16 July Capital City Speedway
18 July Brighton Speedway
19 July Autodrome Drummond
20 July Cornwall Motor Speedway ( rained out)
On Wednesday night (16 July) I was in action at the Capital City Speedway in Ottawa in my newly acquired role as 'track photographer'. After witnessing the seasons opening races, I was so impressed with what promotor, Arnie Malcolm was doing there, I went back for more. He is definitely turning the 'place around' and it's clearly evident the facility is returning to it's former glory. Plenty of cars and good crowds are coming out on Wednesday nights to the track situated on Hwy 7 at Stittsville. This weeks winner in the Late Models was Kenny Baird # 2 while Chad Windsor # 5 , broke Kevin Foisey's unbeaten run in the Legends. Ken Sproule # 99 took the Thunder Car feature, Chris Lynch # 95 the Mini Stock's and Amanda Blair # 20 won in the 4 for Fun class.
Regular readers will have noticed that lately I've found it difficult finishing work early on Fridays to go racing. This week it was different.
For the past three years I've been part of the media team involved with the LUCAS OILS CANADIAN DIRT SERIES and with the opener taking place at Autodrome Granby in Quebec (18 July), this was my planned destination. I was lucky to finish work by 3-45pm and all set to head off in that direction. With the weather being a bit 'iffy' I first phoned one of the organizers to check on the conditions before leaving. I got the answer I didn't want to hear.. It had been rained-off.
My next phone call was to Angie Rinaldi, of the Brighton Speedway where a LUCAS OIL SPORTSMAN SERIES race was taking place. She confirmed that the weather was good in her area and racing was 'on'. In stead of dashing up to Granby, I booted it down Hwy 401 to Brighton. I don't get to Brighton very often but I always enjoy my visits and I'm made very welcome.
One of the guys I'm regularly taking Victory Lane photos of this year is Chris Raabe # 01 of Napanee , and once again he showed his class by taking a win from New York challenger Brandon Sweet # 24 . As well as SPORTSMAN and the regular divisions, school bus racing was an addition to the program. The first time I saw this type of event was at the Susquehanna Speedway in PA a few years ago, and it never ceases to amaze me how quick these buses go . Brighton's event had media personalties at the wheel which included a friend of mine, Rick Kevan and his Belleville ROCK 107-1 Radio promotion girl Stephanie Barbosa.
Something new to me at Brighton was the Mini Van racing. I guess the nearest thing I've seen to this in the past is van banger racing in the UK.
After arriving home in the early hours, I grabbed a few hours 'shut eye', before Saturdays excursion to Drummondville in northern Quebec . Autodrome Drummond was staging their round of the LUCAS OILS CANADIAN DIRT SERIES (19 July) . With Granby canceled the night before, this became the opening round and the pits were full with eager competitors.
One of the long distance travelers was Kingston (Ont) Todd Stewart # 72 who had a night of mixed fortunes. In the opening lap of the first heat a gaggle of cars in front of him spun out of control and with 'no where to go' he ended up getting locked together with Martin Cagne # 6G. Although both cars looked worse for wear, after a quick visit to the pits ,Todd and Martin returned to the race. In the consolation Todd was uncatchable and took the checkers. In the feature, he rolled over ( which I missed) and once again after pitting, he returned to the fray. Although a few laps down, he pressed on, until collecting another errant car that spun in front of him. This time, his luck had ran out and never returned from the pits.
The 100 lap Feature was a real classic with David Hebert #1 and Clement Therrien # 39 trading positions at the front. It was former CANADIAN DIRT SERIES Champion, Hebert who took the honors. Once again the promotional team at Drummond must be congratulated for putting on a such a spectacular show with fireworks and razzmatazz, that were stage managed to perfection.
On Sunday (20 July) I should have been 'in action' at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, but for the second week running, rain caused a cancellation.
PIC 1 Kenny Baird # 2 was Late Model winner at the Capital City Speedway
PIC 2 Chad Windsor # 5 was winner of the Legend feature at Capital City Speedway
PIC 3 Trevor Hartwick # 23 goes up in smoke at the Capital City Speedway
PIC 4 Chris Raabe #01 was winner of the LUCAS OILS SPORTSMAN feature at the Brighton Speedway
PIC 5 Rick Kevan of ROCK 107-1 at the wheel of a school bus at Brighton
PIC 6 Stephanie Barbosa of Belleville's ROCK 107-1 Radio before her school bus drive at Brighton
PIC 7 School bus racing at the Brighton Speedway
PIC 8 Mini Van racing at the Brighton Speedway
PIC 9 David Hebert #1 wins the LUCAS OILS CANADIAN DIRT SERIES race at Autodrome Drummond
PIC 10 David Hebert #1 in action at Autodrome Drummond
PIC 11 Todd Stwart # 72 and Martin Cagne # 6G after a first lap 'get together' at Autodrom Drummond.
RACES ATTENDED IN 2008
1 JAN 19 ARENA ESSEX (Thurrock UK)
2 JAN 27 LAC MORIN (Que)
3 JAN 27 ST EULALIE (Que)
4 FEB 16 KAHNAWAKE (Que)
5 FEB 17 CLARENCE CREEK (Ont)
6 FEB 24 BERTRAND FABI CIRCUIT . Sherbrooke, (Que)
7 FEB 24 BEAUHARNOIS , (Que)
8 MAR 21 WILLIAMS GROVE SPEEDWAY (PA)
9 MAR 22 LINCOLN SPEEDWAY (PA)
10 APR 19 CAN AM SPEEDWAY,Lafargeville, (NY)
11 APR 20 CAYUGA COUNTY FAIR SPEEDWAY,Weedsport, (NY)
12 APR 26 MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY (Ont) 358 SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES
13 APR 27 HUMBERSTONE SPEEDWAY, Port Colborne (Ont)
14 MAY 3 MOHAWK INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY , Hogansburg (NY)
15 MAY 9 CAPITAL CITY SPEEDWAY , OTTAWA (Ont)
16 MAY 10 MOHAWK INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY , Hogansburg (NY)
17 MAY 17 BROCKVILLE ONTARIO SPEEDWAY, (Ont)
18 MAY 18 CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY (Ont)
19 MAY 24 MOHAWK INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY , Hogansburg (NY)
20 MAY 25 CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY (Ont)
21 MAY 29 CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY (Ont) KART TRACK
22 MAY 30 AUTODROME EDELWEISS , Cantley, (Que)
23 MAY 31 BROCKVILLE ONTARIO SPEEDWAY, (Ont)
JUN 1 AUTODROME ST EUSTACHE, (Que) RAINED OUT
24 JUN 6 AUTODROME EDELWEISS Cantley, (Que)
25 JUN 7 FULTON SPEEDWAY (NY) SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES
26 JUN 8 CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY (Ont)
27 JUN 11 CAPITAL CITY SPEEDWAY , Ottawa, (Ont)
28 JUN 21 BROCKVILLE ONTARIO SPEEDWAY (Ont)
29 JUN 22 CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY (Ont) WORLD OF OUTLAWS LATE MODELS
30 JUN 28 CAPITAL CITY SPEEDWAY, Ottawa (Ont) RAINED OUT
31 JUN 28 MOHAWK INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, Hogansburg, (NY)
32 JUN 29 CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY (Ont)
33 JUL 3 CAPITAL CITY SPEEDWAY Ottawa, (Ont)
34 JUL 5 BROCKVILLE ONTARIO SPEEDWAY (Ont)
35 JUL 6 CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY (Ont)
36 JUL 9 CAPITAL CITY SPEEDWAY ,Ottawa (Ont)
37 JUL 10 BROCKVILLE ONTARIO SPEEDWAY (Ont) SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES
38 JUL 12 ICAR CIRCUIT, Mirabel, (Que)
39 JUL 12 AUTODROME DRUMMOND (Que)
JUL 13 CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY(Ont) , RAINED OUT SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES
40 JUL 16 CAPITAL CITY SPEEDWAY,Ottawa (Ont)
41 JUL 18 BRIGHTON SPEEDWAY (Ont)
42 JUL 19 AUTODROME DRUMMOND (Que)
JUL 20 CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY (Ont) RAINED OUT
My RICK @ the RACES (RETRO) reports are a little different, as they are an ongoing account of my times spent at the races through the years. Some time in the future, once they have been tidied up and edited, I may look into getting them published. I still have a long way to go before I'm up to the present day, but in the meantime, please contact me for consent before before using ( websites or publications) Thanks Rick
If you do not wish to receive any more RICK @ the RACES reports please let me know.
If you missed any RICK @ the RACES (Reports or RETRO) and would like past editions, please let me know, as I have them 'saved'.
Finaly, I would like to mention SHORT CIRCUIT MAGAZINE, generaly excepted as Europes leading oval racing publication, which I`ve had the honour of contributing to, for the past few years. My SHORT TRACK AMERICA feature which appears most months . www.shortcircuitmag.com
Items from "RICK @ the RACES" occaisonaly appear in the "news" section of ROGERS UK OVAL PAGES www.ukovalracing.info/
which is one of the original and best sources of information on the UK oval scene.
"RICK @ the RACES" also appear occasionally on www.raceproweekly.com, one of the leading websites devoted to North American DIRT racing .
My photo's can be seen in the following
INSIDE TRACK NEWS ... "THE" magazine for Canadian autosport www.insidetracknews.com
AREA AUTO RACING NEWS ( New Jersey, USA) A long established weekly autoracing newspaper www.aarn.com
GATER NEWS (Syracuse NY) , A weekly newspaper that concentrates on NE DIRT racing www.gaternews.com
RACEPROWEEKLY ... a weekly website concentrating on NE DIRT racing www.raceproweekly.com
DIRT TRACK DIGEST.. A great DIRT RACING site covering all divisions www.dirttrackdigest.com
SOUTH JERSEY DIRT RACING ... A great DIRT racing Website based in New Jersey .
DOUGS DIRT DIARY... A website with concentrating on audio interviews www.dougsdirtdiary.com
QUEBEC DIRT... A French language website devoted to DIRT racing www.quebecdirt.com
www.jessicazemken.com DIRT RACINGS TOP FEMALE RACER
UK STOCK CAR RACING 60's and 70's ... A great website , devoted to the Golden Age of UK Stock Car Racing ( 60`s and 70`s) that is excelantly maintained by David Kipling in Vancouver.BC www.oldstox.com
A great data base compiled by Paul Broderick of BriSCA F1 drivers and their cars through the years. www.briscaf1stoxpics.co.uk/
PETES STOCK CAR PAGES The History of F1 Stock Car Racing in the South of England
www.petermarsh.freeuk.com/stockcar/
'BACK TO THE EIGHTIES' A site dedicated to top 70's and 80's Dutch driver Friedhelm Welters
RANLAY RACING ... A website hosted by Randy Lewis, the worlds # 1 TrackChaser ( my ice racing photos are in the guest section) www.ranlayracing .com
TRACKCHASER... The official website of the 'TRACKCHASERS" . My current track list totals can be seen here. go to TRACKCHASER's then you'll find me under 'others' ... click on RICK YOUNG . www.trackchaser.net.
