Rick Young's 'Rick at the Races' Aug. 6 & 9, 2008

Rick Young's Rick at the Races ... www.rickattheraces.com

- 6 AUG     AIRBORNE SPEEDWAY PARK (NY)
- 9  AUG      CAPITAL CITY SPEEDWAY (Ont)

RAIN, RAIN , AND MORE %&$!#  RAIN

PHOTOS:

PIC 1  Tim Fuller chats tocar owner Mike Bruno car at Airborne.
PIC2   Tim McCreadie straps into his car at Airborne as owner Mike Perrotte looks on.
PIC 3 Vintage Stock Car action at Airborne.
PIC 4  The wrecked Mike Bruno car after a heat crash at Airborne.
PIC 5  Tim McCreadie # 35 chases Martin Roy # 90 at Airborne.
PIC 6  Martin Roy # 90 in the Airborne Victory Lane.
PIC 7   Tom Curley chats to one of his staff at Capital City
PIC 8   Track drying at Capital City
PIC 9    Brent Dragon # 55 chased by # 21 Jean-Francois Dery at Capital City
PIC 10  Veteran track announcers, Brian Mulligan (L) and Brian Goudge (R) at Capital City
PIC 11  Martin Lacombe # 03 pulls in to Victory Lane at Capital City
PIC 12   Martin Lacombe # 03 in the Capital City Victory Lane. 

Oh, what a rotten summer this is turning out to be ! It must have rained at least once every day from July until August. Sometimes you are lucky and it rains ( then dries) in the morning before the racing starts, but most likely it begins just before start time. This week I have just two events to report on.

Capital City Speedway, my regular Wednesday night track, took a night off this week ( 6 Aug) , in preparation for their ACT SERIES race on Saturday, so I used the opportunity to head across the border. The Airborne Speedway at Plattsburg (NY) were staging a special midweek Small Block versus Big Block Modified challenge.

Making guest appearances in loaned cars were the two Timmy's of, McCreadie and Fuller, from the World Of Outlaw Late Model Series. McCreadie was in the Mike Perrotte # 35 car and Fuller was in the spare Mike Bruno # 22 car. The unfortunate Bruno was involved in a bad wreck in the heats which demolished the front end of his racer. In the feature it was Napierville, Quebec's Martin Roy # 90 who took the honors after wresting the lead from McCreadie mid way.

I always enjoy my trips to Airborne and this was no exception. Mike Perrotte and his staff know exactly what race fans want when they run a mid week show, and don't waste time with unnecessary delays. The whole show was over before 10-00pm and I was home around mid-night.

On Friday (8 Aug) it rained 'on and off' for most of the day in the Montreal and Cornwall area so when I was finished work around 5-00pm I was in no rush to go anywhere. I didn't want to risk a wasted journey to Autodrome Edelweiss, so instead, I had a night at home. As I scanned the internet, most of the racing in the North East had been canceled but there was no news from Edelweiss. I later found out they survived the weather and my good friend Joel Doiron # 40 had won the feature. Oh well, I never was any good at gambling!

Saturday (9 Aug) my plans were to attend the aforementioned ACT Series race at the Capital City Speedway (Ottawa). It was lovely and sunny when I left home, and much the same when I arrived at the track.

As I did my pit 'walk a about' I chatted to many of the drivers as well as ACT supremo Tom Curley. I first met Tom, one of the most respected promotors in North America, a few years ago when I visited Thunder Road , his own track in Barre, Vermont. On that occasion I was there to meet top driver Jean Paul Cyr for a magazine article regarding his trip to compete in the BriSCA F1 World Final ( Brafield UK ). I was hoping to meet up with him again, along with fellow USA rep Phil Scott, but unfortunately only one visitor from Vermont turned up . That was Brent Dragon # 55.

All divisions took afternoon practice, until the daily dose of 'wet stuff' arrived late afternoon. A few support division heats were completed between spasmodic showers and necessary track drying until around 7-00pm when the Late Models started their heats.

I watched the 28 car Toromont CAT 100 lapper from the control tower behind Race Director Tom Curley and veteran announcers Brian Mulligan and Brian 'MotorMouth' Goudge. The race was plagued with cautions and I got to see first hand, how Curley has built his reputation.

He doesn't stand for B/S, from any driver, no matter who he is. You play by the rules, or you're 'history'. On a night like that, when race fans had been sitting patiently for hours in wet weather, it was the only way to be.

Early leader was Brent Dragon who was eventually passed by Quebecers, Martin Lacombe # 03 and Alexandre Gingras # 27. Gingras spun out late in the race handing the checkers to Lacombe and the runner up spot to Dragon.

Sunday (10 Aug) dawned damp and miserable but it wasn't raining, when I set off for the Cornwall Motor Speedway, but the nearer I got, the skies became darker. I always like to get there early and by the time I arrived it was thundering and lightning. Rain was coming down heavy as the cancellation call was made soon after 2-30pm .