Courtesy Wonderland Speedway
Folks, the track owner just called. Tonight’s racing program (Friday Sept 16th) has been cancelled due to the rain.
Gates will open at 2:00 tomorrow (Saturday Sept 17, 2005) for the annual Wonderland Classic.
See you all then!
For more info visit www.wonderlandspeedway.com.
Friday, September 16, 2005
KAWARTHA: Summer Sizzler: Saturday Schedule
Sept. 17, 2005 – Kawartha Speedway
8:00 Gates Open
8:30 Tech Inspection & Draw
9:30 Drivers Meeting
In Pit Grandstand
10:00 Practice (alternating divisions –
see reverse)
11:30 Track Closed
11:55 Post Parade LM#71 TH#63
MS#19 Legend ?
12:00 Late Models 4H – 12L/Q6àSizzler
Thunders 2H – 8 L/Q4 à Semi
Minis 2H – 6L/Q4 à Semi
Legends 2H – 8L
Late Models 1st Consi – 12L/Q6àSizzler
Thunder Semi Feature - 10L
Late Model 2nd Consi – 12L/Q6àSizzler
Mini Semi Feature –8L
Legend Car Feature 25L
Thunder Car Feature 25L
Grid Sizzler Cars on Front Stretch
In Car Driver Introductions
Anthems and Invocation
SUMMER SIZZLER 1St Segment 50L
Mini Stock MINI SIZZLER 1st Segment 25 L
SUMMER SIZZLER 2nd Segment 50L
Mini Stock MINI SIZZLER 2nd Segment 25L
SUMMER SIZZLER 3rd Segment 50L
*****SUMMER SIZZLER VICTORY LANE*****
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Sept. 17, 2005 – Kawartha Speedway
Practice Schedule
10:00 Late Models
10:10 Legends
10:15 Thunder Cars
10:20 Mini Stock
10:25 Late Models
10:35 Legends
10:40 Thunder Cars
10:45 Mini Stocks
10:50 Late Models
11:00 Legends
11:05 Thunder Cars
11:10 Mini Stocks
11:15 Late Models
11:30 Track Closed
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
8:00 Gates Open
8:30 Tech Inspection & Draw
9:30 Drivers Meeting
In Pit Grandstand
10:00 Practice (alternating divisions –
see reverse)
11:30 Track Closed
11:55 Post Parade LM#71 TH#63
MS#19 Legend ?
12:00 Late Models 4H – 12L/Q6àSizzler
Thunders 2H – 8 L/Q4 à Semi
Minis 2H – 6L/Q4 à Semi
Legends 2H – 8L
Late Models 1st Consi – 12L/Q6àSizzler
Thunder Semi Feature - 10L
Late Model 2nd Consi – 12L/Q6àSizzler
Mini Semi Feature –8L
Legend Car Feature 25L
Thunder Car Feature 25L
Grid Sizzler Cars on Front Stretch
In Car Driver Introductions
Anthems and Invocation
SUMMER SIZZLER 1St Segment 50L
Mini Stock MINI SIZZLER 1st Segment 25 L
SUMMER SIZZLER 2nd Segment 50L
Mini Stock MINI SIZZLER 2nd Segment 25L
SUMMER SIZZLER 3rd Segment 50L
*****SUMMER SIZZLER VICTORY LANE*****
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Sept. 17, 2005 – Kawartha Speedway
Practice Schedule
10:00 Late Models
10:10 Legends
10:15 Thunder Cars
10:20 Mini Stock
10:25 Late Models
10:35 Legends
10:40 Thunder Cars
10:45 Mini Stocks
10:50 Late Models
11:00 Legends
11:05 Thunder Cars
11:10 Mini Stocks
11:15 Late Models
11:30 Track Closed
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Would Someone Tell Rossi He’s Driving a Ferrari in 2007…
By James NeilsonMore from the ongoing will-he-or-won’t-he rumour that MotoGP King Valentino Rossi is headed to Ferrari to partner Mclaren star Kimi Raikkonen in 2007...
In an interview with Italian Newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport Rossi nixed rumours that he was heading for Formula One after his Yamaha MotoGP contract expires after the 2006 season. Rossi goes so far as to say that Ferrari tech boss Ross Brawn’s comments about a testing program already being in place for next year are categorically untrue.
Since the rumours began Rossi has maintained his MotoGP commitments would not allow him the time required to learn the complexities of driving a modern-day, state-of –the-art, Formula One machine.
"Let's suppose it's only six of them (Ferrari Tests): it would be almost a full time effort, and it would mean I decided to race in F1, which I haven't.
"If one day this happens, then I would only do it to try to win, and this requires a 100% effort, both mentally and time-wise."
"I heard Ross Brawn's words with a smile: maybe for programs regarding myself it would be nice if I too was informed about them.
"Instead I don't know anything about that and it's not in my plans."
"Everyone talks about me, without me being part of that environment, it's a really strange thing," he said.
Rossi even hits out at some Formula One luminaries for negative comments they have made to the press.
"And I also hear sharp, even nasty opinions about myself," he added.
"(Flavio) Briatore, (Giancarlo) Fisichella, and (Jarno) Trulli: maybe they are a bit envious of me, with a will to demonstrate that the F1 world and drivers are better than those of motorbikes.
"I think the opposite, but then again maybe they're afraid of me.
"By nature I can't think of what will happen in two years' time and start to get ready now. But it's clear that I have to do something, to find new challenges."
Don’t you just love good old fashioned trash talking? It's interesting that those most vocally against Rossi entering Formula One are the two Italian drivers, Fisichella and Trulli. Maybe they’re true colours aren’t Maranello red…They look awfully green when the subject of Rossi to Ferrari comes up.
Briatore just likes to add his two cents to everything though...There will be more on this one for sure.
For more Rossi stuff check out www.rossifiles.com.
From CASCAR: Rain at Kawartha shuffles weekend schedule
For immediate release: 2:15 p.m. on Friday, September 16, 2005
FRASERVILLE, ON – With rain still falling at Kawartha Speedway, track and CASCAR officials determined that it was time to cancel Friday’s racing schedule at the Peterborough-area oval.
The ‘Summer Sizzler’ Triple 50 Late Model event scheduled for this evening will be pushed back to Saturday afternoon.
The CASCAR PowerWater Series 100-lap season finale has been moved from Saturday afternoon, and will now be run in conjunction with the CASCAR Super Series championship-deciding race, on Sunday.
CASCAR: REVISED SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Kawartha Speedway
Dodge Ram Tough 250, presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario
September 18, 2005
Sunday September 18, CASCAR Super Series and Power Water Series Championship Event
7:30 am Pit gates open
8:00 am – 9:00 am CASCAR Power Water Series technical inspection
9:00 am – 11:00 am CASCAR Super Series technical inspection
9:30 am Power Water Series mandatory drivers meetings
10:00 am Super Series Mandatory drivers and crew chief meeting, spotters meeting to follow immediately
11:00 am –1:00 pm Super Series and Power Water Series rotating practice
1:00 pm Power Water Series time trials
1:45 pm Super Series time trials
2:30 pm Power Water Series 100 lap feature race
3:25 pm Super Series driver introductions
3:40 pm Dodge Ram Tough 250
presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario
FRASERVILLE, ON – With rain still falling at Kawartha Speedway, track and CASCAR officials determined that it was time to cancel Friday’s racing schedule at the Peterborough-area oval.
The ‘Summer Sizzler’ Triple 50 Late Model event scheduled for this evening will be pushed back to Saturday afternoon.
The CASCAR PowerWater Series 100-lap season finale has been moved from Saturday afternoon, and will now be run in conjunction with the CASCAR Super Series championship-deciding race, on Sunday.
CASCAR: REVISED SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Kawartha Speedway
Dodge Ram Tough 250, presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario
September 18, 2005
Sunday September 18, CASCAR Super Series and Power Water Series Championship Event
7:30 am Pit gates open
8:00 am – 9:00 am CASCAR Power Water Series technical inspection
9:00 am – 11:00 am CASCAR Super Series technical inspection
9:30 am Power Water Series mandatory drivers meetings
10:00 am Super Series Mandatory drivers and crew chief meeting, spotters meeting to follow immediately
11:00 am –1:00 pm Super Series and Power Water Series rotating practice
1:00 pm Power Water Series time trials
1:45 pm Super Series time trials
2:30 pm Power Water Series 100 lap feature race
3:25 pm Super Series driver introductions
3:40 pm Dodge Ram Tough 250
presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario
WWS STANDINGS - Conference "A"
Conference A
Delaware – Kawartha – Flamboro
1. Pete Vanderwyst - Delaware -1349.50
2. David Elliott - Flamboro - 1267.86
3. Gary Elliott - Flamboro - 1104.40
4. Sean Dupuis - Delaware - 1050.18
5. Scott Lyons - Flamboro - 1043.98
6. Cole Pearn - Delaware - 1001.88
7. Dan McHattie - Kawartha - 645.75
8. Kelly Balson - Kawartha - 606.92
9. Larry Jackson - Kawartha - 583.10
10. Terry King - Flamboro - 1038.29
11. Scott Lindsay - Delaware - 972.38
12. Paul Howse - Flamboro - 952.69
13. Todd Campbell - Flamboro - 937.87
14. Jeff Stewart - Flamboro - 879.23
15. Ron Sheridan - Delaware - 842.05
16. Jay Doerr - Delaware - 826.79
17. Jason Hathaway - Delaware - 813.41
18. Mark Burbridge - Flamboro - 789.38
19. Greg Cox - Flamboro - 728.84
20. Doug Stewart - Delaware - 728.71
21. Abe Harder - Delaware - 686.02
22. Dale Timmermans - Delaware - 646.05
23. Dave Baker - Flamboro - 591.54
24. Simon Wild - Flamboro - 591.32
25. Kevin Benish - Flamboro - 583.81
26. Dave Morgan - Kawartha - 575.96
27. Andrew Thompson - Delaware - 561.28
28. Adam Quarrie - Delaware - 491.47
29. Nick Sinopoli - Kawartha - 463.63
30. Steve Laking - Flamboro - 437.83
31. Dan Kimmerly - Kawartha - 429.33
32. Shawn Chenoweth - Flamboro - 403.94
33. Dave Bennett - Flamboro - 370.66
34. Tony Bawden - Delaware - 364.06
35. Brent Travis - Flamboro - 352.34
36. Rob Fletcher - Delaware - 350.94
37. Brandon Mowat - Kawartha - 345.66
38. Jeff Toms - Kawartha - 339.97
39. Linc Brown - Kawartha - 338.54
40. Bryan Mercer - Kawartha - 334.97
41. Shane Gowan - Flamboro - 331.58
42. Jim Sweers - Flamboro - 330.71
43. Kent Nuhn - Kawartha - 307.24
44. Rob Starr - Delaware - 303.19
45. Steve Roberts - Kawartha - 287.86
46. Scott Gibson - Flamboro - 282.85
47. Jay Christie - Delaware - 276.60
48. Dave Riopelle - Kawartha - 258.88
49. Darrin Thring - Kawartha - 230.31
50. Jason Shaw - Flamboro - 215.76
WWS STANDINGS - Conference "B"
Conference B
Barrie – Mosport – Peterborough –Sunset
1. John Gaunt - Barrie - 1698.22 PTS
2. Tom Walters - Barrie - 1627.78
3. Vic Parsons - Sunset - 1562.85
4. Tim Watson - Barrie - 1459.65
5. Jeff Walt - Sunset - 1366.28
6. Paul Milligan - Sunset - 1332.35
7. John Baker - Peterborough - 693.35
8. Craig Graham - Peterborough - 693.19
9. John Pollock - Peterborough - 523.42
10. Mark Gordon - Mosport - 1549.66
11. Ron Quesnelle - Sunset - 1331.00
12. Robin Jongen - Barrie - 1222.74
13. Dwayne Baker - Barrie - 1208.09
14. Steve Quesnelle - Sunset - 1164.90
15. Darrin Malcolm - Barrie - 1134.20
16. Kevin Cornelius - Sunset - 1111.04
17. Ken Bemrose - Sunset - 1029.34
18. Dario Caprichio - Sunset - 983.82
19. Dan Robinson - Mosport - 979.04
20. Mike Brown - Barrie - 909.89
21. Dave Lewis - Barrie - 905.84
22. Ian Bourque - Barrie - 894.92
23. Todd Delisle - Mosport - 886.06
24. S. MacPherson - Mosport - 870.95
25. J. Mombourquette - Barrie - 849.35
26. Garry Reynolds - Barrie - 821.86
27. Amanda Connolly - Sunset - 821.08
28. Dan Kimmerly - Mosport - 806.98
29. Rob James - Barrie - 805.39
30. David Woolings - Sunset - 793.48
31. Dwight Brown - Barrie - 784.68
32. Lambert Yake - Sunset - 763.34
33. Jamie Palmer - Sunset - 742.41
34. Mike Bentley - Sunset - 713.54
35. Maurizio Ciccarelli - Sunset - 685.23
36. Tyler Hawn - Barrie - 682.26
37. Bill Northam - Mosport - 674.19
38. Jason Witty - Sunset - 673.03
39. Doug Wills - Mosport - 637.63
40. Scott Beatty - Barrie - 635.20
41. Rob Inglis - Sunset - 612.68
42. Rick Boucher - Mosport - 602.21
43. Mike Poulton - Mosport - 601.02
44. Joe Sherman - Sunset - 598.98
45. Jim Horner - Mosport - 587.36
46. Kevin Reynolds - Barrie - 577.11
47. Joey McColm - Barrie - 561.91
48. Craig Chen - Mosport - 534.15
49. Steve Penny - Barrie - 517.10
50. Terry Shaw - Mosport - 514.26
OHSWEKEN: Friday rained out. Gates open noon on Saturday
SOS Insider,
"Tonight's SOS Invitational at Ohsweken Speedway has been cancelled due to
weather and wet grounds.
Tomorrow's "CANADIAN SPRINT CAR NATIONALS" will be run as scheduled with
Spectator Gates opening at 12:00 noon.
Hot laps at 5:00 followed by Time Trials.
Racing at 7:45 p.m.
Sunday will be the raindate for the Nationals with a 1:00 p.m. race time if
needed. If the Nationals are completed on Saturday as scheduled, Sunday will be
used as the rain date for the SOS Invitational. Race time will be 5:00 p.m.
SOS Online
"Tonight's SOS Invitational at Ohsweken Speedway has been cancelled due to
weather and wet grounds.
Tomorrow's "CANADIAN SPRINT CAR NATIONALS" will be run as scheduled with
Spectator Gates opening at 12:00 noon.
Hot laps at 5:00 followed by Time Trials.
Racing at 7:45 p.m.
Sunday will be the raindate for the Nationals with a 1:00 p.m. race time if
needed. If the Nationals are completed on Saturday as scheduled, Sunday will be
used as the rain date for the SOS Invitational. Race time will be 5:00 p.m.
SOS Online
GAUNT, WALTERS, PARSONS, VANDERWYST, ELLIOTT? LUCAS OIL WWS STANDINGS INTO THE WEEKEND
Joshua Paxton, Lucas Oil Weekend Warrior Series, Paxton Motorsports MarketingONTARIO – Ontario’s league of grassroots stock car racing, the Lucas Oil Weekend Warrior Series, is preparing to crown it’s first ever Weekend Warrior Champion in just a couple weeks. The whole season builds to a climactic finish at Peterborough Speedway’s Lucas Oil Autumn Colours Classic on the weekend of October 8th and 9th, with the final feature races of the season for both conferences of Ontario Late Model competition.
In the immediate future are the season finales of Kawartha Speedway, Delaware Speedway, and Sunset Speedway this weekend. The top contenders for the inaugural Lucas Cup are all stationed in Conference B, as John Gaunt, Stompin’ Tom Walters, and ‘Quick’ Vic Parsons prepare for the final few showdowns. On the other side, Conference A, Pete Vanderwyst is desperately clinging to a stale point lead as David Elliott has turned it up a notch in the past couple weeks, determined to unseat the Delaware hotshoe and become the conference champ.
Following below are the current standings of the Lucas Oil WWS, showing the top 50 drivers in each conference of Ontario Late Model competition. This is just half of the WWS registered roster of 2005, with more than 200 drivers having taken part in this initial year.
Conference "A" Standings
Conference "B" Standings
WWS, the BEST grassroots stock car racing, see you there: www.WeekendWarriorSeries.com
DRIVE FOR RELIEF AT MIS HAS BROUGHT OUT THE BEST IN PARTICIPANTS
Courtesy Bill Janitz, Director of Public Relations, Michigan International Speedway
BROOKLYN, Mich. - After four days of Michigan International Speedway's "Drive for Relief," people have been ecstatic about the opportunity to give a donation to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, as well as taking a few laps around the 2-mile MIS oval.
With hundreds of cars taking part, the event has been a hit with many from all over the region and as far away as Ontario, Canada. People can still take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on Friday, September 16 from 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Drew Doman, an 11-year-old from Lake Columbia, Mich., took a few laps around MIS with his parents Scott and Susan. Drew went around his local neighborhood and asked for donations for the Drive for Relief. In the end, he brought nearly $250 with him, which he dropped in the donation bin at MIS' start/finish line.
"He worked really hard at collecting money from the neighborhood," said his father Scott. "He went out for two hours during the evening to collect the money and bring it here to MIS."
On Thursday, school buses from Jackson County Western and Hudson public schools took a few laps around the track.
The Hudson School District bus had second grade students from Lincoln Elementary School. Teachers Kathy Smith, Cindy Corner and Beth Reamsnyder brought over 50 second-graders as a reward for their lesson plan of respect, responsibility and safety. All the students saved their loose change and donated it to the Hurricane Relief effort.
In addition, seven large trucks from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) took two laps around the track. All seven trucks came from the Lenawee County Garage in Adrian.
"This is great. I've always wanted to take one of these trucks on the track," said the Manager of the Maintenance Garage Clarence 'Mooch' Timm, who helped put together the MDOT effort. "All of these guys used their vacation time to come out here today. This is for a good cause and I'm excited about it."
Other visitors included Joan Keenman of Livonia, Mich. and Gerald Grossman of Manchester, Mich. Keenman checked out of her senior home in Livonia for the day and drove down to the track.
"I wanted some of the other ladies in the home to come with me, but they weren't up to driving at MIS I guess," she said. "I've been meaning to donate some money to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. I figured, why not give a donation and be able to take a few laps around a tremendous facility like MIS in the process. I wish I could've stayed longer."
Grossman made the 14-mile trek from Manchester to MIS in his 1930 Ford Model-A 2-door coupe he had restored last year.
"I think I pushed it to about 35 miles per hour," he said. "That was so enjoyable. My first trip to MIS was during the first time trials ever hosted here in 1968. I haven't been back since just this last August when I came out to the Onsted Show Car Nationals. I wasn't able to take the car out on the track then, so this was a great opportunity for me to do it now, and give back to the relief effort. Hopefully we can do this again next year."
Even with all the experienced drivers taking laps around the track, a few less experienced teenagers took part in the event. With a white driver's education vehicle, driving instructor Paula Swartz gave her two students, Andrea Anderson of Jackson and Jazzy Parks of Clark Lake, a final driving lesson on the 18-degree banked turns at MIS. Anderson and Parks were taking their final driving lessons before obtaining their licenses in the near future.
"I heard about the event and thought "we should do that," said Swartz. "We called the boss and he said it would be OK."
Both students were very excited after taking a few laps each.
"This was really cool. You felt like the car was going to tip over in the turns," said Anderson. "I was a little nervous."
"This was a perfect ending to our driving class," said Parks. "I wish we could have come out here all the time for driver's education. It was awesome."
Donations for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts can also be made by visiting, www.racefanshelp.com.
BROOKLYN, Mich. - After four days of Michigan International Speedway's "Drive for Relief," people have been ecstatic about the opportunity to give a donation to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, as well as taking a few laps around the 2-mile MIS oval.
With hundreds of cars taking part, the event has been a hit with many from all over the region and as far away as Ontario, Canada. People can still take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on Friday, September 16 from 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Drew Doman, an 11-year-old from Lake Columbia, Mich., took a few laps around MIS with his parents Scott and Susan. Drew went around his local neighborhood and asked for donations for the Drive for Relief. In the end, he brought nearly $250 with him, which he dropped in the donation bin at MIS' start/finish line.
"He worked really hard at collecting money from the neighborhood," said his father Scott. "He went out for two hours during the evening to collect the money and bring it here to MIS."
On Thursday, school buses from Jackson County Western and Hudson public schools took a few laps around the track.
The Hudson School District bus had second grade students from Lincoln Elementary School. Teachers Kathy Smith, Cindy Corner and Beth Reamsnyder brought over 50 second-graders as a reward for their lesson plan of respect, responsibility and safety. All the students saved their loose change and donated it to the Hurricane Relief effort.
In addition, seven large trucks from the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) took two laps around the track. All seven trucks came from the Lenawee County Garage in Adrian.
"This is great. I've always wanted to take one of these trucks on the track," said the Manager of the Maintenance Garage Clarence 'Mooch' Timm, who helped put together the MDOT effort. "All of these guys used their vacation time to come out here today. This is for a good cause and I'm excited about it."
Other visitors included Joan Keenman of Livonia, Mich. and Gerald Grossman of Manchester, Mich. Keenman checked out of her senior home in Livonia for the day and drove down to the track.
"I wanted some of the other ladies in the home to come with me, but they weren't up to driving at MIS I guess," she said. "I've been meaning to donate some money to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. I figured, why not give a donation and be able to take a few laps around a tremendous facility like MIS in the process. I wish I could've stayed longer."
Grossman made the 14-mile trek from Manchester to MIS in his 1930 Ford Model-A 2-door coupe he had restored last year.
"I think I pushed it to about 35 miles per hour," he said. "That was so enjoyable. My first trip to MIS was during the first time trials ever hosted here in 1968. I haven't been back since just this last August when I came out to the Onsted Show Car Nationals. I wasn't able to take the car out on the track then, so this was a great opportunity for me to do it now, and give back to the relief effort. Hopefully we can do this again next year."
Even with all the experienced drivers taking laps around the track, a few less experienced teenagers took part in the event. With a white driver's education vehicle, driving instructor Paula Swartz gave her two students, Andrea Anderson of Jackson and Jazzy Parks of Clark Lake, a final driving lesson on the 18-degree banked turns at MIS. Anderson and Parks were taking their final driving lessons before obtaining their licenses in the near future.
"I heard about the event and thought "we should do that," said Swartz. "We called the boss and he said it would be OK."
Both students were very excited after taking a few laps each.
"This was really cool. You felt like the car was going to tip over in the turns," said Anderson. "I was a little nervous."
"This was a perfect ending to our driving class," said Parks. "I wish we could have come out here all the time for driver's education. It was awesome."
Donations for the Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts can also be made by visiting, www.racefanshelp.com.
OHSWEKEN: Still a go (10:30 a.m.)
SOS Insider,
As of 10:30 am tonights events at the Ohsweken Speedway are going ahead as planned. However, should tonight events be postponed due to the weather an official announcement will be made by 3:00 pm today at the latest.
If the Friday night race card is rained out it will be rescheduled to Sunday. Warm ups would begin at 4:30 pm with racing action starting at 5:00 pm. Saturday's Canadian Sprint Car Nationals will maintain its originally scheduled date and times.
Stay tuned for further information.
SOS Online
As of 10:30 am tonights events at the Ohsweken Speedway are going ahead as planned. However, should tonight events be postponed due to the weather an official announcement will be made by 3:00 pm today at the latest.
If the Friday night race card is rained out it will be rescheduled to Sunday. Warm ups would begin at 4:30 pm with racing action starting at 5:00 pm. Saturday's Canadian Sprint Car Nationals will maintain its originally scheduled date and times.
Stay tuned for further information.
SOS Online
KAWARTHA SPEEDWAY: Summer Sizzler still a go (10:30 a.m. Friday)
10:30 a.m. update:
Just spoke with the track and as of now, tonight's Summer Sizzler show is still 'a go'.
It's raining in the region right now... we'll try to keep you posted as the day continues.
Just spoke with the track and as of now, tonight's Summer Sizzler show is still 'a go'.
It's raining in the region right now... we'll try to keep you posted as the day continues.
More on NASCAR & Montreal & Canada
Hat tip to Ken Spencer of the #10 NAPA CASCAR Super Series team for this story....
It's by NASCAR beat reporter Mike Mulhern of the Winston Salem Journal.
My comments are immediately below, followed by the Mulhern piece.
There are a lot of strange signals coming out of Montreal right now.
Their ChampCar race was a mess. Some speculated that it was scuttled on purpose in the hopes that it would open a hole in the contract for '06, allowing the track to put on an IRL / NASCAR event in ChampCar's place.
In the wake of the August ChampCar race in Montreal, a report emerged that event promoter Normand Legault had a handshake agreement to put on an IRL race there next summer. I've had people tell me that people associated with the IRL said it was a done deal; everything but the signature.
Then, on Tuesday of this week, Legault's people said they would fulfil the final year of their agreement with ChampCar, in '06. Speculation is that ChampCar made it clear to Montreal that they did not share the promoter's vision that this year's little-attended Montreal event gave him wiggle room to get out of his contract for '06. It seems he came to see things their way, and the IRL plan was shelved.
NASCAR was also rumoured to be on the IRL card for Montreal '06. Only problem is... NASCAR didn't seem to know it. As anyone who has followed the process of them buying CASCAR knows, NASCAR moves at its own pace. You don't push them around. They call the tune.
Montreal appeared to be the lead horse for a race in '07, but who knows if Montreal's attempts to force their hand and grant an '06 date - through the media - will blow up in their faces altogether. Hello Mosport?
**************************************************************
Friday, September 16, 2005
Sacre Bleu: NASCAR has its eye on Montreal, and the Hispanic market
By Mike Mulhern
JOURNAL REPORTER
LOUDON, N.H.
On a clear day you can see Montreal.
OK, maybe only to the Canadian border, somewhere up there on the horizon, in the midst of all the hardwoods changing color.
But Montreal isn't far beyond, barely four hours north of Bob Bahre's New Hampshire International Speedway, site of the opening race of this season's Chase for the Championship this weekend.
This is one of NASCAR's northernmost outposts, and NASCAR's Robbie Weiss doesn't need his French, or any of the seven other languages he speaks, to get past the gate guards here.
But in stock-car racing's march to new markets, bilingual Montreal is the next inevitable goal.
NASCAR has been spending a considerable amount of time this year working Canada into its equation, and it has been helped in that effort by a number of Nextel Cup stars, such as Jimmie Johnson, Bobby Labonte and Kasey Kahne.
Brian Vickers is becoming accomplished in Spanish, and his web site even has Spanish translations, and with NASCAR's south-of-the-border push, more drivers may follow him into the language classroom.
Now it looks as if French might be next on the agenda.
A NASCAR race over Montreal's Gilles Villeneuve Formula One course would be the most visible aspect of the NASCAR plan, the bigger goal is to incorporate the Canadian market - from Montreal and Toronto in the east out to Calgary and Vancouver in the west - into the sport's growing portfolio.
And brewer Molson, which just bought Coors, appears the likely linchpin, given Molson's long-running motorsports sponsorships, which go back to Canadian Earl Ross' win at Martinsville in 1974.
Weiss, as the head of NASCAR's foreign affairs department, works out of NASCAR's downtown Los Angeles office, running a tiny four-man shop but with tentacles that stretch around the world.
Right now, Weiss is more interested in expanding NASCAR's still-unsettled beachhead in the Hispanic market than in hootin' and hollerin' about the Canadian frontier. Canadians already "get it," as anyone in Daytona in February for SpeedWeeks can attest.
"I get Canadian TV at home and the newspapers, and people know, whether it's Formula One or Champ Car or whatever, Canadian races are some of the best promoted, best attended, most enjoyable races," Weiss said. "Canadians have a passion for racing."
Yet, while the June Formula One drew 100,000-plus to Montreal, the August Indy-car race drew about 40,000. That has given rise to speculation that Champ Car officials, who own the lease on the August 2006 weekend, and promoter Normand Legault might be willing to make a deal with NASCAR, which assuredly would bring in 100,000-plus.
So when will the Busch and Truck schedules come out? "I'd like to know that too, because I've got TV partners all over the world asking me," Weiss says with a laugh.
Weiss certainly doesn't want to get drawn into the political games, which NASCAR's George Pyne is handling.
"There are no new real developments on our end yet," Weiss says of Montreal or other options. "We remain committed to the Canadian market and believe that longterm there may be opportunities. But we have nothing at the moment about a specific (NASCAR) series or market that we are in detailed discussions on."
Does that mean negotiations have hit a snag?
"People forget we're busy, we've got a lot of things going on," Weiss said. "And it takes time to figure it out and do it right.
"We learned a lot of positive things out of Mexico City, and we can take those lessons and move forward. We're on the ground with our office up there (in Canada), and we've had a great year overall in general.
"In due time, we'll have some things to talk about, but we're just not there yet. But it's not because there have been challenges or we've found out something to be different. It's just that maybe it's not happening as quickly as some had anticipated."
Indeed, the current international push by NASCAR the past few weeks and on into the fall is the Hispanic initiative. And that is a daunting task.
"There is a lot of work to be done, and no one can claim victory, by any means," Weiss says of NASCAR's Hispanic program, which is so far focused on the Busch series. "But in a very short period of time you have seen that we launched the NASCAR-Mexico marketing initiative last August and had the Busch race this March.
"The developments that have been made in reaching out to connect with the U.S. Hispanic market have been quite significant in just 12 months. At Fontana we had Adrian (Fernandez), Michel Jordain and Carlos Contreros, and hopefully that translates into a larger audience, more people in the stands, and greater awareness and interest among fans and sponsors."
However Jordain's team has struggled with sponsorship and even had to sit him out this year for lack of funds, and Jordain himself has struggled at the wheel. And Contreros, although he has been around a long time, still doesn't have a solid base of NASCAR operations.
Fernandez, on the other hand, has the powerful Rick Hendrick operation behind him, and the awesome marketing support of Lowe's.
Still, the effort fizzled for the Labor Day race in Fontana, Calif.
"Would I judge from the Fontana weekend? No," Weiss said. "But listen, if we have gotten this far in 10 or 12 months, what does the future hold?
"You have to believe that growth of the Hispanic market will be positive for the industry, for teams, for tracks, for sponsors, and for broadcast partners. We always felt if we could make the sport relevant in Mexico, and it becomes part of the sports culture, and we transform some of the success other properties have had down there, it would have a very measurable long-term impact on our growth in the U.S.
"When you have such a significant percentage of the U.S. population with an affinity for motorsports and you have events in the markets they're in and you think they can develop drivers, if you can tap into that, it's a good place to grow."
"I wouldn't judge everything off just one weekend," Weiss said of Fontana. "You have to believe it's having an impact, so look at it three to five years from now and measure the impact. I think it's fantastic to have three solid teams and drivers participating that weren't there last year."
However, the Hispanic project is more than just putting Hispanic drivers in cars. It's also about getting international sponsorships, by persuading large corporations to invest advertising dollars in NASCAR's vision. Three obviously key companies are Ford, General Motors and Dodge. But Detroit's car manufacturers have their own problems right now.
Then again, with 106 Fortune 500 companies already invested in NASCAR racing, the NASCAR and the France family should be able to find some leverage.
So what is the outlook for NASCAR internationally? How are things shaping up elsewhere?
"The property continues to develop very well outside the U.S.," Weiss said. "We just launched with Fox that all truck, Busch and Cup events will be broadcast live on Fox affiliates throughout Latin America, South America and Central America. That wasn't the case last year, and that wouldn't be the case without the event in Mexico City, without Adrian Fernandez, without the Mexican stock-car series.
"There is a lot of momentum here.
"And we have had some very interesting new deals this year in markets like India and places throughout the world where you wouldn't traditionally think we would have any marketability for our product.
"I look at this and say it proves we have a tremendous product. The level of competition, the quality of the broadcasts, it is a first-class sports entertainment property. When people touch it for the first time ..."
Weiss' office is only four-strong, "but we also have an office in Canada with people on the ground who eat and sleep NASCAR.
"And the same in Mexico, where we probably have 10 people focused full-time on NASCAR, though they might not all be working directly for NASCAR."
• Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com
It's by NASCAR beat reporter Mike Mulhern of the Winston Salem Journal.
My comments are immediately below, followed by the Mulhern piece.
There are a lot of strange signals coming out of Montreal right now.
Their ChampCar race was a mess. Some speculated that it was scuttled on purpose in the hopes that it would open a hole in the contract for '06, allowing the track to put on an IRL / NASCAR event in ChampCar's place.
In the wake of the August ChampCar race in Montreal, a report emerged that event promoter Normand Legault had a handshake agreement to put on an IRL race there next summer. I've had people tell me that people associated with the IRL said it was a done deal; everything but the signature.
Then, on Tuesday of this week, Legault's people said they would fulfil the final year of their agreement with ChampCar, in '06. Speculation is that ChampCar made it clear to Montreal that they did not share the promoter's vision that this year's little-attended Montreal event gave him wiggle room to get out of his contract for '06. It seems he came to see things their way, and the IRL plan was shelved.
NASCAR was also rumoured to be on the IRL card for Montreal '06. Only problem is... NASCAR didn't seem to know it. As anyone who has followed the process of them buying CASCAR knows, NASCAR moves at its own pace. You don't push them around. They call the tune.
Montreal appeared to be the lead horse for a race in '07, but who knows if Montreal's attempts to force their hand and grant an '06 date - through the media - will blow up in their faces altogether. Hello Mosport?
**************************************************************
Friday, September 16, 2005
Sacre Bleu: NASCAR has its eye on Montreal, and the Hispanic market
By Mike Mulhern
JOURNAL REPORTER
LOUDON, N.H.
On a clear day you can see Montreal.
OK, maybe only to the Canadian border, somewhere up there on the horizon, in the midst of all the hardwoods changing color.
But Montreal isn't far beyond, barely four hours north of Bob Bahre's New Hampshire International Speedway, site of the opening race of this season's Chase for the Championship this weekend.
This is one of NASCAR's northernmost outposts, and NASCAR's Robbie Weiss doesn't need his French, or any of the seven other languages he speaks, to get past the gate guards here.
But in stock-car racing's march to new markets, bilingual Montreal is the next inevitable goal.
NASCAR has been spending a considerable amount of time this year working Canada into its equation, and it has been helped in that effort by a number of Nextel Cup stars, such as Jimmie Johnson, Bobby Labonte and Kasey Kahne.
Brian Vickers is becoming accomplished in Spanish, and his web site even has Spanish translations, and with NASCAR's south-of-the-border push, more drivers may follow him into the language classroom.
Now it looks as if French might be next on the agenda.
A NASCAR race over Montreal's Gilles Villeneuve Formula One course would be the most visible aspect of the NASCAR plan, the bigger goal is to incorporate the Canadian market - from Montreal and Toronto in the east out to Calgary and Vancouver in the west - into the sport's growing portfolio.
And brewer Molson, which just bought Coors, appears the likely linchpin, given Molson's long-running motorsports sponsorships, which go back to Canadian Earl Ross' win at Martinsville in 1974.
Weiss, as the head of NASCAR's foreign affairs department, works out of NASCAR's downtown Los Angeles office, running a tiny four-man shop but with tentacles that stretch around the world.
Right now, Weiss is more interested in expanding NASCAR's still-unsettled beachhead in the Hispanic market than in hootin' and hollerin' about the Canadian frontier. Canadians already "get it," as anyone in Daytona in February for SpeedWeeks can attest.
"I get Canadian TV at home and the newspapers, and people know, whether it's Formula One or Champ Car or whatever, Canadian races are some of the best promoted, best attended, most enjoyable races," Weiss said. "Canadians have a passion for racing."
Yet, while the June Formula One drew 100,000-plus to Montreal, the August Indy-car race drew about 40,000. That has given rise to speculation that Champ Car officials, who own the lease on the August 2006 weekend, and promoter Normand Legault might be willing to make a deal with NASCAR, which assuredly would bring in 100,000-plus.
So when will the Busch and Truck schedules come out? "I'd like to know that too, because I've got TV partners all over the world asking me," Weiss says with a laugh.
Weiss certainly doesn't want to get drawn into the political games, which NASCAR's George Pyne is handling.
"There are no new real developments on our end yet," Weiss says of Montreal or other options. "We remain committed to the Canadian market and believe that longterm there may be opportunities. But we have nothing at the moment about a specific (NASCAR) series or market that we are in detailed discussions on."
Does that mean negotiations have hit a snag?
"People forget we're busy, we've got a lot of things going on," Weiss said. "And it takes time to figure it out and do it right.
"We learned a lot of positive things out of Mexico City, and we can take those lessons and move forward. We're on the ground with our office up there (in Canada), and we've had a great year overall in general.
"In due time, we'll have some things to talk about, but we're just not there yet. But it's not because there have been challenges or we've found out something to be different. It's just that maybe it's not happening as quickly as some had anticipated."
Indeed, the current international push by NASCAR the past few weeks and on into the fall is the Hispanic initiative. And that is a daunting task.
"There is a lot of work to be done, and no one can claim victory, by any means," Weiss says of NASCAR's Hispanic program, which is so far focused on the Busch series. "But in a very short period of time you have seen that we launched the NASCAR-Mexico marketing initiative last August and had the Busch race this March.
"The developments that have been made in reaching out to connect with the U.S. Hispanic market have been quite significant in just 12 months. At Fontana we had Adrian (Fernandez), Michel Jordain and Carlos Contreros, and hopefully that translates into a larger audience, more people in the stands, and greater awareness and interest among fans and sponsors."
However Jordain's team has struggled with sponsorship and even had to sit him out this year for lack of funds, and Jordain himself has struggled at the wheel. And Contreros, although he has been around a long time, still doesn't have a solid base of NASCAR operations.
Fernandez, on the other hand, has the powerful Rick Hendrick operation behind him, and the awesome marketing support of Lowe's.
Still, the effort fizzled for the Labor Day race in Fontana, Calif.
"Would I judge from the Fontana weekend? No," Weiss said. "But listen, if we have gotten this far in 10 or 12 months, what does the future hold?
"You have to believe that growth of the Hispanic market will be positive for the industry, for teams, for tracks, for sponsors, and for broadcast partners. We always felt if we could make the sport relevant in Mexico, and it becomes part of the sports culture, and we transform some of the success other properties have had down there, it would have a very measurable long-term impact on our growth in the U.S.
"When you have such a significant percentage of the U.S. population with an affinity for motorsports and you have events in the markets they're in and you think they can develop drivers, if you can tap into that, it's a good place to grow."
"I wouldn't judge everything off just one weekend," Weiss said of Fontana. "You have to believe it's having an impact, so look at it three to five years from now and measure the impact. I think it's fantastic to have three solid teams and drivers participating that weren't there last year."
However, the Hispanic project is more than just putting Hispanic drivers in cars. It's also about getting international sponsorships, by persuading large corporations to invest advertising dollars in NASCAR's vision. Three obviously key companies are Ford, General Motors and Dodge. But Detroit's car manufacturers have their own problems right now.
Then again, with 106 Fortune 500 companies already invested in NASCAR racing, the NASCAR and the France family should be able to find some leverage.
So what is the outlook for NASCAR internationally? How are things shaping up elsewhere?
"The property continues to develop very well outside the U.S.," Weiss said. "We just launched with Fox that all truck, Busch and Cup events will be broadcast live on Fox affiliates throughout Latin America, South America and Central America. That wasn't the case last year, and that wouldn't be the case without the event in Mexico City, without Adrian Fernandez, without the Mexican stock-car series.
"There is a lot of momentum here.
"And we have had some very interesting new deals this year in markets like India and places throughout the world where you wouldn't traditionally think we would have any marketability for our product.
"I look at this and say it proves we have a tremendous product. The level of competition, the quality of the broadcasts, it is a first-class sports entertainment property. When people touch it for the first time ..."
Weiss' office is only four-strong, "but we also have an office in Canada with people on the ground who eat and sleep NASCAR.
"And the same in Mexico, where we probably have 10 people focused full-time on NASCAR, though they might not all be working directly for NASCAR."
• Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com
Thursday, September 15, 2005
CANADIAN SPRINT CAR NAT'LS: Preview by Tommy Goudge
London, Ontario (September 15, 2005) – When it was announced last December that Ohsweken Speedway’s Canadian Sprint Car Nationals event (formerly Championship) was going to be essentially an open un-sanctioned race, every sprint car fan, team, driver, and owner in the Northeast and surrounding area sat up and took notice. Just with the original relatively modest payout, it still would have been the biggest sprint car event ever held in Ontario. When it was announced in May that Eldorado Logistics had come on board as title sponsor and doubled that purse, including a $5,000 winner’s share, the excitement and anticipation was ratcheted up another level, as we all realized the event was now going to be one of the premiere 360 sprint car events on the continent.
Glenn Styres and Ken and Cheryl Pelkie have done a wonderful job of promoting the event and getting the word out, and it shows. As of this writing, at least 68 drivers and teams from 7 different sanctions/clubs, 9 states/provinces, and 3 countries are pre-entered for the event, which goes Saturday Night, September 17. Incredibly, there may be more who haven’t yet registered who might be planning on showing up the day of the event – most notably some teams from the very competitive United Racing Club (URC) which runs in the New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, Eastern New York, and Delaware areas. Four of our area clubs/sanctions have signed on as “affiliate sanctions” for the event. They are the Southern Ontario Sprints (Ontario), Sprints On Dirt (Michigan), Empire Super Sprints (New York), and Patriot Sprint Group (New York) and their four spec right rear tires are the only ones allowed for the event, though it is open to any and all 360 sprint cars, regardless of where they come from.
A stellar group of officials is in place to keep things organized and running smoothly on race day. They include; Sprints on Dirt President and Race Director Jason Fausey as Nationals Race Director, Southern Ontario Sprints Chief Scorer Randa Vandertuin as Nationals Chief Scorer, and former Empire Super Sprints tech inspector Mike Seiver as the lead Nationals tech inspector. Other officials, announcers, and media from a variety of clubs and sanctions will also be in attendance.
Because of the fact that all these groups and officials will be in the same place on the same day, the annual Northeastern 360 Sprint Car Forum, which is normally held at the National Parts Peddler show in Syracuse in November, is going to be held the day of the Nationals (Sept. 17) and hosted by Ohsweken Speedway and the Southern Ontario Sprints. The first part of the meeting is an attempt to bring together the various officials and promoters of winged 360 sprint car racing and have them discuss their club’s plans for the future, while the second part of the meeting will focus on how the clubs can continue to work together to build the Northeast’s sprint car racing events for the future.
As is becoming the norm these days, the world famous Knoxville Raceway will be sending a representative to the event. For this one, it will be Stevie Walsh, who is actually from North Shore City, North Island, New Zealand, if you can believe it. Stevie was the 2004 driver for the Knoxville International Driver Development program, and has continued this season at Knoxville in the 360 division, where he currently sits 15th in points. Stevie is driving for the legendary Bob Trostle, who has fielded cars for some of the best sprint car drivers in the world over the past 30 years or so, as well as all the KIDD program drivers. Ridgetown, Ontario’s Adam West was the 2003 KIDD driver incidentally, and this year he’s leading the Southern Ontario Sprints points standings going into the final event, the SOS Championship Invitational on September 16 at Ohsweken – the night before the Canadian Nationals.
For the drivers and teams, the Canadian Nationals A-Main event is going to be extremely difficult to get into. The pressure will be on right from the beginning of hot laps as only the top 48 cars in time trials will even be guaranteed a spot in a heat race – the rest go into one or two non-qualifiers event(s) (if over 64 cars sign in, there will be 2 non-qualifiers races), which will transfer 4 drivers to the 13th starting spot in the 4 heat races, making it essential to hit the setup early. The fastest cars in time trials will be under just as much pressure, as the top 6 time trialers in each heat will be inverted for the start, but only the top 4 finishers will transfer directly to the A Main. This means that after the heats, only 16 cars will be qualified for the A, which is a fairly low number by 24 car starting field standards.
After the heats, 2 dashes will be run with 8 cars in each – the top 4 finishers from heats 1 and 2 in Dash 1, and top 4 finishers in heats 3 and 4 in Dash 2. Dash 1 will determine the starting order of the inside row of the A Main, while Dash 2 will determine the starting order of the outside row. Finishers 9-13 in the heats will go to the C-Main, which will transfer 4 cars to the back of the B Main. The B will be comprised of finishers 5-8 in the heats and also transfer 4 cars to the A Main, where they will start in positions 16-20. The final 4 starters in the A Main will be “provisionals” – Each affiliate sanction (SOS, SOD, PSG, and ESS) will be given one spot, to be filled by the driver with the highest standing in their respective club’s points who is not already qualified for the feature.
So, all in all this is going to be one exciting and memorable night for everyone, but also pressure packed for the drivers and teams. Now that we know what the drivers and teams are up against, I guess it’s time for me to make some predictions. This is not by any means done scientifically, or even logically, rather these are just my gut instincts and preconcieved notions. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if many of them don’t even make the feature, considering how many cars will be in attendance and how deep the talent pool is for this event. Here are my 24 and their finishes…Let’s see how close I can get:
24th…Jack Pillon. The young driver from Belle River, Ontario has had a difficult year, which has seen him suspended from the Southern Ontario Sprints and racing only part time elsewhere. However, the 2004 SOS Rookie of the Year has great equipment, and he has shown he can be fast at Ohsweken, and elsewhere as well.
23rd…Dick Mahoney. Sitting 3rd in Southern Ontario Sprints points, Dick has a pretty good shot at one of the provisional starting positions if he doesn’t make it in to the feature through his heat or conci. The Newmarket, Ontario driver, like many other SOS drivers, is a veteran of the Can-Am TQ Midget division, and moved up to the sprint car ranks in the early days of the SOS. Dick’s age was sort of a playful secret for a long time, but he celebrated his 60th birthday this summer, has competed in more SOS events than any other driver in the club’s 10 year history, and was the subject of one of Norris McDonald’s columns in the Toronto Star recently.
22nd… Jeff VanDusen. This Empire Super Sprints regular from Otego, NY has had a solid and consistent season on the ESS tour, with 1 feature win to his credit, and sits 2nd in points behind Lance Yonge. This season Jeff failed to finish the ESS feature at Ohsweken due to an accident, but his previous two visits to the Big O have garnered him solid 4th and 6th place finishes.
21st…Kyle Wilson. “The Joyceville Cadet” won the Patriot Sprint Group feature on opening night at Ohsweken this season, passing – and banging wheels with – father Rick, as well as the hard charging Chuck Hebing, for the win.
20th…Warren Mahoney. The 2001 Southern Ontario Sprints champ looked good in his last outing at Ohsweken when he won his heat and finished 12th in the feature during the SOD event. The Lefroy, Ontario native went for a wild end-over-end tumble during the Brighton Speedway Labour Day Classic weekend, but both he and the car escaped relatively unscathed. Demonstrating the spirit of the SOS club, many other crew members and drivers thrashed all day to get Mahoney’s #25 fixed, and Mahoney lent his backup car to Jim Porter that weekend after Porter blew his engine on the first night…
19th…John Reigling. Another darkhorse to some degree, this Chatham, Ontario veteran has been racing most of this season with an ailing power plant, but has shown he can run up front when the car stays together. In the SOD event at Ohsweken last month, John was leading his heat race when something in the drive train failed. The 1997 Southern Ontario Sprints champ has won features at Ohsweken before, most recently a dominating flag-to-flag win there in June of 2004. If John’s mount – numbered 1a because his first car was a former Bobby Allen chassis - is in proper running order, John will certainly be a contender.
18th…Jim Porter. A darkhorse in this event, the Grand Island, NY driver has had a breakout year on the Southern Ontario Sprints circuit, including a feature win at the South Buxton Raceway in July and sits 6th in SOS points. Jim, a driver who does a lot with very little, had his share of bad luck this season, including a blown engine at Brighton on Labour Day weekend, but Tim Phillips – who is well on his way to a full recovery from Prostate Cancer surgery and plans to be back racing next season - has loaned Jim his engine for this weekend. Jim showed he is more than capable of running up front, no matter who the competition is, in the ESS event at Ohsweken in June when he charged from near the rear of the field to a fine 5th place finish. Unfortunately he was disqualified from that 5th place finish on what many would deem to be a silly technicality when he didn’t go directly to the scales after the feature, most likely because he didn’t know he’d finished as high as he had, and nobody thought to tell him. Jim will definitely be going hard all weekend, as he’s still within striking distance of Glenn Styres for the Ohsweken Speedway Sprint Car track championship.
17th…Ben Rutan. Like Dick Mahoney, this SOD regular from Hudson, Michigan has a pretty good shot at getting in the starting field one way or another because he sits 2nd in SOD points behind Tim Norman. Rutan had trouble in his heat race during his last race at Ohsweken in August, and was forced to use a provisional starting spot in the feature, but he made the most of his second chance by racing from 22nd to a 9th place finish that night.
16th…George Suprick. Entered in Chuck Hebing’s second car, the 2004 Patriot Sprint Group champion will be one to watch. The veteran from Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania has never won at Ohsweken, but he finished 3rd in the PSG event there back in May, and his reputation and career stats make him a threat wherever he goes.
15th…Adam West. The SOS points leader blew another engine during the Labour Day Classic at Brighton Speedway, but the Ridgetown, Ontario driver has got another engine and he’s proven he knows his way around Ohsweken Speedway, with a feature win there in July, and a 2nd place in last year’s Canadian Sprint Car Championships, along with many top 5’s. Adam has also made trips to the world famous Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway this season, and has shown he can be competitive against the best 360 cars on the continent.
14th…Alain Bergeron. This St. Pie, Quebec native, who is a regular with the Empire Super Sprints, led much of the feature during the ESS feature in June at Ohsweken, but settled for 2nd place behind Dan Kaszubinski after a front wing problem slowed him down. Alain has 2 ESS feature wins this season and sits 5th in tour points.
13th …Nick Mulheim. Last year’s win in the Canadian Sprint Car Championship feature is this regular Sprints on Dirt competitor’s only recent feature win, but the Navarre, Ohio driver is always pretty strong at Ohsweken, and generally runs in the top 10 wherever he goes. He also had an impressive week at the Knoxville Raceway in August during the 360 Nationals and Brodix Tournament of Champions.
12th…Rick Wilson. The Joyceville Jet had a very strong run during the PSG event in May at Ohsweken go bad at the end due to mechanical failure, but this Eastern Ontario driver is always a threat to win anywhere he goes, and he’s one of the hardest chargers and most intense drivers you’re ever likely to see.
11th…Kenny Jacobs. No, this isn’t a misprint, “The Mouse” really is coming to Ohsweken, aboard Mike Woodring’s #19. Some of you may recall that Woodring – The man who brought Erin Crocker up through the sprint car ranks from ESS into the World of Outlaws and now into NASCAR - was dominant whenever he showed up at Ohsweken (he has two Canadian Championships to his credit, and other assorted SOS and ESS features as well), and dominated the ESS tour in general for many years, garnering 59 feature wins and 10 championships which rank him 1st in both categories. Anyone who even has a passing interest in sprint car racing over the past 25 years knows who Jacobs is, so this is going to be a really intriguing team to watch. Jacobs was aboard Chris Shuttleworth’s #11, with Woodring as crew chief, at the Billy Hill Fall Sprint Nationals last weekend and didn’t make it out of the C Main, but this weekend will almost assuredly be a different story given Woodring’s track record at Ohsweken. The World of Outlaws veteran and multi-time All Star Circuit of Champions titlist has announced his retirement from sprint car racing at the end of this season…
10th…Darren Long. This National Racing Alliance regular who also runs some SOD races hasn’t been to Ohsweken in awhile, but he does own a feature win there, and is always a force to be reckoned with wherever he goes. The Elida, Ohio driver finished 3rd in NRA tour points and has two feature wins this season on the NRA circuit. One of those wins came in the Old Spice Sprint Sizzler at the legendary Eldora Speedway last month, which featured NASCAR drivers Tony Stewart, Dave Blaney, and Kasey Kahne.
9th…Tim Allison. Another NRA regular, this Cridersville, Ohio driver has 4 feature wins this season, 3 on the NRA circuit and another in a SOD event, but he’s never been to Ohsweken before. Tim can sometimes be hit or miss, but he has good equipment, and can thoroughly dominate when he hits the setup, as he did at Eldora in July, winning 2 NRA features in one weekend there during the annual King’s Royal events.
8th…Glenn Styres. Nobody will be more pumped up and full of adrenaline on the 17th than the owner and promoter of Ohsweken Speedway. The 2003 SOS champ took 3 feature wins in a row at Ohsweken earlier this season, and has 5 in total on the SOS trail this year.
7th…Lance Yonge. While this Penn Yan, NY native hasn’t exactly set the world on fire at Ohsweken, he has finishes of 8th, 3rd, and 4th in his 3 previous visits to the speedway, and he won the last two full points ESS tour events of this season. Lance has 6 ESS feature wins in total this season and locked up his second consecutive ESS points title this past weekend in the Bully Hill Fall Sprint Nationals at Black Rock Speedway, a race in which he charged from 24th to 7th.
6th …Tim Norman. The Warsaw, Indiana native has one of the strongest 360 cars in the Midwest – The Gaerte Mopar house car – has 3 feature wins on the Sprints on Dirt trail, and has all but clinched the SOD points championship. Tim proved he’s more than capable of running up front at Ohsweken when he had some bad luck in a heat race which forced him to start 21st in the feature, but then charged all the way to 4th place in just 25 laps.
5th…Bryan Howland. One of the hottest 360 drivers in the area right now, this Patriot Sprint Group invader picked up a cool $5,000 for his win in the Full Throttle Nationals at Michigan’s I-96 Speedway in August. The Auburn, NY native also had a very strong run in the SOD event at Ohsweken last month, finishing second to Dustin Daggett after a great battle through lapped traffic in the middle stages of the race, and has 5 feature wins this season.
4th…Chuck Hebing. The hard charging Patriot Sprint Group regular, nicknamed “Cobra”, is always lightning fast anywhere he goes, and Ohsweken is no exception. At the Big O this season, the Ontario, NY native owns a second place finish in the PSG event in May, an SOS feature win, and charged from 17th to 5th in the SOD feature there last month. The Cobra proved he can compete with just about anyone when he brought his 360 to New York’s Fulton Speedway to compete with the 410’s of the World of Outlaws – which is kind of like bringing a knife to a gunfight - and did very well until a mechanical failure sidelined him.
3rd…Kyle Patrick. Along with Bryan Howland, the Tilbury Tornado is one of the hotter 360 drivers in the Northeast right now. In the SOD event at Ohsweken last month, Kyle charged from a 15th place starting spot to 3rd place behind Howland and Dustin Daggett. As a former Southern Ontario Sprints regular (Kyle now runs regularly with SOD and sits 3rd in that club’s point standings), the 2003 SOS rookie of the year has many laps around the Ohsweken oval. It would be a popular win with what is sure to be a partisan Canadian crowd if Kyle could pull off the win…
2nd …Dan Kaszubinski. The Syracuse, NY driver has won the last two events he’s run at Ohsweken, in two different cars no less – one of them his backup car, a former Bobby Allen chassis from 1987 - and finished 7th in his only other appearance at the track. His win this past June in the ESS show at Ohsweken came after he started 21st because of problems before his heat, which forced him to scratch and start last in the B Main. Dan sits 3rd in ESS tour points with 3 feature wins this season and is coming off a fine 2nd place run in the Bully Hill Fall Sprint Nationals last weekend.
1st…Dustin Daggett. The Portland, Michigan native has won 3 of the 4 features he’s contested at Ohsweken, and raced from the back to 4th place in the lone “loss”. Nobody, save perhaps Mike Woodring, has been as consistently fast at Ohsweken as this Sprints on Dirt tour regular. Dustin won the last sprint car feature at Ohsweken on August 26th, a race that was widely considered an accurate preview of what to expect come Nationals time. The ’03 and ’04 SOD champ has run only a partial schedule with the competitive SOD tour this season, but still has 4 feature wins to his credit and sits 8th in points. Unless something unforeseen happens, if Dustin doesn’t at least finish top 5, I’ll eat my hat.
Well, there you have it. I’ll be absolutely amazed if I’m even 50% correct, but at least now you have a pretty good idea of who the “favourites” are, or at least who to watch. This is already pretty much the biggest sprint car event in Canadian history, and it hasn’t even been run yet! Don’t forget about the SOS Championship Invitational and Village Pizza “Ohsweken Shootout” the night before the Nationals, as well as all of Ohsweken’s regular divisions that night, September 16th, which makes for one of the best race weekends of the year in this area. Adam West merely has to take the green flag Friday night to lock up the SOS title, but other positions in the points are still up for grabs, and the Ohsweken Speedway Sprint Car track championship is not yet decided either. As always, I can be reached via e-mail at tommygoudge@hotmail.com, or from the link on our website: www.theracechasers.com. See you at the track!
Glenn Styres and Ken and Cheryl Pelkie have done a wonderful job of promoting the event and getting the word out, and it shows. As of this writing, at least 68 drivers and teams from 7 different sanctions/clubs, 9 states/provinces, and 3 countries are pre-entered for the event, which goes Saturday Night, September 17. Incredibly, there may be more who haven’t yet registered who might be planning on showing up the day of the event – most notably some teams from the very competitive United Racing Club (URC) which runs in the New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, Eastern New York, and Delaware areas. Four of our area clubs/sanctions have signed on as “affiliate sanctions” for the event. They are the Southern Ontario Sprints (Ontario), Sprints On Dirt (Michigan), Empire Super Sprints (New York), and Patriot Sprint Group (New York) and their four spec right rear tires are the only ones allowed for the event, though it is open to any and all 360 sprint cars, regardless of where they come from.
A stellar group of officials is in place to keep things organized and running smoothly on race day. They include; Sprints on Dirt President and Race Director Jason Fausey as Nationals Race Director, Southern Ontario Sprints Chief Scorer Randa Vandertuin as Nationals Chief Scorer, and former Empire Super Sprints tech inspector Mike Seiver as the lead Nationals tech inspector. Other officials, announcers, and media from a variety of clubs and sanctions will also be in attendance.
Because of the fact that all these groups and officials will be in the same place on the same day, the annual Northeastern 360 Sprint Car Forum, which is normally held at the National Parts Peddler show in Syracuse in November, is going to be held the day of the Nationals (Sept. 17) and hosted by Ohsweken Speedway and the Southern Ontario Sprints. The first part of the meeting is an attempt to bring together the various officials and promoters of winged 360 sprint car racing and have them discuss their club’s plans for the future, while the second part of the meeting will focus on how the clubs can continue to work together to build the Northeast’s sprint car racing events for the future.
As is becoming the norm these days, the world famous Knoxville Raceway will be sending a representative to the event. For this one, it will be Stevie Walsh, who is actually from North Shore City, North Island, New Zealand, if you can believe it. Stevie was the 2004 driver for the Knoxville International Driver Development program, and has continued this season at Knoxville in the 360 division, where he currently sits 15th in points. Stevie is driving for the legendary Bob Trostle, who has fielded cars for some of the best sprint car drivers in the world over the past 30 years or so, as well as all the KIDD program drivers. Ridgetown, Ontario’s Adam West was the 2003 KIDD driver incidentally, and this year he’s leading the Southern Ontario Sprints points standings going into the final event, the SOS Championship Invitational on September 16 at Ohsweken – the night before the Canadian Nationals.
For the drivers and teams, the Canadian Nationals A-Main event is going to be extremely difficult to get into. The pressure will be on right from the beginning of hot laps as only the top 48 cars in time trials will even be guaranteed a spot in a heat race – the rest go into one or two non-qualifiers event(s) (if over 64 cars sign in, there will be 2 non-qualifiers races), which will transfer 4 drivers to the 13th starting spot in the 4 heat races, making it essential to hit the setup early. The fastest cars in time trials will be under just as much pressure, as the top 6 time trialers in each heat will be inverted for the start, but only the top 4 finishers will transfer directly to the A Main. This means that after the heats, only 16 cars will be qualified for the A, which is a fairly low number by 24 car starting field standards.
After the heats, 2 dashes will be run with 8 cars in each – the top 4 finishers from heats 1 and 2 in Dash 1, and top 4 finishers in heats 3 and 4 in Dash 2. Dash 1 will determine the starting order of the inside row of the A Main, while Dash 2 will determine the starting order of the outside row. Finishers 9-13 in the heats will go to the C-Main, which will transfer 4 cars to the back of the B Main. The B will be comprised of finishers 5-8 in the heats and also transfer 4 cars to the A Main, where they will start in positions 16-20. The final 4 starters in the A Main will be “provisionals” – Each affiliate sanction (SOS, SOD, PSG, and ESS) will be given one spot, to be filled by the driver with the highest standing in their respective club’s points who is not already qualified for the feature.
So, all in all this is going to be one exciting and memorable night for everyone, but also pressure packed for the drivers and teams. Now that we know what the drivers and teams are up against, I guess it’s time for me to make some predictions. This is not by any means done scientifically, or even logically, rather these are just my gut instincts and preconcieved notions. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if many of them don’t even make the feature, considering how many cars will be in attendance and how deep the talent pool is for this event. Here are my 24 and their finishes…Let’s see how close I can get:
24th…Jack Pillon. The young driver from Belle River, Ontario has had a difficult year, which has seen him suspended from the Southern Ontario Sprints and racing only part time elsewhere. However, the 2004 SOS Rookie of the Year has great equipment, and he has shown he can be fast at Ohsweken, and elsewhere as well.
23rd…Dick Mahoney. Sitting 3rd in Southern Ontario Sprints points, Dick has a pretty good shot at one of the provisional starting positions if he doesn’t make it in to the feature through his heat or conci. The Newmarket, Ontario driver, like many other SOS drivers, is a veteran of the Can-Am TQ Midget division, and moved up to the sprint car ranks in the early days of the SOS. Dick’s age was sort of a playful secret for a long time, but he celebrated his 60th birthday this summer, has competed in more SOS events than any other driver in the club’s 10 year history, and was the subject of one of Norris McDonald’s columns in the Toronto Star recently.
22nd… Jeff VanDusen. This Empire Super Sprints regular from Otego, NY has had a solid and consistent season on the ESS tour, with 1 feature win to his credit, and sits 2nd in points behind Lance Yonge. This season Jeff failed to finish the ESS feature at Ohsweken due to an accident, but his previous two visits to the Big O have garnered him solid 4th and 6th place finishes.
21st…Kyle Wilson. “The Joyceville Cadet” won the Patriot Sprint Group feature on opening night at Ohsweken this season, passing – and banging wheels with – father Rick, as well as the hard charging Chuck Hebing, for the win.
20th…Warren Mahoney. The 2001 Southern Ontario Sprints champ looked good in his last outing at Ohsweken when he won his heat and finished 12th in the feature during the SOD event. The Lefroy, Ontario native went for a wild end-over-end tumble during the Brighton Speedway Labour Day Classic weekend, but both he and the car escaped relatively unscathed. Demonstrating the spirit of the SOS club, many other crew members and drivers thrashed all day to get Mahoney’s #25 fixed, and Mahoney lent his backup car to Jim Porter that weekend after Porter blew his engine on the first night…
19th…John Reigling. Another darkhorse to some degree, this Chatham, Ontario veteran has been racing most of this season with an ailing power plant, but has shown he can run up front when the car stays together. In the SOD event at Ohsweken last month, John was leading his heat race when something in the drive train failed. The 1997 Southern Ontario Sprints champ has won features at Ohsweken before, most recently a dominating flag-to-flag win there in June of 2004. If John’s mount – numbered 1a because his first car was a former Bobby Allen chassis - is in proper running order, John will certainly be a contender.
18th…Jim Porter. A darkhorse in this event, the Grand Island, NY driver has had a breakout year on the Southern Ontario Sprints circuit, including a feature win at the South Buxton Raceway in July and sits 6th in SOS points. Jim, a driver who does a lot with very little, had his share of bad luck this season, including a blown engine at Brighton on Labour Day weekend, but Tim Phillips – who is well on his way to a full recovery from Prostate Cancer surgery and plans to be back racing next season - has loaned Jim his engine for this weekend. Jim showed he is more than capable of running up front, no matter who the competition is, in the ESS event at Ohsweken in June when he charged from near the rear of the field to a fine 5th place finish. Unfortunately he was disqualified from that 5th place finish on what many would deem to be a silly technicality when he didn’t go directly to the scales after the feature, most likely because he didn’t know he’d finished as high as he had, and nobody thought to tell him. Jim will definitely be going hard all weekend, as he’s still within striking distance of Glenn Styres for the Ohsweken Speedway Sprint Car track championship.
17th…Ben Rutan. Like Dick Mahoney, this SOD regular from Hudson, Michigan has a pretty good shot at getting in the starting field one way or another because he sits 2nd in SOD points behind Tim Norman. Rutan had trouble in his heat race during his last race at Ohsweken in August, and was forced to use a provisional starting spot in the feature, but he made the most of his second chance by racing from 22nd to a 9th place finish that night.
16th…George Suprick. Entered in Chuck Hebing’s second car, the 2004 Patriot Sprint Group champion will be one to watch. The veteran from Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania has never won at Ohsweken, but he finished 3rd in the PSG event there back in May, and his reputation and career stats make him a threat wherever he goes.
15th…Adam West. The SOS points leader blew another engine during the Labour Day Classic at Brighton Speedway, but the Ridgetown, Ontario driver has got another engine and he’s proven he knows his way around Ohsweken Speedway, with a feature win there in July, and a 2nd place in last year’s Canadian Sprint Car Championships, along with many top 5’s. Adam has also made trips to the world famous Knoxville Raceway and Eldora Speedway this season, and has shown he can be competitive against the best 360 cars on the continent.
14th…Alain Bergeron. This St. Pie, Quebec native, who is a regular with the Empire Super Sprints, led much of the feature during the ESS feature in June at Ohsweken, but settled for 2nd place behind Dan Kaszubinski after a front wing problem slowed him down. Alain has 2 ESS feature wins this season and sits 5th in tour points.
13th …Nick Mulheim. Last year’s win in the Canadian Sprint Car Championship feature is this regular Sprints on Dirt competitor’s only recent feature win, but the Navarre, Ohio driver is always pretty strong at Ohsweken, and generally runs in the top 10 wherever he goes. He also had an impressive week at the Knoxville Raceway in August during the 360 Nationals and Brodix Tournament of Champions.
12th…Rick Wilson. The Joyceville Jet had a very strong run during the PSG event in May at Ohsweken go bad at the end due to mechanical failure, but this Eastern Ontario driver is always a threat to win anywhere he goes, and he’s one of the hardest chargers and most intense drivers you’re ever likely to see.
11th…Kenny Jacobs. No, this isn’t a misprint, “The Mouse” really is coming to Ohsweken, aboard Mike Woodring’s #19. Some of you may recall that Woodring – The man who brought Erin Crocker up through the sprint car ranks from ESS into the World of Outlaws and now into NASCAR - was dominant whenever he showed up at Ohsweken (he has two Canadian Championships to his credit, and other assorted SOS and ESS features as well), and dominated the ESS tour in general for many years, garnering 59 feature wins and 10 championships which rank him 1st in both categories. Anyone who even has a passing interest in sprint car racing over the past 25 years knows who Jacobs is, so this is going to be a really intriguing team to watch. Jacobs was aboard Chris Shuttleworth’s #11, with Woodring as crew chief, at the Billy Hill Fall Sprint Nationals last weekend and didn’t make it out of the C Main, but this weekend will almost assuredly be a different story given Woodring’s track record at Ohsweken. The World of Outlaws veteran and multi-time All Star Circuit of Champions titlist has announced his retirement from sprint car racing at the end of this season…
10th…Darren Long. This National Racing Alliance regular who also runs some SOD races hasn’t been to Ohsweken in awhile, but he does own a feature win there, and is always a force to be reckoned with wherever he goes. The Elida, Ohio driver finished 3rd in NRA tour points and has two feature wins this season on the NRA circuit. One of those wins came in the Old Spice Sprint Sizzler at the legendary Eldora Speedway last month, which featured NASCAR drivers Tony Stewart, Dave Blaney, and Kasey Kahne.
9th…Tim Allison. Another NRA regular, this Cridersville, Ohio driver has 4 feature wins this season, 3 on the NRA circuit and another in a SOD event, but he’s never been to Ohsweken before. Tim can sometimes be hit or miss, but he has good equipment, and can thoroughly dominate when he hits the setup, as he did at Eldora in July, winning 2 NRA features in one weekend there during the annual King’s Royal events.
8th…Glenn Styres. Nobody will be more pumped up and full of adrenaline on the 17th than the owner and promoter of Ohsweken Speedway. The 2003 SOS champ took 3 feature wins in a row at Ohsweken earlier this season, and has 5 in total on the SOS trail this year.
7th…Lance Yonge. While this Penn Yan, NY native hasn’t exactly set the world on fire at Ohsweken, he has finishes of 8th, 3rd, and 4th in his 3 previous visits to the speedway, and he won the last two full points ESS tour events of this season. Lance has 6 ESS feature wins in total this season and locked up his second consecutive ESS points title this past weekend in the Bully Hill Fall Sprint Nationals at Black Rock Speedway, a race in which he charged from 24th to 7th.
6th …Tim Norman. The Warsaw, Indiana native has one of the strongest 360 cars in the Midwest – The Gaerte Mopar house car – has 3 feature wins on the Sprints on Dirt trail, and has all but clinched the SOD points championship. Tim proved he’s more than capable of running up front at Ohsweken when he had some bad luck in a heat race which forced him to start 21st in the feature, but then charged all the way to 4th place in just 25 laps.
5th…Bryan Howland. One of the hottest 360 drivers in the area right now, this Patriot Sprint Group invader picked up a cool $5,000 for his win in the Full Throttle Nationals at Michigan’s I-96 Speedway in August. The Auburn, NY native also had a very strong run in the SOD event at Ohsweken last month, finishing second to Dustin Daggett after a great battle through lapped traffic in the middle stages of the race, and has 5 feature wins this season.
4th…Chuck Hebing. The hard charging Patriot Sprint Group regular, nicknamed “Cobra”, is always lightning fast anywhere he goes, and Ohsweken is no exception. At the Big O this season, the Ontario, NY native owns a second place finish in the PSG event in May, an SOS feature win, and charged from 17th to 5th in the SOD feature there last month. The Cobra proved he can compete with just about anyone when he brought his 360 to New York’s Fulton Speedway to compete with the 410’s of the World of Outlaws – which is kind of like bringing a knife to a gunfight - and did very well until a mechanical failure sidelined him.
3rd…Kyle Patrick. Along with Bryan Howland, the Tilbury Tornado is one of the hotter 360 drivers in the Northeast right now. In the SOD event at Ohsweken last month, Kyle charged from a 15th place starting spot to 3rd place behind Howland and Dustin Daggett. As a former Southern Ontario Sprints regular (Kyle now runs regularly with SOD and sits 3rd in that club’s point standings), the 2003 SOS rookie of the year has many laps around the Ohsweken oval. It would be a popular win with what is sure to be a partisan Canadian crowd if Kyle could pull off the win…
2nd …Dan Kaszubinski. The Syracuse, NY driver has won the last two events he’s run at Ohsweken, in two different cars no less – one of them his backup car, a former Bobby Allen chassis from 1987 - and finished 7th in his only other appearance at the track. His win this past June in the ESS show at Ohsweken came after he started 21st because of problems before his heat, which forced him to scratch and start last in the B Main. Dan sits 3rd in ESS tour points with 3 feature wins this season and is coming off a fine 2nd place run in the Bully Hill Fall Sprint Nationals last weekend.
1st…Dustin Daggett. The Portland, Michigan native has won 3 of the 4 features he’s contested at Ohsweken, and raced from the back to 4th place in the lone “loss”. Nobody, save perhaps Mike Woodring, has been as consistently fast at Ohsweken as this Sprints on Dirt tour regular. Dustin won the last sprint car feature at Ohsweken on August 26th, a race that was widely considered an accurate preview of what to expect come Nationals time. The ’03 and ’04 SOD champ has run only a partial schedule with the competitive SOD tour this season, but still has 4 feature wins to his credit and sits 8th in points. Unless something unforeseen happens, if Dustin doesn’t at least finish top 5, I’ll eat my hat.
Well, there you have it. I’ll be absolutely amazed if I’m even 50% correct, but at least now you have a pretty good idea of who the “favourites” are, or at least who to watch. This is already pretty much the biggest sprint car event in Canadian history, and it hasn’t even been run yet! Don’t forget about the SOS Championship Invitational and Village Pizza “Ohsweken Shootout” the night before the Nationals, as well as all of Ohsweken’s regular divisions that night, September 16th, which makes for one of the best race weekends of the year in this area. Adam West merely has to take the green flag Friday night to lock up the SOS title, but other positions in the points are still up for grabs, and the Ohsweken Speedway Sprint Car track championship is not yet decided either. As always, I can be reached via e-mail at tommygoudge@hotmail.com, or from the link on our website: www.theracechasers.com. See you at the track!
CASCAR SUPER SERIES: Points after Cayuga
CASCAR SUPER SERIES
POINT STANDINGS as of September 10, 2005
Pos Car # Driver / Hometown Car Make Points
1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. / Ayr, ON Chevrolet 2055
2. #1 Peter Gibbons / Stouffville, ON Chevrolet 1966
3. #17 DJ Kennington / St Thomas, ON Dodge 1894
4. #39 Dave Whitlock / Petrolia, ON Dodge 1861
5. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. / Windsor, ON Dodge 1845
6. #02 Kerry Micks / Mt Albert, ON Ford 1835
7. #19 Brad Graham / Glencoe, ON Dodge 1815
8. #9 Mark Dilley / Barrie, ON Dodge 1810
9. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick / Cambridge, ON Chevrolet 1776
10. #88 Dave Jacombs / Mt. Hope, ON Ford 1695
11. #10 Doug Brown / Brantford, ON Chevrolet 1648
12. #22 Scott Steckly / Milverton, ON Pontiac 1614
13. #11 Ron VanEs / Smithville, ON Chevrolet 1582
14. #37 R Tara MacLeod / Innisfil, ON Ford 1558
15. #3 Stu Robinson / Holland Landing, ON Dodge 1500
16. #14 John Fitzpatrick / Ayr, ON Chevrolet 1305
17. #71 Bryan Cathcart / Peterborough, ON Dodge 1112
18. #23 Jeff Lapcevich / Caistor Centre, ON Chevrolet 1074
19. #25 Jim Lapcevich / Hamilton, ON Chevrolet 1050
20. #18 R Chad McGlynn / Petersburg, ON Ford 892
21. #42 Sean Stafford / Springfield, ON Chevrolet 890
22. #93 Joe Goncalves / Toronto, ON Chevrolet 780
23. #8 Marc Miller / Holland, MI Dodge 744
24. #50 Pete Shepherd / Brampton, ON Dodge 542
25. #77 R Derek Lynch / Warkworth, ON Dodge 498
26. #20 Mark Swain / Stouffville, ON Dodge 478
27. #86 Kenny Forth / Lynden, ON Ford 418
28. #0 Howie Scannell Jr. / Milton, ON Chevrolet 374
29. #44 Marv Wilder / Toronto, ON Ford 346
30. #43 Bob Merrifield / Belle River, ON Dodge 320
31. #41 John Tsoumaris / Toronto, ON Chevrolet 310
32. #71 Pete Shepherd III / Brampton, ON Ford 288
33. #52 Ron Sheridan / Strathroy, ON Pontiac 246
34. #82 Dave Connelly / White Lake, ON Chevrolet 238
35. #28 Steve Robblee / Dorchester, ON Ford 238
36. #75 R Kenny Habul / Etobicoke, ON Chevrolet 228
37. #41 R Matty Tsoumaris / Toronto, ON Chevrolet 210
37. #94 Mark Graham / Odessa, ON Chevrolet 196
39. #99 Scott Watkins / Milton, ON Pontiac 196
40. #72 Pete Shepherd III / Brampton, ON Dodge 138
41. #77 Pete Vanderwyst / St Thomas, ON Dodge 118
42. #33 Neil Fair / Ancaster, ON Dodge 114
43. #63 R Lain Vendittelli / St Catharines, ON Ford 108
44. #46 Kevin Trevellin / Windsor, ON Dodge 106
45 #16 Andre Coursol / St Jerome, PQ Chevrolet 102
POINT STANDINGS as of September 10, 2005
Pos Car # Driver / Hometown Car Make Points
1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. / Ayr, ON Chevrolet 2055
2. #1 Peter Gibbons / Stouffville, ON Chevrolet 1966
3. #17 DJ Kennington / St Thomas, ON Dodge 1894
4. #39 Dave Whitlock / Petrolia, ON Dodge 1861
5. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. / Windsor, ON Dodge 1845
6. #02 Kerry Micks / Mt Albert, ON Ford 1835
7. #19 Brad Graham / Glencoe, ON Dodge 1815
8. #9 Mark Dilley / Barrie, ON Dodge 1810
9. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick / Cambridge, ON Chevrolet 1776
10. #88 Dave Jacombs / Mt. Hope, ON Ford 1695
11. #10 Doug Brown / Brantford, ON Chevrolet 1648
12. #22 Scott Steckly / Milverton, ON Pontiac 1614
13. #11 Ron VanEs / Smithville, ON Chevrolet 1582
14. #37 R Tara MacLeod / Innisfil, ON Ford 1558
15. #3 Stu Robinson / Holland Landing, ON Dodge 1500
16. #14 John Fitzpatrick / Ayr, ON Chevrolet 1305
17. #71 Bryan Cathcart / Peterborough, ON Dodge 1112
18. #23 Jeff Lapcevich / Caistor Centre, ON Chevrolet 1074
19. #25 Jim Lapcevich / Hamilton, ON Chevrolet 1050
20. #18 R Chad McGlynn / Petersburg, ON Ford 892
21. #42 Sean Stafford / Springfield, ON Chevrolet 890
22. #93 Joe Goncalves / Toronto, ON Chevrolet 780
23. #8 Marc Miller / Holland, MI Dodge 744
24. #50 Pete Shepherd / Brampton, ON Dodge 542
25. #77 R Derek Lynch / Warkworth, ON Dodge 498
26. #20 Mark Swain / Stouffville, ON Dodge 478
27. #86 Kenny Forth / Lynden, ON Ford 418
28. #0 Howie Scannell Jr. / Milton, ON Chevrolet 374
29. #44 Marv Wilder / Toronto, ON Ford 346
30. #43 Bob Merrifield / Belle River, ON Dodge 320
31. #41 John Tsoumaris / Toronto, ON Chevrolet 310
32. #71 Pete Shepherd III / Brampton, ON Ford 288
33. #52 Ron Sheridan / Strathroy, ON Pontiac 246
34. #82 Dave Connelly / White Lake, ON Chevrolet 238
35. #28 Steve Robblee / Dorchester, ON Ford 238
36. #75 R Kenny Habul / Etobicoke, ON Chevrolet 228
37. #41 R Matty Tsoumaris / Toronto, ON Chevrolet 210
37. #94 Mark Graham / Odessa, ON Chevrolet 196
39. #99 Scott Watkins / Milton, ON Pontiac 196
40. #72 Pete Shepherd III / Brampton, ON Dodge 138
41. #77 Pete Vanderwyst / St Thomas, ON Dodge 118
42. #33 Neil Fair / Ancaster, ON Dodge 114
43. #63 R Lain Vendittelli / St Catharines, ON Ford 108
44. #46 Kevin Trevellin / Windsor, ON Dodge 106
45 #16 Andre Coursol / St Jerome, PQ Chevrolet 102
NASCAR DODGE WEEKLY SERIES DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIP WILL BE DECIDED THIS WEEKEND; CHRIS SPIEKER AND KOSISKI BROTHERS SET FOR SUNDAY SHOWDOWN
By Jeremy Davidson, NASCAR Public RelationsDAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 15, 2005) – Only 26 points separate the top two drivers in Division II of the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series, with one weekend of racing remaining before the NASCAR season concludes on Sept. 18. While Chris Spieker of Massena, Iowa, retained his lead in the division this week – former NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series national champion Joe Kosiski moved past Mike Hansen for second in the standings.
Spieker, Kosiski, Hansen – along with Joe Kosiski’s younger brother Ed, also a former national champion – are in the midst of one of the closest NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series championship battles in recent history. At stake is the $25,000 NDWS Division II championship bonus, which will be awarded to the driver with the highest points total after this weekend, based on their best 16 finishes of the year.
With three of the top title contenders – Spieker, Joe and Ed Kosiski – scheduled to race at I-80 Speedway, in Greenwood, Neb., on Sunday (the final date to collect points towards the NDWS championship), the competition and excitement level will be at an all-time high as these drivers race one final night for all the championship honors.
Ed Kosiski is not currently ranked in the NDWS Division II standings, due to the fact that he trails Joe Kosiski in the NASCAR point standings at I-80 Speedway. Ed, however, could win the Division II title if he finishes at least three positions ahead of Joe in their next race at I-80. If Ed achieves this finish, he would replace his brother Joe on the NDWS Division II leaderboard and automatically surpass current Division II leader Chris Spieker with a minimum of 1,104 points.
If Ed Kosiski surpasses Joe by that margin, Spieker, who also races at I-80 along with his home track of Adams County Speedway in Corning, Iowa, cannot gain enough points to hold off Ed Kosiski for the Division II points lead – even if he wins his two races and accumulates the maximum amount of bonus points in each event.
If Ed Kosiski does not manage to surpass Joe for the NASCAR points lead at I-80, Spieker can clinch the Division II championship by finishing second or better in his next race, if there are 21 or more cars in the event. By doing this, Spieker would earn enough points on his overall Division II record to put the championship out of reach for Joe Kosiski, provided Joe does not succumb to Ed as outlined in the scenario above.
Spieker can still win the title without a second- or first-place finish in his next race. In order to match Spieker’s current total, Joe Kosiski would need to win three more races in order to approach 1,088 points, the total which Spieker would maintain even without a top finish this weekend. With time running out and only one weekend remaining, it is not likely that Joe Kosiski can find enough opportunities to race this weekend and challenge for to the title.
Another unranked driver, Jay Noteboom from Park Jefferson Speedway in Jefferson, S.D., could possibly win the Division II title if he finishes at least eight positions ahead of Hansen in their next event at Park Jefferson and finds a second opportunity to race this weekend at another Division II track. If Noteboom surpasses Hansen by this margin, and wins the race, then finishes at least second in his second race of the weekend (while gaining maximum bonus points in each event) he could potentially gain up to 1,090 points and claim the championship, provided Spieker or the Kosiski brothers do not improve their own rankings.
A second-place finish or a win by Spieker (with maximum bonus points), as outlined above, would eliminate Noteboom, Joe Kosiski and Hansen from contention.
If Spieker’s next events do not feature at least 21 cars, he cannot improve his point total and could be challenged by the Kosiski brothers or Noteboom as outlined above.
This Week’s Division II Leaders …
(Driver, Home Track, Points / Canadians in "BOLD")
1. Chris Spieker, Adams County Speedway, 1,088
2. Joe Kosiski, I-80 Speedway, 1,062
3. Mike Hansen, Park Jefferson Speedway, 1,050
4. Jeff Strunk, Grandview Speedway, 1,030
5. Scott Bonney, Lee USA Speedway, 920
6. Eric Richardson, Mesa Marin Raceway, 912
7. Gerry Bergeron, Autodrome St. Eustache, 890
8. Pete Anderson Jr., Stockton 99 Speedway, 868
9. Robert Barker, San Antonio Speedway, 832
10. Scott Lindsay, Delaware Speedway, 822
11. Stacey Gerken, Lorain Speedway, 816
12. Travis Sharpe, Concord Motorsport Park, 784
13. Dennis Pelphrey, Watsonville Speedway, 772
14. Jeremy Lapainis, Edmonton International Raceway, 742
15. Mark Bliss, Holland International Speedway, 738
16. Brent Brinson, Myrtle Beach Speedway, 728
17. Patsy Catalano, Spencer Speedway, 680
18. Alan Pyszora, Shasta Raceway Park, 632
BIGGEST WEEKEND IN CANADIAN SPRINT CAR HISTORY SET TO TAKE PLACE
The most anticipated weekend in Ohsweken Speedway history is about to become reality. With two nights of sprint car racing on tap and nearly 70 cars pre-registered the additional seating being brought into the speedway will be jam packed.
On Friday night the Southern Ontario Sprints head to the track to settle their 2005 season. Adam West and Glenn Styres will do battle for the season championship. That will be followed by the 'Ohsweken Shootout', a clash of the best of all four local 360 sprint touring series. The top three finishers of earlier SOD, PSG, ESS and SOS races at the 'Big O' will compete in this preview event.
The build up is for Saturday night when the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals will tear up the Ohsweken clay. The best sprint car teams in the northeast are already pre-registered for this big event. Over 70 cars are expected to be on hand to compete for the richest sprint car race in Canadian history. The winner will take home $5000 USD while anyone starting the A-main will pocket $500 USD.
For complete information visit http://www.ohswekenspeedway.com
On Friday night the Southern Ontario Sprints head to the track to settle their 2005 season. Adam West and Glenn Styres will do battle for the season championship. That will be followed by the 'Ohsweken Shootout', a clash of the best of all four local 360 sprint touring series. The top three finishers of earlier SOD, PSG, ESS and SOS races at the 'Big O' will compete in this preview event.
The build up is for Saturday night when the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals will tear up the Ohsweken clay. The best sprint car teams in the northeast are already pre-registered for this big event. Over 70 cars are expected to be on hand to compete for the richest sprint car race in Canadian history. The winner will take home $5000 USD while anyone starting the A-main will pocket $500 USD.
For complete information visit http://www.ohswekenspeedway.com
SOS Championship Invitational At Ohsweken
The final race of the 2005 10th Anniversary Season for the Southern Ontario Sprints will be run Friday night at the Ohsweken Speedway. The SOS Championship Invitational will bring down the curtain on another season and crown the 2005 series champion.
Adam West currently holds the point lead by 115 markers over Glenn Styres. West simply has to take a green flag on Friday night to clinch the title. After losing an engine though on Labour Day weekend things aren't wrapped up just yet. The 'Batman" will be ready to compete with a less powerful back up motor. Needless to say it should be a very exciting night!
For a complete list of eligible drivers and a race purse structure visit http://www.southernontariosprints.com
Adam West currently holds the point lead by 115 markers over Glenn Styres. West simply has to take a green flag on Friday night to clinch the title. After losing an engine though on Labour Day weekend things aren't wrapped up just yet. The 'Batman" will be ready to compete with a less powerful back up motor. Needless to say it should be a very exciting night!
For a complete list of eligible drivers and a race purse structure visit http://www.southernontariosprints.com
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
CASCAR SS: Don Thomson is poised to earn his fifth consecutive Super Series National championship this weekend at Kawartha
LONDON, ON – Don Thomson Jr. is heading to this weekend’s CASCAR Super Series season finale at Kawartha Speedway in a familiar position. This Sunday’s ‘Dodge Ram Tough 250 presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario’ will mark the fifth consecutive time that the #4 Home Hardware Chevy driver will take to the track for the final race of the season as the points leader.
So far, the Hamilton, ON racer is four-for-four in terms of closing the deal. And all indications are that by Sunday evening, Thomson will have been successful in his ‘Drive For Five’ that started back in May at Delaware Speedway.
The veteran Fitzpatrick Motorsports racer is going to Kawartha – a place where he’s won twice in the past – with a commanding 89-point lead over Peter Gibbons. The Canadian Tire Chevy driver has won the last two Super Series races (at Delaware and Cayuga), but has done little to cut into Thomson’s significant points lead during that time. Thomson was the runner-up in both events and scored bonus points for earning the pole and leading the most laps at Cayuga, thereby preventing Gibbons from picking up even a single point on the championship leader at Cayuga.
Thomson’s current 89-point comfort margin is the biggest he has ever taken into the season finale; another statistic that doesn’t bode well for Gibbons’ hopes of winning his third Super Series National title. In 2003, PowerWater Taurus driver Kerry Micks narrowed Thomson’s winning margin from 55 to 39 points in the final race of the campaign, at Cayuga 2000 Speedway, to narrow the gap by 16 points. That effort by the Mt. Albert, ON racer was the most that any championship challenger has ever carved into Thomson’s lead in the final event. In fact, on two occasions (in 2001 and 2004), Thomson padded his lead by an additional 50 and 35 points, respectively, in the championship determining race.
In spite of his enviable position, Thomson isn’t taking anything for granted. Rather, he says he is hoping to improve his car for the Dodge Ram Tough 250 so that he can make amends for a few of the potential wins that slipped through his fingers in 2005. “We’re feeling pretty good about our chances going to Kawartha,” said Thomson, who won two CASCAR Eastern Series titles immediately prior to starting his domination of the National championship, in 2001. “Last year, we went there [Kawartha] with only a 17-point lead, so this feels better. We’re definitely going to give it a shot to win this weekend. I gotta get the car a little better because it seems to be getting consistently loose at the end of the race on these tires. Hopefully, I can drum up something a little different so that it’s strong at the end.”
The upcoming weekend will be a busy one at Kawartha Speedway. On Friday evening, the track will host the “Summer Sizzler” featuring triple-50s for the Late Models. On Saturday (Sept. 17), the CASCAR PowerWater Series will conclude its season with a 100-lap feature, leading up to the Super Series season finale on Sunday afternoon.
KAWARTHA NOTES: Don Thomson won at Kawartha Speedway in the Super Series’ first two visits to the Peterborough-area oval, in 2001 and 2002. The tour returned to the track in 2004 after a year off the schedule in ’03. Kerry Micks won last year’s season finale at Kawartha by mastering the high-line around the 3/8-mile oval… Thomson won the pole for last year’s race at Kawartha… A lucky fan at this weekend’s races at Kawartha can win $10,0000!. Kawartha Speedway is once again holding its popular Crossover Draw that gives race fans a chance to walk away with $10,000! Visit www.kawarthaspeedway.com for more details.
POWERWATER SERIES FINALE: Dion Verhoeven leads the CASCAR PowerWater Sportsman Series points chase heading into this Saturday’s sixth and final race of the 2005 season. The Kerwood, ON racer has a narrow, 12-point lead over former Super Series racer Mike Alguire, who hails from London, ON. Reigning Sportsman champ Brad Graham is a close third in the points and will be doing double duty this weekend at Kawartha as he will start Sunday’s Super Series closer in seventh-place in the points in his Challenger / Logel’s Dodge Charger.
OUT WEST: Kevin Dowler earned his fifth CASCAR Western Series championship on Sunday afternoon at Sun Valley Speedway, in Vernon, BC. Dowler’s EMCO Taurus moved to the front prior to the halfway point of the Lordco Auto Parts 200 and never looked back.
CASCAR ON TV: Catch the APC 300 Great Canadian Race from Delaware Speedway starting Saturday afternoon (Sept. 17) at 2:30 p.m. For information regarding initial airings and replays of Super Series races on SPORTSNET, please check your local listings or visit http://www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html.
SUPER SERIES POINT STANDINGS: Top 15 after 11 events. Unofficial as of September 10, 2005: 1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (2055 pts.); 2. #1 Peter Gibbons (1966); 3. #17 DJ Kennington (1894); 4. #39 Dave Whitlock (1861); 5. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (1845); 6. #02 Kerry Micks (1835); 7. #19 Brad Graham (1815); 8. #9 Mark Dilley (1810); 9. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (1776); 10. #88 Dave Jacombs (1695); 11. #10 Doug Brown (1649); 12. #22 Scott Steckly (1614); 13. #11 Ron VanEs (1582); 14. #37 Tara MacLeod (1558); 15. #3 Stu Robinson Jr. (1500)
SCHEDULE: KAWARTHA SPEEDWAY (Peterborough, Ontario)
CASCAR Super Series & Power Water Series
Dodge Ram Tough 250, presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2005
1:00 p.m. CASCAR PowerWater Series Time Trials
1:30 p.m. Kawartha Home Class Heats and Features
3:00 p.m. START: CASCAR POWERWATER SERIES 100 LAP FEATURE RACE
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2005
12: 30 p.m. CASCAR Super Series Time Trials
1:30 p.m. Driver Autograph Session
2:10 p.m. Super Series Driver Introductions
2:30 p.m. START: DODGE RAM TOUGH 250
PRESENTED BY THE DODGE DEALERS OF ONTARIO
Contact CASCAR at (519) 641-1214 or visit www.cascar.ca
Prepared by Inside Track Communications. // Contact: Greg MacPherson (416) 561-2320 (cell).
Comments regarding additions to – or deletions from – this mailing list should be sent to: greg@insidetracknews.com
So far, the Hamilton, ON racer is four-for-four in terms of closing the deal. And all indications are that by Sunday evening, Thomson will have been successful in his ‘Drive For Five’ that started back in May at Delaware Speedway.
The veteran Fitzpatrick Motorsports racer is going to Kawartha – a place where he’s won twice in the past – with a commanding 89-point lead over Peter Gibbons. The Canadian Tire Chevy driver has won the last two Super Series races (at Delaware and Cayuga), but has done little to cut into Thomson’s significant points lead during that time. Thomson was the runner-up in both events and scored bonus points for earning the pole and leading the most laps at Cayuga, thereby preventing Gibbons from picking up even a single point on the championship leader at Cayuga.
Thomson’s current 89-point comfort margin is the biggest he has ever taken into the season finale; another statistic that doesn’t bode well for Gibbons’ hopes of winning his third Super Series National title. In 2003, PowerWater Taurus driver Kerry Micks narrowed Thomson’s winning margin from 55 to 39 points in the final race of the campaign, at Cayuga 2000 Speedway, to narrow the gap by 16 points. That effort by the Mt. Albert, ON racer was the most that any championship challenger has ever carved into Thomson’s lead in the final event. In fact, on two occasions (in 2001 and 2004), Thomson padded his lead by an additional 50 and 35 points, respectively, in the championship determining race.
In spite of his enviable position, Thomson isn’t taking anything for granted. Rather, he says he is hoping to improve his car for the Dodge Ram Tough 250 so that he can make amends for a few of the potential wins that slipped through his fingers in 2005. “We’re feeling pretty good about our chances going to Kawartha,” said Thomson, who won two CASCAR Eastern Series titles immediately prior to starting his domination of the National championship, in 2001. “Last year, we went there [Kawartha] with only a 17-point lead, so this feels better. We’re definitely going to give it a shot to win this weekend. I gotta get the car a little better because it seems to be getting consistently loose at the end of the race on these tires. Hopefully, I can drum up something a little different so that it’s strong at the end.”
The upcoming weekend will be a busy one at Kawartha Speedway. On Friday evening, the track will host the “Summer Sizzler” featuring triple-50s for the Late Models. On Saturday (Sept. 17), the CASCAR PowerWater Series will conclude its season with a 100-lap feature, leading up to the Super Series season finale on Sunday afternoon.
KAWARTHA NOTES: Don Thomson won at Kawartha Speedway in the Super Series’ first two visits to the Peterborough-area oval, in 2001 and 2002. The tour returned to the track in 2004 after a year off the schedule in ’03. Kerry Micks won last year’s season finale at Kawartha by mastering the high-line around the 3/8-mile oval… Thomson won the pole for last year’s race at Kawartha… A lucky fan at this weekend’s races at Kawartha can win $10,0000!. Kawartha Speedway is once again holding its popular Crossover Draw that gives race fans a chance to walk away with $10,000! Visit www.kawarthaspeedway.com for more details.
POWERWATER SERIES FINALE: Dion Verhoeven leads the CASCAR PowerWater Sportsman Series points chase heading into this Saturday’s sixth and final race of the 2005 season. The Kerwood, ON racer has a narrow, 12-point lead over former Super Series racer Mike Alguire, who hails from London, ON. Reigning Sportsman champ Brad Graham is a close third in the points and will be doing double duty this weekend at Kawartha as he will start Sunday’s Super Series closer in seventh-place in the points in his Challenger / Logel’s Dodge Charger.
OUT WEST: Kevin Dowler earned his fifth CASCAR Western Series championship on Sunday afternoon at Sun Valley Speedway, in Vernon, BC. Dowler’s EMCO Taurus moved to the front prior to the halfway point of the Lordco Auto Parts 200 and never looked back.
CASCAR ON TV: Catch the APC 300 Great Canadian Race from Delaware Speedway starting Saturday afternoon (Sept. 17) at 2:30 p.m. For information regarding initial airings and replays of Super Series races on SPORTSNET, please check your local listings or visit http://www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html.
SUPER SERIES POINT STANDINGS: Top 15 after 11 events. Unofficial as of September 10, 2005: 1. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (2055 pts.); 2. #1 Peter Gibbons (1966); 3. #17 DJ Kennington (1894); 4. #39 Dave Whitlock (1861); 5. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (1845); 6. #02 Kerry Micks (1835); 7. #19 Brad Graham (1815); 8. #9 Mark Dilley (1810); 9. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (1776); 10. #88 Dave Jacombs (1695); 11. #10 Doug Brown (1649); 12. #22 Scott Steckly (1614); 13. #11 Ron VanEs (1582); 14. #37 Tara MacLeod (1558); 15. #3 Stu Robinson Jr. (1500)
SCHEDULE: KAWARTHA SPEEDWAY (Peterborough, Ontario)
CASCAR Super Series & Power Water Series
Dodge Ram Tough 250, presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2005
1:00 p.m. CASCAR PowerWater Series Time Trials
1:30 p.m. Kawartha Home Class Heats and Features
3:00 p.m. START: CASCAR POWERWATER SERIES 100 LAP FEATURE RACE
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2005
12: 30 p.m. CASCAR Super Series Time Trials
1:30 p.m. Driver Autograph Session
2:10 p.m. Super Series Driver Introductions
2:30 p.m. START: DODGE RAM TOUGH 250
PRESENTED BY THE DODGE DEALERS OF ONTARIO
Contact CASCAR at (519) 641-1214 or visit www.cascar.ca
Prepared by Inside Track Communications. // Contact: Greg MacPherson (416) 561-2320 (cell).
Comments regarding additions to – or deletions from – this mailing list should be sent to: greg@insidetracknews.com
PACIFIC FOREST RALLY TO BE TELEVISED ACROSS CANADA
Ken Kwong, Co-organizer & Public Relations
September 13, 2005, VANCOUVER, BC – When the sport of rallying returns to Merritt, BC next month, sports fans from across Canada will get to see for themselves all the drama, thrills and heartbreak this exciting form of motorsport is known for. Plans were announced today to film the racing action at the upcoming 2005 Pacific Forest Rally and broadcast it nationally this fall on the Chum television network.
The fifth round of the 2005 Canadian Rally Championship, the Pacific Forest Rally, will be aired as a special episode of Driver's Seat, Canada's longest running automotive television show. Driver's Seat is produced by ATV Productions, a Vancouver based production company best known for its "Wings over Canada" series.
"We are very excited to be working with ATV Productions in filming this year's Pacific Forest Rally", commented Ken Kwong, Co-organizer of the rally. "Our event offers both spectacular scenery and some of the most challenging roads in the entire championship series", said Kwong."Meanwhile, the race for the championship is tighter than it's been in years and our rally will be attracting top competitors from across Canada - you won't want to miss it!"
"The Canadian Rally Championship makes for captivating television viewing," said Terry Epp, President of the Canadian Association for Rallysport (CARS). "The announcement today of a partnership between ATV Productions and one of the most exciting events in the Canadian championship is very gratifying," Epp observed.
"ATV is committed to high performance automotive programming. Working with the Pacific Forest Rally and CARS will be a natural evolution for our sports division," said ATV President and CEO John Lovelace. "Ideally, we would like to be able televise the entire 2006 Canadian Rally Championship series, and hope that this opportunity will be a strong start to a lasting and mutually beneficial partnership."
The Pacific Forest Rally will be held this October 14th and 15th in Merritt, BC. Rallying consists of flat-out racing on challenging mountain and forest roads. Unlike circuit racing, teams compete against the clock for the fastest time on closed and controlled sections of remote forest roads. Professional drivers and their high performance rally cars will be coming from across Canada and the United States to the rally in Merritt this fall. This event is sanctioned by the Canadian Association of Rallysport (CARS), and teams will earn points towards three separate championship series.
The Pacific Forest Rally is scheduled to be televised across Canada on the CHUM television network; including: CityTV, "A" Channel, CLT and Shaw, among others. Details on the specific air date and time will be announced later, watch your local listings.
September 13, 2005, VANCOUVER, BC – When the sport of rallying returns to Merritt, BC next month, sports fans from across Canada will get to see for themselves all the drama, thrills and heartbreak this exciting form of motorsport is known for. Plans were announced today to film the racing action at the upcoming 2005 Pacific Forest Rally and broadcast it nationally this fall on the Chum television network.
The fifth round of the 2005 Canadian Rally Championship, the Pacific Forest Rally, will be aired as a special episode of Driver's Seat, Canada's longest running automotive television show. Driver's Seat is produced by ATV Productions, a Vancouver based production company best known for its "Wings over Canada" series.
"We are very excited to be working with ATV Productions in filming this year's Pacific Forest Rally", commented Ken Kwong, Co-organizer of the rally. "Our event offers both spectacular scenery and some of the most challenging roads in the entire championship series", said Kwong."Meanwhile, the race for the championship is tighter than it's been in years and our rally will be attracting top competitors from across Canada - you won't want to miss it!"
"The Canadian Rally Championship makes for captivating television viewing," said Terry Epp, President of the Canadian Association for Rallysport (CARS). "The announcement today of a partnership between ATV Productions and one of the most exciting events in the Canadian championship is very gratifying," Epp observed.
"ATV is committed to high performance automotive programming. Working with the Pacific Forest Rally and CARS will be a natural evolution for our sports division," said ATV President and CEO John Lovelace. "Ideally, we would like to be able televise the entire 2006 Canadian Rally Championship series, and hope that this opportunity will be a strong start to a lasting and mutually beneficial partnership."
The Pacific Forest Rally will be held this October 14th and 15th in Merritt, BC. Rallying consists of flat-out racing on challenging mountain and forest roads. Unlike circuit racing, teams compete against the clock for the fastest time on closed and controlled sections of remote forest roads. Professional drivers and their high performance rally cars will be coming from across Canada and the United States to the rally in Merritt this fall. This event is sanctioned by the Canadian Association of Rallysport (CARS), and teams will earn points towards three separate championship series.
The Pacific Forest Rally is scheduled to be televised across Canada on the CHUM television network; including: CityTV, "A" Channel, CLT and Shaw, among others. Details on the specific air date and time will be announced later, watch your local listings.
Tara MacLeod and Central Merchant Services Team Welcome Steam Whistle Brewing as Associate Sponsor
By Bruce F. Mehlenbacher, Director of Public Relations, JAJ EntertainmentSeptember 13, 2005, Innisfil, ON – Tara MacLeod the 2005 CASCAR PowerWater Rookie of the Year and driver of the Central Merchant Services #37 Ford Taurus is pleased to announce Steam Whistle Brewing, www.steamwhistle.ca as an associate sponsor.
“Steam Whistle Pilsner is a beer Canadians can be proud of and having them come on board for the last race of the CASCAR Super Series season taps off a great year for the Central Merchant Services Team,” explained Tara MacLeod. "Steam Whistle Brewing is a great addition to our team and to the Ontario brewing industry."
“As an underdog in a beer industry filled with giants, it’s great for Steam Whistle to be teaming up with the underdog of the racetrack,” stated Cam Heaps, President of Steam Whistle Brewing.” Together we will help each other rise to the top.”
MacLeod leads the PowerWater CASCAR Super Series Rookie of the year standings, and is 14th in the 2005 CASCAR Super Series Points Championship.
The final CASCAR Super Series race of the 2005 season, the Dodge Ram Tough 250 presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario will take place Saturday and Sunday, September 17 – 18 at Kawartha Speedway located in Fraserville, Ontario on the 3/8th-mile paved oval.
For information about Kawartha Speedway tickets and camping, call the Kawartha Speedway Hotline at 1.705.939-6316 (Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET) or visit online at http://www.kawarthaspeedway.com/.
CASCAR ON TV: Watch CASCAR on SPORTSNET, for information regarding initial airings and replays of Super Series races on SPORTSNET, check your local listings or visit www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html.
Under the team banner of MacLeod Racing, http://www.taramacleod.com/, 32-year old Tara MacLeod has been a strong competitor on the Ontario short-tracks for the past 10 years, with several awards to her credit.
Jeff Lapcevich takes fourth at Cayuga in Tim Hortons - EMCEA Transport Fastline Motorsports entry
By Bruce F. Mehlenbacher, Director of Public Relations, JAJ EntertainmentSeptember 12, 2005, Cayuga, ON – Tim Hortons - EMCEA Transport team driver Jeff Lapcevich placed a respectable fourth in the Crown Jewel 200 driving his #23 Fastline Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo in CASCAR Super Series competition in Saturday night’s event at Cayuga Speedway.
“We had a good car at Cayuga and the team was sharp in the pits,” explained Jeff Lapcevich after the race. “It says a lot for our team when we can run up front with CASCAR’s top competitors and multiple series champions like Gibbons, Thomson and Whitlock. I’m looking forward to Kawartha Speedway next weekend. It’s a fun track, we qualified well there last year and had a seventh-place finish.”
Peter Gibbons won the Crown Jewel 200 followed by Don Thomson Jr. and Dave Whitlock.
Jim Lapcevich finished a disappointing 23rd after breaking half-way into the race.
“We had one of our better qualifying efforts on Saturday night in Cayuga. I like running there and the EMCEA Transport - Tim Hortons Chevrolet was running well,” stated Jim Lapcevich. “I’m really excited about next weekend’s event at Kawartha Speedway. We had a second-place finish there last year and I can’t wait to go back.”
The final CASCAR Super Series race of the 2005 season, the Dodge Ram Tough 250 presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario will take place Saturday and Sunday, September 17 – 18 at Kawartha Speedway located in Fraserville, Ontario on the 3/8th-mile paved oval.
For information about Kawartha Speedway tickets and camping, call the Kawartha Speedway Hotline at 1.705.939-6316 (Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET) or visit online at http://www.kawarthaspeedway.com/
CASCAR ON TV: Watch CASCAR on SPORTSNET, for information regarding initial airings and replays of Super Series races on SPORTSNET, check your local listings or visit www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html.
Top ten finish for Micks and PowerWater Ford at Cayuga Speedway
By Bruce F. Mehlenbacher, Director of Public Relations, JAJ EntertainmentSeptember 12, 2005, Cayuga, ON – Driving his PowerWater 2005 Micks Motorsports Ford, veteran driver Kerry Micks finished in seventh position at Cayuga Speedway in Saturday night’s CASCAR Super Series Crown Jewel 200.
“Cayuga would have been a lot more fun if my car would have been handling better,” said Kerry Micks after the race. “We were lucky to get out of there with a seventh-place finish.”
Peter Gibbons won the Crown Jewel 200 on the big 5/8ths-mile oval, followed by Don Thomson Jr. and Dave Whitlock.
“I’m looking forward to returning to Kawartha Speedway this weekend,” added Micks. “We always run there and I love that track. We’ve got a good shot a picking up our fourth win of the season, and with a good finish in the PowerWater Ford we can move into the top five in the CASCAR Super Series points standings. That would be a good way to finish the year.”
Micks, with three wins this season in the PowerWater Micks Motorsports Ford, sits in sixth position in the 2005 CASCAR Super Series Points Championship.
The final CASCAR Super Series race of the 2005 season, the Dodge Ram Tough 250 presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario will take place Saturday and Sunday, September 17 – 18 at Kawartha Speedway located in Fraserville, Ontario on the 3/8th-mile paved oval.
For information about Kawartha Speedway tickets and camping, call the Kawartha Speedway Hotline at 1.705.939-6316 (Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET) or visit online at www.kawarthaspeedway.com.
CASCAR ON TV: Watch CASCAR on SPORTSNET, for information regarding initial airings and replays of Super Series races on SPORTSNET, check your local listings or visit www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html.
Tony Eury Jr. Now Crew Chief for No. 8 Budweiser Team
By Jade Gurss, fingerprint inc., Anheuser-Busch / Dale Earnhardt Jr. PublicityDale Earnhardt Incorporated announced today that Tony Eury Jr., will take over as crew chief for the No. 8 Budweiser team, effectively immediately.
Eury Jr. had been crew chief for DEI’s No. 15 NAPA team for the first 26 races of the season, and will be reunited with driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The two Juniors are cousins, and previously worked together from 1998 through the end of 2004, amassing two Busch Series championships and 15 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victories together, including the 2004 Daytona 500.
”This is the best plan for us as a company,” Eury Jr. said. “(Dale Jr. and I) haven’t been in the same pit box this year, but we’ve been working closely as a team. Looking at where we want to be for 2006, it made sense to switch now and get that much further ahead.”
”By putting Tony Jr. back with Dale Jr. now, it enables us to start working towards our goals for next season," said Richie Gilmore, Vice-President of Motorsports at DEI. "Those two can start finding their rhythm, and (interim No. 8 team crew chief) Steve Hmiel can return his full focus on the technical aspect of our programs.”
Hmiel, who has been the interim crew chief for the No. 8 team since May, will return to his position as Technical Director for Dale Earnhardt Inc. Tony Gibson, car chief for the No. 15 team, will serve as the NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet crew chief for the remainder of this season.
RACELINE RADIO’S MOVIN’ in MONTREAL!
September 13, 2005 – Burlington Ontario: Award-winning Raceline Radio, Canada’s only nationally syndicated motorsport magazine and open-line radio show is on the move in Montreal on THE TEAM 990!
Starting Monday September 26th, the show moves to a new time slot: Monday night at 7:06 PM on Montreal’s Sports Authority. The show will continue in its present time slot of 12 Noon Saturday until the 26th.
“ THE TEAM 990 is clearly Montreal’s MOTORSPORT Authority! They’ve been a solid affiliate for many years and it’s a delight to work with these guys. The new time slot, Monday at 7:06 PM, is prime time for racing fans looking for developments from the weekend and interviews with the winners and stars! “, commented Raceline Radio Anchor/Writer Erik Tomas.
“ We also do week-long cross promotion cut-ins with Mitch Melnick Monday and Thursday afternoon, and Denis Casavant and Tony Marinaro Tuesday morning. THE TEAM 990 gets it! They’re totally into this sport and we’re proud to continue as top gear in their coverage!”, Tomas added.
“We’re excited to return Raceline Radio to our Monday evening line-up. The new time slot will reflect our commitment to our racing fans.” added THE TEAM 990’s Denis Dion.
A consistent winner of major international broadcast journalism awards, The Raceline Radio Network is carried on 15 affiliates across Canada in Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Fredericton, Windsor, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Niagara Falls, Peterborough, Truro, Oromocto and New Maryland.
Raceline Radio’s broadcast partners include: Subaru Canada, Texaco-Havoline, Globalstar Satellite Telephones and Inside Track Motorsport News.
For more information: Erik Tomas: 905-332-7223 Ext 3. erik@raceline.ca
Starting Monday September 26th, the show moves to a new time slot: Monday night at 7:06 PM on Montreal’s Sports Authority. The show will continue in its present time slot of 12 Noon Saturday until the 26th.
“ THE TEAM 990 is clearly Montreal’s MOTORSPORT Authority! They’ve been a solid affiliate for many years and it’s a delight to work with these guys. The new time slot, Monday at 7:06 PM, is prime time for racing fans looking for developments from the weekend and interviews with the winners and stars! “, commented Raceline Radio Anchor/Writer Erik Tomas.
“ We also do week-long cross promotion cut-ins with Mitch Melnick Monday and Thursday afternoon, and Denis Casavant and Tony Marinaro Tuesday morning. THE TEAM 990 gets it! They’re totally into this sport and we’re proud to continue as top gear in their coverage!”, Tomas added.
“We’re excited to return Raceline Radio to our Monday evening line-up. The new time slot will reflect our commitment to our racing fans.” added THE TEAM 990’s Denis Dion.
A consistent winner of major international broadcast journalism awards, The Raceline Radio Network is carried on 15 affiliates across Canada in Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Fredericton, Windsor, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Niagara Falls, Peterborough, Truro, Oromocto and New Maryland.
Raceline Radio’s broadcast partners include: Subaru Canada, Texaco-Havoline, Globalstar Satellite Telephones and Inside Track Motorsport News.
For more information: Erik Tomas: 905-332-7223 Ext 3. erik@raceline.ca
BROWN FOCUSES ON FINAL EVENT OF SEASON : Preparation Is First and Foremost for the NAPA/Autopro Team Heading To Kawartha
By Ken Spencer, Marketing and Media Relations, Brown Auto RacingSeptember 14, 2005 – It’s down to the short strokes for Brantford’s Doug Brown and several of the top-ten teams in CASCAR’s Super Series as they head to the Peterborough area and Kawartha Downs Speedway this weekend for the final event on the 2005 Series’ schedule.
With still a mathematical chance of securing a top-ten placing in the final standings, the veteran driver knows it will take a herculean effort by him and his NAPA/ Autopro team, coupled with a disastrous outing by Mt. Hope’s Dave Jacombs who currently holds down the tenth place position, to move up one spot in the standings.
Jacombs is a seasoned campaigner on the Super Series tour and one who Doug holds a lot of respect for.
But as Doug’s been stating since the beginning of the month, “ We’re taking it one race at a time.”
“We can worry too much about who we can catch or who we have to watch in the mirror,” Doug commented in preparing for the Kawartha race. “We just have to concentrate our efforts on getting the right set-up, turning a good time trial in qualifying and see if we can get ourselves another top-ten finish. But it sure would be nice to stand on the podium at the end of the afternoon,” he added.
The team will take advantage of Saturday’s practice session to test some set-ups and gear ratios in the go for broke “Ram Tough 250” presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario.
With the season heading into its final 250-laps on Sunday afternoon at the combination Harness Racing- Slots-Stock Car Racing entertainment complex, it promises to be an afternoon of bumper banging, fender rubbing action with several of those teams already in the top-ten battling to better their current positions.
Defending champion Don Thomson Jr. of Hamilton appears to have a lock on his fifth consecutive title entering the race with an 89-point margin over Stouffville’s Peter Gibbons. DJ Kennington of St. Thomas has a 33 point lead over Dave Whitlock of Wyoming for third but Whitlock will have to be careful of Windsor’s Ron Beauchamp Jr. and Mt. Albert’s Kerry Micks who are challenging his fourth place position. And with Glencoe’s Brad Graham and Barrie’s Mark Dilley within striking distance, it’s anybody guess how the standings for fifth through eighth or possibly fourth through eighth will look at the end of 250 laps.
Brown Auto Racing wishes to acknowledge and thank our Title Sponsors NAPA/Autopro; our Major Associate Sponsors Valvoline Canada and Wahta Springs Water; and our Associate Sponsors- NAPA Brake and Chassis, Bicknell Racing Product, World of Graphics, HurryPrint Imaging Centre, WIX Filter; Jebbo's Electronics Warehouse, KWIC Internet, Gates Canada, BOC Gases, Advance Printing, Brochures etc., ACE Transmissions, and Clearshop Custom for their contributions to our 2005 sponsorship/marketing team.
For additional information on Brown Auto Racing, see http://www.dougbrown.net/ or contact Doug Brown at (519) 752-9531.
Blown Engine Breaks Steckly’s Day
By Kyle ErbDespite struggling for much of the year Scott Steckly driver of the Erb Group/ ALTRUCK International Pontiac was looking to finish the CASCAR Super Series final two races strong, in an attempt to vault into the top-10 in the series point standings. This weekend’s race was at Cayuga Speedway, a 5/8 mile oval, the largest in Canada. It was a one-day event with practice, qualifying and the race all scheduled for Saturday September 10th. Scott and the #22 car struggled in practice posting only the 20th fastest time. Following practice the team borrowed a rear end from the #71 car driven by Bryan Cathcart. The rear end ratio change proved to help the car as in qualifying; Scott drove the Erb Group/ ALTRUCK car to the 13th fastest time.
The race was fairly short for Scott and the #22 team. Steckly remained in 13th from the drop of the green flag until lap 45, J.R. Fitzpatrick in the #84 was leading Scott, #33 Neil Fair and #11 Ron Van Es. The Milverton, ON driver gave J.R. Fitzpatrick a couple bumps in the corner but never could get by the #84. Neil Fair used the same technique on Scott and passed the #22 sending Steckly back a position into 14th. A couple laps later Scott’s race came to an end as the cars engine blew up. After the race a disappointed Steckly said “We have poor luck here at Cayuga, but this is getting ridiculous, we’ve run our old faithful motor most of the year. We need to get one more race out of it and then take a serious look at our motor program. Somehow we need to get the horsepower and reliability we had in the past”
The last race for the 2005 CASCAR Super Series goes next Sunday, September 18th at Kawartha Speedway located in Fraserville, ON.
In the drive for the 2005 CASCAR Super Series Championship, of which Scott presently sits in 12th place, the 22 Race team is proudly sponsored by: The Erb Group of Companies, International Truck and Engine Dealers: ALTRUCK, Lewis and Metro; Thermo King of Eastern Canada, CPL Systems, AW Millwrights, Chris Root Precision Machine, D.H. Jutzi Limited, Commercial Babcock, Classy Collectibles, Twin City Graphics, Filtakleen, Duplicolor, Mr. Transmission (Guelph), and Stratford Motor Products, Holiday Inn Express (Calgary and Toronto Airport Area).
Click on the web links to find to information on Scott Steckly’s 2005 sponsors:
http://www.erbgroup.com/, http://www.internationaldelivers.com/, http://www.thermoking.com/, http://www.cplsystems.com/, http://www.commercialbabcock.com/, http://www.classyco.ca/ http://www.twincitygraphics.com/, http://www.filtakleen.ca/, http://www.duplicolor.com/, http://www.mistertransmission.com/, http://www.stratfordmotorproducts.com/, www.hiexpress.com
Go to CASCAR.ca for information on the entire racing series. Contact kyle_erb@sympatico.ca for information about Scott Steckly and the entire race team.
Tiemersma Motorsports News
Good Morning,
I hope everyone enjoyed their summer. Although the summer is ending and the ALSTAR season is over, Tiemersma Motorsports will be in action a few more times before the snow flies. We look like we are going to be running at least two more times this season with a possible third race TBD. I have updated the website with some news and will be rotating some old photo's of Tiemersma Motorsport cars though the website, so please enjoy some of the older cars.
If you have any questions please e-mail us through the website contact page or reply to this e-mail. We appreciate any feed back you have on the team or the website.
Thank You
Mike Sutton
Crew Chief
Tiemersma Motorsports
www.tiemersmamotorsports.com
I hope everyone enjoyed their summer. Although the summer is ending and the ALSTAR season is over, Tiemersma Motorsports will be in action a few more times before the snow flies. We look like we are going to be running at least two more times this season with a possible third race TBD. I have updated the website with some news and will be rotating some old photo's of Tiemersma Motorsport cars though the website, so please enjoy some of the older cars.
If you have any questions please e-mail us through the website contact page or reply to this e-mail. We appreciate any feed back you have on the team or the website.
Thank You
Mike Sutton
Crew Chief
Tiemersma Motorsports
www.tiemersmamotorsports.com
OPTIMISM AND DETERMINATION FIRE THE #11 TEAM: Outstanding Year So Far For Sophomore Driver and Crew
Prepared for Van Es Racing by Ken SpencerSeptember 14, 2005 For some CASCAR Super Series teams it’s been a long and tiring season since the season began back in May, especially for those whose year has been filled with disappointments, bad luck and/or mediocre results.
For the Star Van Systems/ All Covers Portable Systems team #11, led by sophomore driver Ron Van Es, his Crew Chief Alex Nagy and Car Chief Ken Nichols, it’s been a season filled with a few surprises, satisfaction and yes, even a few disappointments. But two key factors –optimism and determination- have kept them competitive throughout the 11 events/13-races run todate.
Heading to the final race of the season at Kawartha Speedway this weekend for “The Dodge Dealers of Ontario –Ram Tough 250” the team is hoping they can better their impressive 11th-place performance of last Saturday and climb another spot in the standings.
They currently sit 13th in the points race and are just 36 behind Milverton’s Scott Steckly for 12th.
“I don’t know if we can catch Scott. He would have to have some pretty bad luck and I think he got that out of the way at Cayuga,” Ron responded when questioned on his chances. “Our strategy probably won’t change. We’ll try to stay on the lead lap, keep out of trouble and shoot for a top ten. We didn’t have a very good run at Kawartha last year”, he added, “but we’ve got some ideas on how to fix that.”
“As for sponsorship of this event, it sounds like Marshall’s Truck and Trailer Repairs will be back for the final race but I don’t know at this time about the Innsville Bar and Grille. Marshall’s were pretty impressed with the coverage (not to forget the results) we gave them.” Both area businesses co-sponsored the team at Cayuga –an arrangement originally set for one race only.
Regardless of the results they have on Sunday, Ron and his teammates have good reason to celebrate once the season is over. Even at twelfth-place in the national standings, that’s a pretty good performance for a driver and team who came into Super Series competition just last season.
Ron would like to pass on his special thanks to his family, sponsors and terrific crewmembers who were responsible for the successful season
CASCAR Super Series: Don Thomson Jr. Championship Math...
Given that I need a calculator to add two low numbers... someone else might want to check this over, but Donnie has an 89-point lead going to Kawartha.
If Thomson didn't qualify in the top five and didn't lead a lap (i.e. no bonus points)... and if Gibbons won the race (162 pts.), earned the pole (5 pts.), led a lap (4 pts.) and led the most laps (4 pts.) for a 175-point event....
Donnie would only have to start the race and finish better than 32nd (and thereby collect 88 points) or better to clinch Nat'l championship #5.
If only 32 cars show up, he clinches it at the green, according to my math (if Gibbons wins the pole and Donnie starts 6th or worse).
CANADIAN SPRINT CAR NATIONALS SET TO TAKE THE GREEN FLAG
By Ken Pelkie, Event Coordinator, Canadian Sprint Car Nationals
Final preparations are taking place for the inaugural running of the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals”. Scheduled to go at Ohsweken Speedway on Saturday, September 17, the 30 lap feature event presented by “Eldorado Logistics” guarantees the winner $5,000. The winner could take home over $6,500 in cash and contingency awards of the posted prize package totaling over $48,000.
The event which will be run under a common set of rules crafted at the Northeastern 360 Forum last November and administered by Ohsweken Speedway, gets underway on Friday night, September 16 when three practice sessions will be available for registered entries that are not competing in the SOS Invitational. Also on the schedule Friday will be the “Village Pizza – Ohsweken Shootout” for Canadian Nationals registered cars. Three cars each from SOS (Styres; West; Riegling); ESS (Kaszubinski; Bergeron; Karklin); PSG (Kyle Wilson; Hebing; Suprick); and SOD (Patrick; Mulheim; Broughman) will line up at intermission for a 10 lap head to head battle. The winner will walk away with $500. All cars qualified from an earlier event at Ohsweken this season that was sanctioned by the individual participating series.
Then on Saturday, time trials will be used to determine the fastest forty eight of the more than seventy expected entries. They will then progress through a series of heat races, Dashes, “C” , and “B” Main to determine the twenty four car “A” Main field that will determine the first “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” champion. Non-qualifier race(s) will be run for the remainder of the field to determine the final four cars that will tag on to the back of the heat races.
Saturday will see Pit Gates open at 8:00 AM while the spectator area after being left open all night will be emptied and closed at 11:00 AM for a 12:00 Noon opening. Drivers meeting will begin at 4:00 PM with hot laps and time trials to follow immediately. Racing is scheduled for 7:45 PM.
Advanced tickets for the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” will be available Friday night, September 16th at the Pit Gate entrance of the speedway only from 4:00 till race time at 7:45 PM.
Cost is $25 Canadian ($20 U.S.) for adults with children 6 through 12 at $5.00. Under 6 will be free. “No reserved seats will be available for this year’s race” stated owner Glenn Styres. “If the event is supported and as successful as we think, we will assess all areas and adjust for any future races similar to this”.
For more information, please log on to the official website of Ohsweken Speedway and the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” at www.ohswekenspeedway.com and click on the CSCN icon on the front page.
Final preparations are taking place for the inaugural running of the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals”. Scheduled to go at Ohsweken Speedway on Saturday, September 17, the 30 lap feature event presented by “Eldorado Logistics” guarantees the winner $5,000. The winner could take home over $6,500 in cash and contingency awards of the posted prize package totaling over $48,000.
The event which will be run under a common set of rules crafted at the Northeastern 360 Forum last November and administered by Ohsweken Speedway, gets underway on Friday night, September 16 when three practice sessions will be available for registered entries that are not competing in the SOS Invitational. Also on the schedule Friday will be the “Village Pizza – Ohsweken Shootout” for Canadian Nationals registered cars. Three cars each from SOS (Styres; West; Riegling); ESS (Kaszubinski; Bergeron; Karklin); PSG (Kyle Wilson; Hebing; Suprick); and SOD (Patrick; Mulheim; Broughman) will line up at intermission for a 10 lap head to head battle. The winner will walk away with $500. All cars qualified from an earlier event at Ohsweken this season that was sanctioned by the individual participating series.
Then on Saturday, time trials will be used to determine the fastest forty eight of the more than seventy expected entries. They will then progress through a series of heat races, Dashes, “C” , and “B” Main to determine the twenty four car “A” Main field that will determine the first “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” champion. Non-qualifier race(s) will be run for the remainder of the field to determine the final four cars that will tag on to the back of the heat races.
Saturday will see Pit Gates open at 8:00 AM while the spectator area after being left open all night will be emptied and closed at 11:00 AM for a 12:00 Noon opening. Drivers meeting will begin at 4:00 PM with hot laps and time trials to follow immediately. Racing is scheduled for 7:45 PM.
Advanced tickets for the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” will be available Friday night, September 16th at the Pit Gate entrance of the speedway only from 4:00 till race time at 7:45 PM.
Cost is $25 Canadian ($20 U.S.) for adults with children 6 through 12 at $5.00. Under 6 will be free. “No reserved seats will be available for this year’s race” stated owner Glenn Styres. “If the event is supported and as successful as we think, we will assess all areas and adjust for any future races similar to this”.
For more information, please log on to the official website of Ohsweken Speedway and the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” at www.ohswekenspeedway.com and click on the CSCN icon on the front page.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
SERIOUS STOCK CAR RACING ON SATURDAY NIGHT
September 13, 2005 – The CALTRONICS Saturday Night Stocks show at Race City this weekend will be a good look at some of the complexities of the sport. In many ways, the two types of racecar in action are the yin and yang of oval track stock car racing.
The Enduro series is intended as a low-cost, entry-level class where teams can take a former road car, add some safety features and race it. While there are some very highly-skilled drivers in this class who keep racing in it because it offers more laps per dollar deployed than any other, quite a few entrants have ambitions of moving up to faster equipment.
The NEWALTA Late Models are the very peak of the sport in action on Race City¹s high-banked half-mile oval. Purpose-built racecars with very few production-line parts, they may look like Pontiacs and Chevrolets but that resemblance is in appearance only. These are the fastest cars presently in action at Race City and require a very high level of skill from both driver and crew.
The Enduro cars will be racing two 150-lap races, which means the drivers must take care of their cars and tires while maintaining a strong race pace. In contrast, the NEWALTA Late Models will be running two ten-lap heats and a fifty-lap main high-intensity racing with no room for the slightest error.
NOTE NEW TIMES - Spectator gates open at 5pm. Racing begins at 6pm.
DOUBLEHEADER WILL END CMRA SEASON
The Calgary Motorcycle Roadracing Association has two more points races left in 2005, one on Saturday afternoon and the other on Sunday. The season championships in all classes are up for grabs and this weekend should attract some out-of-town riders in addition to the CMRA regulars.
The Enduro series is intended as a low-cost, entry-level class where teams can take a former road car, add some safety features and race it. While there are some very highly-skilled drivers in this class who keep racing in it because it offers more laps per dollar deployed than any other, quite a few entrants have ambitions of moving up to faster equipment.
The NEWALTA Late Models are the very peak of the sport in action on Race City¹s high-banked half-mile oval. Purpose-built racecars with very few production-line parts, they may look like Pontiacs and Chevrolets but that resemblance is in appearance only. These are the fastest cars presently in action at Race City and require a very high level of skill from both driver and crew.
The Enduro cars will be racing two 150-lap races, which means the drivers must take care of their cars and tires while maintaining a strong race pace. In contrast, the NEWALTA Late Models will be running two ten-lap heats and a fifty-lap main high-intensity racing with no room for the slightest error.
NOTE NEW TIMES - Spectator gates open at 5pm. Racing begins at 6pm.
DOUBLEHEADER WILL END CMRA SEASON
The Calgary Motorcycle Roadracing Association has two more points races left in 2005, one on Saturday afternoon and the other on Sunday. The season championships in all classes are up for grabs and this weekend should attract some out-of-town riders in addition to the CMRA regulars.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
