Bobby Herrington finished fifth. For Lafrance, his win was his fourth of the season at Brockville and 10^th overall.

Dana Aikens won the Sportsman feature at the BOS for the second week in a row. Aikens went over two seasons looking for his first ever win, and then got the second one in consecutive weeks. Tabatha Murphy finished second, which was by far her best ever finish. Sheldon Hoogwerf finished third, Randy Earl was fourth and Chris Herbison finished fifth.

Jeff Ciglich picked up the win in the Vintage Modified class at Brockville. Ciglich is a past champion in the Street Stock class several years ago at the Mohawk Raceway and struggled though some tough year in the Modifieds before finding a solid ride in the vintage car. Todd Raabe won the Street Stock Main event, and Jean Marc Larose won the 4cylider “rookie” feature.

The weekend was scheduled to wrap up on Sunday evening, but for the second week in a row, Cornwall Speedway track officials were forced to cancel their racing events for the evening. Cornwall is one of the first tracks to close for the season, and will run their final race for their regular classes on Labor Day weekend.

This coming weekend, Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports will be back in action on Friday night, then its off to Brockville Speedway on Saturday night and then back to Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports Park on Sunday for the first annual Chapman’s Can Am Froggy Jam. Cornwall Motor Speedway will be hoping for a more co-operative weather forecast on Sunday evening as they try to get back to business.

As for the Chapman’s Can Am Froggy Jam 2010, Gretchen Wilson, Chris Cagle, Jamey Johnson and Easton Corbin will highlight the first ever event, with upstate New York band TJ Sacco and the Electric Rodeo opening the show. Gates open at 11am for the concert, and tickets are available on site for just $50. Children 9 and under will be admitted free. Plenty of vendors will be set up, and will be the biggest event ever held at the Lafargeville, New York facility. Track owner Tiger Chapman, and General Manager Chip Burdick and all of the Can Am staff have worked a countless number of hours behind the scenes to make this event a success, with the hopes of it leading to something even bigger and better in the future.

I hope you have enjoyed my weekly column. Any comments or suggestions can be sent to crevelle@ripnet.com or check out my new website, www.finishlinewebdesign.ca

Photo Attachment: Dana Aikens won his first ever Sportsman feature last week at Brockville. He backed that up with his second consecutive win this past weekend. (Rick Young Photo)

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