Weekly Column

RICK @ the RACES (26 Aug 2006)

CIRCUIT GILLES VILLENEUVE, Montreal , PQ (26th Aug)

AIRBORNE SPEEDWAY, Plattsburg NY, (26th Aug)

A late finish at work on Friday night prevented me from attending the races at Autodrome Edelweiss, but with a completely free day for Saturday, it allowed me to "grab" to new tracks to add to my TRACKCHASIN totals. Hard to believe but, It`s true, that one of the race tracks I pass by regularly, during the course of my work day , I`ve never seen an actual race there, and it`s the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in downtown Montreal. The tracks grandstands are very visible when you travel along HWY 132 that runs along the side of the St Lawrence and It`s a route I take quite often. I guess the main reason I hav`nt been there before, is the fact that only one or two events take place there each year, the premiere one being, the Canadian Grand Prix. You can`t get more prestigeous than that, but in recent years the North American brand of open wheelers have had races there too. This past weekend the Champ Car Series were having their Montreal Grand Prix, but it was Saturdays addition of the CASCAR stock cars to the programme , contesting a round of the SUPER SERIES that appealed to me.

As this trip was a last minute decision, I had not applied for Press Credentials , but figured, "what the heck" , I`m going anyway, and I`ll try to sort it out once I get there. Montreal takes just over an hour to drive from my place so after a hearty "eat as much as you like" buffet breakfast at the Flying J at Vaudreuil, I was parking my car at the Longueuil subway station soon after 10-00am. Just one stop on the train takes you right to the Parc Jean Drapeau on the Island where the track is situated. My first priority on arrival was to see if I could gain late Press Credentials, so asked directions to administration office. After a long walk and several wrong places, I stumbled upon the CASCAR accreditaion people, who kindly issued me with a ticket, for one day access. With this all sorted, it was time to explore, I could here the Champ cars out in practice, for Sundays big race, so made my "base" in the hairpin granstand. The first of the two races scheduled for Saturday was for the Formula 1600 single seaters.

I must admit , I did`nt expect these to be much good, as after all they were basically a starter division , but as it turned out, they were quite entertaining. A large field of cars containing a mix of good and bad handling cars , with drivers of varying ablities, some of which , were obviously lacking experience ( I`m trying to put it in the kindest way ! ) made for an interesting race.

Following this, the Atlantic Series cars came out for some qualifying laps before the CASCAR race that was scheduled for 4-00pm. As a self confessed dirt racing fan, I watch CASCAR very often, the last time I saw them were at the SUPER SERIES race at the Kawartha Speedway last year when DJ Kennington won . This 25 lap race was full of action right from the start with these baulky oval race cars fighting there way round the tight corners of this famous racing circuit. For the entire race , we were treated to a fierce battle for first and second between Kerry Mick # 02 and Robin Buck # 88 , with the last lap being door handle to door handle stuff, with Mick being just enough in front at the line when it mattered. GREAT STUFF... mmm, I could get to like this paved stuff if it was always like this ! ... If the planned NASCAR , Busch Series race comes to Montreal next year, it will be a blast.

I was out of the "CGV" and back at my car by 5-15 pm, too late to get to the Brockville or Frogtown Speedway`s , my regular Saturday evening haunts, but plenty of time to visit the , Airborne Speedway (paved ! ) , just an hours drive down Interstate 87 at Plattsburg NY. I usualy try to get there at least once a year and my last visit was in June 05 when I raced Perry Winch`s Mustang in the Media Race. On the programme tonight were the usual 4 and 8 cylinder stocks, with the 358 Dirt Modifieds and Fying Tigers (Late Models) topping the bill , with Patrick Dupree taking the Mod feature. At the end of the evening, Airborne had their first ever figure 8 race , taking place on the infield, and this was the event that would gain me my second new track in the same day for my totals. Strangely enough, according to TRACKCHASING rules if a track holds a figure 8 , it can be counted as a second track, ( much the same way as different configurations and surfaces can be counted seperately) . In attendance that night were five other leading TRACKCHASER`S to grab the addtional track, PJ Hollebrand of NY , Gordy Killian, Mike Knappenburger, Guy and Pam Smith of PA. Guy and Gordy are both in the top five World Rankings and have totals above 1000.

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve TRACKCHASING # 146

Airborne Speedway (figure TRACKCHASING # 147

PHOTO # 1 Lots of fun in the Formula 1600 race at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit

PHOTO # 2 DJ KENNINGTON uses the grass in an attempt to pass RON BEAUCHAMP jnr at the hairpin during the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve CASCAR race

PHOTO # 3 Winner of the CASCAR SUPER SERIES race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Kerry Mick # 2 during his battle with Robin Buck # 88

PHOTO # 4 The feature winning modified of Patrick Dupree at the Airborn Speedway NY

PHOTO # (by ANDY WATTS) of "RICK @ the RACES" at the Airborne Speedway NY with TRACKCHASER Gordy Killian (left) and Mike Knappenburger (right)

RACES ATTENDED THIS YEAR

1 1st JAN BROCKVILLE SPEEDWAY ONT (ICE ENDURO)

2 8th JAN ST GUILLAUME QUE (ICE RACING)

3 22nd JAN STE GENEVIEVE DE BATISCAN QUE (ICE RACING)

4 29th JAN MERCIER QUE (ICE RACING)

5 11th FEB LAC CAYAMANT ,MANIWAKI QUE (ICE RACING)

6 12th FEB BERTRAND FABI CIRCUIT ,SHERBROOKE QUE (ANDROS TROPHY)

7 19th FEB LAC LE MIRAGE, VICTORIAVILLE QUE, (ICE RACING)

8 19th FEB STE EULALIE , QUE, (ICE RACING)

9 26th FEB BEAUHARNOIS ,QUE (ICE RACING)

10 26th FEB ST SULPICE , QUE (ICE RACING)

11 4th MAR MINDEN FAIRGROUNDS ONT (ICE RACING)

12 5th MAR LAKE ALGONQUIN,WELLS NY. (ICE RACING)

13 9th APRIL CAYUGA COUNTY FAIRSPEEDWAY,WEEDSPORT NY

14 15th APRIL FULTON SPEEDWAY, NY

15 29th APRIL CAN AM SPEEDWAY, LAFARGEVILLE, NY

16 6th MAY FULTON SPEEDWAY, NY

18 7th MAY ROLLING WHEELS SPEEDWAY PARK , ELBRIDGE , NY (SUPER DIRT SERIES)

19 10th MAY CAPITAL CITY SPEEDWAY , OTTAWA ,ONT

20 13th MAY BROCKVILLE SPEEDWAY .ONT

21 17th MAY CAPITAL CITY SPEEDWAY ,OTTAWA, ONT

22 19th MAY THUNDER ALLEY SPEEDPARK , EVANS MILLS, NY

23 26th MAY AUTODROME EDELWEISS, CANTLEY, QUE

24 27th MAY ADIRONDACK INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ,NEW BREMEN , NY

25 27th MAY FROGTOWN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, HOGANSBURG , NY

26 28th MAY CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY, ONT

27 30th MAY ROLLING WHEELS RACEWAY PARK, ELBRIDGE , NY (WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINTS)

28 2nd JUNE AUTODROME EDELWEISS,QUE

29 4th JUNE AUGUSTA MOTORSPORTS PARK, ONT

30 10th JUNE BROCKVILLE SPEEDWAY ONT

31 11th JUNE CIRCUIT MONT-TREMBLANT. QUE

32 14th JUNE LERNERVILLE SPEEDWAY, PA (SUPER DIRT SERIES)

33 15th JUNE SUSQUEHANNA SPEEDWAY, PA (SUPER DIRT SERIES)

34 16th JUNE BREWERTON SPEEDWAY , NY

35 17th JUNE BROCKVILLE SPEEDWAY, ONT

36 18th JUNE CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY, ONT

37 23rd JUNE AUTODROME EDELWEISS, QUE

38 25th JUNE CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY ,ONT

39 1st JULY BROCKVILLE SPEEDWAY , ONT

40 2nd JULY CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY, ONT

41 4th JULY BROCKVILLE SPEEDWAY ,ONT (SUPERDIRT SERIES)

42 8th JULY FROGTOWN SPEEDWAY,NY

43 9th JULY CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY ,ONT (SUPER DIRT SERIES)

44 10th JULY AUTODROME DRUMMOND, QUE, (SUPER DIRT SERIES)

45 15th JULY AUTODROME DRUMMOND , QUE (CDN DIRT SERIES)

46 16th JULY CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY, ONT

47 21st JULY AUTODROME EDELWEISS , QUE

48 22nd JULY BROCKVILLE SPEEDWAY , ONT

49 23rd JULY CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY, ONT

50 28th JULY AUTODROME EDELWEISS , QUE (CDN DIRT SERIES)

51 29th JULY BROCKVILLE SPEEDWAY ,ONT (CDN DIRT SERIES)

52 30th JULY CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY (CDN DIRT SERIES)

53 4th AUG AUTODROME EDELWEISS, QUE

54 5th AUG FROGTOWN SPEEDWAY,NY

55 6th AUG CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY,ONT

56 7th AUG MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY,ONT (SUPER DIRT SERIES)

57 8th AUG RANSOMVILLE SPEEDWAY,NY (SUMMER NATIONALS)

58 12th AUG BROCKVILLE SPEEDWAY,ONT

59 13th AUG CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY,ONT

60 15th Aug CORNWALL MOTOR SPEEDWAY ONT (KART TRACK)

61 19th AUG BROCKVILLE SPEEDWAY, ONT

62 26th AUG CIRCUIT GILLES VILLENEUVE, MONREAL, QUE (CASCAR SUPER SERIES)

63 26th AUG AIRBORNE SPEEDWAY, PLATTSBURG, NY