Border Patrol - A weekly look at racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands

Border Patrol - A weekly look at racing from both sides of the 1000 Islands

Craig Revelle - April 22, 2012

With the 2012 racing season opening events at Brewerton Speedway and Chapman's Can Am Motorsports Park on my schedule for this past weekend, I was anxious to see some Modified racing, as opposed to the Sprint Cars that I watched the previous week at Fulton. Don't get me wrong, I love Sprint Car racing too, but I grew up watching our Modifieds, and was excited to get back to the track and watch them.

Friday was a great day, and in the early afternoon I crossed the 1000 Islands border crossing and made the trip to Brewerton Speedway for their season opener. Brewerton is located just a few minutes north of Syracuse, just off Interstate 81. It would be hard to find a better venue to watch a race at then Brewerton Speedway, especially for a regular Friday night show that features a star-studded lined up that includes Matt Sheppard, Alan Johnson, Billy Decker, Jimmy Phelps and Pat Ward just to name a few. Like most races that I have witnessed at Brewerton, the 35 lap Modified feature was a great one, with Ryan Phelps taking home the popular win in a race that only had one caution. Billy Decker finished second, Chris Hile was third followed by Jimmy Phelps and Australian driver Peter Britten. Kingston, Ontario racer Ryan Scott won the IMCA Modified feature, Tim Devendorf won the Mod Lite feature with Stephen Denton taking home the opening night win in the 4 cylinder Super Stock main event.

Also on my racing schedule for the weekend was the opening night events at Chapman's Can Am Motorsports Park. Although the forecast for overnight and all day Saturday was calling for rain, I hoped that the weatherman would be wrong, and we would be able to go racing at Can Am. Much to my dismay, it did rain all day long, and track officials were forced to cancel. Evans Mills Speedway was a viable option as I had hoped the rain would cease early enough, but they too pulled the plug on their program.

I had no racing plans at all scheduled for Sunday, so I had a relaxing day at home working on some Finish Line Web Design business, and preparing this column from my notes from the weekend. I also watched the NASCAR race from Kansas Speedway. NASCAR has definitely lost its appeal in recent years, but I do enjoy following the progress of my favorite drivers, Matt Kenseth, and Greg Biffle. It was Denny Hamlin taking the win, with Martin Truex Jr. in second and Jimmie Johnson in third. Kenseth and Biffle had a solid day finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

This coming weekend, I hope to be back at Brewerton Speedway on Friday night, and will also take in the season opener at Chapman's Can Am Motorsports Park, which will be headlined by the first race of 2012 for the Empire Super Sprints. Sportsman, Late Models and a Pro Stock/Street Stock Challenge race are also on the schedule, plus practice for all other divisions. The Modifieds had not been on the original schedule, but the track will offer them some practice time, and will also compete in a 15 lap $500 to win dash for cash race open to all Modified teams. The race will also pay $300 for second, $100 for both third and fourth, and $50 to all other competitors in the race. In addition, Finish Line Web Design will also throw in $100 to the first 358 Modified, potentially make this race $600 to win if a 358 Modified can take the checkered flag first.

As for the other tracks in the area, Brockville Speedway and Mohawk Raceway both open for practice on Saturday, May 5th. Brighton Speedway opens on May 5th as well with a full racing program. Mohawk International Raceway has their 2012 season opener on Friday, May 11th with Brockville opening up on Saturday May 12th. Cornwall Speedway will host their first race of 2012 on Victoria Day Weekend, with a 100 lap 358 Modified Mr. DIRTcar Series/Canadian Nationals Series event on Sunday, May 20th.

I look forward to seeing everyone at the track in just another week. I hope you continue to enjoy my weekly column, as always, any comments or suggestions can be sent to crevelle@ripnet.com.