Photos by www.insidetracknews.com
Saturday, July 17, 2010
NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES - Jumpstart 100 - Toronto
Delaware Speedway Event Cancellation: Enduro (July 17, 2010)
TONIGHT'S RACING CANCELLED
Tonight's Transmission Direct Enduro and Ultimate Sandblasting & Coating Chaos Car event presented by All-Round Truck and Auto-Care has been cancelled due to severe lightning in the area. Thank-you for your understanding. We look forward to seeing you at the next Delaware Speedway event!
Next Friday evening is Coca-Cola Night featuring the NASCAR Late Models, POWERADE Modifieds, and Demar Aggregates Trucks. Gates open at 6:00 pm, racing starts at 8:00 pm.
From Delaware Speedway
INDYCAR: Wilson blazes to IndyCar pole in Toronto
TORONTO (July 17, 2010) - Justin Wilson earned his first IZOD IndyCar Series pole, and set a series track record in the process, for the Honda Indy Toronto. Now all the Dreyer & Reinbold Racing driver has to do is hold off 25 challengers over 85 laps in Sunday's race.
Wilson posted a quick lap of 1 minute, 0.2710 seconds (104.827 mph) in the Firestone Fast Six on the 1.75-mile, 11-turn street circuit at Exhibition Place to win the PEAK Performance Pole Award.
It was the second career pole earned for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing - the first by Sarah Fisher in 2002 at Kentucky Speedway.
Team Penske's Will Power will join Wilson on the front row. Power, five-time pole winner this season, had a best lap of 1:00.4563 in the Firestone Fast Six. The current championship points leader has advanced to the Firestone Fast Six in all 10 street/road course events he's competed for Team Penske.
Helio Castroneves (1:00.8159) in the No. 3 Team Penske car and Ryan Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 37 IZOD car for Andretti Autosport (1:00.8397), will share Row 2. Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dario Franchitti (1:00.9477) and Scott Dixon (1:00.9541) will be on Row 3. Dixon extended his series record to 42 consecutive top-five starts.
All but Wilson are race winners this season. He obviously intends to become the eighth different winner.
"We've had a couple of tough races so to come back and get the pole here is just fantastic," said Wilson, who will seek his third IZOD IndyCar Series victory. "Everyone at Dreyer & Reinbold has worked so hard. I'm very pleased for Z-Line Designs. We'll keep pushing for the race. It's easy in this stage to sit back and relax, but we have a lot of work to do. It's great that this is the team's second career pole and I want to get their second career win. That's the big picture we're looking at but this is a great moment.
"After the difficulties at Watkins Glen (lost four spots to finish 10th) and Iowa (dropped 13 positions to finish 24th), it's been tough. We've been working so hard, trying to stay focused, stay on track and not go off on a tangent."
Also on July 17, Firestone Indy Lights points leader J.K. Vernay recorded the quickest lap - 1 minute, 5.2989 seconds - to claim the Sunoco Pole Award for the Toronto 100 with a minute left in the 50-minute session to earn the pole for the 50-lap race on the 1.75-mile, 11-turn street circuit at Exhibition Place.
It was the second pole and fourth front-row start of the season for Vernay in the No. 7 Lucas Oil/CJ/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car.
DAY 2 NOTEBOOK:
Erica Hill of the "CBS Early Show" took a high-speed ride in the Indy Racing Experience two-seater with Davey Hamilton as the driver on the 1.75-mile, 11-turn street circuit at Toronto's Exhibition Place.
"That was incredible," she said after being unhooked from microphones and unbelted from the back seat of the stretched Dallara chassis. "I thought it was going to be a lot faster, then I realized you were just warming up. That second lap, oh my goodness. That was a big difference."
That was Part 1. Three hours later, after waves of instruction and encouragement from Hamilton and IZOD IndyCar Series points leader Will Power, she was strapped into the cockpit of a single-seat IndyCar (minus a few horsepower from the IZOD IndyCar Series cars) for a lap of the physically demanding course.
The segment will be broadcast on the CBS Early Show in the next few weeks.
***
Carmen Jorda's #4 Firestone Indy Lights car is carrying decals celebrating Spain's World Cup victory by carrying the Spanish flag on the sidepods and "Congratulations Spain" on the rear wing. Jorda is a native of Alcoy, Spain.
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2009 Firestone Indy Lights champion J.R. Hildebrand is assisting Cape Motorsport with Wayne Taylor Racing as a driver coach for Gustavo Yacaman. Hildebrand, who is slated to make his IZOD IndyCar Series debut next month with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, won the Cooper Tires series championship in 2006 for Cape Motorsports and worked with the team's co-owners, Nicholas and Dominic Cape, in Firestone Indy Lights at Andersen Racing in 2008.
***
Former NFL quarterback Jim Everett was among the thousands of spectators at the Exhibition Place venue to watch Firestone Indy Lights and IZOD IndyCar Series qualifications. "I've been to Indy and Long Beach so I guess I'm a veteran," said Everett, who played 12 seasons in the NFL out of Purdue. "It's really exciting how they determine the pole winner and I'm looking forward to the race."
***
Rahal Letterman Racing loaned the Quick Trim sponsorship that was on the No. 30 entry driven by Graham Rahal in the Indianpolis 500 to Newman/Haas Racing because of its conflicting American Le Mans Series schedule.
Rahal is driving the No. 02 Quick Trim car in the Honda Indy Toronto.
BOBBY RAHAL (Co-owner, Rahal Letterman Racing): "Obviously, when we first started discussing continuing the partnership, all of our efforts were based on us running our car with Graham and the guys at Rahal Letterman Racing. The entire team really answered the bell at Indy by putting together a great car, and off the track the Quick Trim story gained a lot of attention and gave the company nearly a 500 percent return-of-investment on its sponsorship dollars. But when it came down to it, we had to make sure that any effort we made did not detract from our BMW ALMS program, and to do that was going to be cost-prohibitive. So, in the interest of doing what was best for the sponsor, for Graham and for the sport, we reached out to our friends at Newman/Haas Racing."
PEAK PERFORMANCE POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:
•Justin Wilson claimed the PEAK Performance Pole Award for Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto. It is first career IZOD IndyCar Series pole. His lap of 1:00.2710 is a new IZOD IndyCar Series track record.
•This is a second IZOD IndyCar Series pole for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. The team's only other pole was with driver Sarah Fisher in 2002 at Kentucky.
•This ends Team Penske's consecutive pole streak. Team Penske drivers have won the last 8 poles in the IZOD IndyCar Series.
•Will Power qualified second, his third consecutive front row star. This is both Power and Dario Franchitti's sixth consecutive top-five start of the season.
•Will Power has advanced to the Firestone Fast Six in all 10 road-street course starts he has made for Team Penske, a streak that started in April 2009 at St. Petersburg. Power qualified in the top six in 2009 at St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Toronto and Edmonton, and he has been in the top six this season at Sao Paulo, St. Petersburg, Barber, Long Beach,Watkins Glen and Toronto.
•Helio Castroneves will start third, his fifth consecutive top-five qualifying spot.
•The fourth place qualifying spot is Ryan Hunter-Reay best start since Long Beach in mid-April.
•This is Scott Dixon's 42nd top-ten start, extending the IZOD IndyCar Series record.
PEAK PERFORMANCE POLE QUALIFYING QUOTES:
JUSTIN WILSON (No. 22 Team Z-Line Designs/DRR, PEAK Performance Pole Award winner): "It's great. We've had a couple of tough races so to come back and get the pole here is just fantastic. Everyone at Dreyer and Reinbold has worked so hard. I'm very pleased for Z-Line Designs. It's a good weekend so far. We have to keep it up. We'll keep pushing for the race. It's easy in this stage to sit back and relax, but we have a lot of work to do. It's great that this is the team's second career pole and I want to get their second career win. That's the big picture we're looking at but this is a great moment. After the difficulties at Watkins Glen and Iowa, it's been tough. We've been working so hard, trying to stay focus and stay on track and not go off on a tangent."
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske, second): "We definitely got the car better for qualifying today, but Justin was very quick and tough to beat. I am not sure I could have beaten him this time. I know I made a mistake at the end of my lap, but that was a tough qualifying session and I am exhausted. I feel good about tomorrow; I am not sure what will happen with the weather. Rain always stirs things up, but we will take it as it comes."
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 37 Team IZOD, fourth): "I am a little disappointed after yesterday being such a good day. We are P4; I missed P3 by two-hundredths of a second. It was a tight day, but its good being fourth and we can work from here. Justin saved red tires for the end and that was the move of the day. We couldn't beat him after that. "
PAUL TRACY (No. 15 Make A Wish -KV Racing Technology): "I really don't know what happened in qualifying. The car wasn't handling right. There was something drastically wrong with it. Now, that we are back at the truck, we found something wrong with the car's setup. It is very disappointing. It's too bad it happened during qualifying. The car just didn't do what we wanted. It was strange because I couldn't figure out why the car was feeling so weird. It didn't perform like that on Friday and earlier on Saturday. So, now we'll have to start from the back and drive our way up the field."
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, qualified third): "It was exciting, we didn't know if the rain was coming or not. So we decided to keep going as fast as we could. We certainty had the car to get up there, but we just wanted to play it safe and to be in the top six. But in the top three is certainly a good position to win a race from."
DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 10 Air Wick): "I normally wouldn't be happy with my position, but after practice yesterday and today, I'm very happy to be in the position I am in. In the qualifying segment, I thought I had run some of my best laps ever here, but, unfortunately, when it came to the Fast Six we had already used our reds, but we are in the top six which is a really good position to win the race from."
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing): "I thought the session went pretty smooth, this track can be quite frustrating at times, being so bumpy, but I thought it went very well, and I'm happy to be in the position that I'm in."
MARIO MORAES (No. 32 KV Racing Technology): "I was surprised how slippery the track was today. I just couldn't get the grip that I needed to put in a good lap. I love the Toronto track and I was expecting a good run after our top-five race at Watkins Glen. So I am disappointed with the qualifying run. We'll work hard overnight to improve the car for the race. Started back in the field is difficult, but Paul (Tracy) showed last year that you can come from the back and race at the front. That will be our goal."
E.J. VISO (No. 8 PDVSA - Jet Aviation - KV Racing Technology): "Everyone with the No. 8 car felt like we would have a good car after the morning practice when we were P2. When we put on the other tires for qualifying, we had a huge understeer and we couldn't keep up the pace with the other drivers. I thought we had the speed to be in the top-three in the first qualifying session since we had done it earlier. It is difficult to understand because the car was so good before qualifying. Now, we'll have to get the race car prepared for warm-up on Sunday and find the speed once again."
RAPHAEL MATOS (No. 2 HP de Ferran Dragon Racing): "I'm a little disappointed because I thought we would make it into the fast six today. Unfortunately the crash early on hurt us. I give all the credit to the HP McAfee team for putting the car back together and getting us ready for qualifying. As hopeful as I was that we'd make the fast six, 11th is still a good result. It will be a long race tomorrow. We just need to be smart with our strategy and run a clean race.
DAN WHELDON (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing): "It shows the strength of the team when you see that we never give up and work as hard as the National Guard Panther guys do because we've definitely improved the car a lot for qualifying. Looking forward to the race we'll continue to work in the direction that we did for qualifying because we made a significant step forward that was very encouraging. We still have the warm-up (practice) tomorrow to continue what we're doing and I think we'll have a very good race."
TAKUMA SATO (No. 5 Lotus - KV Racing Technology): "It's a very disappointing day for us. Toronto is a tough venue, but we made steady progress in the practice sessions. However, in qualifying, it looked like I was fast enough to move into the Q2 session but a mechanical failure caused me to stop on track. This resulted in a penalty and I lost my two fastest laps. Nevertheless, we'll work on the car in the morning warmup and be ready for the race tomorrow."
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team Venom Energy): "I think the Venom car is good, it just wasn't as good as we wanted it to be. We're still missing it a bit on set-up, but I was pleased to make it out of the first round. We're starting inside the top ten in a very competitive field - anything could happen tomorrow."
TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven/Nestle Pure Life): "Qualifying was so close today and it always is. I missed making the Firestone Fast Six by four-thousandths of a second. But, it is what it is. Nowadays, that is what makes this series so hard and so exciting. We can definitely do it tomorrow. We've done it from 15th, so why can't we do it from eighth?"
DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Team GoDaddy.com): "I was pleased with our qualifying run today. It was great to advance out of our group, which had a lot of good cars in it. Today was a good step in the right direction. I'm happy with the GoDaddy car and hopefully we can have a decent day tomorrow."
VITOR MEIRA (No. 14 ABC Supply Co/A.J. Foyt Racing): "We have to figure out what happened in qualifying still. Definitely something that affected the brakes a lot happened—we know it's happening but we don't know where it's coming from yet. Before that everything was great, the car unloaded good, it was fast. I was able to learn the track fast, the car was up to it, the team's doing a great job, we just have to find what went wrong in qualifying. There's only one worst time to have a problem and that's in the race. It's going to be a tough day out there but in this position, it's easy to gamble."
SUNOCO POLE QUALIFYING NOTES:
· This is J.K. Vernay's second Sunoco Pole Award of the year. He also started from pole at Barber Motorsports Park in April.
· This is Sam Schmidt Motorsport's 34th pole position in the Firestone Indy Lights.
· This is James Hinchcliffe's fourth front row start this season. He was also started second in this race a year ago.
· Dan Clarke qualified third. It is his career-best start in Firestone Indy Lights. His previous best start was 10th at Indy.
· Gustavo Yacaman's fourth-place start is his career-best start in Firestone Indy Lights. His previous best start was 6th at Iowa earlier this year and at Milwaukee last year.
SUNOCO POLE QUALIFYING QUOTES:
J.K. VERNAY (No. 7 Lucas/CJ/Sam Schmidt Motorsports, Sunoco Pole Award winner): "It was great really, really hot, but great. My whole team did such a great job, my engineer and the crew they were great. At the beginning we were struggling a little bit but towards the end we found the right line and made it work. Hopefully tomorrow we will have a repeat."
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No 2 Xtreme Coil Drilling/TMR, second): "It was pretty exciting qualifying today, it didn't quite go as we planned, we came in on our first set of tires, hit a bunch of traffic, got a great lap in, came in to get an adjustment and as we went to go leave the pit the car wouldn't start. So as a result we ha dot pull in the second set of tires and just decided to go for broke. The car was good but we didn't quite have enough. We're going to give him a run for his money tomorrow and it's great to be racing here in Toronto."
***
The 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season continues July 18 with the Honda Indy Toronto on the streets of Toronto. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 12:30 p.m. (ET) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 212. The race also will be carried on www.indycar.com. The 2010 Firestone Indy Lights season continues with the Toronto 100 on July 18 on the streets of Toronto.
From Amy Konrath, Indy Racing League
NCATS Jumpstart 100 - Quick Results
Andrew Ranger wins wire to wire in Toronto. Was chased for almost the entire race by J.R. Fitzpatrick, but he went off track on the last lap of green action. The race finished under yellow, with Jason Bowles in second, ahead of DJ Kennington, Don Thomson Jr., Kerry Micks, Trevor Seibert, Jeff Lapcevich, Fitzpatrick, Brad Graham and Peter Klutt.
NCATS Jumpstart 100 - Toronto - Halfway (lap 18)
Andrew Ranger leads J.R. Fitzpatrick halfway through the 35-lap Jumpstart 100 at the Honda Indy Toronto. The two have been close throughout the race and J.R. challenges Ranger deep into the braking zone at the end of Lakeshore Blvd. on almost every lap.
DJ Kennington is third, ahead of Jason Bowles and Robin Buck. So far, just one caution has slowed the race.
DJ Kennington is third, ahead of Jason Bowles and Robin Buck. So far, just one caution has slowed the race.
NCATS Jumpstart 100 - Toronto - Lap 8 update
Caution at lap 8 of the Jumpstart 100 at Toronto. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. stopped on the track. Andrew Ranger has led from the start, followed by J.R. Fitzpatrick. DJ Kennington is third, ahead of Jason Bowles, Robin Buck, Kerry Micks and Don Thomson Jr.
Merrittville Speedway Big Block Modified Event... Monday, August 2, 2010
August 2.
Delaware Speedway recap and results for July 16th
LONDON, ON - The first NASCAR Late Model race since the Delaware Summer Showdown, and this one for points, ran caution-free for 35 exciting laps. It began bookended by Robblees. Matt’s #51 had the pole and his father, defending champ Steve, ran one lap in the 28 to gather points for starting before taking it to the pits.
Scott Lindsay (20) took the lead at the second lap and fought off Jonathan Urlin (04) for a couple of dozen laps before Urlin made it out front at lap 27. Ron Sheridan stayed on Urlin’s heels and also moved up a spot. Sheridan would have loved to rack up another feature win but he told announcer Jamie Maudsley after the race that, “I had nothing left for him (Urlin) at the end.”
Urlin rode to Victory Lane in his Siskins sponsored car on the law firm’s sponsored night. Sheridan was second, Lindsay came in third.
Disappointment for Stephen Richmond during Super Stocks practice but it was lessened because of the generosity of a pal. Richmond broke an axle on his #24 and crashed into the wall at turn 4. The car sustained enough damage to keep it out of the feature race. But Andrew Perkins stepped up and offered his car to Richmond so he could gather some points. The #3 was hastily renumbered 24 and Richmond was back in the game. (Perkins and Richmond came up together through Delaware’s Junior Racing League.) About one-third of the way into the Super Stocks feature, the 3/24 got a couple of flat tires and Richmond decided to call it a night.
An unusual sight early in the first Super Stocks heat. The #69 of Kris Root was tagged and sent flying backwards, smack into the front of the Delaware Safety Truck. No one was hurt but Whitworth Towing had to come by and separate the vehicles. The delay gave Root enough time to get his car repaired and back out when the heat resumed. The Safety Truck stayed on duty with a crumpled front bumper.
It was a night of vindication for Delaware Super Stocks driver Jason Lidster (11) who was denied a win last week on a call by officials.
The Super Stocks feature started with Rob Windis out front. Two cautions – one at lap 2 and one on that caution’s restart – both involved Dave Chant (19) and the second took (74) Al Bowman out of the race.
At lap 5, Windis had an increasingly cushy lead as Devon Bloemendal (66) lost the battle to keep his 3rd position and within a lap, had fallen to 6th.
At lap 8 a dramatic crash occurred on turn 3. Kris Root (69) spun and Jake Ott (60) and Matt Humphrys (04) ran into him giving the clean-up crew and Whitworth Towing plenty to do. One side of Ott’s car was nearly sheared off and Humphrys went to the pits but Root got back out to race.
Last week’s feature winner, Jeremy Reid, took enough damage in that scrap to end his night.
A new leader at lap 10 – Jason Lidster (11) with Kris Lawrence pulling ahead of Windis to take second. At lap 14 the 99 of Scott Nagy took a solo spin and brought out Sharpie’s yellow flag again.
Another minor tangle involving Ott on turn 3 brought out another caution at lap 14.
With Lidster and Lawrence fairly secure in their positions, the battle for the right to join them on Victory Lane featured a half dozen drivers over 11 laps. Third place went to Scott O’Connor.
In Demar Aggregates Trucks, Gary Triska (57) had the pole but it only took a lap and a half for Devon Bloemendal (01) to take the lead. Division points leader Paul Fothergill (33) bulleted from14th place to take second at lap five and by then Bloemendal had a half-a-straightaway lead.
The scoreboard showed Jordan Dupuis in third but there was a whole lot of pavement separating him from the two leaders. Fothergill closed the gap by the halfway point and spent about a lap side-by-side with Bloemendal before capturing the lead at lap 18.
Dupuis took some bumps from Jeff Showler (56) for third as Fothergill lost the lead to Bloemendal at lap 21 after getting snarled in lap traffic.
A caution at lap 22 as Derek Clark (7) and Craig Marche (15) made contact just off turn two. Clark took a spin through the pits and was able to rejoin the race when the green came back out and raced with a dislocated shoulder and no power steering left.
Lap 23 saw Fothergill reclaim the lead and he kept it through the checkered flag. Bloemendal’s error cost him a top-three place, landing fourth. Jordan Dupuis was second, Jeff Showler, third.
Last week’s winner, Michelle Koricina, finished 9th.
We are back tomorrow with more racing sponsored by Transmission Direct and presented by All-Round Truck and Auto Care. David McCullough leads Emmanuel Demelo by just five points in the deep Transmission Direct Enduro field. The Enduro race is sponsored by George’s Auto Wreckers and Recycling.
Saturday’s program also features Ultimate Sandblasting and Coating Chaos Cars where Blue Thunder ranks first. Racing starts at 7 pm.
For more information and our complete racing schedule see www.delawarespeedway.com.
From Lisa Brandt, PR
DRAGS: IHRA: MOPAR Nitro Jam Nationals Underway in Grand Bend
MOPAR Nitro Jam Nationals get underway at Grand Bend Motorplex ... ‘Super’ Stawicki rockets to top of charts
GRAND BEND, Ontario (July 16, 2010) – Excitement was in the air Friday evening as the MOPAR Nitro Jam Nationals presented by E3 Spark Plugs officially got underway at the Grand Bend Motorplex in Grand Bend, Ontario.
Friday wasn’t as much about the show as it was giving all the race teams a hit at the track, but still several fans came out to enjoy an evening of exciting doorslammer and dragster action. All sportsman drivers and even members of the Pro Modified Racing Association got in one pass on Friday in preparation for two days of thrilling Nitro Jam action Saturday and Sunday at “The Bend.”
And those in attendance Friday evening got a bit of a surprise and a taste of things to come as Mike Stawicki (Medina, N.Y.), the new record holder for the PMRA Pro Mod group and the most recent race winner, continued his reign of dominance with a blistering 5.881 second pass at 252.05 miles-per-hour to rocket to the top of the charts.
Stawicki was light years ahead of second place Gary Irving who ran a still decent 6.253, 219.86. Defending MOPAR Nitro Jam Nationals winner Bruce Boland was second (6.290), followed by Eric Latino (6.379) and Paul Noakes (6.590).
All sportsman racers got in a lap on Friday as well.
The real action will kickoff on Saturday at 9 a.m. with qualifying for all sportsman classes throughout the day. FanFest will get underway at 5:30 p.m. and Nitro Jam will begin promptly at 7 p.m.
This weekend’s Nitro Jam action will feature two rounds of Top Fuel and Pro Fuel Dragsters, Prostalgia Nitro Funny Cars, PMRA Pro Mods, side-by-side jet trucks, Nitro Harleys, Alcohol Funny Cars, Jimmy DiAngelo’s wheelstanding firetruck, fireworks and much more.
From IHRA
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Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints: Steve Poirier Back on Track with Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint Win at Ohsweken Speedway
OHSWEKEN, ONT – Steve Poirier, of St. Mathieu de Beloeil, P.Q., hasn’t had much luck in 2010. The former two-time Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprint series champion has been close to winning but handling problems, poor luck, and a week of motor woes denied him that victory.
Poirier had everything go his way on Friday night at the Ohsweken Speedway in the 25-lap A-Main event as he led the entire way to win the event and gain valuable points in the season long point chase as well as the Northwood 2 Construction/LaSalle Motorsports Canadian Sprint Series point standings.
“This year it seems like the luck really hasn’t been with us,” said Poirier. “Tonight we were lucky that we had a good starting position. The track was tough but everything worked out for us. Hopefully our luck keeps going like this.”
The win comes one week after he broke a motor on lap 20 while leading the feature event at the Cayuga County Fair Speedway.
“In the past we never had that kind of problem,” stated Poirier about the engine woes one week prior. “I thought about that problem a little bit while I was out there but I’m glad we were able to get the monkey off of our back.”
Poirier started on the outside of the front row alongside Jamie Turner. The green flag was displayed with Poirier getting a jump on the entire field.
The yellow was displayed immediately as Kyle Moffit slowed and stopped in turn four with a steering issue. It was not the only caution prior to the start of the race. Turner brought out the next two cautions as his car had extreme handling issues and caused him to spin all by himself twice.
On the next attempt to start the race, Jim Huppunen and Glenn Styres made contact with a disabled Wayne Ashton sending both cars wildly flipping through the air in turn three. Both cars were heavily damaged but the drivers were uninjured.
Upon going green, Poirier was able to bolt away from the pack while Mikey Kruchka and Justin Barger battled for the runner-up position.
With laps clicking off, Poirier caught slower traffic on lap 10 in his AMB Moteurs powered Eagle. By this point, Kruchka still held second while Moffit had made his way from the tail of the field to third.
The final caution of the race came on lap 21 for Keith Dempster as he stopped in turn four after making contact with the inside retaining wall.
The restart cleared the track for Poirier but it also closed Moffit to within striking distance. Poirier’s restart was flawless and Moffit was unable to hang with him.
“I knew the car was good getting into turn one on the restarts,” stated Poirier. “Normally when you are out in front on the restarts on a rough track you can see the holes and go around them. I went into the turn easy on the last restart because I never saw anyone alongside me. I knew with a clear track I was going to be okay.”
Poirier led the final four circuits for his 23rd career series win while Moffit, of South Dayton, N.Y., wound up finishing in second after nearly being out of the race early on. He needed a few more laps and he may have been able to challenge Poirier for the win.
“I’m really happy with the way things turned out,” said Moffit. “It didn’t look like things were going to be too good there early but it all worked out really well. I think we had something for Steve (Poirier) if we had a caution after we cleared the lapped cars on that last restart. I really wanted win but I’m happy with a second.”
Moffit was happy though with the result as it helped him in his overall chase for a Corr/Pak Sprint track championship at the speedway. He was able to finish in front of the current point leader Dave Dykstra due to a little luck and a well handling racecar.
“We are racing for a championship here (Ohsweken Speedway),” said Moffit who was a former ESS tour regular until finances cut back his travels. “I knew I had to at least get in front of Dave (Dykstra). We always want to win but that was important as well. I got lucky out there tonight because I found the holes and could drive the car wherever I wanted to.”
Third at the line was eighth place starter Alain Bergeron. Bergeron, of St. Pie, Quebec made strides throughout the event to cross the line behind the leading duo.
“We are happy to finish in third after starting eighth,” said Bergeron. “It’s very hard when Steve (Poirier) starts on the front row to beat him. I wanted to win but I’m happy to finish the race.”
Chuck Hebing started 15th in the race and the Ontario, N.Y. pilot earned a hard fought fourth place finish after making some wild late race passes. Justin Barger, the current series point leader and defending series champion, came home in fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Kruchka, Dykstra, a 23rd place starting Jeff Cook, Mike Ling and James Evans
ESS/Ohsweken Notes: 32 cars entered the event for the first ever Battle on the Grand c-sanctioned event….At big crowd filled the spacious grandstands on a perfect evening…This was Poirier’s fourth career win ESS at Ohsweken with two of them coming at the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals….Next weekend will be another co-sanctioned event where the Lucas Oil ESS tour joins the Untied Racing Company for the first ever Fast Track 360 Sprint Car Summer Shootout at the Rolling Wheels Raceway Park. Friday’s event will pay $2,000 to win while Saturday’s finale will see $3,000 going to the winner.
Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints:
Northwood 2 Constrcution/LaSalle Motorsports Canadian Sprint Car Series
A-Main - Steve Poirier, Kyle Moffit, Alain Bergeron, Chuck Hebing, Justin Barger, Mikey Kruchka, Dave Dykstra, Jeff Cook, James Evans, Mike Ling, Lance Yonge, Jamie Collard, Keith Dempster, Tyler Rand, Mike Stelter, Kevin Ward Jr., Kevin Job, Jared Zimbardi, Tom Huppunen, Travis Cunningham, Jamie Turner, Wayne Ashton, Jim Huppunen, Glenn Styres.
Lap Leader - Poirier 1-25
Did Not Qualify - Mitchell Brown, Steve Garry, Steve Goldner, Todd Hoddick, Chris Durand, Chris Steele, Stan Zanchin, Shane Butler.
Car Mate Custom Built Trailers Heats:
Heat 1 - Jared Zimbardi, Mikey Kruchka, Kevin Job, Travis Cunningham, James Evans, Wayne Ashton.
Heat 2 - Justin Barger, Steve Poirier, Alain Bergeron, Mike Ling, Jamie Collard, Lance Yonge
Heat 3 - Dave Dykstra, Jamie Turner, Tom Huppunen, Kyle Moffit, Chuck Hebing, Jim Huppunen
Best Western Cairn Croft/Cobra Coaches Dash - Justin Barger
KSE Racing Products B-Main - Glenn Styres, Kevin Ward Jr., Keith Dempster, Tyler Rand
Added Starters - Jeff Cook, Mike Stelter.
Ohsweken Speedway Winners Bonus - Poirier $100
Cook's Contracting Services Halfway Bonus - Poirier $100
WestFront Construction Hard Charger Bonus - Cook (15 pos.) $50
MVCC Aviation Extra - Dykstra $50
Car Mate Trailers Heats - Zimbardi, Barger, Dykstra $25
HG Associates Fast Time - Poirier (13.798) $25.
The Lucas Oil Empire Super Sprints are brought to you by: Lucas Oil, Northwood 2 Construction/LaSalle Motorsports, SUNY Canton, 730 Truck Stop, Hoosier Racing Tires, Les Constructions Ultra, Cooks Contracting Services, Fondations 4 Saisons, Car Mate Trailers, The National Parts Peddler Newspaper, WestFront Construction, Cobra Coaches, The Ohsweken Speedway, Mohawk Racing Parts, Engine Research, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Total Race Supply, Riverside Bar and Grill, Coffrage Daniel Lampron, Mohawk Valley Community College, FX Chevy and many, many associate sponsors.
By MIKE MALLETT
Canadian Motorsports Expo booth at the Honda Indy Toronto...
Actor Greg Kinnear named Grand Marshall for Honda Indy Toronto
TORONTO (July 17, 2010) – Academy Award nominated actor Greg Kinnear and producer/director of the hit television series 24, Canadian Jon Cassar, will be playing major roles in Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto.
Kinnear, who was nominated for his role in As Good as It Gets, has been named Grand Marshall of the IZOD IndyCar Series event and will give the command for drivers to start their Honda engines prior to the race.
Shortly thereafter, waving the green flag on the 24th edition of the Toronto street race will be Canadian producer/director Jon Cassar who has been given the title of Honorary Starter.
From Logansport, Indiana, Kinnear started out as a talk show host before taking on his first big screen role in the 1994 Damon Wayans comedy Blankman. Since then, he has appeared in numerous films such Green Zone, Ghost Town, Little Miss Sunshine and Baby Mama.
In addition to directing and producing seasons one through seven of 24, Cassar, who won his Emmy in 2006 for his directing work on 24, has also directed episodes of shows like Fringe and Nikita. He is currently working on the new mini-series The Kennedy’s that will air on the History Channel.
The Honda Indy Toronto will be broadcast live on Sunday, July 18, 2010 on ABC starting at 12:30 p.m. ET.
From Kathleen Stelmach / Torchia Comm.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Scotia Speedworld Weekly Racing Series: Unofficial Results July 16
Unofficial Race Results for Twins Night Scotia Speedworld Weekly Racing Series (July 16, 2010)
NOTE: Due to impending rain and a heavy damp fog heat races were cancelled and only feature races were run.
Results:
Tirecraft Lightning Division (50 laps)
1st #145 Nick Hurshman
2nd #151 Cody Singer
3rd #144 Russell Smith Jr
4th #158 Jamie Dillman
5th #173 John Poan
Tirecraft Thunder Division (50 laps)
1st #99 Dave Matthews
2nd #67 Ross Harvie
3rd #85 Andrew Warren
4th #01 Tylor Hawes
5th #37 Brentley Pirri
Truck Division (25 laps)
1st #4 JP Arsenaut
2nd #26 Gordon Ritchie
3rd #82 Wayne Ritchie
4th #80 Vernon Brown
5th #7 Dana Isenor
Hydraulics Plus Bandolero Division (20 laps)
1st #5 Cole Butcher
2nd #15 Emily Meehan
3rd #3 Jared Butcher
4th #8 Brad Bevan (subbing for DJ Casey)
5th #0 Braden Langille
The Weekly Racing Series returns next Friday night for Amp Energy Night! There will be lots of prizes and giveaways courtesy of Pepsi! Five divisions will see action next week at 3/10 mile oval, the Trucks have next week off but will return for the Mid-Season showdown. Visit www.scotiaspeedworld.ca for the latest event information. Scotia Speedworld is located at Exit 6 on Highway 102, across from the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. For more information please call our Event Hotline at 873-2277.
From Tara Foster
Honda Indy Toronto: Free Friday a success with fans, families and friends
TORONTO (July 16, 2010) – The concept of Free Friday at the track proved to be a great way to attract fans to the Honda Indy Toronto, while helping Make-a-Wish® Canada at the same time.
Fans and families came out in droves to attend Ontario’s largest annual sporting event, taking advantage of the unique promotion generously offered by Ontario Honda Dealers Association.
“It was a win-win situation for everyone,” said Jennifer Ritter, Chief Executive Officer for Make-A-Wish® Canada. “This partnership with Honda is helping raise awareness for our foundation and getting us closer to granting wishes to every child with and for whom we work.”
As intended, a good percentage of people in attendance were discovering racing.
“This is great,” said Todd English, who took his son Matthew and daughter Kaitlin to Exhibition Place for the first time. “I wanted to see what my kids thought of racing before paying for tickets, and now I know they’ve enjoyed it very much.”
The highlight for many fans was catching a good glimpse of Canadian racecar drivers Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani.
“It’s really cool to see the drivers, trucks (transporters) and their cars,” said nine-year-old Matthew English. The cars are really fast and loud.”
When asked what car was his favorite, it wasn’t one of the Indy cars that caught his eye: “I like the NSX in the Honda display,” he added with a grin.
Families were able to watch a lengthy list of races including the IZOD IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, Acura Sports Car Challenge, Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship and the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series.
Additionally, there were a number of activities to entertain them, including the ‘Auto Expo’ which featured fine cars and a variety of racecars, driver autograph sessions, the Pizza Pizza Family Zone, live music, motorcycle stunt shows, interactive games and exhibits and a variety of displays and merchandise.
PHOTO: The grandstands at Exhibition Place in downtown Toronto were full of enthusiastic families, race fans and curious festival goers, July 16, for day one of racing and activities at the Honda Indy Toronto. Admission to the grounds was free thanks to a novel promotion by the Ontario Honda Dealers Association. (courtesy of Honda Indy Toronto).
From Kathleen Stelmach / Torchia Comm.
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Qualifying: Ranger Reels In Toronto Pole
Ranger Reels In First Toronto Pole ... Rival Fitzpatrick Will Start Alongside
TORONTO – Andrew Ranger already had a few NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 firsts in his pocket and now he has another by winning the pole position in the series’ inaugural visit to Toronto.
The Roxton Pond, Que., driver earned the right to start on the pole for Saturday’s Jumpstart 100 at Exhibition Place. He navigated the 11- turn, 1.765-mile street course in 76.659 seconds for an average speed of 80.820 mph.
It is his seventh series career pole and the second of the season after having started on the pole at Mosport International Raceway in June.
Coincidentally, the winner of that Mosport race was JR Fitzpatrick, who will start alongside Ranger on Saturday afternoon. Fitzpatrick, out of Cambridge, Ont., registered a lap time of 77.104 seconds (80.354 mph).
The two drivers have battled numerous times on road courses since the series’ inception in 2007 with Ranger earning six victories and Fitzpatrick has four.
The second row for the Jumpstart 100 will be occupied by DJ Kennington, the current NASCAR Canadian Tire Series point standings leader and Jason Bowles, the reigning NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion. Bowles has four NASCAR touring series road-course wins to his credit, as well.
The balance of the top-10 starters is Anthony Simone, Kerry Micks, Don Thomson Jr., Trevor Seibert, Mark Dilley and Scott Steckly.
TSN’s live coverage of the Jumpstart 100 will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET with the green flag scheduled to wave at 2:45 p.m.
Qualifying Results
NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES presented by MOBIL 1 - Jumpstart 100 Lineup
Qualifying Friday; Race Saturday
at Exhibition Place
Toronto, Ont.
Lap Length: 1.765 miles
1. (27) Andrew Ranger, Roxton Pond, Que., Dodge, 80.820
2. (84) JR Fitzpatrick, Cambridge, Ont., Chevrolet, 80.354
3. (17) DJ Kennington, St. Thomas, Ont., Dodge, 79.975
4. (11) Jason Bowles, Ontario, Calif., Dodge, 79.975
5. (95) Anthony Simone, Holland Landing, Ont., Chevrolet, 79.941
6. (02) Kerry Micks, Mt. Albert, Ont., Ford, 79.874
7. (4) Don Thomson, Jr., Hamilton, Ont., Chevrolet, 79.859
8. (69) Trevor Seibert, Williams Lake, B.C., Dodge, 79.817
9. (9) Mark Dilley, Barrie, Ont., Dodge, 79.701
10. (22) Scott Steckly, Milverton, Ont., Dodge, 79.475
11. (66) Robin Buck, Campbellville, Ont., Ford, 79.371
12. (42) Peter Klutt, Halton Hills, Ont., Chevrolet, 79.021
13. (23) Jeff Lapcevich, Grimsby, Ont., Chevrolet, 78.735
14. (56) Howie Scannell, Jr., Milton, Ont., Dodge, 78.329
15. (47) L.P. Dumoulin, Trois-Rivieres, Que., Dodge, 78.302
16. (60) Ron Beauchamp, Jr., Windsor, Ont., Dodge, 78.079
17. (59) John Farano, Toronto, Ont., Chevrolet, 77.689
18. (3) Jason Hathaway, Appin, Ont., Dodge, 77.271
19. (44) Jarrad Whissell, Calgary, Alberta, Ford, 76.159
20. (21) Jason White, Sun Peaks, B.C., Chevrolet, 75.929
21. (55) Dexter Stacey, Kahnawake, Que., Dodge, 75.920
22. (19) Brad Graham, Glencoe, Ont., Ford, 75.892
23. (50) Joey McColm, Ajax, Ont., Dodge, 75.515
24. (14) James Van Domselaar, Ft. Saskatchewan, Alta., Chevrolet, 75.309
25. (81) Shawn McGlynn, Kitchener, Ont., Dodge, 75.256
26. (00) Pierre Bourque, Ottawa, Ont., Dodge, 74.980
27. (01) Caitlin Johnston, Orangeville, Ont., Dodge, 73.112
28. (99) Derek White, Kahnawake, Que., Chevrolet, Provisional
29. (13) Trevor Monaghan, Hamilton, Ont., Chevrolet, Provisional
30. (67) David Thorndyke, Oshawa, Ont., Chevrolet, Provisional
31. (88) Isabelle Tremblay, St. Hippolyte, Que., Ford, Provisional
From Shon Sbarra, NASCAR Public Relations
PHOTOS: TW Steel / Dario Franchitti / James Hinchcliffe event at La Swiss / Yorkdale Mall
TORONTO, ON - On July 15, Yorkdale Mall's La Swiss store hosted the Canadian launch of the TW Steel Dario Franchitti Limited Edition Watch.
TW Steel is a sponsor of the Renault F1 team, and have also created associations with various motorsports ambassadors, like David Coulthard, Emerson Fittipaldi, Dario Franchitti and James Hinchcliffe, to name a few.
At the La Swiss event, for media, clients, and customers, all were able to view the TW Steel Collection, including the Official Dario Franchitti Edition. Dario and James spent time chatting with those at the event and to conduct media interviews, including our own James Neilson. Thank you to Stuart Morrison for the invitation.
Words and photos by Mike Galipeau / Inside Track Motorsport News
CMHF / Kelly Wood at Mosport 'Celebration of Speed'
MOSPORT, ON - The chance of driving a Mercedes convertible at Mosport International Raceway with the Hall of Fame turned out to be a memorable event for Kelly Wood.
A Porsche, Mercedes, Ferrari, Corvette, Volkswagen GTI and Cobra were some of the high performance sports cars at the event and all spent the whole day lapping the famous Mosport track.
The Celebration of Speed is a fund raising event for the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. Car owners can spend the day lapping, also top manufacturers supply cars for racing personalities to drive guests on a high speed ride around the track. Kelly completed close to 100 laps during the day, from young children to screaming adults, all had a fantastic experience.
The Celebration of Speed has a second date planned for October 4 and Kelly is planning on having a two-seat NASCAR-style road course car prepared for the track day. We will post more information about the event closer to the date.
Check out www.cmhf.ca and www.kellywoodracing.com
From Kelly Wood
South Buxton Raceway: Mid-Season Preview and Points
CHATHAM, ON - Ridgetown’s Dale Glassford and Blenheim’s Shawn Jones will start on the pole in their Mid-Season Championship races this Saturday at South Buxton Raceway. The line ups for the Mid-Season Championship races will be determined by the order of points after the completion of the pursuit races on Saturday.
A maximum of 30 points are available if a driver sweeps both the heat and pursuit races, which means Glassford and Jones have already secured the number-one starting positions for their features.
Glassford holds a 79-point lead over Chatham’s Brad Authier in the Dover Sanitation UMP Late Model standings.
Authier will start on the outside pole in the Late Model feature as the six-time track champion has a 58-point lead over third-place Chatham’s Jason Haskell.
Jones has a 54-point advantage over Cottam’s Rob Quick in the Four Seasons Driver Education standings. Chatham’s Rick Balasin goes into Saturday 13 points behind Quick with Cottam’s DeSerrano 16 points back as three drivers still have shots at the outside pole for the Comp 4 feature.
The pole for the Schinkels Gourmet Meats UMP Modified division will go right down to the wave of the checkered flag at the end of the pursuit race to determine the first three starting positions as four points separate the top three drivers.
Seven-time track champion Brad McLeod moved atop the Modified standings as he holds a two-point edge over six-time series champion Jim Dale Jr. of Shrewsbury with Chatham’s C.J. Field another two points back in third.
Dale Jr. held the points lead for the first seven weeks before Field took over the points lead for one week.
The pole in the Windride Transportation Services is in the hands of Essex’s Doris Lajeunesse, who has a 17-point lead over Chatham’s Eric Vanderiviere. Gerald Martin of Essex is all but assured of a second-row starting position as he is 24 points behind Eric Vanderiviere but 21 points up on fifth-place Eren Vanderiviere.
Merlin’s Steve Shaw, last week’s feature winner, sits fourth in points as he will be looking for the eighth Mid-Season Championship of his long career.
The Mid-Season Championship races will be extended by five laps, as the Late Models, Modifieds and Sport Stocks will all run 25 laps while the Comp 4s will run 20.
This is the first Mid-Season Championship night since 2008, when Dale Jr. won both the Late Model and Modified features while Wallaceburg’s Gary Vyse won the Sport Stocks and Leamington’s Brandon Windsor the Comp 4s.
Three of the divisions are assured of new Mid-Season champions as Dale Jr. is only running a Modified this year while Vyse and Windsor are not racing.
The grandstand opens at 5:30 p.m. with racing starting at 7 p.m.
South Buxton Raceway
Following are the Points Standings, including car number in brackets, driver's hometown, points (PTS), feature wins (FW) and total flags (Fl), following Sat., July 10 races.
Dover Sanitation UMP Late Models
Pts FW Fl
1. Dale Glassford (60) Ridgetown 761 2 5
2. Brad Authier (1A) Chatham 682 1 5
3. Jason Haskell (RH94) Chatham 624 1 3
4. Mike Lewis (05) Wallaceburg 601 2 2
5. Jim Jones (34) Chatham 595 1 2
6. Gregg Haskell (RH21) Chatham 467 0 1
7. Kirk Hooker (38) Chatham 419 0 3
8. Mark Glassford (90) Goderich 195 0 0
9. Tim Mackenzie (81) Chatham 185 0 0
10. Jeff Jardine (28) Dover Centre 122 0 0
11. Mike Dale (00D) Chatham 16 0 0
Schinkels Gourmet Meats UMP Modifieds
Pts FW Fl
1. Brad McLeod (43) Merlin 670 1 6
2. Jim Dale Jr. (00) Shrewsbury 668 2 4
3. C.J. Field (C4) Chatham 666 2 3
4. Brian Speelman (22S) Wyoming 593 1 4
5. Mario Toniolo (25M) Belle River 581 0 2
6. Dan McIntyre (77) Windsor 546 0 1
7. Emerson McIntyre (71) Windsor 489 0 0
8. Brad Simpson (53) Mt. Brydges 449 0 0
9. Jeff Daniels (20D) Chatham 441 0 1
10. Joel Dick (09D) Leamington 435 0 2
11. Joey Brosseau (47B) Merlin 425 1 3
12. Mike Demars (75) LaSalle 404 0 1
13. Clayton Smith (55) Woodslee 394 1 2
14. Chris Vandewiele (0) Rutherford 315 0 3
Windride Transportation Services Sport Stocks
Pts FW Fl
1. Doris Lajeunesse (38) Essex 475 1 1
2. Eric Vanderiviere (93) Chatham 448 2 4
3. Gerald Martin (43) Essex 434 0 2
4. Steve Shaw (17) Merlin 420 2 9
5. Eren Vanderiviere (29) Merlin 413 1 1
6. Tyler Lozon (1A) Chatham 388 0 1
7. Tiffany Ellis (88) Kingsville 382 0 0
8. Paul Gossmann (92) Wheatley 362 0 2
9. Dave Jones (27) Blenheim 361 1 4
10. Jim Ellis (32) Kingsville 358 0 1
11. Scott MacKenzie (28M) Maidstone 342 0 2
12. John Sylvestre (57) Windsor 273 0 1
13. Todd Van Hal (06) Chatham 258 0 0
14. Ken Morrison (28) Chatham 242 0 1
15. Louis Clements (3) Chatham 119 0 1
16. Brian Simard (50) Toronto 66 0 0
Four Seasons Driver Education Comp 4s
Pts FW Fl
1. Shawn Jones (27) Blenheim 509 2 3
2. Rob Quick (18) Cottam 455 1 5
3. Rick Balasin (21) Chatham 442 0 1
4. Denis DeSerrano (69) Cottam 439 2 3
5. Nate McNally (8) Charing Cross 390 3 8
6. Patrick Lajeunesse (98P) Essex 355 0 3
7. Norm DeSerrano (96) Kingsville 349 0 0
8. Randy McKinlay (26) Chatham 333 0 7
9. Murray Van Hooste (13) Ridgetown 310 0 0
10. John Beaulieu (52) McGregor 275 0 0
11. James Beaulieu (26B) McGregor 272 0 0
12. Brett Hope (49) Blenheim 262 0 1
13. David Bacon (29) Belle River 222 0 0
14. Reid Fenton (47) Blenheim 221 0 1
15. Kyle Hope (93) Blenheim 213 0 0
16. Joel Desjardins (23D) Chatham 176 0 0
17. Brad Noland (18N) Cottam 104 0 0
18. Shawn Nelson (20) Windsor 100 0 0
19. Brett Konecny (10) Chatham 46 0 0
Next Race Night: Mid-Season Championships, Saturday, July 17 (Gates open 5:30 p.m.; Racing 7 p.m.)
For more information, please contact Mike Bennett 519-351-4765
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series at the Toronto Indy
NASCAR announced that Canadian racing legend Ron Fellows will be part of the live broadcast team on TSN for Saturday afternoon's Jumpstart 100 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race at the Honda Indy Toronto. "DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR announced today the broadcast team for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 Jumpstart 100 event, scheduled for Saturday, July 17 at Toronto’s Exhibition Place, that will be telecast live on TSN and TSN HD. Canadian racing star and part-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ron Fellows headlines the on-air crew and will be joined by Vic Rauter, Dave Bradley and Todd Lewis. ... TSN’s coverage for the Toronto event will commence at 2:30 p.m. ET with the Jumpstart 100 taking the green flag at 2:45 p.m."
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Official 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Program
Click here or on the cover image at right to see a free, flip-book version of the Official 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Program, which was produced by Inside Track Communications in conjunction with NASCAR and NASCAR Canada.The piece includes driver bios, features, commentaries, schedules, stats, technical and track info and more.
Paul Tracy at a Canadian Tire store...
Rick Young's 'Rick at the Races' July 9-12, 2010
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Rick Young's 'Rick at the Races' ... www.rickattheraces.com ... July 9-12, 2010
- 10 July Brockville Ontario Speedway
- 11 July Cornwall Motor Speedway, Ont (SUPER DIRT SERIES)
- 12 July Can Am Speedway , Lafargeville, NY
If Mother Nature had cooperated , I would have four events to tell you about this week, but alas, it was not to be.
After my hectic whistle stop tour of the UK , I was glad of a couple of 'easy' days when I returned to work last Thursday. On Friday I got lucky and finished early, which also signaled the end of the hot, dry spell that the North East had been experiencing. Around lunchtime torrential rain began to fall and decimated the chances of any racing taking place. I was in Montreal during the afternoon where flash flooding caused a number of roads to be closed. I still managed to get back in to Cornwall, Ontario to finish work around 6-30 pm, but the damage had already been done. My local tracks of Mohawk International Raceway and Autodrome Edelweiss had already been canceled.
There'd been so much rain on Friday, I was relieved to find out that my regular Saturday night home at the Brockville Ontario Speedway was unaffected.
I arrived early and met up with my buddy Jim Clarke, media guy and Kawartha Speedway PR man. Health issues have prevented him from making regular appearances around the tracks this year, so it was good to catch up with his news. I made my usual tour of the pits prior to the racing and chatted to many.
Steve Barber and his Sportsman crew were busy playing pranks on fellow driver Chris Herbison. Apparently one of the announcers has a habit of calling Chis 'Herbie' so his normal # 63 was duct taped into # 53 and 'The Love Bug' was attached to the roof. Another Sportsman driver I chatted to was Bruce Makinson who had Julio Pasinetti helping him out. Julio is one of my friends from the Capital City Speedway in Ottawa where his daughter Jessica races in the Thunder Car division.
For those who are unaware, the Brockville area has quite a large community of folks with Dutch roots. With it being the football World Cup Final weekend a lot of talk revolved around this. Sunday's Final was to feature the Netherlands versus Spain and Modified driver John Mulder was just one of them who'd be watching the game.
When the racing started, I joined yet another Dutchman, track photographer Henry Hannewyk on the middle to snap some action.
I didn't have to wait too long, as young Luke Stewart ( the nephew of Modified driver Todd Stewart) performed a rollover in his Sportsman heat.
We had a first time winner in the Sportsman Feature when Mike Mainse took the checkers. Earlier in the night I'd been taking his photo for a 'Hero Card' and it was quite difficult to get him to smile. I should of waited ! . Incidentally, I have now discovered a way to get 'grumpy' faced guys to smile for photos ! If saying 'cheese' doesn't work , I just shout out the 'cheeky' word for a certain part of 'womans anatomy' and It gets an instant smile ... try it !
Modified Feature winner was Stephane Lafrance , Alex Gagnon took the eight cylinder and Jean Marc Larose won in the Rookies.
Sunday, it was the Big Block Modified SUPER DIRT SERIES at the Cornwall Motor Speedway and I was there extra early to get set up ( and hopefully find a quiet spot where I could keep up to date with afternoons World Cup taking place in South Africa) . I was without an internet connection when the game started so was out of luck. When it did return the game was at half time and with no score. ( Spain later won in extra time)
The heat wave had returned and things looked good for an excellent night of racing. One of the first of the touring teams to arrive was last years winner Jimmy Phelps who was followed in to the pits by a steady stream of the sports hot shoes.
I had a good chat with two times Cornwall SDS winner Gary Tomkins. He'd seen photos on the internet of my trip to Goodwood last week and was anxious to talk about it. Gary is not only a talented driver but he's also very knowledgeable about world auto racing. Steve Paine was also there, fresh from his win at the Canandaigua Speedway the night before.
Dale Planck drew pole position for the big 100 lap series race and had Billy Decker to his side. Decker led for the first 66 laps until the fast moving Brett Hearn powered by on lap 67. New Jersey based Hearn was a surprise 'invader' a few weeks back for the season opener where he took the checkers.
Once passed Decker there was no one to catch Hearn. Decker kept on his tail to take second with Steve Paine coming home third. Ghislain Valade got his first time ever Pro Stock victory , Gaetan Amesse was the Semi Pro winner and Corey Barnes took the Mini Stock
I was back to work on Monday morning and without the need to request an early finish, I got lucky. I was done by 5-00pm and was able to make a quick dash to Lafargeville, NY.
The Can Am Speedway were holding their 'Summer Sizzler' which was a feast of the best in Dirt track racing. After stopping in at my place for a few minutes I got away from Cornwall at 5-30, and pulled into Can Am soon after the advertised 7-15 start time.
Topping the bill were the All Star 410 Sprint Cars with 358 Modifieds, Late Models and Dirt Sportsman as the back up divisions. The place was packed as word had got around that a very special person would be in the Sprint Car line up. NASCAR SPRINT CUP driver Tony Stewart was accompanying his friend and Team Mate Jessica Zemken. I've known 'Jess' for many years and I'm really glad that the opportunities are coming her way . I have always thought she was a talented driver and all that was needed was the right funding. I chatted to her and her Mum prior to the racing.
As you'd expect, there were plenty of eager fans wanting to get a look at hers and Tony's pit area so until the racing was over it had to be cordoned off . It was also good to see PA Posee member 'Fast Freddy' Rahmer up in my area.
The Big race for the Sprint cars was won by Tim Shaffer who I remember 'snapping' in Victory Lane last October when the World Of Outlaws appeared at Rolling Wheels during SUPER DIRT WEEK . Following him across the line was Greg Wilson with Tony Stewart third. Fast 'Freddy' was fourth and Jess came home fifth.
Winners in the other divisions were Billy Dunn (358 Mods) Tim Sears (Sportsman) and Dale Caswell ( Late Models) .
Occasional rain showers and a 'wreck fest' in the Late Model feature caused the show top go on a bit late ( after 1-00 am ) but on this occasion I didn't care ! Tuesdays are now one of my days off, so had no work to rush back for. Instead, I slept at the track in my car then returned to Cornwall the next morning.
PHOTOS:
PIC 1 Chris Herbison's car has its numbers changed at the BOS
PIC 2 Steve Barber up to no good at the BOS
PIC 3 to 5 Luke Stewart Rollover at the BOS
PIC 6 Danny O'Brien # 7 and John Mulder # 12 at the BOS
PIC 7 Mod winner at the BOS Stephane Lafrance
PIC 8 SPORTSMAN winner at the BOS Mike Mainse
PIC 9 Gary Tomkins at the CMS
PIC 10 DIRTCAR anouncer Shane Andrews with Dale Planck at the CMS draw
PIC 11 The line up for the SUPER DIRT RACE at the CMS
PIC 12 to 15 Action from the CMS SUPER DIRT RACE
PIC 16 & 17 Brett Hearn in the CMS Victory Lane
PIC 18 Ghislain Valade in the CMS Victory Lane
PIC 19 Rick Wilson at Can Am
PIC 20 April Wilson at Can Am
PIC 21 Jessica Zemken # 14 and Tony Stewart # 20 at Can Am
PIC 22 Fast Freddy Rahmer # 51 makes a pass on the outside
PIC 23 Tim Shaffer was the Sprint Car winner at Can Am
PIC 24 Third placed Tony Stewart is interviewed at Can Am
PIC 25 First three at Can Am LtoR Tony Stewart, Greg Wilson and Tim Shaffer
PIC 26 Jeremy Wilder # 22 and Roy Tarbell # 007 in the Can Am Mod feature
PIC 27 Tim Sears wins the SPORTSMAN Feature at Can Am
PIC 28 Late Model carnage at Can-Am
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