We finally got our first fix of summer flattrack racing at Canaan Speedway on Sunday. This was the 3rd race of a triple header weekend, Friday night Half-Mile at Rochester, Saturday night Shorttrack at Jolly Roger Motosports Park, and the 3/8 mile at Canaan.
We couldn't make either show Friday or Saturday but we were ready to race with our '79 XT500 Sunday when they opened the gates.
The newly resurfaced clay track had been watered down by the previous night's rain, and it was clear that it would take some type of surface prep along with a healthy dose of sun to make it rideable, never mind race-able.
So it was decided that the Quad racers would go out first and run their program start to finish. That was fine by us as the Quads generally do a decent job of creating a smooth racing surface, it's about all they're good for as far as I'm concerned. Well anyway, they did their best to amuse themselves and almost got through their whole program before two of 'em got together in T1 and had to be transported in separate ambulances. That put an end to their show.
When we walked the track after the Quad debacle we quickly discovered that the clay was coming up off the underlying dirt in huge sections through the turns. So much for the Quads.
The track grader was put to work and in about 45 minutes we had a fresh, smooth surface. On cue, the sun came out and we were ready to race.
I raced in the combined Senior A/B class, I'm a solid B (amateur) rider and in my heat race I managed to slide in behind the A rider and learn the fast line from him, which got me on the front row for my feature. My son was racing in Open Am and Vintage on the same bike. The Vintage class would be an all Yamaha affair with another TT500, a Knight framed radial head air-cooled DT25o and a sweet home-built XS650. Scott had them all covered though and was able to win his heat and feature with half a straight to spare.
The Open Am was another story with 4 other guys, all on modern 450's. Scott was still able to make 'em work for it though, with a decent start in his heat he was fighting for 2nd till he grabbed a little too much throttle and almost high-sided off T4. He collected it and resumed in 3rd to the end. His feature race went the same except for a poor start which prevented him from improving his 3rd position off the line.
My feature was exciting, at least from my view, an OK start had me in 3rd on the back straight behind an A rider and my B rival on his beautiful Wood/Rotax 670. Another A rider caught us going into T3 and we were three wide banging bars out of 4. So much fun. Well the other A rider and I had a few laps of trading lines, he got the better of it and I finished 4th overall, 2nd in class, but it was a tight group over the line.
So we put three trophies in the truck, which is OK, and we can't wait to do it again.
That's it for now.
Frank
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