Friday August 24th, began with a very humid sunny and sticky 42 degrees in Paris.
With just 1/2 hour before tapes-up, thick dark clouds rolled in towards the track, bringing the worry of a forecasted storm from the mid-US. The night began with rider introductions, and the formal national anthems of both the US and Canadian along side a very dry looking track. Despite the tanks of water that had been applied every half an hour before the races, the track was like a sponge and after heat 3 the racing was stopped for more water, as the track and area became a dust-bowl!
Our Junior Speedway Group were once again on hand to give a great show! The weekly duel between Matt Sehl and Braden Vallee continued to a great height and produced a thrilling heat of just a wheel length win! Great Stuff once again for the crowd, from these junior guys! Terry Rideout took a leap to ride in Division 1 this night. He felt confident enough to take on the big guns and did a good job of holding his own.
After his first race he came off the track and stated " Did we really do 4 laps in that time?" The pace being so much faster, and the speeds higher, Terry loved it! Sadly though for Terry, during a terrific race for position with Fred "Hotdog" Legault, his bike made a very loud bang and funny whirling noise on the back straight, and his night was done with a blown engine, as something blew his engine case to pieces!! Aaron Hesmer and Joe Heye continued their fight for Paris supremacy, they both were fired up and ready for battle. Joe Heye took the first heat really well and fell in the second, causing a restart.
He chewed away at Aaron Hesmer all race but was unable to get that extra yard! These guys really put on a great show! The night was also full of another battle, Aaron DeVeau continued his return to Paris by pushing Fred Legault all night. They both fought hard to race each other, and to also hold the battling Rideout too! Very good racing from these guys! Mark Engel was up from the US again, his Division 2 night was all his, as he rode strongly against the fiercely competitive Scott Collier, Graham Wale and John Bennett. Graham did suffer a few mechanical gremlins along the way, but John, Scott and Mark all pushed each other very hard in some very well, evenly matched racing.
It was nice to see these guys all trying so hard, not only for the fans, but for themselves as well! You may have guessed it by now, the stormy weather did come to spoil the show. All evening there were lightening flashes around the track and as we ran the last heat of the night, the wind really picked up and the heavens opened.
Joe Heye won this to capture the nights top prize based upon points against Aaron Hesmer. So finally, upon the decision to finish the meeting amidst the heavy rain, thundering clouds and electric blue lightening strikes, we ended the night with all anticipation of next weekends Paris Fair event!
