Border Patrol – A weekly look at racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands
Craig Revelle – April 11, 2011
Finally, after a long off-season, racing in the North Country is back as several area tracks opened for the first time this season this past weekend, while many other tracks got the season underway with open practice, allowing competitors to shake their cars down, making sure everything is in proper working order before the first green flag of the season.
My first trip to the track this year was a visit to one of my favorite places, Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports Park in Lafargeville, New York. With the nice weather towards the end of the week, and lasting into Saturday, many local teams got the itch to go out and put their cars to the test. The pit area was filled up with cars as well as go-karts, which also had the opportunity test during the weekend. While Saturday was sunny and warm, the test session also took place on Sunday, under cloudy, and rainy conditions through late afternoon.
It is always nice to check out the new cars on the track, and see who has moved up into other divisions, and who has changed their paint scheme. I did see that Chris Thurston moved up into the Sportsman ranks for 2011, and several new Late Models were also in attendance. The Late Model division is definitely a growing class, and I look forward to watching them this season.
With the car shows, banquets, and practice sessions out of the way, it time to go racing. Tentatively, my plan is to travel to Brewerton Speedway on Friday night for their season opener, and then go to the season opener at Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports Park on Saturday afternoon.
The season at Brewerton this year will be interesting, as we all know that John Wight decided not to return under the DIRTcar banner, and I look forward to seeing the fan and car counts on opening night. The Big Block Modifieds will be on the schedule along with Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Mod Lite and the 4-cylinder Super Stocks.
Chapman’s Can Am Motorsports Park also underwent a lot of change this year, with the Big Blocks no longer on the schedule. With very few other track open, I would expect the first few weeks at Can Am will have a full pit area, and many cars in all divisions. Opening night will see a 40 lap feature for the 358 Modifieds, paying $2000 to win, and the Sportsman, Late Models and Street Stocks will also be racing for a higher then normal purse. Just a reminder to all team planning to race at Can Am on Saturday, the race starts at 4pm.
With Can Am and Brewerton opening this weekend, the rest of our local tracks aren’t too far behind. Thunder Alley Speed Park opens, Saturday, April 23rd, Brockville and Cornwall open May 14th and 15th respectively, and Mohawk International Raceway is set to open on May 20th.
As the season gets underway, there are several races that I am really looking forward to this year. Besides the obvious season openers at all the tracks, I am really looking forward to the World of Outlaw Sprint car race at Brockville on July 29th. This will be a fantastic show, with all the big name sprint car racers at my home track. The Outlaw 200 at Fulton is also a highlight to my season, as well as the Fall Nationals at Brockville to end the year.
I hope you continue to enjoy my weekly column, as always, any comments or suggestions can be sent to crevelle@ripnet.com