During the course of the year, rain-outs have caused me a few disappointments , but the big down pour that hit most of the North East last Friday did me a great favor.
One big event I look forward to each year is the Eastern States Weekend at the Orange County Fair Speedway at Middletown NY. It's the curtain closer of the SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES for all the divisions within the the organization. It's an event that has been going for 46 years and I first heard about it back in the 70's when I lived in the UK.
Let me digress for a moment... In the late 70's , following an article I had printed in Petersen Publishing's HOT ROD MAGAZINE concerning British stock car racing, I received regular correspondence from North American Modified fans. One of them was a guy called Bill Goodrich of Fort Montgomery NY who was a regular at the Orange County Fair Speedway located at Middletown, not far from New York City . He told me all about the Eastern States Weekend as well as mentioning a top driver called Buzzie Reutimann and some young kid called Brett Hearn who was starting to make a name for himself. Over the years I lost contact with Bill, and often wonder if he still attends the races. If any of my NY readers know of his whereabouts and could put me back in touch, it would be great.
After taking the previous weekend off ( from racing) , to recover from SUPER DIRT WEEK (All the comings and goings of this big event certainly take it out of you ) I was all set for the six hour drive down to Middletown. It's difficult to take time off work at the moment, so the logistics have to be well planned. The 'Eastern States' is a three day event starting on Friday, so on most occasions, I've ended up missing the opening night. My car was packed Thursday night so I'd be ready to head South straight from work on Friday. I'm in the trucking industry and you are never 100% sure when you'll get finished. It turned out to be a really hectic day and I was still driving my truck around Montreal at 7-00pm at night. I eventually got back to my terminal in Cornwall Ontario , and after ending my shift at 9-00pm , I was soon heading South in the pouring rain. Although the forecast for the rest of the weekend was for sunny weather, I was selfishly hoping it would be raining in Middletown on Friday too, which would mean a postponement of the races to Saturday. After traveling down Interstate 87 and over the Adirondack Mountains , I reached a favorite truck stop of mine at exit 16 just north of Saratoga at around 1-00am. The seats were folded down on my Chevy and I slept until about 6-00am. After a wash and scrub, I was back on the road and arrived in Middletown at 9-00am in time for Breakfast. Sure enough, on arrival at the track I discovered Friday nights show had been washed out and with sunshine predicted for the rest of the weekend, the make up events were planned for Saturday morning. Just as I'd hoped ! 'Mother Nature' was kind to me this time !
As usual there was a big crowd assembled for DIRT racings last big event of the year and with the weather now warm and sunny the stage was set for some great racing. With a large turnout of cars in all divisions there were a lot of qualifying races to get through before the days headline 100 lap SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES race for 358 DIRT Modifieds could take place. I set myself up on the infield by turn three and four with camera in hand waiting for the action. It was a sign of things to come when a big wreck occurred involving Kenny Stafford # 60 and Joe Puzzella # 82P right in front of me. This was just the first of many big crashes that occurred over the weekend.
There were a lot of my buddies in attendance, including Cornwall Motor Speedway promotor Ron Morin, so for the start of the 100 lap Mod race I joined him in the pace truck. I can now say I've done a couple of laps of the OCFS !
This race, which was just one of many over the weekend was probably one of the less interesting, with Brett Hearn # 4 ( yes, that young guy I'd heard about from the 1970's) taking the lead from Pat Ward # 42P on lap 8 and staying there unchallenged to the checkers.
Sharing the glory in Victory Lane was Mario Clair # 22 of St Edmund , Quebec, the newly crowned 358 MR DIRT SUPER DIRTCAR Series Champion. I guess for this year he will be called "Monseiur DIRT"
It was now around supper time , so I took off into town to one of the usual restaurants I frequent. This turned out to be a wrong move. After supper I went into the nearby Walmart Photo Department to print off some of my afternoon pictures, which included the 'wreck' shot of Stafford and Puzzella. I was just about to leave Walmart when I had that sudden 'urge' to run to the nearest washroom ( toilet) . For the next twenty minutes or so I was committed to a self-imposed 'solitary confinement' until I felt safe to emerge. I guess something I ate for supper disagreed with me !
I then returned to the track and got my bed made up ( folded the seats down in my Chevy once more) next to my buddies RV in the camping area before checking out the evenings DIRT Sportsman races. At the same time as these were going on , there's was also a lot of socializing to be done at the "31st LAP" . This is the name given to the track bar located behind the main stand, where each year on the Saturday night of the ESTERN STATES WEEKEND they hold a "New Years Eve" Party complete with all the streamers , garlands, hats and hooters etc. It's always a lot of fun, so I split my time between watching the Sportsman and 'partying'. I saw Mike Ruggiero # 4R win the Sportsman SUPER DIRTCAR race then retired to the bar to see the 'New Year' in.
I awoke on Sunday morning to yet another warm and sunny day, and after breakfast ( at a different restaurant ! ) I was ready for more racing action. First of all it was the on-track PIT PARTY for fans to meet the drivers. I chatted briefly to former SUPER DIRTCAR SERIES champion Gary Tomkins who told me a little bit about his forthcoming racing tour to Australia . Apparently an 'Aussie' driver came over and bought one of his old cars and shipped it back home. Following this, Gary has been offered the chance to drive it at a few selected events 'down under' in November.
Top of the bill on Sunday was the 200 lap Eastern States race for big Block Modifieds with a DIRT Pro Stocks Series race as supporting act.
Just like Syracuse, two weeks previous, there were a lot of my local drivers taking part in this division , and I chatted to , Roch Aubin # 4R of Alexandria, Ontario in the pits. It was his first time there so I warned him to stay away from the wall. The Pro Stocks are noted for providing plenty of wrecks and today was no exception. Denny Gauvreau # 72 another of my local drivers was involved in the second nasty wreck of the weekend when he flipped on to the roof of Sean Corr # 8 demolishing both cars. There was more carnage in their 25 lap feature ( won by Eric Marin # 214) with a total of 14 cautions ( it felt like 114 ! ) . Roch kept away from the wall, survived any major wrecks and came in a creditable ninth position.
The Pro Stocks stoppages caused things to run late but eventually it was time for the big race for the DIRT MODS. Once again I stationed myself on turn 3 and 4 hoping to be close to the action. I wasn't to be disappointed !
Things looked all set for another Brett Hearn victory (this time driving his # 20 car) so I was in the process of 'panning' a decent action shot of him when all hell let loose, just behind him. As I turned, I saw the rear end of Frank Cozze's # 44 car smashing through the outer advertising boards, taking down an electricity pole with him, just as Rusty Smith # R2 rolled into the wall behind him. It looked horrific as Smiths car sat on it's side smoking with the throttle jammed wide open. The red flags were soon out and thankfully both drivers were OK, but it was one of the scariest looking incidents I've seen in all my years of racing. Emergency crews and track staff worked well and it wasn't long before racing resumed. Hearn who had led most of the early laps continued leading until Billy Decker # 91 got by on lap 86 with local hero Jeff Heotzler # 66 not far behind . Decker looked uncatchable until lap 193 when he ran out of gas. This handed the lead top Hoetzler who went on to take the flag. After many years of trying, the 2007 OCFS track champion, Jeff Hoetzler of Wallkill NY , close to Middletown finally won the big one.
With everything running later than expected, and with a six hour drive ahead of me, I skipped the Victory Lane photo session and was out of the gate as quickly as I could. With the minimum of stops, I was back home at 12-30 and ready to go back to work on Monday morning for a rest !
This year's Eastern States will be very memorable, not only for the excitement on the track but for the warm and sunny weather. I never dreamed that at my last race meeting of the year I'd be wearing shorts and T shirt.
THANKS to my photographer buddy , Boris Rudzinski for allowing me to use his Victory Lane shot of EASTERN STATES 200 winner Jeff Hoetzler
That's right, this past weekend brought my 2007 RICK @ the RACES campaign to an end. With nothing else planned until the ice racing starts in January this will be the last report until then. Hopefully, it will give me a chance to get back 'on track' with my RICK @ the RACES (RETRO REPORTS) which got sidelined while things got busy. The last one I did brought us up to the latter part of 1979 and with any luck, I'll have the final chapter for that year out to you before long.
PIC 1 Jeff Hoetzler wins the Eastern States 200 BORIS RUDZINSKI PHOTO
PIC 2 Bobby Varin tests the wall in hot laps
PIC 3 Danny O'Brien dices with Vic Coffey
PIC 4 Rusty Smith catches Colin Jackson
PIC 5 2007 358 SUPER DIRTCAR CHAMPION Mario Clair
PIC 6 Brett Hearn in Victory Lane following his 358 Modified win
PIC 7 The start of the Stafford/Puzzella crash
PIC 8 More of the Stafford/Puzzella crash
PIC 9 The Smith/Cozze crash
PIC 10 The Smith/Cozze crash
PIC 11 The Smith/Cozze crash
PIC 12 The Rusty Smith car after the crash
PIC 13 The Frank Cozze car after the crash
PIC 14 The denny Gauvereau Pro Stock after the crash
PIC 15 The Sean Corr Pro Stock after the crash
PIC 16 Roch Aubin in action in his # 4 Pro Stock
PIC 17 No it's not a photo from the 70's, it was taken at this years Eastern States
PIC 18 Eventual Eastern States winner Jeff Hoetzler # 66 avoids a wreck
PIC 19 I got the 'shirt"
