Rick Young's Rick at the Races - April 25-26, 2009

PIC 1   The Gauvreau team of Chelsea (Quebec) at Merrittville
PIC 2   Pete Bicknell of St Caterines (Ont) at his own track of Merrittville
PIC 3  Bobby Herrington of Kingston (Ont) at Merrittville
PIC 4  Todd Stewart,  Kingston (Ont) and Dale Planck , Cortland NY at Merrittville
PIC 5  Joel Doiron of Alexandria ( Ont) at Merrittville
PIC 6  Yours Truly at the DIRT MUSEUM Weedsport NY
PIC 7 Modified action at Weedsport
PIC 8  Sportsman action at Weedsport
PIC 9  Steve Paine in action at Weedsport
PIC 10 Jeremy Pitcher takes the Sportman victory at Weedsport
PIC 11  Steve Paine takes the Modified victory at Weedsport
PIC 12  The North Bay Speedway (Ont)

Following last week's rain out of the 358 SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES opener at the Can Am Speedway , Lafargeville (NY), the honor of staging the first round went to the Merrittville Speedway ,Ont. (for their series race scheduled for April 25) .

Merrittville staged the 2008 opener and I was there to see Dale Planck of Cortland NY take the honors. I always enjoy my visits to this venue, located just a short distance from the world famous Niagara Falls. This past weekend I made the trip again. According to the weather forecast, this years event was to be warm and sunny just like last year . Once again. I was joined by my buddy Roger Aubin and made the 6 hour journey in his Ford Escape. Like the weather man said it was a lovely sunny day when we arrived in the 'Falls' soon after midday, but things were soon to change.

There were over fifty 358 Modifieds in the pits, including many long distance travelers. The warm ups got underway which were followed by the time trials, just as the sky got darker. As the heats took place a few drops of rain began to fall as Mother Nature began to tease us. All around us the skies were black except for a stretch of brightness just above.

The odd spots of rain that fell had no effect and the heat races were completed with no problems. It looked like we might be lucky, and the show would survive as the first of the consi's took to the track. The spots of rain got more intense as the checkers fell, and before the second one could take the green, the track became un-raceable. It did ease off for a while as Mother Nature continued to tease, but by the time the inevitable cancellation had been announced the track was undergoing down pour conditions.

It was then back to the Motel for a beer !

The next day, we used the nearby Niagara Falls border crossing to the USA for part two of our weekend racing adventure. The destination was the Cayuga County Fair Speedway at Weedsport, New York. We had plenty of time to kill so took the scenic route through the Finger Lakes region. We stopped off at one of the many wineries where I bought a souvenir bottle of dry red.

On arrival at Weedsport we took a tour of the DIRT MUSEUM and HALL of FAME that's located on the Fairgrounds. I've been there a number of times before, but it's always worth another visit.

Racing started prompt at 6-00pm for the program headed by Modifieds and Sportsman. The Modified ranks were low as we'd expected (16) due to the conflicting SUPER DIRT SERIES race at the Big Diamond Speedway PA, but the quantity of Sportsman was more than adequate . Steve Paine took the victory in the Modifieds with Jeremy Pitcher doing likewise in the Sportsman. It was a beautiful sunny night and the show was over before 8-30 pm. Just right for a quick get away, allowing an arrival home in Long Sault (Ont) around mid night.

OTHER STUFF ... HELP NEEDED

Regular readers will know that I'm involved in TRACKCHASING, albeit in the 'minor leagues' . Check out www.trackchaser.net.

Last week on our forum National Speedway Directory publisher Allen Brown posed a question about the Bristol Speedway in Timmins, Ontario. We are trying to find out if it is still operating. It can clearly be seen on the Google satelite picture.

<http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=timmins&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=ca&ei=hZrvScCUG5K6M6mZ3O4P&ll=48.417314,-81.477495&spn=0.001741,0.003455&t=h&z=18 <http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=timmins&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=ca&ei=hZrvScCUG5K6M6mZ3O4P&ll=48.417314,-81.477495&spn=0.001741,0.003455&t=h&z=18> >

Will White our TRACKCHASING Commissioner from Quakertown PA managed to find some documentation that indicated it was still running in 2007. If anyone out there can supply me with any up to date info, I would greatly appreciate it.

Another track in the same area that can still clearly be seen on the satelite is the North Bay Speedway, Ontario.

<http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=north+bay+ont&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=ca&ei=2unwSaDgM4GEtweazMSmDw&ll=46.304564,-79.399395&spn=0.007249,0.013819&t=h&z=16>

It's located east of the city beside Hwy 17 , the Trans Canada Highway. Back in the late 1990's/early 2000's my work schedule took me past the track many times during race days, but I had no time to stop. I watched a bit of the action from my truck parked on the shoulder, but could not risk staying too long. I did go back for a closer look about five years ago while on a site seeing trip with my parents who were visiting from the UK but there was no racing taking place.

Will White attended what he believes was one of the last races there in 2003. If anyone knows if it is still running in present times, again any information would be appreciated. Actually if anyone knows of anything going on 'racing wise' in Northern Ontario , (Sudbury etc) I'd like to know.

Www.rickattheraces.com WEBSITE NEWS

Thanks to Modified driver, Wallace Stacey and Josee from the Lalonde Racing Team who are the two latest entries in the Guest Book, Check out Marc Lalonde's web site: www.lalonderaceteam.com.