PHOTOS:
PIC 1 Flashback to an earlier visit to the Hagerstown Speedway MD
PIC 2 Standing on the Williams Grove grass in preference to Ontario's snow
PIC 3 Kasey Kahne fuels up his sprint car at Williams Grove
PIC 4 Kasey Kahne checks the tires on his sprint car at Williams Grove
PIC 5 Kasey Kahne gets read to race at Williams Grove
PIC 6 Kasey Kahne gets strapped in at Williams Grove
PIC 7 The wrecked Chris Meleason car at Williams Grove
PIC 8 Williams Grove feature winner , Craig Dollansky
PIC 9 Canadians on Tour at the Lincoln Speedway
PIC 10 Thunder Cars at the Lincoln Speedway
PIC 11 Kasey Kahne in his Sprint Car at the Lincoln Speedway
PIC 12 Kasey Kahne and 'Fast' Freddy Rahmer at the Lincoln Speedway
PIC 13 Lincoln Speedway feature winner Greg Hodnett
It was six years ago that I made my first ten hour journey to the Hagerstown Speedway ( Maryland) from Ontario, which was done in a rusty old Honda Civic, that I had at the time. I remember roughing it , and sleeping in the car on the way down . The trip was a blast, and the racing I witnessed that night was first class. I saw Gary Tomkins win his first big SUPER DIRT SERIES race.
Since that day, back in 2002, I've completed three more trips to Hagerstown in an attempt to re-enact that great experience. They have all been unsuccessful. On my second visit, the night came to an end after snow started falling during the rolling lap of the first race. On my third , it got canceled when bad weather was expected , and the same thing has just happened this weekend !
Lucky for long distance race fans, there are other tracks in the area. For the second time, the Lincoln Speedway in Pennsylvania has come to my rescue.
I left a snow covered Eastern Ontario at 5-30 am on Good Friday with the intention of catching the evening races for Sprint Cars at the Williams Grove Speedway PA on the way down. Like my previous trip south, I was accompanied by my buddy Roger Aubin and we used his Ford Escape.
Once we crossed in to the USA the snow on the ground disappeared, and by the time we arrived at the 'Grove' ( mid afternoon) we were in another 'world'. The sun was shining and the grass was clearly visible. I haven't seen the grass in my garden since last November !
It wasn't long after our arrival that I bumped into a couple of DIRT Modified fans from New York that I knew, and it was them that relayed the bad news about the Hagerstown cancellation. Apparently it was called off early , to save the race teams and fans a wasted journey with the predicted bad weather on the way. Of course this was too late for us.
This was my second visit to Williams Grove, and although Sprint Cars are not my favorite division, this place has to be one of the best places to see them. This part of the USA is a hot-bed of Sprint Car racing with many local hero's and the famed 'PA Posse'.
Joining local stars ,'Fast' Freddy Rahmer, Greg Hodnett , and Lance Dewease were the World Of Outlaws invaders, of Craig Dollansky ( Minnesota) and Joey Saldana (Indiana). Making an appearance in the spare Saldana car was NASCAR SPRINT CUP driver Kasey Kahne, taking advantage of the series break for Easter to get back to his roots.
I was there early enough to wander the pits soon after they opened and before it got too busy. I soon spotted Kasey , wearing a grey touque (beanie) who was working on his car. I must admit, it surprised me to see him grab the fuel can and funnel and fill it up. He followed this by working on his tires. I guess you don't expect a 'Superstar' to be in the pits getting his hands dirty with the rest of the crew. He was definitely not aloof and it was obvious he just wanted to be 'one of the guys'.
When the fans started arriving in the pits he found time to chat , sign autographs and have pictures taken. Great Stuff ! Full Marks to you Kasey!
The night's feature came under red flag conditions after Chris Meleason flipped and hit the front stretch inner wall. After the restart Dollansky, current World of Outlaws points leader took the checkers. The night was spent in a motel close to the Flying J Truck Stop at Carlisle and we awoke Saturday morning to find about an inch of snow on the car. This soon melted and following breakfast, our next task was to figure out where ( and if ) we were going to see any more racing. Of course, with my past record of Hagerstown cancellations, I'd made back up plans.
There were three possibilities of local Saturday night tracks. After phoning Port Royal Speedway PA, we found they had canceled. We checked the Selinsgrove Speedway PA web site on the Truck Stop internet service, and found that they had canceled too. We couldn't get through, by phone ( it was permanently busy) to the Lincoln Speedway PA , but decided to risk it, and go anyway.
This proved to be a good move . The place was dry, there were race car haulers waiting to get in and a team of guys working on the track. All good signs !
Like Williams Grove , the headline division were the 410 Sprint Cars, with many of the previous nights runners, and once more including Kasey Kahne.
Legends and Thunder Cars were also on the program. I was very impressed with the appearance of the Thunder Cars ( the regular 8 cylinder stock car division) Nearly all of them had top quality paint jobs, and were a credit to their owners.
The Sprint Car feature which was completed nicely around 9-00pm was won by local favorite Greg Hodnett.
Once again I enjoyed my visit to the Lincoln Speedway , an impressive dirt track that I can recommend . The swift turn around of the show and the early finish allowed us to be on our way, and booked into a motel in Scranton PA around mid-night. On Easter Sunday afternoon we were back in 'The Great White North' of Ontario dodging the snow piles!
RACES ATTENDED IN 2008
1 JAN 19 ARENA ESSEX ( Thurrock UK)
2 JAN 27 LAC MORIN , Notre Dame De Mont Carmel ( 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)
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