BARRIE, ON - The annual Grand Prix of Barrie event, tentatively scheduled in 2005 for June 22-24th, will not be taking place this year.
Event Chairman Eric Lehner reports that, “New criteria set out by city council for the 2005 year during a recent in-camera session appears to have modified the 2004 operating model. The event organizer cannot respond with confidence that the event this year would achieve the same high standard set in previous years, without more time to make modifications.”
He went on to state that it is possible that with more time to consider the situation the annual Grand Prix of Barrie may resume in 2006.
The free-admission event has a large following in the Simcoe region and beyond, and has become known in motorsports circles as the “Monaco of Kart Racing” for the quality of sanctioned races, the picturesque setting, the festival atmosphere throughout the grounds and the high standard of associated exhibits, displays and demonstrations.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
TV: Kimmel to appear on Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain
NEW ALBANY, IN – Frank Kimmel, driver of the Advance Auto Parts Ford Taurus sponsored by Pork will be live via satellite on SPEED Channel’s Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain Sunday night March 27.
Kimmel is a winning racer with championship credentials. The Indiana native is a six-time ARCA RE/MAX Series driving champion, and the only driver in series history to win an unprecedented five consecutive titles. Kimmel has amassed 56 career victories in 281 career starts since 1990.
He also has 169 top-five finishes and 208 top-10s, more than any other driver in ARCA RE/MAX competition. Along with 38 career Pork Pole Awards and 13 consecutive ARCA RE/MAX Series seasons as a top-10 finisher, Kimmel is the only driver in series history to eclipse the $3 million dollar mark in team earnings. When you think of ARCA RE/MAX racing, Frank Kimmel driving the #46 Advance Auto Parts-Pork sponsored Fords has become a solid dominant force with achievements that continue to rewrite the record books.
This season marks Wind Tunnel's move to Sunday nights, LIVE from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. EST. For 2005, the two-hour format will include a weekly rotating cast of in-studio guest co-hosts in addition to the popular featured guest interviews Dave Despain has presented in the past.
As always, fans are encouraged to send their questions and comments for Dave, the co-host, or the featured guests. Despain shares his opinions on a variety of subjects throughout the world of motorsports, and along the way he'll encourage viewers to argue, respond or comment LIVE by phone or emails to share their topics, opinions and ideas.
What happened during the week? What's going on in the week to come? What are the big events? Who are the big personalities? What are the controversial issues? It's all fair game on this show. For years the “stick and ball” sports have been supported by call-in programs allowing fans to sound off. Now motorsports has a show of its own. It's a radio show on TV!
The ARCA RE/MAX Series PFG Lester 150 race on Nashville Superspeedway’s 1.33-mile concrete oval is scheduled for Saturday March 26, with the green flag dropping at 1:30 p.m. EST, and LIVE coverage of the race on SPEED Channel.
The ARCA RE/MAX Series cars take to the speedway Friday at 11:00 a.m. for a two-hour practice session prior to Pork Pole Award Qualifying at 4:30 p.m. to determine the 41-car starting line up.
For ticket information, call (866) RACE-TIX or visit Nashville Superspeedway online at www.NashvilleSuperspeedway.com.
Frank Kimmel www.FrankKimmel.com, from New Albany, Indiana, is the six-time ARCA RE/MAX Series driving champion, and the only driver in series history to win an unprecedented five consecutive titles, along with 56 posted series wins.
Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts is a leading retailer of automotive parts and accessories in the United States. The Company has over 2,600 stores in 39 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The Company serves both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets. Advance Auto Parts has also been involved with all six of Kimmel's championships.
Additional information about the Company, employment opportunities, services, as well as on-line purchase of parts and accessories can be found on the Company's web site at www.AdvanceAutoParts.com.
The National Pork Board has responsibility for “Pork Checkoff” funded research, promotion and consumer information projects and for communicating with pork producers and the public. For information on Checkoff-funded programs, pork producers can call the Pork Checkoff Service Center at 800.456.PORK.
The National Pork Board has sponsored the #46 team for their five consecutive series championships. Their racing activities include designation of Pork as the Official Meat of the ARCA Series, a national tour of a race car simulator, and sponsorship of The Pork Pole Award which recognizes the fastest qualifying car for each ARCA event throughout the season.
For more information about the National Pork Board and their racing program please visit their websites at: www.PorkBoard.org and www.PorkRacing.com.
With its Midwestern roots dating back to 1953, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) www.ArcaRacing.com has grown into one of the country's premier oval track racing series, and for 2005, the ARCA RE/MAX series will run 23 events on a variety of tracks including some of America’s top super speedways and short tracks throughout the eastern half of the United States.
For more information, contact:
Bruce F. Mehlenbacher
Director of Public Relations // Office: 905.772.1800 Ext. #22 // Fax: 905.772.1799 // Cellular: 905.517.5345 // Email: mehlenbacher@nas.net // Website: www.frankkimmel.com // Tri-State Motorsports Telephone: 812.944.4620 // Fax: 812.944.6650 // Email: Arcaraceshop46@aol.com // Website: www.frankkimmel.com
NASCAR: Pyne talks more about a NASCAR race in Canada
Thanks to Greasemonkey for passing this along....
TSN.ca - Auto Racing - NASCAR coming to Toronto or Montreal?: "According to a report in the Toronto Star, NASCAR is considering Toronto and Montreal as race sites.
''We'll visit different places in Canada in the next 30 to 90 days to see what opportunities exist,'' NASCAR chief operating officer George Pyne told the Winston-Salem Journal for a story published Monday. ''The two markets are Toronto and Montreal. Where within those markets? Obviously it will be a road course. But where, we don't have an answer.''"
TSN.ca - Auto Racing - NASCAR coming to Toronto or Montreal?: "According to a report in the Toronto Star, NASCAR is considering Toronto and Montreal as race sites.
''We'll visit different places in Canada in the next 30 to 90 days to see what opportunities exist,'' NASCAR chief operating officer George Pyne told the Winston-Salem Journal for a story published Monday. ''The two markets are Toronto and Montreal. Where within those markets? Obviously it will be a road course. But where, we don't have an answer.''"
Monday, March 21, 2005
SPEED WC GT: Penfold impresses in Sebring debut
With files from No.Dot Marketing
SEBRING, FL – Alex Penfold had a strong first outing in the Pfaff Porsche/AXA Financial Porsche during last Friday’s SPEED World Challenge GT event in Sebring, FL, finishing 13th overall in a field of 31 cars.
Driving the Jon Groom Racing 2000 Porsche GT3 Cup Car, Penfold managed to set the eighth-fastest time in official practice on Wednesday and that proved to be good in more ways than one. As well as surprising a lot of people with his performance, Penfold’s eighth-place time became his starting position as the rains hit on Thursday, making the track dangerous and canceling qualifying. This also allowed the team time to make the changes to the suspension that was needed to improve the handling.
Starting behind teammate Robin Liddell of Scotland, Penfold was just a little nervous about his first start in the big league, but he handled everything well. Liddell slowed on the start and Penfold went past him on the inside and moved up to fifth place by the middle of the first lap.
Then reality set in.
“The changes the team made had gone a little too far, and I quickly found out that I had a massive understeer,” Penfold said. “I could not accelerate in the corners and I was losing a lot of speed as a result. And this is not a track where you can afford to lose corner speed because of the high speed sections and the long straights!”
Soon he was caught and passed by other cars and he battled on to try to stay in the running. By the end he had dropped to 13th place, and second amongst Rookies.
“The team did an excellent job getting my car ready and it was a good result for my first race, but I know I could have placed better, so I am not totally satisfied,” he said. “We’ll see what we can do in St. Petersburg in two weeks time.”
Sad anniversary: Scott Fraser
I was just reminded, by Joan Roue, that March 21 is the first anniversary of the passing of Maritime stock car star Scott Fraser. I still can't believe it... and time sure does fly.
Scott was an amazing talent and a real gentleman. There is something interesting going on 'down east' to keep his memory alive. Shawn Turple and his team have joined with Frank Fraser (Scott's dad) to field a team for the entire CARQUEST Pro Stock Tour.
I'm just editing a story on this for our next issue. Thanks to Joan for the heads up.
Scott was an amazing talent and a real gentleman. There is something interesting going on 'down east' to keep his memory alive. Shawn Turple and his team have joined with Frank Fraser (Scott's dad) to field a team for the entire CARQUEST Pro Stock Tour.
I'm just editing a story on this for our next issue. Thanks to Joan for the heads up.
ALMS: KUMHO Wins in ALMS Debut at Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
With files from ALMS
SEBRING, FL – KUMHO captured the LMP2 class win at the 53rd running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, held March 19 at Sebring International Raceway in Florida.
Teamed with defending class champion Miracle Motorsports and drivers Jeff Bucknum, Ian James and Chris McMurry, KUMHO’s new tires for Miracle’s Courage C-65 prototype performed flawlessly, helping the team win Sebring for the second straight year and giving KUMHO a win in its first American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race.
“The tires performed as they were intended to,” said KUMHO Motorsports Manager Rudy Consolacion. “The only issue we had was two punctures caused by debris. Fortunately they both happened at the same time and in a great location, just before the pit entrance, and Ian was able to duck into the pits for a tire change without losing much time and without damaging the car.
“We signed a contract with Miracle at the end of December, so our development schedule has been extremely compressed,” noted Consolacion. “In two months we built molds and conducted two tests with four different compounds and constructions. We were very pleased with how the tires performed and how they held up.”
The Miracle team ran double stints on the tires, and one set ran two-and-one-half stints-72 laps, nearly 270 miles at speeds up to 180 mph. When the crew finally pulled the tires off the car, Miracle tire engineer Jerry Burns said “The tires look good, real good. We could do another stint on them.”
Burns, who’s been involved in motorsports as a tire engineer since 1966, is still having fun. “I’m enjoying working with the KUMHO guys,” he said. “It’s fun to work with an up-and-coming team.”
“A lot of people wondered what the heck we were doing switching from a ‘known’ tire to KUMHO because they were new to the series,” said driver Chris McMurry after the race. “But the tires were awesome.”
“The biggest change in the car from last year is the tire manufacturer,” said Ian James, who drove to a class championship with Miracle in 2004. “KUMHO has done a great job in a very short amount of time.”
“We feel great working with KUMHO,” said Jeff Bucknum. “We were confident before the race because we knew they would do the job. The tires performed great and were very drivable the whole time.”
After Thursday’s qualifying session was cancelled due to heavy rain, the cars were gridded according to their practice times. Bucknum’s best lap of 1:54.792 put the Miracle car sixth on the grid overall and second in class. He bested that time during the race with a lap time of 1:54.502, good for the seventh fastest lap time of the race.
The Miracle car completed 311 laps of the 3.7 mile circuit, covering a total of 1,150.7 miles in 12 hours. The team finished the race in 12th position overall in the 38-car field. The car spent nearly 40 minutes in the pits making unexpected repairs on a broken alternator and a loose steering column. Without those problems, the team would have completed roughly another 20 laps, which would have placed the car sixth overall.
SEBRING, FL – KUMHO captured the LMP2 class win at the 53rd running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, held March 19 at Sebring International Raceway in Florida.
Teamed with defending class champion Miracle Motorsports and drivers Jeff Bucknum, Ian James and Chris McMurry, KUMHO’s new tires for Miracle’s Courage C-65 prototype performed flawlessly, helping the team win Sebring for the second straight year and giving KUMHO a win in its first American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race.
“The tires performed as they were intended to,” said KUMHO Motorsports Manager Rudy Consolacion. “The only issue we had was two punctures caused by debris. Fortunately they both happened at the same time and in a great location, just before the pit entrance, and Ian was able to duck into the pits for a tire change without losing much time and without damaging the car.
“We signed a contract with Miracle at the end of December, so our development schedule has been extremely compressed,” noted Consolacion. “In two months we built molds and conducted two tests with four different compounds and constructions. We were very pleased with how the tires performed and how they held up.”
The Miracle team ran double stints on the tires, and one set ran two-and-one-half stints-72 laps, nearly 270 miles at speeds up to 180 mph. When the crew finally pulled the tires off the car, Miracle tire engineer Jerry Burns said “The tires look good, real good. We could do another stint on them.”
Burns, who’s been involved in motorsports as a tire engineer since 1966, is still having fun. “I’m enjoying working with the KUMHO guys,” he said. “It’s fun to work with an up-and-coming team.”
“A lot of people wondered what the heck we were doing switching from a ‘known’ tire to KUMHO because they were new to the series,” said driver Chris McMurry after the race. “But the tires were awesome.”
“The biggest change in the car from last year is the tire manufacturer,” said Ian James, who drove to a class championship with Miracle in 2004. “KUMHO has done a great job in a very short amount of time.”
“We feel great working with KUMHO,” said Jeff Bucknum. “We were confident before the race because we knew they would do the job. The tires performed great and were very drivable the whole time.”
After Thursday’s qualifying session was cancelled due to heavy rain, the cars were gridded according to their practice times. Bucknum’s best lap of 1:54.792 put the Miracle car sixth on the grid overall and second in class. He bested that time during the race with a lap time of 1:54.502, good for the seventh fastest lap time of the race.
The Miracle car completed 311 laps of the 3.7 mile circuit, covering a total of 1,150.7 miles in 12 hours. The team finished the race in 12th position overall in the 38-car field. The car spent nearly 40 minutes in the pits making unexpected repairs on a broken alternator and a loose steering column. Without those problems, the team would have completed roughly another 20 laps, which would have placed the car sixth overall.
ALMS: Sebring - Audi 1-2, Aston beats Corvette!
By Gary Horrocks
SEBRING, FL – It’s six years in a row for Audi at Sebring, as Tom Kristensen, Marco Werner and JJ Lehto combined to win the 12-hour race by a margin of just over six seconds ahead of their R8-driving teammates. The Champion Audis start off their final year of racing with yet another strong effort.
In GT1, the new Corvette C6-R’s had the pace, but they each had a problem, allowing the new Aston Martin DBR9 to win its maiden race. Victory went to David Brabham, Darren Turner and Stephane Ortelli.
The #3 Corvette was the first to hit trouble, when a front brake disc exploded while at speed, sending Johnny O’Connell into the wall, causing heavy damage. O’Connell, teamed as usual with Ron Fellows and Max Papis, recovered to finish second in class, one lap back.
The second factory Corvette rebounded from heavy damage, sustained by a skirmish while in traffic. They inherited third in the last few minutes of the race when the ACEMCO Saleen S7-Rwas retired due to excessive oil leakage.
P2 was won by Miracle Motorsports in their Kuhmo tire-shod Courage. It finished 10th overall and was the only car in class left running at the end. GT2 saw a fitting end to the weekend, as the Petersen/White Lightning Porsche 911 RSR capped off a dominant performance with a seven-lap class victory, finishing seventh overall.
A more detailed report will appear in the next issue of Inside Track Motorsport News.
SEBRING, FL – It’s six years in a row for Audi at Sebring, as Tom Kristensen, Marco Werner and JJ Lehto combined to win the 12-hour race by a margin of just over six seconds ahead of their R8-driving teammates. The Champion Audis start off their final year of racing with yet another strong effort.
In GT1, the new Corvette C6-R’s had the pace, but they each had a problem, allowing the new Aston Martin DBR9 to win its maiden race. Victory went to David Brabham, Darren Turner and Stephane Ortelli.
The #3 Corvette was the first to hit trouble, when a front brake disc exploded while at speed, sending Johnny O’Connell into the wall, causing heavy damage. O’Connell, teamed as usual with Ron Fellows and Max Papis, recovered to finish second in class, one lap back.
The second factory Corvette rebounded from heavy damage, sustained by a skirmish while in traffic. They inherited third in the last few minutes of the race when the ACEMCO Saleen S7-Rwas retired due to excessive oil leakage.
P2 was won by Miracle Motorsports in their Kuhmo tire-shod Courage. It finished 10th overall and was the only car in class left running at the end. GT2 saw a fitting end to the weekend, as the Petersen/White Lightning Porsche 911 RSR capped off a dominant performance with a seven-lap class victory, finishing seventh overall.
A more detailed report will appear in the next issue of Inside Track Motorsport News.
Great weekend of racing!!
Wow. What a great weekend for racing. While it was disappointing that Ron Fellows and the other Canadians didn't win at Sebring, several of them were in the hunt. The overall victory was a matter of seconds - and not laps or minutes - which was very exciting.
The Atlanta Cup race was a thriller, too. Carl Edwards dirt-tracked his way around Jimmie Johnson to nose ahead for the win out of turn 4. The two bumped a bit but it was a clean and exciting conclusion to a great race. Edwards is extremely likeable and kudos to Johnson for being a good sport about things!
The F1 race in Malaysia was less dull than usual... in fact, it was almost exciting at times... so that means there's probably a rule change on the way, because God knows, there's a law against having exciting F1 races.
Had to laugh when both Honda BAR engines went kaboom in the first laps. Their stunt of parking their cars on the last lap of the first race - so that they could get around the 2-race engine rules - blew up in their faces... literally.
And give a shout out to Bridgestone for supplying sub-par tires to Ferrari and Michael Schumacher, who was a backmarker for the second race in a row. If Bridgestone continues to miss the mark, we might actually have a fun F1 season for a change. But again... isn't there a law against that?
And... poor Jacques. The great Karnac predicts the following headline: "Villeneuve slams... the gravel". Haven't heard the excuses yet, but I'm sure they'll come. Next stop: Minardi.
Finally, Dean McNulty of the Toronto Sun had a really good story about Scott Maxwell in Sunday's automotive section. It sounds like Maxwell really clicked with Matt Kenseth and the other Roush Cup guys during the Rolex 24 at Daytona and has found himself a job (another one) as the team's road course coach... sort of like what Fellows is doing with DEI. Good for Scott and thanks to Dean for the story. I can't find it online as Dean's stories don't go past last October on the Sun site... so if anyone else can track it down, I'd appreciate it.
The Atlanta Cup race was a thriller, too. Carl Edwards dirt-tracked his way around Jimmie Johnson to nose ahead for the win out of turn 4. The two bumped a bit but it was a clean and exciting conclusion to a great race. Edwards is extremely likeable and kudos to Johnson for being a good sport about things!
The F1 race in Malaysia was less dull than usual... in fact, it was almost exciting at times... so that means there's probably a rule change on the way, because God knows, there's a law against having exciting F1 races.
Had to laugh when both Honda BAR engines went kaboom in the first laps. Their stunt of parking their cars on the last lap of the first race - so that they could get around the 2-race engine rules - blew up in their faces... literally.
And give a shout out to Bridgestone for supplying sub-par tires to Ferrari and Michael Schumacher, who was a backmarker for the second race in a row. If Bridgestone continues to miss the mark, we might actually have a fun F1 season for a change. But again... isn't there a law against that?
And... poor Jacques. The great Karnac predicts the following headline: "Villeneuve slams... the gravel". Haven't heard the excuses yet, but I'm sure they'll come. Next stop: Minardi.
Finally, Dean McNulty of the Toronto Sun had a really good story about Scott Maxwell in Sunday's automotive section. It sounds like Maxwell really clicked with Matt Kenseth and the other Roush Cup guys during the Rolex 24 at Daytona and has found himself a job (another one) as the team's road course coach... sort of like what Fellows is doing with DEI. Good for Scott and thanks to Dean for the story. I can't find it online as Dean's stories don't go past last October on the Sun site... so if anyone else can track it down, I'd appreciate it.
OHSWEKEN: CANADIAN SPRINT CAR NATIONALS SECURES LEAD TECH INSPECTOR
By Ken Pelkie
OHSWEKEN, ON - Long time sprint car Tech Inspector, Mike Seiver of Angelica, New York is the latest addition to join the team of officials for the inaugural Canadian Sprint Car Nationals to be run at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, September 17th. Seiver will lead a team of inspectors at the inaugural event overseeing all aspects of pre and post race technical inspections.
“With Mike retiring from his position with ESS as a Tech Inspector at the end of the 2004 season, it provided us an opportunity to enlist his services as an independent and knowledgeable leader for this position” stated Event Coordinator/Publicist Ken Pelkie. “Inspecting all of the anticipated entries for this event will be a huge undertaking that will require a cooperative effort, necessitating one person be picked to coordinate and lead the effort - Mike is that person”, Pelkie went on. “It is in all of our collective interest to secure the best people available to enforce the rules and keep the field level”.
Seiver joins Race Director Jason Fausey, Head Scorer Randa Vandertuin and Registrar Cheryl Pelkie as officials for the event.
The Canadian Sprint Car Nationals will bring together the stars and cars from the four premier sprint car series in the surrounding area (ESS, Patriots, SOS and SOD) for a national showdown. The event is also expected to attract other top teams from outside the area including Knoxville Raceway.
For up-to-date information be sure to log on to the official website of Ohsweken Speedway at www.ohswekenspeedway.com and go to the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” icon.
OHSWEKEN, ON - Long time sprint car Tech Inspector, Mike Seiver of Angelica, New York is the latest addition to join the team of officials for the inaugural Canadian Sprint Car Nationals to be run at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, September 17th. Seiver will lead a team of inspectors at the inaugural event overseeing all aspects of pre and post race technical inspections.
“With Mike retiring from his position with ESS as a Tech Inspector at the end of the 2004 season, it provided us an opportunity to enlist his services as an independent and knowledgeable leader for this position” stated Event Coordinator/Publicist Ken Pelkie. “Inspecting all of the anticipated entries for this event will be a huge undertaking that will require a cooperative effort, necessitating one person be picked to coordinate and lead the effort - Mike is that person”, Pelkie went on. “It is in all of our collective interest to secure the best people available to enforce the rules and keep the field level”.
Seiver joins Race Director Jason Fausey, Head Scorer Randa Vandertuin and Registrar Cheryl Pelkie as officials for the event.
The Canadian Sprint Car Nationals will bring together the stars and cars from the four premier sprint car series in the surrounding area (ESS, Patriots, SOS and SOD) for a national showdown. The event is also expected to attract other top teams from outside the area including Knoxville Raceway.
For up-to-date information be sure to log on to the official website of Ohsweken Speedway at www.ohswekenspeedway.com and go to the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” icon.
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