In Akwesasne, dirt track racing draws crowds from North Country and beyond
Last Friday, August 25, at the Mohawk International Raceway in Akwesasne, muddy-soled drivers and pit crews rushed around making last-minute adjustments to their cars. Racing enthusiasts gather here on summer weekends to compete on the dirt track in categories based on engine power, like Sportsman, 358 Modified, and Pro Stock. Many of the cars are family passion projects — the driver owns the car, his or her family makes up the pit crew, and the family business is the sponsor.
Lucas Cayea, 10, is on a pit crew with his family. He knows how to handle the tires, shocks and bolts on his uncle's Sportsman car, and he says that he'll be able to start racing in just two years when he turns 12.
Before racing, drivers take "hot laps." They careen around the track to feel how their cars respond to its consistency, which can change with precipitation and humidity levels. Then they participate in heat races to try to qualify for the final feature events, whose winners take home thousands of dollars in prize money.
After hot laps, all drivers gather for a meeting. Last Friday, Don Simpson crouched on the gravel to take photos with a large digital camera. He's been photographing dirt track races since 1968.
"I just picked up an old film camera and started photographing races and I haven't stopped," Simpson said.
He says dirt track races are really exciting to photograph, because there's lots of passing. And he says the sport teaches drivers and pit crews valuable skills like focus, communication, and attention to detail.
Right in front of the big grandstands, a few men leaned against a chain link fence.
"We're just studying the track right now," said Jonathan Viens, 27, from Montreal. The track can be slippery when there's been recent rain or mist.
Viens comes to the track with his family, too: his father and grandfather. His dad's a mechanic, and their car is sponsored by the family garage. He and his dad both drive, and they both work on the car.
358 Modified driver Brianna Ladouceur, from Cornwall, Ontario, is something of a celebrity here. She's been doing this for a decade since she was 14 years old. Seven years ago, she made history at Super Dirt Week in Syracuse, when she became the first woman to win a "triple" race in 45 years. She's had to have a thick skin to get where she is now.
"When I first started racing a lot of people were saying we have to race with a girl, she's gonna be in my way," she said. "It was a lot of back talk that came back to me, but a lot of people now say, 'Oh, ok, she races like a guy, so it doesn't matter.'"
Ladouceur sees racing as a really wholesome family activity. She's here every weekend with her parents, her husband and her one-year-old son, who she says will definitely race someday.
"I'm gonna make him grow up at a race track like my dad made me grow up at a race track. It's definitely a whole family thing. I love it. And it keeps you out of trouble," she said. "Even in high school, every weekend my friends would be going to parties but I'd be coming here to the racetrack to race, so it definitely keeps me out of trouble."
Ladouceur says her favorite thing about racing is inspiring younger fans.
"Being a girl, and then having the little girls come up to you and say, "I wanna be you one day," I don't know, it's just so heartfelt," she said.
Last Friday was the raceway's annual autograph night. During intermission, fans were encouraged to go onto the track to meet their favorite drivers.
Ladeucer handed out lollipops from a bucket and the mother of a brand-new driver came up to greet her.
"Tell her I started when I was young, too!" Ladeucer told her.
Ladeucer's own mother, Lysa Ladouceur, stood just off to the side holding Ladeucer's 1-year-old son.
"It's nerve-wracking [to watch Brianna race], but we do it as a family thing, and it's fun to watch," she said.
