Montreal Summer Classic

Duncan's car

The race weekend started off on a very...interesting note. On Thursday night, I had gotten a phone call from Duncan that I had to bring my grandfather's old walking cane. When I dared to ask why he needed it, he went on to explain that it was for Corey, one of the guys on our pit crew. Duncan told me that there was a bear near the RV where they were staying and Corey kicked it and that is how he hurt his ankle. When I asked what the real reason was, Duncan just laughed. The next morning, my father and I made our way to the Mont-Tremblant racetrack. As we were pulling into the grounds, there was an ambulance coming out, lights flashing, and three other vehicles were following it. When an ambulance is coming out like that, it's never a good sign. We drove over to Duncan's tent and we immediately unpacked the car so I could take Corey to the clinic. I soon found out what had happened to Corey and also why the ambulance was around. It turns out that Corey was sitting at the front of the golf cart when they were coming back from a practice on Thursday and his foot became caught underneath. It was dragged for a while. Everyone on the team makes fun of me because I was the only one who had gotten involved in a golf cart accident. Turns out, I'm not the only one anymore. I took Corey around St-Jovite to find a CLSC or somewhere he could go to, but there were no doctors available. So, we went back to the track and spent the rest of the day at the racetrack while the practices were going on. 

 When I was getting into the car, Eric (one of Duncan's old race buddies) was telling me that another golf cart related accident had happened to the team just across from us. There were two racecars parked behind each other and a golf car a couple of meters away. A man was working on the last car. A tire had accidentally fallen on the accelerator and the golf cart lurched forwards. He was caught between the car and the cart, which caused him to break both his legs. One of his femur bones broke through his skin! Fortunately, one of the racers came over and was taking care of him, making sure he was calm and did not succumb to shock. The race was stopped and the medical team came down to our paddock. Apparently, they were phenomenal. He was taken into surgery and he will be fine. 

 Saturday was an unbelievably hot day. It was 34 degrees and on pavement, it feels much hotter. Imagine also being in the pits wearing long pants and a t-shirt. Duncan qualified 13th in the morning's qualifying. It was a very hot and sticky morning and I'm sure I speak for all racers when I say that everyone was uncomfortable in the heat. The track was also apparently very slippery. Duncan made up for the 13th place in the first race. Eric and Jim were standing just behind the pit wall with the pit board. I was taking lap times. While I was writing them down, I could see Duncan's position lower from thirteenth to ninth. He stayed there until the second to last lap. All of a sudden as he was driving into the straight, he passed four cars at once! He was in fifth place and he managed to finish that way. It was a great race with no crashes. 

On Sunday, Duncan qualified 11th. The good news was that his lap times were consistent and were actually getting better. The race was a tough one, but Duncan finished in ninth place. He actually had a fantastic lap time, which we were very proud of! Duncan says that in the closing laps, he missed two shifts, which caused him to drop back from 5th place to 9th. It was also one of the closest races he had ever been in and one of the cleanest with "clean wheel to wheel, three wide action". There were only two drivers who had to retire from the race because of their cars, but there were no red flags and no crashes. It was a very good and productive weekend for everyone and we are all looking forward to racing at Trois Riveres at the beginning of August.