BUDDIES BLOGS
Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands
Craig Revelle – July 5, 2009
Another
weekend, another weekend of rain. I
will be happy when the summer weather finally hits.
Friday night’s Empire Super Sprints event at Can-Am was washed out due
to rain. The original plan on
Saturday, the 40 lap Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman series event at Brockville was also
cancelled due to the tremendous amount of rain that the area received Friday
night and the early hours of Saturday. With
Brockville being cancelled early, I then decided to cross the border and go to
the Can Am Motorsports Park, as they were still racing, despite the heavy rain.
On Sunday evening, finally the weather wasn’t a concern, and sunny
skies made for great racing at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, and it was their
turn to host the Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series.
The Can-Am Motorsports Park had
scheduled back-to-back nights for the Empire Super Sprints at the fast half-mile
called the “nasty track of the north”.
Friday night’s events were cancelled early afternoon due to rain. On Saturday night, rain once again was the issue, as a pair
of heavy downpours left the speedway grounds submerged in water.
When the rain finally stopped, the Can Am Motorsports Park track crew,
led by AJ Baker, under the guidance of Speedway General Manager Chip Burdick
went to work on getting the track back into race conditions.
Over three hours later, the track was raceable, and made for a very fast
racetrack. In fact, several of the
powerful Sprint cars shattered the track record by over a full second. The track record now belongs to Justin Barger, of Montrose,
New York at a lap average speed of 113 miles per hour.
In the 25 lap Empire Super Sprint
A-Main, it was Justin Barger taking the win, holding off Evans Mills, New York
racer Jeff Cook by about an inch at the finish line.
Cook closed in real fast in the closing laps, and made for a photo finish
at the checkered flag. Gordy
Button, Lance Young, and Brian McDonald rounded out the top five. Joyceville, Ontario racer Rick Wilson, a fan favorite anytime
he races at the local tracks, finished in 6th.
The Sportsman class also ran a 25-lap
feature event, and it was an unfamiliar face in the Can-Am victory lane. Jipp Ortiz, a regular at the Ransomville Speedway, near
Niagara Falls, New York drove his car to victory.
Fellow Ransomville driver Ryan Susice was third followed by Dylan Evoy of
Brockville, Justin Wright, and Christine Martin. The race was marred by several cautions, hampering the
evening for local stars, Matt Billings, and Chris Raabe. Both drivers were
unable to complete the event.
Jordan Keruskie defeated Dale Caswell in
the Crate Late Model division, Chris Thurston won the IMCA modified feature, and
Robert Martin won the 4cylinder Thunder car main event.
Sunday evening, with no rain in site,
the Cornwall Motor Speedway hosted the Mr. DIRTcar touring series for the first
time. Modifieds, Pro Stocks, and
the 4cylinder mini stock class were all on the card as well.
The Mr. DIRTcar feature was the first on
the track and Valcour, Quebec racer Guy Ouellette, and Ransomville, New York
driver Jipp Ortiz led the field to the green flag in the 50-lap series event.
At the finish, it was teenage sensation Chris Raabe in victory lane,
followed by Brandon Sweet, Guy Ouellette, Jipp Ortiz, and hometown kid, Shane
Pecore. The win was the second on
the tour this season for the defending series champion.
In
the Modified division, Tim Obrien picked up his first win of the season, but as
he came for the checkered flag, he made heavy contact with a spinning car, and
suffered heavy damage. Following Obrien across the finish line was Kyle Dingwall,
and Mike Adderley
The Pro Stocks were on hand as well for
their Mohawk Series event. Joey
Ladouceur started from the 6th starting position but finished in
first, as he collected the win.
In other racing action on the weekend,
the Mr. DIRTcar sportsman tour began their four-race swing on Thursday night,
and an evening shower cancelled the event.
On Friday the series shifted to Brewerton Speedway, and it was Tim Sears
Jr. picking up the win. Mark
Olmstead Jr., Greg Panunte, Sammy Reakes IV, and Ryan Susice rounded out the top
five.
Next weekend will start early, as the
Brockville Ontario Speedway will host the 4th annual visit of the Big
Block Modified Super DIRTcar Series, along with an invitational event for the
Street Stocks. Gates open at the
BOS at 4PM with time trials starting at 6:30.
The Big Blocks will be kicking off their 4 race stretch in Canada,
starting at the BOS, and then continuing in Granby and Drummondville, Quebec
over the weekend, and then wrapping up in Cornwall on Sunday.
This coming Friday night, I will be
crossing the river and making my weekly stop at the Can Am Motorsports Park, and
then on Saturday, instead of the regular visit to the Brockville Ontario
Speedway, I will be heading west on Highway 401 and catching the Pavement racing
debut of the “Teenage Tornado”, Chris Raabe.
Raabe and his team just recently purchased a car from a former NASCAR
Canadian Tire Series champion, Peter Gibbons, and will be making their debut at
the Peterborough Speedway in the Ontario Sportsman Series.
On Sunday, I will be at the Cornwall Speedway for their Big Block Super
DIRTcar series event.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - July 5, 2009
Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - June 28, 2009
Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - June 24, 2009
Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - June 14, 2009
Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - June 7, 2009
Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - May 30, 2009
Border Patrol – A weekly Look At Racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands - May 23, 2009