Mosport loses its traditional ALMS Labour Day race as Detroit lands that date. Moving a week forward might actually work for Mosport, given that that weekend prior to Labour Day used to be the Champ Car weekend in Montreal, but that conflict no longer exists.
2007 AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES SCHEDULE
March 12, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, SPEED
March 31, St. Petersburg, SPEED
April 14, Long Beach, SPEED
April 21, Houston, CBS Sports
May 19, Salt Lake City, CBS Sports
July 7, Lime Rock Park, CBS Sports
July 21, Mid-Ohio, CBS Sports
August 11, Road America, NBC Sports
August 26, Mosport, SPEED
September 1, Detroit, SPEED
October 6, Road Atlanta/Petit Le Mans, SPEED
October 20, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, SPEED
The full press release is here.
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Friday, September 29, 2006
NEWALTA: LM Chall. Series // Saskatoon Super Sunday!
SASKATOON, SK (September 28, 2006) – The championship round and final race of the 2006 NEWALTA Late Model Challenge Series season, the Border Challenge 150, is part of a busy race weekend in Saskatoon that includes two full days of racing, a very special Border Challenge Grand Marshall and off track festivities at other city venues.
The weekend's events start Friday night at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway with the final round of the Trader Publications Super Late Model class. Driver Trent Seidel #70 Propane Plus Automotive Chevrolet Monte Carlo is the current points leader. Also on the Friday race schedule are the Canadian Forces CASCAR and Tiger Automotive Street Stock classes.
The Border Challenge festivities kick off Saturday evening with Driver's Reception at the Shark Club Bar and Grill (Sandman Hotel) 310 Circle Drive West. There is no cover charge and the event is open to public.
Race day rumbles to life with a show and shine hosted by the Saskatchewan MOPAR Club from 9.30am to 11.30am at the Husky Travel Center 315 Marquis Drive across from the Motel 6. At 11:30pm, the Auto Clearing Chrysler Superstore 2006 Dodge Charger Official Pace Car will pick up the field of vintage Chargers, Barracudas, Challengers and other Chrysler vehicles and lead the club members to Auto Clearing Motor Speedway for parade laps around the track and other on track activities.
Giving the command to Start Your Engines will be the mayor of Saskatchewan's largest city as Saskatoon Mayor Donald Atchison will be on hand as Grand Marshall for the Border Challenge 150.
The Border Challenge is bringing together cars from three western provinces and include Seidel and teams from host Trader Publications Super Late Model series from Saskatoon, teams from the Edmonton, AB based NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series including event winners Greg Moir #07 Parkland Cycle Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Kevin McMillan #41SFE Global Pontiac Grand Prix, Fred Whiteman #5 KPS & Associates Chevrolet Camaro and Wes Ratzlaff #12 Fast Track Signs Dodge Avenger, Clint Habart #9 RE Truck Collision Ford Taurus of the Kootenay Auto Racing Association from Cranbrook, BC and the NEWALTA Late Model Challenge Series championship contenders Dean Craig #67 WeatherShield Insulation System Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Gary Lister #55 Viking Installations Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Craig Ball #54 Mac's Motorsports/ Pepsi/ Super 8 Pontiac Grand Prix.
Also part of Sunday's show will be the Saskatoon Hyundai Mini Stock championship and events for NAPA Auto Parts Pro Truck and the Hertz Equipment Rentals Thunder Stock classes.
Spectator gates open at 12.30pm. Qualifying starts at 1pm. Green Flag at 2pm.
ADVERTISER SPOTLIGHT: SH Karting
SH Karting
STICKY POST: This will be the top post until Friday, Sept. 29. Check below for current news.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Champ Car releases 2007 schedule
The 15-race 2007 Champ Car schedule doesn't include the obligatory race in Korea that never happens. They do say they're going to China, however, so give them points for creativity.
July will be Champ Car month in Canada, with races at Mt. Tremblant (July 1), Toronto (July 8) and Edmonton (July 22).
Photo: In a switch from the past two seasons, Champ Car took pity on its Korean racing fans by not even pretending that they're going to race there in 2007.
*************
From Champ Car
The Champ Car World Series will venture into a new era in 2007 with a brand-new car, an influx of new teams, and now a new-look schedule that will see the series visit a number of exciting markets throughout the world.
The 15-race slate will open and close with inaugural events in Las Vegas and Phoenix respectively, will see the Champ Cars visit historic Mont Tremblant in St. Jovite, Canada for the first time since 1968, and features a groundbreaking event in Zhuhai, China - marking the first time that a major American sports organization will hold a regular-season event in mainland China.
"We have put together a solid schedule of events for 2007 that will provide great racing for our fans and strong challenges for our teams and drivers," said Champ Car President Steve Johnson. "This schedule, combined with the new DP01 and the arrival of new Champ Car teams, gives us great momentum as we build toward a bright future."
"Champ Car is one of the top international racing series in the world with a focus on driver and team performances and we are proud to bring it to China," said France Corbeil, CEO FRC USA LLC. "The on-track racing resulting from strategies related to pit stops, power-to-pass, tire choice and driver's skills, is surely the most fun. We believe the Chinese racing fans will embrace the full Champ Car World Series and a high number of them will watch each race on their preferred TV channel starting next year."
The 2007 campaign will begin April 8 with the inaugural Vegas Grand Prix, to be run on a downtown street course in the Gaming Capital of the World. The Vegas event kicks off a slate of three races in three weeks, as Vegas is directly followed by the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach April 15 and the second running of the Grand Prix of Houston on Sunday April 22.
"We are excited to open the Champ Car season with this new world-class event in Las Vegas," said Vegas Grand Prix CEO Jim Freudenberg. "This will be a festival of speed like no other. In a city where first-class events happen every day, we will be expected to maintain that caliber and are prepared to do that."
Champ Car makes its groundbreaking trip to Zhuhai, China on May 20, before heading back stateside for the June 10 Portland Grand Prix and the 26th running of the Grand Prix of Cleveland. The Cleveland race, which is the longest-running event in the series, launches a second stint of three races in three weeks as teams travel from Cleveland to Circuit Mont Tremblant for a July 1 event on Canada Day. The Mont Tremblant race also starts a run of three consecutive Champ Car races in Canada.
"Canadian Champ Car fans are among our most ardent supporters and we are excited about running three consecutive events in Canada," said Champ Car Vice President, Venue Development John Clagett. "But our entire schedule is one that all of our fans can be excited about. From exciting new venues to great traditional events, the 2007 Champ Car season will be one to remember.
The July 8 Grand Prix of Toronto follows the trip to Mont Tremblant, with the third running of the July 22 Grand Prix of Edmonton next on the slate. The third annual trip to Silicon Valley for the Grand Prix of San Jose follows the three-race Canadian swing on July 29, with August featuring events at Road America on the 12th and in Denver the following weekend.
The 17th running of the Lexmark Indy 300 on the streets of Surfers Paradise, one of the highest-attended races anywhere in American auto racing, will take place on October 21 while the season wraps with a November 11 sojourn to Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and a new event in the streets of Phoenix, Arizona on December 2.
"We are prepared to end the Champ Car season with another incredible event in Phoenix," Freudenberg said. "Stay tuned to http://www.grandprixarizona.com/ to all the exciting announcements this event will be making in the coming months."
The series is also exploring options for adding events during the month of September with details to be released in the near future.
2007 Champ Car World Series Schedule
Date Venue
April 8 Las Vegas, Nevada - Street Course
April 15 Long Beach, California - Street Course
April 22 Houston, Texas - Reliant Park
May 20 Zhuhai, China - Road Course
June 10 Portland, Oregon - Portland International Raceway
June 24 Cleveland, Ohio - Burke Lakefront Airport
July 1 St. Jovite, Canada - Circuit Mont Tremblant
July 8 Toronto, Canada - Exhibition Place
July 22 Edmonton, Canada - City Centre Airport
July 29 San Jose, California - Street Course
Aug. 12 Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin - Road America
Aug. 19 Denver, Colorado - Pepsi Center
Oct. 21 Surfers Paradise, Australia - Street Course
Nov. 11 Mexico City, Mexico - Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Dec. 2 Phoenix, Arizona - Street Course
* - Events in BOLD are new races for the 2007 season
OSCAAR: Fletcher to make 200th start
Milton, On - This Sunday October 1st John Fletcher will make his 200th stock car start and in doing so may lock up the 2006 OSCAAR Outlaw Super Late Model Series Title with a finish of 21st or better.
John debuted in a Canadian Vintage Modified in 1989 running limited a schedule each year until 1992. John became the 1992 Canadian Vintage Modified Champion running the series that year completely. 1993 saw a little change in John’s driving career as he continued to run a the races ho chose for the CVM, John also made one start in the Flex-Mor Series driving Bill Snowdon’s Super Late Model.
Over the next few years John and Bill continued to run a few race’s each year, winning along the way. 2004 Team JNE Consulting was formed to take on the full OSCAAR Series Schedule with the goal to win the title.
2004 saw a tough battle with then 3 time Champion Rob Clarke in which the title came down to 8 laps to go in the final race of the year with John leading the race, the championship and in one lap it all changed with a flat tire. The team changed the tire and John raced is way back to within two spots of the title losing by ten points.
After back to back runner up spots for the OSCAAR title it is a start away. Marking this milestone start will also be the goal to capture John’s 40th win as well, 199 starts along with 39 wins and a title on the line there would not be a better race track to do it then Flamboro Speedway the very track John started his first event, first win, first title, first Super Late Model win and on Sunday perhaps Team JNE Consulting’s first OSCAAR title.
Sundays event at Flamboro Speedway will get under way at 2:00PM with a full card of racing action. Please visit http://www.oscaar.ca/ of http://www.fletchjr61.com/ for more details.
The OSCAAR Outlaws have a unique body style and can boast the greatest horsepower of any Ontario stock car divisionThe unique Outlaw body style features a hood and nose combination which slopes to the ground on a steep angle, rear side panels which are flat and an alternative roof style. There is also allowance in the series for a larger spoiler at the back. Inside the car the chassis is offset to the left or drivers side which allows for better cornering on the oval tracks. The engine department has plenty of rules but the bottom line is that these Outlaw cars carry a lot of horsepower. The overall result is plenty of action and excitement on the track!
Photo courtesy of www.oscaar.ca
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Montoya To Debut In Food World 250 ARCA RE/MAX Series Race
CONCORD, N.C. --- Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) announced today Juan Pablo Montoya will drive the No. 4 Texaco/Havoline Dodge in the ARCA/REMAX Series event on Friday, October 6 at Talladega Superspeedway. Montoya and the CGRFS team tested at Talladega earlier this week in preparation for the ARCA event, as well as his first start in a stock car.
In July CGRFS announced that Montoya would be piloting the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger in 2007. The 31-year-old Colombia, South America native will become the first Formula One driver in the 58-year history of NASCAR to compete on the circuit full time. He returns to the CGRFS organization with 137 starts competing in CART, IndyCar and Formula One, where he’s tallied 18 wins, 26 poles, 60 top-five and 79 top-10 finishes. Over his five complete seasons in Formula One, Montoya has finished sixth or better in the standings.
Montoya previously worked with team owner Chip Ganassi in the CART Series in 1999 and 2000. He captured the CART Championship and Rookie of the Year honors in 1999 while visiting Victory Lane 11 times in those two years, including a win at the prestigious Indianapolis 500 in 2000.
The Food World 250 is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. (CST) and will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on Speed Channel.
- From Talladega SuperSpeedway
In July CGRFS announced that Montoya would be piloting the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger in 2007. The 31-year-old Colombia, South America native will become the first Formula One driver in the 58-year history of NASCAR to compete on the circuit full time. He returns to the CGRFS organization with 137 starts competing in CART, IndyCar and Formula One, where he’s tallied 18 wins, 26 poles, 60 top-five and 79 top-10 finishes. Over his five complete seasons in Formula One, Montoya has finished sixth or better in the standings.
Montoya previously worked with team owner Chip Ganassi in the CART Series in 1999 and 2000. He captured the CART Championship and Rookie of the Year honors in 1999 while visiting Victory Lane 11 times in those two years, including a win at the prestigious Indianapolis 500 in 2000.
The Food World 250 is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. (CST) and will be broadcast at 8 p.m. on Speed Channel.
- From Talladega SuperSpeedway
Bourque Heads To Lime Rock
LAKEVILLE, Connecticut (September 27, 2006) - - Canadian NASCAR driver Pierre Bourque heads to the final event of the 2006 NASCAR BUSCH EAST Series with significant optimism as the series turns from the short tracks and superspeedways and switches to the tricky road course of Lime Rock Speedway, in picturesque Connecticut.
It’s been a solid learning year for the Ottawa, Ontario native, Canada's only full-time NASCAR racer, in this, his rookie season.
“From one week to the next,” said Bourque, who pilots the No. 10 DRIVING.CA CANADA.COM, WORKING.COM, and DOSE.CA Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Charlotte-based Fast Track Racing.
“Everything is new. From practice, to qualifying and tense racing conditions, I've experienced it all.”
Nevertheless, there is still one goal on Bourque’s mind, a top-ten finish. Luckily, Bourque won’t head to the road course empty handed. Earlier this season, he competed in three CASCAR (recently purchased from NASCAR) events with two 12th-place finishes to show for his efforts.
Now, Bourque is looking for that extra push that will give him a top-ten this Saturday. “I’m looking forward to Lime Rock,” said Bourque, who has spent the 2006 racing season competing in three different racing sanctions. “Road Racing is tough, but fun. It demands so much, but I enjoy the challenge. I had some good runs in the CASCAR series earlier this year, so I’m looking for that momentum to follow into this weekend.”
Thankfully, Bourque won’t arrive at the track in the dark, as he spent Tuesday testing at Lime Rock Speedway with Fast Track Racing. A bright sunny day awarded the team’s on-hand an afternoon of solid testing.
“The track is fast,” said Bourque afterwards, “and the driving will be furious during the race. We ran laps in the 58-second bracket and we’re happy with our time, given we’d never been to the track before, so we have a benchmark and something to improve on later this week.”
“The seat time today was incredibly valuable. We’re going to be in the hunt this weekend, it’s going to be a great race!” Driving.Ca, (http://www.driving.ca) Canada’s No. 1 Automotive website continues as primary sponsor this weekend.
In addition, Canada.com (http://canada.com) Canada's biggest online community, Working.com, (http://www.working.com) one of North America's top career sites, and_Dose.Ca, (http://www.dose.ca) a cool site that caters to hip Canadian urbanites coast-to-coast, will all serve as secondary sponsors on Bourque’s machine this weekend.
All four sponsors are part of Canwest-Global, Canada's largest media company with interests in television, radio, newspapers and the internet.
Full Metals Minerals and Pollara Strategic Public Opinion remain as associate sponsors for this weekend’s season finale.
“It’s been great to have the sponsorship package we’ve had this season,” mentioned Bourque, who will run a limited schedule in the NASCAR BUSCH SERIES next year.
“I think we’ve given the fans a lot of input about our sponsors and I think our sponsors have received some great exposure this season. We’re all looking for a powerful finish to officially close out my NBES season.”
Before heading to the Lime Rock test, Bourque spent Monday tackling the 2.666-mile Superspeedway of Talladega preparing for his restrictor plate debut next week in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
Bourque maneuvered a lap of 51.300 seconds at 186.667 mph good enough for 12th on the speed charts.
“We had a great test,” Bourque added. “The car was awesome and we were fast and competitive. I’m really upbeat about next week’s race and I think we have a good chance of really making some noise in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, I can’t wait!”
In addition to running the full NASCAR Busch East Series in 2006, Pierre Bourque and Fast Track Racing are making limited starts in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
Bourque also made three CASCAR Series races with Wyoming, Ontario's Whitlock Motorsports.
For further insight on Canwest-Global and its associates please log onto Driving.Ca (http://www.driving.ca), Canada.com, (http://canada.com) Working.com, (http://www.working.com) and Dose.Ca http://www.dose.ca)
For more information on Full Metals Minerals, please visit http://www.fullmetalminerals.com For additional input on Pollara Strategic Public Opinion, please logon to http://www.pollara.ca To learn more about Pierre Bourque please click onto http://www.pierrebourque.com
By Chris Knight, Bourque Racing
It’s been a solid learning year for the Ottawa, Ontario native, Canada's only full-time NASCAR racer, in this, his rookie season.
“From one week to the next,” said Bourque, who pilots the No. 10 DRIVING.CA CANADA.COM, WORKING.COM, and DOSE.CA Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Charlotte-based Fast Track Racing.
“Everything is new. From practice, to qualifying and tense racing conditions, I've experienced it all.”
Nevertheless, there is still one goal on Bourque’s mind, a top-ten finish. Luckily, Bourque won’t head to the road course empty handed. Earlier this season, he competed in three CASCAR (recently purchased from NASCAR) events with two 12th-place finishes to show for his efforts.
Now, Bourque is looking for that extra push that will give him a top-ten this Saturday. “I’m looking forward to Lime Rock,” said Bourque, who has spent the 2006 racing season competing in three different racing sanctions. “Road Racing is tough, but fun. It demands so much, but I enjoy the challenge. I had some good runs in the CASCAR series earlier this year, so I’m looking for that momentum to follow into this weekend.”
Thankfully, Bourque won’t arrive at the track in the dark, as he spent Tuesday testing at Lime Rock Speedway with Fast Track Racing. A bright sunny day awarded the team’s on-hand an afternoon of solid testing.
“The track is fast,” said Bourque afterwards, “and the driving will be furious during the race. We ran laps in the 58-second bracket and we’re happy with our time, given we’d never been to the track before, so we have a benchmark and something to improve on later this week.”
“The seat time today was incredibly valuable. We’re going to be in the hunt this weekend, it’s going to be a great race!” Driving.Ca, (http://www.driving.ca) Canada’s No. 1 Automotive website continues as primary sponsor this weekend.
In addition, Canada.com (http://canada.com) Canada's biggest online community, Working.com, (http://www.working.com) one of North America's top career sites, and_Dose.Ca, (http://www.dose.ca) a cool site that caters to hip Canadian urbanites coast-to-coast, will all serve as secondary sponsors on Bourque’s machine this weekend.
All four sponsors are part of Canwest-Global, Canada's largest media company with interests in television, radio, newspapers and the internet.
Full Metals Minerals and Pollara Strategic Public Opinion remain as associate sponsors for this weekend’s season finale.
“It’s been great to have the sponsorship package we’ve had this season,” mentioned Bourque, who will run a limited schedule in the NASCAR BUSCH SERIES next year.
“I think we’ve given the fans a lot of input about our sponsors and I think our sponsors have received some great exposure this season. We’re all looking for a powerful finish to officially close out my NBES season.”
Before heading to the Lime Rock test, Bourque spent Monday tackling the 2.666-mile Superspeedway of Talladega preparing for his restrictor plate debut next week in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
Bourque maneuvered a lap of 51.300 seconds at 186.667 mph good enough for 12th on the speed charts.
“We had a great test,” Bourque added. “The car was awesome and we were fast and competitive. I’m really upbeat about next week’s race and I think we have a good chance of really making some noise in the ARCA RE/MAX Series, I can’t wait!”
In addition to running the full NASCAR Busch East Series in 2006, Pierre Bourque and Fast Track Racing are making limited starts in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
Bourque also made three CASCAR Series races with Wyoming, Ontario's Whitlock Motorsports.
For further insight on Canwest-Global and its associates please log onto Driving.Ca (http://www.driving.ca), Canada.com, (http://canada.com) Working.com, (http://www.working.com) and Dose.Ca http://www.dose.ca)
For more information on Full Metals Minerals, please visit http://www.fullmetalminerals.com For additional input on Pollara Strategic Public Opinion, please logon to http://www.pollara.ca To learn more about Pierre Bourque please click onto http://www.pierrebourque.com
By Chris Knight, Bourque Racing
Advertiser Spotlight: Deman Motorsport
Deman Motorsport
STICKY POST: This will be the top post until Wednesday, Sept. 27. Check below for current news.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Cayden Lapcevich: Another win at Oswego
After missing several races due to his commitments on a CASCAR Super Series crew, Cayden Lapcevich returned to the Oswego Quarter Midget Club September 24 to pick up where he left off a month earlier.
Lapcevich lined up in the 5th position to take the green for the Jr. Honda class heat but would take the lead before the completion of the second lap and pull away from the field in the 15 lap race that was slowed twice for cars spinning. Cayden maintained his posture through the caution periods and drove off for the heat victory.
The 25 lap A- Main event would play out much like the heat. Lapcevich powered to the front of the pack and pulled away from the field in dominant fashion. The caution flew on lap 22 for an incident on the front straight diminishing the Caistor Central School second graders straightaway lead. After a lengthy clean-up, Lapcevich held off second place runner Kyle Perry to take the win; his third feature win in his last four starts.
This weekend Cayden will travel to the Miami Valley Quarter Midget club near Cincinati, Ohio on Saturday and the Michigan Midget club on Sunday in Waterford, Michigan.
Cayden is supported by Dansway Transport, B&J Electric, Desert Refined Products Transport, Reinhart Trailers, Fastline Motorsports, Joel Robinson, and family in his racing endeavours.
From proud papa Jeff Lapcevich....
Quebec to host IRL and Champ Car races in 2007?
A story on Autosport, quoting the Toronto Sun, says that the IRL could be the Sunday (Aug. 5) show at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The Busch race will be on Saturday, Aug. 4 so that the Cup ringers can get back to Pocono for their own race, leaving open the potential for a big race on the Sunday.
But don't cry for Champ Car, as they're set to announce a race, next July 1, at Mt. Tremblant. The Canada Day race (in Quebec!) will precede by one week the street-course Grand Prix of Toronto, which will be followed on July 22 by the third annual airport race in Edmonton.
In the Canada.com Champ Car story above, it also included the information that NASCAR's Busch Series announcement - which was planned for today in Montreal - has been put off.
"In fact, Legault and a number of NASCAR heavyweights and at least one driver were tentatively scheduled to hold a downtown news conference this afternoon to formally announce the arrival of the Busch Series stock cars. But that media event was postponed Monday for perhaps a week, even though NASCAR last Friday published a 2007 Busch schedule with an Aug. 4 Montreal date."
Hmmmm. What would make NASCAR cancel/delay its announcement? The mind races.
You don't think that Legault spooked NASCAR by springing this 'IRL on Sunday' thing on them at the last minute, do you? If that's the case - and it's just speculation - I wouldn't imagine that NASCAR would appreciate having its Canadian touring series debut positioned as a 'support class'.
Or maybe they just couldn't get the flights....
I guess we'll find out.
But don't cry for Champ Car, as they're set to announce a race, next July 1, at Mt. Tremblant. The Canada Day race (in Quebec!) will precede by one week the street-course Grand Prix of Toronto, which will be followed on July 22 by the third annual airport race in Edmonton.
In the Canada.com Champ Car story above, it also included the information that NASCAR's Busch Series announcement - which was planned for today in Montreal - has been put off.
"In fact, Legault and a number of NASCAR heavyweights and at least one driver were tentatively scheduled to hold a downtown news conference this afternoon to formally announce the arrival of the Busch Series stock cars. But that media event was postponed Monday for perhaps a week, even though NASCAR last Friday published a 2007 Busch schedule with an Aug. 4 Montreal date."
Hmmmm. What would make NASCAR cancel/delay its announcement? The mind races.
You don't think that Legault spooked NASCAR by springing this 'IRL on Sunday' thing on them at the last minute, do you? If that's the case - and it's just speculation - I wouldn't imagine that NASCAR would appreciate having its Canadian touring series debut positioned as a 'support class'.
Or maybe they just couldn't get the flights....
I guess we'll find out.
Video: Stock Car Brawl
Some guys punch. Some guys roll around. Others whip their helmets, gloves and head restraints.
But if you want to make CNN, you have to come up with something really creative.
And that's exactly what this stock car racer at Toledo did when he 'went Jackie Chan' on the gentleman he had a disagreement with, earning a 10.0 from the Canadian judge. Click here to see the video.
The story is here.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Champ Car to Mt. Tremblant?
A few weeks back, when CASCAR was at Autodrome St-Eustache, there was speculation about where Alan Labrosse might take the Quebec Champ Car race now that he's been given the boot from le Circuit Gilles Villeneuve by his old friend Normand Legault.
At the CASCAR race, there was talk that Champ Car might be headed to Mt. Tremblant.... and today, there's a piece on this in the Globe & Mail.
What a coincidence that this would come out the day before NASCAR is set to announce its 2007 Busch Series race, in Montreal. Funny how these things happen.
At the CASCAR race, there was talk that Champ Car might be headed to Mt. Tremblant.... and today, there's a piece on this in the Globe & Mail.
What a coincidence that this would come out the day before NASCAR is set to announce its 2007 Busch Series race, in Montreal. Funny how these things happen.
Inside Track Breaking News Blog: Odds & Ends
CENTRE FOR SPEED: The CENTRE for Speed is please to announce its largest ever purse as a part of the Atlantic Stock Car Championships - Speed Weekend 06. Over $62,000 in payouts are available for competitors. Highlights also included Tow for Non Qualifiers and Minimum Guarantees who register prior to Oct 3rd and are travelling from outside the local area. Early registrants in the Big Feature for each day will also receive a Cement Pit Pad while they last. Details are available at http://www.centreforspeed.com/ or by calling the Speedway Office at 506 388-2415.
STEELBACK SAUBLE SPEEDWAY: Sauble Speedway recently crowned its champions of 2006. A full listing, including points and other special award winners is available here.
STEELBACK SAUBLE SPEEDWAY: Sauble Speedway recently crowned its champions of 2006. A full listing, including points and other special award winners is available here.
CASCAR ON TV: St-Eustache
Watch round #10 of the 2006 CASCAR CHAMPIONSHIP; the ST-EUSTACHE 200, on SPORTNET:
EAST:
Saturday, September 30th at 3 p.m. EST
Wednesday, October 4th at 1 p.m. EST
ONTARIO:
Saturday, September 30th at 2:30 p.m. EST
Wednesday, October 4th at 1 p.m. EST
WEST:
Saturday, September 30th at 1 p.m. MST
Monday, October 2nd at 1 p.m. MST
PACIFIC
Saturday, September 30th at 11:30 a.m. PST
Click here for a full listing of broadcast times.
From Joel Robinson....
Sunoco Team Ultra 94 driver Daniel Morad ‘clean sweeps’ final weekend
MOSPORT, ONTARIO – Sunoco’s Team Ultra 94 has once again captured the Bridgestone Racing Academy Championship – for the fourth straight year. The 2006 champion is Sunoco Team Ultra 94 driver Daniel Morad. Morad had an amazing season, capturing 195 out of a possible 196 points. Morad won every race he entered – seven – and collected seven poles, and six fastest race laps.
“I am really happy to win this championship,” said Morad after the finale on Saturday at the Mosport DDT. “What Sunoco, Ron Fellows and ASN Canada have put together – allowing us to compete on a full scholarship – is great for all of us that get to take part. I am happy to win this championship for Sunoco Team Ultra 94.”
Morad was closely followed all season by fellow Ultra 94 driver Kyle Marcelli. Marcelli had a strong season, and finished second in the championship. “It’s great we were able to win this championship for Sunoco,” said Marcelli. “I got closer to catching Dan at the end of the season, but he was dominant all year. Congratulations to him.”
Devin Cunningham finished fourth overall, and he talked about his year after the final event. “I had some races I could have won, but things happened. The main thing is I learned something every weekend and I think that is the most important thing. Thanks to Sunoco, Ron Fellows and ASN Canada for this opportunity.”
Adriano Bilotta finished out the year strong, with a fifth place in the final tally, and he – like the rest of the Ultra 94 drivers – was happy with the end result. “I learned so much this year, “ Bilotta said. “I got off to a bad start – with the crash – but I felt much stronger towards the end of the championship. Like my teammates, I am grateful for the opportunity to compete here, thanks to Sunoco and Ron.”
Morad’s championship is the most dominant to date for the team. After missing the first two rounds, Morad was on a charge, and showed from the first weekend he meant business. “At the start, I just wanted to catch up, but missing the first two races was not good for my chances,” Morad said of his mindset early on. “But I started getting poles, getting fast laps, and winning, so each weekend I could catch up, then I thought I could win it,” Morad added.
Coming into the final weekend, his main concern was his teammate Marcelli. “Kyle is fast, and I knew I had to do my best to win the championship. Three wins basically did it for me on the final weekend.” Morad said.
On October 24th, the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship will hold its annual Evaluation Day at the DDT, to decide who will represent Sunoco’s Team Ultra 94 in 2007.
Sunoco Team Ultra 94 fast facts;
The Sunoco Team Ultra 94 drivers are chosen from over 300 drivers in the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship Presented by Toronto Star Wheels. Out of the 300 drivers, a number of them are invited to the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship Evaluation Day. From those, three or four earn scholarships to join Sunoco's Team Ultra 94 for the following year.
The selected drivers are given a fully funded scholarship to compete in the Bridgestone Academy F2000 series. Sunoco also sponsors the series and is proud of the school’s 13 year injury free record, the personal coaching, and the track time that the drivers receive.
In 2003, inaugural team members Matt Champagne and Jordy Vorrath finished one-two in the series, with Vorrath taking the ‘most poles’ award. Aaron de Heus came home fifth in the 2003 championship. The 2004 members were 2003 Formula Senior Champion Juliana Chiovitti, multi-time Formula Senior race winner Frank Launi, who won the 2004 championship and consistent Rotax Max Senior front runner Jamie Holtom. Frank Launi won the championship in 2004, with Jamie Holtom finishing third.
The 2005 team consisted of 2004 double class winner Marco Di Leo, Formula Senior race winner Matt Pritiko, and Formula Senior driver Robert Wickens. Di Leo posted an impressive 7 wins in 9 starts on his way to the championship, just beating out teammate Matt Pritiko, who finished second in the championship. The 2006 Sunoco Team Ultra 94 drivers are Adriano Bilotta, Devin Cunningham, Kyle Marcelli and Daniel Morad.
Release prepared by Russ Bond Agency // photo by Ed Gatner
ADVERTISER SPOTLIGHT: Cedarbrae Motorsport
Cedarbrae Motorsport
STICKY POST: This will be the top post until Monday, Sept. 25. Check below for current news.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
CASCAR Western Series: White wins in Saskatoon
Looks like Jim White - the points leader entering the CASCAR Western Series finale at Auto Clearing Raceway in Saskatoon, SK - clinched the championship in style.
The race was delayed by rain for a day (to Sunday). Here are the quick results from the track:
200 Lap Feature
Car # Driver Laps
1. #36 Jim White 200
2. #85 James VanDomselaar 200
3. #64 Chris Shirley 200
4. #35 Kevin Dowler 199
5. #21 Jason White 198
6. #6 Todd Nichol 197
7. #3 Russ Martin 197
8. #30 Derek Pollack 197
9. #79 Wade Lee 196
10. #26 Shaun Pollack 196
11. #55 Marty White 195
12. #5 Fred Whiteman 194
13. #86 Shawn Press 193
14. #24 Scott Dennis 191
15. #97 Mike Cashen 148
16. #46 Dan Shirley 136
The race was delayed by rain for a day (to Sunday). Here are the quick results from the track:
200 Lap Feature
Car # Driver Laps
1. #36 Jim White 200
2. #85 James VanDomselaar 200
3. #64 Chris Shirley 200
4. #35 Kevin Dowler 199
5. #21 Jason White 198
6. #6 Todd Nichol 197
7. #3 Russ Martin 197
8. #30 Derek Pollack 197
9. #79 Wade Lee 196
10. #26 Shaun Pollack 196
11. #55 Marty White 195
12. #5 Fred Whiteman 194
13. #86 Shawn Press 193
14. #24 Scott Dennis 191
15. #97 Mike Cashen 148
16. #46 Dan Shirley 136
Saturday, September 23, 2006
NASCAR: Montreal Busch Series race announcement on Tuesday
... According to sources at this weekend's NASCAR event at Dover, NASCAR will make the long-awaited announcement regarding a Busch Series race - next August at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - on Tuesday in Montreal.
TSN has the story here. The race will be on Saturday, August 4, 2007. The Cup Series will be in Pocono the same weekend.
CASCAR WESTERN SERIES: Saskatoon Finale Preview
The Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a piece on Jim White and Kevin Dowler as the CASCAR Flo~Pro.com Western Series wraps up this weekend at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway.
Friday, September 22, 2006
358 Dirt Modifieds Return To Brighton Speedway On Saturday Night
Courtesy Brighton Speedway
BRIGHTON, ON - The sound of 358 Dirt Modifieds will once again come to life this Saturday night at the Brighton Speedway for the CARQUEST Applefest 358 Dirt Modified Shootout Presented by ImageFactor.ca. Top small block drivers from all across Ontario, Quebec and Upstate New York will be on hand for this second annual event. The main event is a 24 car, 40 lap feature with $13,000 on the line.
The evening will also include the Lucas Oil Clash for Cash Presented by DirtTrackDigest.com. This 15 lap race will be a battle of east versus west as the best drivers from the Lucas Oil Canadian Series take on the best of the Lucas Oil Shootout Series for a $5,000 purse. Guaranteed starters for the Lucas Oil Clash for Cash from the east will include David Hebert, Kayle Robidoux and Yan Bussiere while Scott Wood, Rick Richner and Pete Bicknell have secured spots from the west. These guaranteed drivers will be joined by the four CARQUEST Applefest Shootout heat winners from earlier in the evening.
Numerous teams have already marked Saturday September 23rd on their racing calendars including former 358 Dirt Modified driver Rick Wilson who has spent the past several seasons piloting a sprint car across the northeast. The "Joyceville Jet" will be just one of many familiar names expected to attend this second annual event. Rick has hundreds of laps around the1/3rd mile oval and will challenge local favourite Chris Jones and last years Champion Kyle Dingwall, who have both had stand out seasons for the cash and trophy. "It seems the success of our 2005 event has helped spread the word this year" said track promoter Mark Rinaldi. "Many teams already had this race on their schedule long before we began promoting it. Thanks to the support of companies like CARQUEST Auto Parts, Lucas Oil Products and ImageFactor.ca it has gained even more attention" he added.
In addition to this being a great night of racing Brighton Speedway is teaming up with CARQUEST for a worthy cause as $1 from every admission to the speedway will go towards CARQUEST'S Special Olympics fundraiser the Law Enforcement Torch Run. CARQUEST Auto Parts is proud to be the Premier International Partner of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics. The Torch Run supports a wide variety of local fund raising activities with CARQUEST, with 100% of all local funds remaining in the state or province where they are raised.
Racing at the Brighton Speedway begins Saturday night at 7 pm. Pit gates will open at 2 pm with a drivers meeting scheduled for 6 pm. Hot laps will begin at 6:15 pm. A rain date has been set for Sunday September 24th at 4 pm. Teams are reminded that no minors under the age of 14 are allowed in the pit area. Those between the ages of 14 to 17 will require a minor release form to be filled out. The form can be found at http://www.brightonspeedway.com under the Drivers Info section.
With Applefest events taking place all weekend in the area fans and teams may want to take an alternate route to the track. An alternative to entering the downtown area is Highway 401 (Exit #522) Wooler Road South to Highway 2 West. Follow Hwy 2 to Stoney Point Road South and left onto County Road 64.
Saturday night is bound to be one hot night of action at the 1/3 mile clay oval in Brighton, Ontario. The entire program will be capped off by a spectacular fireworks display courtesy Mystical Distributing.
For more information regarding the CARQUEST Applefest 358 Dirt Modified Shootout Presented by ImageFactor.ca or the Lucas Oil Clash for Cash Presented by DirtTrackDigest.com visit http://www.brightonspeedway.com or the official event site at http://www.imagefactor.ca/applefestshootout.
BRIGHTON, ON - The sound of 358 Dirt Modifieds will once again come to life this Saturday night at the Brighton Speedway for the CARQUEST Applefest 358 Dirt Modified Shootout Presented by ImageFactor.ca. Top small block drivers from all across Ontario, Quebec and Upstate New York will be on hand for this second annual event. The main event is a 24 car, 40 lap feature with $13,000 on the line.
The evening will also include the Lucas Oil Clash for Cash Presented by DirtTrackDigest.com. This 15 lap race will be a battle of east versus west as the best drivers from the Lucas Oil Canadian Series take on the best of the Lucas Oil Shootout Series for a $5,000 purse. Guaranteed starters for the Lucas Oil Clash for Cash from the east will include David Hebert, Kayle Robidoux and Yan Bussiere while Scott Wood, Rick Richner and Pete Bicknell have secured spots from the west. These guaranteed drivers will be joined by the four CARQUEST Applefest Shootout heat winners from earlier in the evening.
Numerous teams have already marked Saturday September 23rd on their racing calendars including former 358 Dirt Modified driver Rick Wilson who has spent the past several seasons piloting a sprint car across the northeast. The "Joyceville Jet" will be just one of many familiar names expected to attend this second annual event. Rick has hundreds of laps around the1/3rd mile oval and will challenge local favourite Chris Jones and last years Champion Kyle Dingwall, who have both had stand out seasons for the cash and trophy. "It seems the success of our 2005 event has helped spread the word this year" said track promoter Mark Rinaldi. "Many teams already had this race on their schedule long before we began promoting it. Thanks to the support of companies like CARQUEST Auto Parts, Lucas Oil Products and ImageFactor.ca it has gained even more attention" he added.
In addition to this being a great night of racing Brighton Speedway is teaming up with CARQUEST for a worthy cause as $1 from every admission to the speedway will go towards CARQUEST'S Special Olympics fundraiser the Law Enforcement Torch Run. CARQUEST Auto Parts is proud to be the Premier International Partner of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics. The Torch Run supports a wide variety of local fund raising activities with CARQUEST, with 100% of all local funds remaining in the state or province where they are raised.
Racing at the Brighton Speedway begins Saturday night at 7 pm. Pit gates will open at 2 pm with a drivers meeting scheduled for 6 pm. Hot laps will begin at 6:15 pm. A rain date has been set for Sunday September 24th at 4 pm. Teams are reminded that no minors under the age of 14 are allowed in the pit area. Those between the ages of 14 to 17 will require a minor release form to be filled out. The form can be found at http://www.brightonspeedway.com under the Drivers Info section.
With Applefest events taking place all weekend in the area fans and teams may want to take an alternate route to the track. An alternative to entering the downtown area is Highway 401 (Exit #522) Wooler Road South to Highway 2 West. Follow Hwy 2 to Stoney Point Road South and left onto County Road 64.
Saturday night is bound to be one hot night of action at the 1/3 mile clay oval in Brighton, Ontario. The entire program will be capped off by a spectacular fireworks display courtesy Mystical Distributing.
For more information regarding the CARQUEST Applefest 358 Dirt Modified Shootout Presented by ImageFactor.ca or the Lucas Oil Clash for Cash Presented by DirtTrackDigest.com visit http://www.brightonspeedway.com or the official event site at http://www.imagefactor.ca/applefestshootout.
Sunny Weather Brought On Some Hot Racing!
Courtesy Miranda Carr
September 17th, 2006, Fredericton, NB – Switching to Sunday racing might have been a good thing as mother nature finally decided to cooperated and bring on the good weather. Today’s event features a double feature for the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman with points racing PLUS the remaining 120 laps of the Martin’s Home Sportsman 125 that had been rained out earlier in the season. The fans saw a great show with excellent and competitive racing in all three divisions as the points racing is winding down.
In the Coast Tire Street Stock feature the #18 of John Feltmate took home the victory with a challenging second place finisher, the #54 of Rick Cashol. Feltmate had some gruesome competition coming from Cashol and rookie, Jason Shannon who rounded out the top three. The current points champion, Joe Albert, was having troubles earlier in the race but settled for a good fifth place position.
In the CARQUEST Pro Stock division the #01 of Kevin Moore went from wreckers to checkers in the span of two weeks. A few weeks ago at the Irving Oil 250, Moore had some technical difficulties and unfortunately ended his race early only to take home the checkers this week. Finishing in the second position was the big black Dodge, the #81 of Glen Rasmussen. Rasmussen and Moore battled it out for the first position but settled for their finishing positions. Rounding out the top three was the #8 of Hurricane Hal O’Neil. O’Neil came up through the field with a starting position of 6th. The Pro Stocks put on an good show with no cautions in the entire 40 laps.
In the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman division the drivers put in a very long day with two races in today’s event. In the feature the #41 of Robert Lee took home his first win of the season with the #37 of Bradley Logan in the second position. Rounding off the top three was the #25 of Jeremy Graham. Graham had troubles with the car earlier in the week but tweaked the car just right to take home the third spot. For the remaining 120 laps of the Martin’s Home Heating 125, fans saw another podium finish for the #37 of Bradley Logan who took home the first spot. In second position was the #23 of Lonnie Sommerville. Sommerville also had a podium finish two weeks ago in the Irving Oil 250 where he came in the first position to win a pocket full of cash. Rounding off the top three was the #33 of Charlie Wilkins. Wilkins started the race in the 10th position and fought his way through the pack to finish in third.
The points are getting tighter and closer each week as racing season in soon coming to an end. Next week will feature another Sportsman event with the Firecracker 150 on Sunday, September 24th. Could Gillespie take home the second half of the Home for Home event with Riverglade? Only the fans who come check out next weeks race will know.
Next Event:
Firecracker 150
Sunday, September 24th, at 2:00pm
Points Racing in the Coast Tire Street Stocks, and the CARQUEST Pro Stock division along with the Firecracker 150 featuring the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman.
September 17th, 2006, Fredericton, NB – Switching to Sunday racing might have been a good thing as mother nature finally decided to cooperated and bring on the good weather. Today’s event features a double feature for the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman with points racing PLUS the remaining 120 laps of the Martin’s Home Sportsman 125 that had been rained out earlier in the season. The fans saw a great show with excellent and competitive racing in all three divisions as the points racing is winding down.
In the Coast Tire Street Stock feature the #18 of John Feltmate took home the victory with a challenging second place finisher, the #54 of Rick Cashol. Feltmate had some gruesome competition coming from Cashol and rookie, Jason Shannon who rounded out the top three. The current points champion, Joe Albert, was having troubles earlier in the race but settled for a good fifth place position.
In the CARQUEST Pro Stock division the #01 of Kevin Moore went from wreckers to checkers in the span of two weeks. A few weeks ago at the Irving Oil 250, Moore had some technical difficulties and unfortunately ended his race early only to take home the checkers this week. Finishing in the second position was the big black Dodge, the #81 of Glen Rasmussen. Rasmussen and Moore battled it out for the first position but settled for their finishing positions. Rounding out the top three was the #8 of Hurricane Hal O’Neil. O’Neil came up through the field with a starting position of 6th. The Pro Stocks put on an good show with no cautions in the entire 40 laps.
In the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman division the drivers put in a very long day with two races in today’s event. In the feature the #41 of Robert Lee took home his first win of the season with the #37 of Bradley Logan in the second position. Rounding off the top three was the #25 of Jeremy Graham. Graham had troubles with the car earlier in the week but tweaked the car just right to take home the third spot. For the remaining 120 laps of the Martin’s Home Heating 125, fans saw another podium finish for the #37 of Bradley Logan who took home the first spot. In second position was the #23 of Lonnie Sommerville. Sommerville also had a podium finish two weeks ago in the Irving Oil 250 where he came in the first position to win a pocket full of cash. Rounding off the top three was the #33 of Charlie Wilkins. Wilkins started the race in the 10th position and fought his way through the pack to finish in third.
The points are getting tighter and closer each week as racing season in soon coming to an end. Next week will feature another Sportsman event with the Firecracker 150 on Sunday, September 24th. Could Gillespie take home the second half of the Home for Home event with Riverglade? Only the fans who come check out next weeks race will know.
Next Event:
Firecracker 150
Sunday, September 24th, at 2:00pm
Points Racing in the Coast Tire Street Stocks, and the CARQUEST Pro Stock division along with the Firecracker 150 featuring the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman.
Canadian Sprint Car Nationals Can Now Be Relived on Hot Wings TV
Courtesy Rich Vleck - HotWingsTV.net
Rochester, N.Y.- The biggest sprint car race of the year in the Northeast is now over, but before all the dust settles, you can still fully relive this great weekend thanks to Hot Wings TV.
Show 11, like all of the others that have been posted this year, are available at www.HotWingsTV.net.
The program is well over 30-minutes, including more than 8 minutes of highlights from over the two nights, as well as sit-down interviews with the top-four finishers and commentary from TJ Buffenbarger.
Steve Poirier pulled off the historic win at Ohsweken, he had plenty to say after the race, along with his entire crew; if you have never seen a driver with a theme song before, you must see show 11.
Jason Barney, Ryan Grubaugh and Don Adamczyk finished second through fourth in the 30-lap A-Main, they all felt as if these were wins and were glad to step into the hot seat for post-race interviews.
The highlights have all of the great battles on the track, but also has most of the flips on the weekend. See Justin Harris, Brad Knab, Lee Stark, Chuck Hebing, Ron Blair, Rick Wilson, Justin Barger, Alain Bergeron, Mike Ferrell and Tim Phillips flip their cars with multiple camera angles.
Rich Vleck and Greg Birosh are once again the hosts, with the return of Lizz Brigham in front of the cameras and the inaugural visit for TJ Slideways on the show.
Windows Media Player is advised to view Hot Wings TV. The show can be viewed by visiting www.HotWingsTV.net and clicking on the box on the left side of the web page. Questions or comments may be sent to HotWings@HotWingsTV.net.
Rochester, N.Y.- The biggest sprint car race of the year in the Northeast is now over, but before all the dust settles, you can still fully relive this great weekend thanks to Hot Wings TV.
Show 11, like all of the others that have been posted this year, are available at www.HotWingsTV.net.
The program is well over 30-minutes, including more than 8 minutes of highlights from over the two nights, as well as sit-down interviews with the top-four finishers and commentary from TJ Buffenbarger.
Steve Poirier pulled off the historic win at Ohsweken, he had plenty to say after the race, along with his entire crew; if you have never seen a driver with a theme song before, you must see show 11.
Jason Barney, Ryan Grubaugh and Don Adamczyk finished second through fourth in the 30-lap A-Main, they all felt as if these were wins and were glad to step into the hot seat for post-race interviews.
The highlights have all of the great battles on the track, but also has most of the flips on the weekend. See Justin Harris, Brad Knab, Lee Stark, Chuck Hebing, Ron Blair, Rick Wilson, Justin Barger, Alain Bergeron, Mike Ferrell and Tim Phillips flip their cars with multiple camera angles.
Rich Vleck and Greg Birosh are once again the hosts, with the return of Lizz Brigham in front of the cameras and the inaugural visit for TJ Slideways on the show.
Windows Media Player is advised to view Hot Wings TV. The show can be viewed by visiting www.HotWingsTV.net and clicking on the box on the left side of the web page. Questions or comments may be sent to HotWings@HotWingsTV.net.
A1GP – ROOKIE DRIVERS START RACE WEEKEND ACTION
Courtesy A1GP World Cup of MotorsportA1GP Rookie drivers will be the first to be seen in action when the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport take to the race tracks for each weekend of its 2006/2007 season. There will be two 25 minute sessions early on Friday afternoon for the series least experienced drivers.
For season two the organisers of the series have been looking at ways not only to improve the already popular weekend package, but also to give young up and coming drivers the chance to compete against older, more established names. Commenting on the new initiative A1GP Deputy Chairman, Tony Teixeira, said: “The idea of the level playing field is something we want to expand on. We appreciate most of the young drivers have never driven anything as powerful as the A1GP car before, so some extra time to get used to the car and the track can be invaluable. I have seen these youngsters are quick learners, so expect this extra track time will help them make a mark very quickly when they are joined by the other drivers for the final Friday session.”
The definition of a Rookie is a driver who is under 25-years-old and is a newcomer to the series or has competed in no more than three races in total. A driver who certainly qualifies for this is James Hinchcliffe who, at 19-years-old, will be driving for A1 Team Canada.
Hinchcliffe commented: “I know I’m going to be one of the younger guys debuting at Zandvoort but I’m viewing this as a phenomenal benchmark to test my abilities due to the sheer quality in A1GP’s driver line-up, it’s exciting to have the opportunity to measure myself against some of the older guys and their depth of experience. For me, being a rookie in A1GP isn’t so bad as it’s only the second season of competition that’s about to start, it’s not like I’ll be up against guys with years of experience in these cars”.
A1 Team New Zealand Seat Holder, Colin Giltrap, has been a supporter of young racing talent from his country and he was delighted with this initiative by A1GP. ‘New Zealand has produced some world-class drivers over the years and the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport is a hugely competitive environment to challenge, and further hone, the skills of the next generation of stars. The development of talent helps increase our driver depth and also helps boost the experience, skills and profiles of young drivers on a global stage.’
The race weekend on track programme will now start on the Friday with a Rookie Session from 13.00 to 13.25. There will then be a ten minute gap before the final Rookie Session from 13.35 to 14.00. The final session of the day with all the drivers will be from 16.00 to 17.00. On Saturday all the drivers will then take part in the third free practice from 11.00 to 12.00 and the four qualifying sessions which will be from 14.15 to 14.30, 14.35 to 14.50, 14.55 to 15.10 and 15.15 to 15.30. On Sunday the Sprint race, which will have a rolling start, will start at 11.00 and the standing start Feature Race, with a mandatory pit stop, will start at 15.00.
POIRIER WINS 2nd ANNUAL CANADIAN SPRINT CAR NATIONALS
Courtesy OHsweken Insider
From TJ Buffenbarger: OHSWEKEN, Ontario (September 16th, 2006) Steve Poirier scored the biggest feature victory of his short sprint car career Saturday night at the Ohsweken Speedway during the 2nd Annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals presented by Arrow Express. Poirier inherited the lead when Justin Barger crashed while leading and held off a multitude of challengers including sprint car veteran Dale Blaney to claim the feature victory.
“The car was great, this is a really (big) win,” said Poirier in victory lane. “The crew did a great job giving me a good car.”
The 30 Lap feature event started with Alain Bergeron and Justin Barger on the front row. Bergeron, who had been dominant throughout the evening, took the lead at the start and opened up a sizeable advantage with Barger, Dussel, Poirier, and Jason Barney in tow.
Five laps into the event the first caution appeared for Ken Mackey and Fred Cade spinning in turns one and two. Both drivers restarted at the tail of the field.
During the restart Bergeron continued to lead until he slipped off the track in turns three and four and allowed Barger to take the lead. Blaney, who started ninth, methodically moved his way through the field and battled with Poirier and Bergeron for the second spot.
Disaster struck Barger on lap 13 when he tangled with the lap car of Rick Wilson and flipped hard going into turn three. Both drivers eventually emerged uninjured.
This allowed Poirier to inherit the lead with a lap car between himself and Blaney. Bergeron was the next to experience bad luck when his car that had been experiencing brake problems throughout the event flipped out of the race track in turns one and two. Bergeron, the Empire Super Sprints point leader, emerged uninjured.
For the restart Poirier had no lapped cars between himself and Blaney. Poirier was better again on the restart and pulled away from the rest of the field. Then while running second Blaney’s front wing was knocked askew and caused him to drop back. Jason Barney moved past Blaney for second and set sail after Poirier. After Barney moved past upstart ASCS Sprints on Dirt competitor Ryan Grubaugh made a daring outside pass to take away the third spot.
Blaney admitted after the race the cautions hurt his persuit of the leader.
“I really needed some longer green flag runs,” said Blaney after the event. “(Poirier’s) car took off much better on restart and without the longer green flag runs our car would not come in enough to catch him.”
Up front through it was all Poirier as he took the $6,000 first prize over Barney, Grubaugh, Don Adamczyk, and Blaney rounded out the top five.
The 2006 ASCS Sprints on Dirt driver Ken Mackey was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 13.717 seconds around the 3/8-mile oval. Ron Blair was the third of four drivers to flip out of the ball park when he tumbled during the second heat race. Nick Bashford flipped during the non-qualifiers event while Gary Troutman tipped over during the C-Main. All the drivers emerged uninjured.
From TJ Buffenbarger: OHSWEKEN, Ontario (September 16th, 2006) Steve Poirier scored the biggest feature victory of his short sprint car career Saturday night at the Ohsweken Speedway during the 2nd Annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals presented by Arrow Express. Poirier inherited the lead when Justin Barger crashed while leading and held off a multitude of challengers including sprint car veteran Dale Blaney to claim the feature victory.
“The car was great, this is a really (big) win,” said Poirier in victory lane. “The crew did a great job giving me a good car.”
The 30 Lap feature event started with Alain Bergeron and Justin Barger on the front row. Bergeron, who had been dominant throughout the evening, took the lead at the start and opened up a sizeable advantage with Barger, Dussel, Poirier, and Jason Barney in tow.
Five laps into the event the first caution appeared for Ken Mackey and Fred Cade spinning in turns one and two. Both drivers restarted at the tail of the field.
During the restart Bergeron continued to lead until he slipped off the track in turns three and four and allowed Barger to take the lead. Blaney, who started ninth, methodically moved his way through the field and battled with Poirier and Bergeron for the second spot.
Disaster struck Barger on lap 13 when he tangled with the lap car of Rick Wilson and flipped hard going into turn three. Both drivers eventually emerged uninjured.
This allowed Poirier to inherit the lead with a lap car between himself and Blaney. Bergeron was the next to experience bad luck when his car that had been experiencing brake problems throughout the event flipped out of the race track in turns one and two. Bergeron, the Empire Super Sprints point leader, emerged uninjured.
For the restart Poirier had no lapped cars between himself and Blaney. Poirier was better again on the restart and pulled away from the rest of the field. Then while running second Blaney’s front wing was knocked askew and caused him to drop back. Jason Barney moved past Blaney for second and set sail after Poirier. After Barney moved past upstart ASCS Sprints on Dirt competitor Ryan Grubaugh made a daring outside pass to take away the third spot.
Blaney admitted after the race the cautions hurt his persuit of the leader.
“I really needed some longer green flag runs,” said Blaney after the event. “(Poirier’s) car took off much better on restart and without the longer green flag runs our car would not come in enough to catch him.”
Up front through it was all Poirier as he took the $6,000 first prize over Barney, Grubaugh, Don Adamczyk, and Blaney rounded out the top five.
The 2006 ASCS Sprints on Dirt driver Ken Mackey was the fastest qualifier with a lap of 13.717 seconds around the 3/8-mile oval. Ron Blair was the third of four drivers to flip out of the ball park when he tumbled during the second heat race. Nick Bashford flipped during the non-qualifiers event while Gary Troutman tipped over during the C-Main. All the drivers emerged uninjured.
EDMONTON SUN COMMENTARY: "CASCAR SUCKED"
Dave 'Crash' Cameron of the Edmonton Sun is happy to see NASCAR purchase CASCAR.
"CASCAR sucked.
Not the racing. Not the product.
The selling of it. Or lack thereof.
It's finally official: NASCAR has bought CASCAR.
The irony is that by taking away the C and adding an N we may actually see "Canada's national stock car series" become one."
Cameron's story is posted in full here.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
ADVERTISER SPOTLIGHT: KW Suspensions
KW Suspensions
STICKY POST: This will be the top post until Thursday, Sept. 21. Check below for current news.
RACELINE: TOMAS TALES, by Erik Tomas
From Raceline
Stock car racing in Canada hit a major milestone last week with the establishment of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. A few days later, the old tattered, bullet-holed CASCAR battle flag was dipped and retired after the 2006 season-closer at Kawartha. The series Tony Novotny founded back in 1981 bowed its head to Motorsport history.
Raceline Radio’s association with CASCAR runs deep, with 6 seasons of TV production for TSN in the late 80’s, through the birth of Raceline Radio in the early 90’s. The so-called “deal” for NASCAR to purchase CASCAR percolated for about 2 years.
In the meantime, NASCAR was supposed to be helping CASCAR steer their marketing and promotion. The whispered complaint from drivers was that it was having little positive effect. Constantly asked about when the purchase was going through, lost to explain it any other way, we started telling fans that if NASCAR really wanted CASCAR, they would have written a cheque long ago.
So last week, all the wondering and theories came to a point with a somewhat subdued media conference staged outside in downtown Toronto in a light drizzle. Peter Gibbons was the only driver visible as NASCAR announced their new series. But did they actually purchase CASCAR? Our contacts tell us no. The better way might be to say NASCAR simply absorbed CASCAR, gave it a new coat of paint, changed the first “C” to an “N”, and said, “here ya go folks!”
What NASCAR downplayed was that The Canadian Tire Series wasn’t some brand new concept imported north of the border, it was simply a new re-labelling of CASCAR’s drivers, teams, rules, tracks and schedule. Not that that’s a bad thing! The deal took a while because they needed something Novotny wasn’t able to land the last few seasons: a national sponsor. Canada’s best known retail brand, Canadian Tire steps up. Nice work. About time.
And time will tell if having the golden-egg NASCAR logo on a Canadian stock car racing series shakes a few more sponsorship apples from the Canadian corporate tree for the teams. Time will tell if Canadian Tire’s partnership means a lucrative enough purse structure to grow the series into a true national sanction, and be rich enough to get racers who are still not full-timers to travel the length of this huge country of ours.
Will it be wealthy enough to attract kids in go karts to late model stock cars if they fly a NASCAR flag? We certainly hope so. Our experience tells us it should. Will The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series mean better racing for the fans? Might it entice CUP drivers to guest-drive more frequently? Perhaps. Let’s sit back and wait for the desired effect.
I certainly hope it’s all good! But if for nothing else, knowing as many of the CASCAR veteran warriors like I do, it has to be VERY cool to finally race in a full-blown NASCAR sanctioned series on home soil. As I stated on the air, they at the very least, deserve that!
Hey! Come on! Your servers down? Keep your electronic notes, questions and comments coming for The Griddly Headz E-Mail Bag Contest! Same address: erik@raceline.ca If your note is chosen E-Mail-of-The-Week, you win their hot new NASCAR BOARD GAME!Until next time, talk to ya’ll on Raceline Radio! ET
Sunday September 24th, 2006
Our 2006 “Night of Champions!” Series commences with the now 3-time Indy Racing League champ. Sam Hornish is back with us.
ChampCar/RuSport team president, Canada’s Jeremy Dale, updates Cristiano da Matta’s progress and why Dario Franchitti won’t be coming on board to finish the season in the 10 car.
Plus our “E-Mail of the Week” contest to win a Griddly-Headz NASCAR board game!
Check the Raceline site for station listings & skeds....
Bourque Eager For Monster Mile Debut
DOVER, Del. (September 21, 2006) - - After a strong showing last weekend at New Hampshire International Speedway, NASCAR Busch East Series Rookie-of-the-Year candidate Pierre Bourque looks for more of the same as the series roars into Dover for the tenth event of the 2006 season Friday.
“I can’t wait to get to Dover,” said Bourque, the DRIVING.CA CANADA.COM WORKING.COM DOSE.CA driver who has spent his 2006-racing season competing in three different divisions. “I’ve heard a lot about the track and I know the characteristics. After our solid performance last week at NHIS, I don’t see any reason why we won’t back it up this weekend. Last Saturday, Bourque appeared to be heading towards his first career top-ten finish in NBES competition, but a late spin caused by a fellow competitor relegated the team and driver to a 25th place finish.
“Last weekend shows the type of performances we are capable of. We’ve been picking up the pace considerably throughout the season and now when it counts, we are making ourselves noticeable. We ran in the top ten a long time last weekend and that was a good feeling. Hopefully the success will roll over this weekend to Dover.”
Bourque will make his debut at the one-mile concrete oval, but that doesn’t bother him as the Ottawa, Ontario native has prior concrete racing experience earlier this summer at Nashville Superspeedway. “This weekend will be my Dover debut, but thankfully I have prior experience on the concrete track of Nashville Superspeedway in the ARCA RE/MAX Series race and I ran pretty well, finishing 21st of 42 starters. I know that I’ll have a car capable of running inside the top fifteen, I’m feeling really good about the race on Friday.”
Driving.Ca, Canada’s No. 1 Automotive website, continues as primary sponsor this weekend.
In addition, Canada.com Canada's biggest online community, Working.com, one of North America's top career sites, and Dose.Ca, a cool site that caters to hip Canadian urban ites coast-to-coast, will all serve as secondary sponsors on Bourque’s machine this weekend.
All four sponsors are part of Canwest-Global, Canada's largest media company with interests in television, radio, newspapers and the internet.
Full Metals Minerals and Pollara Strategic Public Opinion remain as associate sponsors.
“After the great exposure we acquired at NHIS, we’re looking for more of the same this weekend. Our sponsors are great and with the large number of fans that are expected to attend this weekend’s activities, it should have an influential impact on our sponsors. This Friday’s race is one of the biggest of the season for the tour, so I’m eagerly looking forward to collecting a career finish. The team continues to reach new milestones each week and I feel another is in store.”
Currently, Bourque is tied for 15th in the 2006 NASCAR Busch East Series points standings which sends him to the Toyota All-Star Showdown set for later this year in California. The driver of the No. 10 Chevrolet Monte Carlo will have two remaining events to keep his morale up and lock his team into the “Daytona 500” of the NASCAR Busch East Series. “My goal is to compete in the All-Star event at the end of the season and I plan on not letting that out of my reach. I know that it would mean a lot not only to my team and sponsors, but what a way to end the season for myself.”
In addition to running the full NASCAR Busch East Series in 2006, Pierre Bourque and Fast Track Racing are making limited starts in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. Bourque also made three CASCAR Series races with Wyoming, Ontario's Whitlock Motorsports.
For further in site on Canwest-Global and its associates please log onto Driving.Ca, Canada.com, Working.com, and Dose.Ca
For more information on Full Metals Minerals, please visit http://www.fullmetalminerals.com
For additional input on Pollara Strategic Public Opinion, please logon to http://www.pollara.ca
To learn more about Pierre Bourque please click onto http://www.pierrebourque.com
###
CONTACT: Chris Knight, Bourque Racing
“I can’t wait to get to Dover,” said Bourque, the DRIVING.CA CANADA.COM WORKING.COM DOSE.CA driver who has spent his 2006-racing season competing in three different divisions. “I’ve heard a lot about the track and I know the characteristics. After our solid performance last week at NHIS, I don’t see any reason why we won’t back it up this weekend. Last Saturday, Bourque appeared to be heading towards his first career top-ten finish in NBES competition, but a late spin caused by a fellow competitor relegated the team and driver to a 25th place finish.
“Last weekend shows the type of performances we are capable of. We’ve been picking up the pace considerably throughout the season and now when it counts, we are making ourselves noticeable. We ran in the top ten a long time last weekend and that was a good feeling. Hopefully the success will roll over this weekend to Dover.”
Bourque will make his debut at the one-mile concrete oval, but that doesn’t bother him as the Ottawa, Ontario native has prior concrete racing experience earlier this summer at Nashville Superspeedway. “This weekend will be my Dover debut, but thankfully I have prior experience on the concrete track of Nashville Superspeedway in the ARCA RE/MAX Series race and I ran pretty well, finishing 21st of 42 starters. I know that I’ll have a car capable of running inside the top fifteen, I’m feeling really good about the race on Friday.”
Driving.Ca, Canada’s No. 1 Automotive website, continues as primary sponsor this weekend.
In addition, Canada.com Canada's biggest online community, Working.com, one of North America's top career sites, and Dose.Ca, a cool site that caters to hip Canadian urban ites coast-to-coast, will all serve as secondary sponsors on Bourque’s machine this weekend.
All four sponsors are part of Canwest-Global, Canada's largest media company with interests in television, radio, newspapers and the internet.
Full Metals Minerals and Pollara Strategic Public Opinion remain as associate sponsors.
“After the great exposure we acquired at NHIS, we’re looking for more of the same this weekend. Our sponsors are great and with the large number of fans that are expected to attend this weekend’s activities, it should have an influential impact on our sponsors. This Friday’s race is one of the biggest of the season for the tour, so I’m eagerly looking forward to collecting a career finish. The team continues to reach new milestones each week and I feel another is in store.”
Currently, Bourque is tied for 15th in the 2006 NASCAR Busch East Series points standings which sends him to the Toyota All-Star Showdown set for later this year in California. The driver of the No. 10 Chevrolet Monte Carlo will have two remaining events to keep his morale up and lock his team into the “Daytona 500” of the NASCAR Busch East Series. “My goal is to compete in the All-Star event at the end of the season and I plan on not letting that out of my reach. I know that it would mean a lot not only to my team and sponsors, but what a way to end the season for myself.”
In addition to running the full NASCAR Busch East Series in 2006, Pierre Bourque and Fast Track Racing are making limited starts in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. Bourque also made three CASCAR Series races with Wyoming, Ontario's Whitlock Motorsports.
For further in site on Canwest-Global and its associates please log onto Driving.Ca, Canada.com, Working.com, and Dose.Ca
For more information on Full Metals Minerals, please visit http://www.fullmetalminerals.com
For additional input on Pollara Strategic Public Opinion, please logon to http://www.pollara.ca
To learn more about Pierre Bourque please click onto http://www.pierrebourque.com
###
CONTACT: Chris Knight, Bourque Racing
NBIS: Busy weekend on tap
Fredericton, NB – With the racing season’s end approaching fast, the NBIS is vigorously trying to cram the remaining rain out races in. This weekend, there will be racing in the Geary woods on both Saturday, September 23rd and Sunday, September 24th.
On Saturday, the Enduro series will crown its champion for 2006 as the Enduro 200 Championship will go underway at 2:00pm and then on Sunday the FIRECRACKER 150 will take place featuring the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman (2pm start). This event was washed out earlier in the season and was originally part one of the Liteco Challenge featuring the Sportsman classes of NBIS and Riverglade Speedway.
The weekend will begin with the Enduro 200 on Saturday. The Enduro 200 was originally scheduled for September 4th to cap off Speedweekend, but was washed out. It is the final race of the season for the rough and tumble division and a 2006 Enduro Champion will be crowned upon the conclusion of the event. It’s bound to be a dramatic day as there is currently a tie for the lead. Co-drivers, Benji Ruff and Dale Hatheway of the #8 already have a championship underneath their belts and could take home another. However, Peter Verburgh in the #99 could have other plans as he is tied with Ruff and Hatheway.
Enduros are unique events where drivers are ALLOWED to spin, push and tap the other drivers without being “Black Flagged.” There are no yellow flags. The events are run in 3 segments, two 75-lap segments to start with a finale 50 lap charge to the finish. Last man or woman standing and the first to complete 200 laps wins first prize. The Enduro division races four times this season.
The Firecracker 150 on Sunday is a new event and the Liteco Challenge is a completely new direction for NBIS and Riverglade. “A unique event”, co-owner Steve Burns states, “The Firecracker 150 is the first event of its kind and were proud to be part of the Liteco Challenge between Riverglade and ourselves. We hope to grow this event every year and we hope to see a great field of cars for the event.”
In early August, Riverglade Speedway held their half of the Home and Home event. Sportsman drivers from NBIS and Riverglade took part in the challenge and in the end the #69 Nackawic Night Train of Brian Gillespie took home the feature win. Gillespie also won the O’Leary Pontiac Excitement 150 on Speedweekend and is considered a top contender in any race he enters.
The Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman aren’t the only spotlight this Sunday at NBIS as the Coast Tire Street Stocks and CARQUEST Pro Stocks continue their chase for the championship. Both divisions are very close in points with only a one point lead between current leader, Rick Cashol, and second place, Joe Albert, in the Coast Tire Street Stock division. In The CARQUEST Pro Stock Division 2004 Champions Dave O’Blenis has a fourteen point lead or 2005 Champion Glen Rasmussen. The points are tightening each weeks as season’s end brews closer.
Which driver will take home the Enduro division championship? Could their be a different winner for part two of the Liteco Challenge? Could Brian Gillespie take both events home? Only stock car fans will see at NBIS this weekend so be there to get all your answers plus see some great racing!
FIRECRACKER 150, Part Two of the Liteco Challenge with Riverglade
Sunday, September 24th at 2:00pm
· Pit gates open at 10am
· Grandstands open at 12pm
· Racing starts at 2pm
Event starts with regular points racing in Coast Tire Street Stock Divisions, and CARQUEST Pro Stocks and concludes with the Firecracker 150 featuring the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman and the Riverglade Sportsman.
Ticket Prices:
Adults (16 and over) $20
Youth (ages 9-15) $15
Children (ages 8 and under) FREE
On Saturday, the Enduro series will crown its champion for 2006 as the Enduro 200 Championship will go underway at 2:00pm and then on Sunday the FIRECRACKER 150 will take place featuring the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman (2pm start). This event was washed out earlier in the season and was originally part one of the Liteco Challenge featuring the Sportsman classes of NBIS and Riverglade Speedway.
The weekend will begin with the Enduro 200 on Saturday. The Enduro 200 was originally scheduled for September 4th to cap off Speedweekend, but was washed out. It is the final race of the season for the rough and tumble division and a 2006 Enduro Champion will be crowned upon the conclusion of the event. It’s bound to be a dramatic day as there is currently a tie for the lead. Co-drivers, Benji Ruff and Dale Hatheway of the #8 already have a championship underneath their belts and could take home another. However, Peter Verburgh in the #99 could have other plans as he is tied with Ruff and Hatheway.
Enduros are unique events where drivers are ALLOWED to spin, push and tap the other drivers without being “Black Flagged.” There are no yellow flags. The events are run in 3 segments, two 75-lap segments to start with a finale 50 lap charge to the finish. Last man or woman standing and the first to complete 200 laps wins first prize. The Enduro division races four times this season.
The Firecracker 150 on Sunday is a new event and the Liteco Challenge is a completely new direction for NBIS and Riverglade. “A unique event”, co-owner Steve Burns states, “The Firecracker 150 is the first event of its kind and were proud to be part of the Liteco Challenge between Riverglade and ourselves. We hope to grow this event every year and we hope to see a great field of cars for the event.”
In early August, Riverglade Speedway held their half of the Home and Home event. Sportsman drivers from NBIS and Riverglade took part in the challenge and in the end the #69 Nackawic Night Train of Brian Gillespie took home the feature win. Gillespie also won the O’Leary Pontiac Excitement 150 on Speedweekend and is considered a top contender in any race he enters.
The Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman aren’t the only spotlight this Sunday at NBIS as the Coast Tire Street Stocks and CARQUEST Pro Stocks continue their chase for the championship. Both divisions are very close in points with only a one point lead between current leader, Rick Cashol, and second place, Joe Albert, in the Coast Tire Street Stock division. In The CARQUEST Pro Stock Division 2004 Champions Dave O’Blenis has a fourteen point lead or 2005 Champion Glen Rasmussen. The points are tightening each weeks as season’s end brews closer.
Which driver will take home the Enduro division championship? Could their be a different winner for part two of the Liteco Challenge? Could Brian Gillespie take both events home? Only stock car fans will see at NBIS this weekend so be there to get all your answers plus see some great racing!
FIRECRACKER 150, Part Two of the Liteco Challenge with Riverglade
Sunday, September 24th at 2:00pm
· Pit gates open at 10am
· Grandstands open at 12pm
· Racing starts at 2pm
Event starts with regular points racing in Coast Tire Street Stock Divisions, and CARQUEST Pro Stocks and concludes with the Firecracker 150 featuring the Martin’s Home Heating Sportsman and the Riverglade Sportsman.
Ticket Prices:
Adults (16 and over) $20
Youth (ages 9-15) $15
Children (ages 8 and under) FREE
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Busch Montreal to run Saturday, August 4?
Earlier speculation had the race taking place in July. But this story from the weekend says the inaugural NASCAR Busch Series race in Montreal will happen on Saturday, August 4 during a weekend when the Cup Series will be at the relatively close by Pocono Raceway.
CASCAR WESTERN SERIES: Saskatoon Preview
Five-time CASCAR Western Series champion Kevin Dowler (Edmonton) sits 23 points behind Flo-Pro.com series leader Jim White of Kamloops heading into Saturday's final race of the season at Auto Clearing Speedway, in Saskatoon, SK.
It will be a classic battle of Ford versus Dodge with Jim White looking to duplicate his performance from his earlier visit to the local track.
“I plan to put the Dodge on the Podium in the top spot,” stated Jim earlier in the week . “Kevin won all his championships racing for top spot. He never eased up if he knew he had it in the bag and I’m going to do the same.”
The CASCAR points system would allow Dowler ample points to overtake White should he have problems during the 200 lap feature.
Regardless of the outcome, this will be Kevin Dowler's final race in the EMCO sponsored Ford Taurus. “I have had a great career with many great memories but it’s time to put the steering wheel on the wall and let my kids know who I am. But I will be there for the final and I am not going out in any less position than first,” Dowler states with confidence.
Local racers may have something to say about that as well. Past Western champion Dan Shirley as well as Chris Shirley both have enjoyed podium spots during series visits and could upset the cart so to speak making this final race very interesting.
- From Bob Ennis / CASCAR Western Series
It will be a classic battle of Ford versus Dodge with Jim White looking to duplicate his performance from his earlier visit to the local track.
“I plan to put the Dodge on the Podium in the top spot,” stated Jim earlier in the week . “Kevin won all his championships racing for top spot. He never eased up if he knew he had it in the bag and I’m going to do the same.”
The CASCAR points system would allow Dowler ample points to overtake White should he have problems during the 200 lap feature.
Regardless of the outcome, this will be Kevin Dowler's final race in the EMCO sponsored Ford Taurus. “I have had a great career with many great memories but it’s time to put the steering wheel on the wall and let my kids know who I am. But I will be there for the final and I am not going out in any less position than first,” Dowler states with confidence.
Local racers may have something to say about that as well. Past Western champion Dan Shirley as well as Chris Shirley both have enjoyed podium spots during series visits and could upset the cart so to speak making this final race very interesting.
- From Bob Ennis / CASCAR Western Series
Reader Poll: CASCAR's greatest driver of all time
Have a look to the right and you will see our newest poll, looking for your unscientific help in identifying the "Greatest CASCAR Racer of All Time". We'll leave it up for a while and will publish the final results in our CASCAR Year In Review issue.
In other CASCAR news, everyone had a great time again at the Racing With James Turner Charity Golf Tournament, held yesterday at Barrie's National Pines Golf Course. The golf carts were packed and the skies were mostly clear. And by all accounts it was another successful day, raising money for several great causes, including Ron Beauchamp's neice, Emily, who is dealing with Spina Bifida.
Speaking of the golf tournament, if anyone has an extra CASCAR lying around, you might want to call Joel Robinson and offer him a deal on a rental. Apparently, behind every lens is a frustrated racer. Without being too incriminating, I never knew a golf cart could do those things.....
Photo: Joel Robinson prepares to launch another perfect drive at yesterday's CASCAR Charity Golf Tournament, in Barrie.
In other CASCAR news, everyone had a great time again at the Racing With James Turner Charity Golf Tournament, held yesterday at Barrie's National Pines Golf Course. The golf carts were packed and the skies were mostly clear. And by all accounts it was another successful day, raising money for several great causes, including Ron Beauchamp's neice, Emily, who is dealing with Spina Bifida.
Speaking of the golf tournament, if anyone has an extra CASCAR lying around, you might want to call Joel Robinson and offer him a deal on a rental. Apparently, behind every lens is a frustrated racer. Without being too incriminating, I never knew a golf cart could do those things.....
Photo: Joel Robinson prepares to launch another perfect drive at yesterday's CASCAR Charity Golf Tournament, in Barrie.
BRIGHTON: 358 Dirt Modifieds Return To Brighton Speedway On Saturday Night
BRIGHTON, ON - The sound of 358 Dirt Modifieds will once again come to life this Saturday night at the Brighton Speedway for the CARQUEST Applefest 358 Dirt Modified Shootout Presented by ImageFactor.ca. Top small block drivers from all across Ontario, Quebec and Upstate New York will be on hand for this second annual event. The main event is a 24 car, 40 lap feature with $13,000 on the line.
The evening will also include the Lucas Oil Clash for Cash Presented by DirtTrackDigest.com. This 15 lap race will be a battle of east versus west as the best drivers from the Lucas Oil Canadian Series take on the best of the Lucas Oil Shootout Series for a $5,000 purse. Guaranteed starters for the Lucas Oil Clash for Cash from the east will include David Hebert, Kayle Robidoux and Yan Bussiere while Scott Wood, Rick Richner and Pete Bicknell have secured spots from the west. These guaranteed drivers will be joined by the four CARQUEST Applefest Shootout heat winners from earlier in the evening.
Numerous teams have already marked Saturday September 23rd on their racing calendars including former 358 Dirt Modified driver Rick Wilson who has spent the past several seasons piloting a sprint car across the northeast. The “Joyceville Jet” will be just one of many familiar names expected to attend this second annual event. Rick has hundreds of laps around the1/3rd mile oval and will challenge local favourite Chris Jones and last years Champion Kyle Dingwall, who have both had stand out seasons for the cash and trophy. “It seems the success of our 2005 event has helped spread the word this year” said track promoter Mark Rinaldi. “Many teams already had this race on their schedule long before we began promoting it. Thanks to the support of companies like CARQUEST Auto Parts, Lucas Oil Products and ImageFactor.ca it has gained even more attention” he added.
In addition to this being a great night of racing Brighton Speedway is teaming up with CARQUEST for a worthy cause as $1 from every admission to the speedway will go towards CARQUEST’S Special Olympics fundraiser the Law Enforcement Torch Run. CARQUEST Auto Parts is proud to be the Premier International Partner of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics. The Torch Run supports a wide variety of local fund raising activities with CARQUEST, with 100% of all local funds remaining in the state or province where they are raised.
Racing at the Brighton Speedway begins Saturday night at 7 pm. Pit gates will open at 2 pm with a drivers meeting scheduled for 6 pm. Hot laps will begin at 6:15 pm. A rain date has been set for Sunday September 24th at 4 pm. Teams are reminded that no minors under the age of 14 are allowed in the pit area. Those between the ages of 14 to 17 will require a minor release form to be filled out. The form can be found at http://www.brightonspeedway.com/ under the Drivers Info section.
With Applefest events taking place all weekend in the area fans and teams may want to take an alternate route to the track. An alternative to entering the downtown area is Highway 401 (Exit #522) Wooler Road South to Highway 2 West. Follow Hwy 2 to Stoney Point Road South and left onto County Road 64.
Saturday night is bound to be one hot night of action at the 1/3 mile clay oval in Brighton, Ontario. The entire program will be capped off by a spectacular fireworks display courtesy Mystical Distributing.
For more information regarding the CARQUEST Applefest 358 Dirt Modified Shootout Presented by ImageFactor.ca or the Lucas Oil Clash for Cash Presented by DirtTrackDigest.com visit http://www.brightonspeedway.com/ or the official event site at http://www.imagefactor.ca/applefestshootout.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
CASC-OR: BEMC Summer Trophy Races a Blast!
Special to Inside Track
BOWMANVILLE, ON – Perfect weather greeted another packed paddock of enthusiastic racers and fans at Mosport on Sept. 16-17 for the Annual Indian Summer Trophy Races.
ONTARIO TOURING GT CHAMPIONSHIP
The weekend festivities included the three-hour War Bonnet Enduro which was a great success filled with excitement!
Qualifying saw a full field take to the track but several retirements, including the #254 BMW of Christian Sorensen, kept the tow trucks busy. An impressive 30 cars took to the mock-grid for the race at the end of the day on Saturday.
Less than five laps in, Allan de Wolfe in the #31 Eurotech BMW went stuttering by the start/finish and pulled off on corner 1 in the gravel. A full-course yellow resulted and the pace car made an appearance for a few laps.
In GTD, the three Mazdee’s Sentras – #201, #202 and #203 – were literally bumper to bumper for half of the race with the #203 car shared by Dave Diedrick and PJ Groenke ending victorious. The #201 of Ian Phillips and Eddie Wong was second and #202 Shep and MacAlpine third.
The #222 of Perry Iannuzzi and Martin Gray initially had an issue with a bolt that was fixed in the pits, but then the car went missing. Radio transmissions revealed that the car had gone off at turn 5 and the engine was cooked, literally, being on fire but driver Martin Gray was fine. Later, the yellow #109 Porsche was clipped and spun in 5 as well. Ventidelli managed to get around the spinning Porsche, but car #194 was not so lucky and T-boned it. Next, Frank Blanchet in his #248 Sentra couldn’t go anywhere and tapped #194 as well.
The #38 Camaro of Steve Kent and Gunter Schmidt came in on the flatbed as well with frontal damage.
The T1 class was won by Nicol and Lejbjuk in the #41 Velocity Motorsports Civic followed by Wojteczko and Trahan in the AutoAnalyser Lexus #64. T2 was won by Ian Madden in his #126 VW with Capowoski and White in second in their BMW while points leader Alain Lauziere in the #47 MINI Cooper S JCW finished third in class.
Lauziere led Madden in the overall championship by 315 points heading into the event and has now locked down the title for the season! Congrats to the Octane Motorsports/SPI Racing Team!
GT class was won by the #301 BENQ BMW of Gray, Hanson, Gray and Skinner with the Xiropodis team second and the Rance, Dolan team third.
ONTARIO FORMULA FORD CHAMPIONSHIP
This season the race has been to get to the Brian Stewart Racing IRL test, and this weekend kept the drivers all on their toes!
Shane Jantzi led the Championship coming into the weekend with Matt White hot on his heels. Jantzi qualified P1 on Saturday and won with White second. Sunday Jantzi again took victory with White finishing sixth, resulting in Jantzi locking in the Class A Championship!
Ian Scott, Brian Neilsen and Rick Doktor all put in valiant efforts.
Class B was hard-fought between Saturday’s winner Gord Lowe and Sunday winner Glyn Walters. Lowe was unable to defend Saturday’s win because of fluid leaks and Walters had to hold off Tony Cove and Ross Smith for Sunday’s win.
A last-lap crash at turn 10 saw Bruce Kitchen go upside-down over the tire wall. Crews got him out and reports are that he is sore but ok.
BOWMANVILLE, ON – Perfect weather greeted another packed paddock of enthusiastic racers and fans at Mosport on Sept. 16-17 for the Annual Indian Summer Trophy Races.
ONTARIO TOURING GT CHAMPIONSHIP
The weekend festivities included the three-hour War Bonnet Enduro which was a great success filled with excitement!
Qualifying saw a full field take to the track but several retirements, including the #254 BMW of Christian Sorensen, kept the tow trucks busy. An impressive 30 cars took to the mock-grid for the race at the end of the day on Saturday.
Less than five laps in, Allan de Wolfe in the #31 Eurotech BMW went stuttering by the start/finish and pulled off on corner 1 in the gravel. A full-course yellow resulted and the pace car made an appearance for a few laps.
In GTD, the three Mazdee’s Sentras – #201, #202 and #203 – were literally bumper to bumper for half of the race with the #203 car shared by Dave Diedrick and PJ Groenke ending victorious. The #201 of Ian Phillips and Eddie Wong was second and #202 Shep and MacAlpine third.
The #222 of Perry Iannuzzi and Martin Gray initially had an issue with a bolt that was fixed in the pits, but then the car went missing. Radio transmissions revealed that the car had gone off at turn 5 and the engine was cooked, literally, being on fire but driver Martin Gray was fine. Later, the yellow #109 Porsche was clipped and spun in 5 as well. Ventidelli managed to get around the spinning Porsche, but car #194 was not so lucky and T-boned it. Next, Frank Blanchet in his #248 Sentra couldn’t go anywhere and tapped #194 as well.
The #38 Camaro of Steve Kent and Gunter Schmidt came in on the flatbed as well with frontal damage.
The T1 class was won by Nicol and Lejbjuk in the #41 Velocity Motorsports Civic followed by Wojteczko and Trahan in the AutoAnalyser Lexus #64. T2 was won by Ian Madden in his #126 VW with Capowoski and White in second in their BMW while points leader Alain Lauziere in the #47 MINI Cooper S JCW finished third in class.
Lauziere led Madden in the overall championship by 315 points heading into the event and has now locked down the title for the season! Congrats to the Octane Motorsports/SPI Racing Team!
GT class was won by the #301 BENQ BMW of Gray, Hanson, Gray and Skinner with the Xiropodis team second and the Rance, Dolan team third.
ONTARIO FORMULA FORD CHAMPIONSHIP
This season the race has been to get to the Brian Stewart Racing IRL test, and this weekend kept the drivers all on their toes!
Shane Jantzi led the Championship coming into the weekend with Matt White hot on his heels. Jantzi qualified P1 on Saturday and won with White second. Sunday Jantzi again took victory with White finishing sixth, resulting in Jantzi locking in the Class A Championship!
Ian Scott, Brian Neilsen and Rick Doktor all put in valiant efforts.
Class B was hard-fought between Saturday’s winner Gord Lowe and Sunday winner Glyn Walters. Lowe was unable to defend Saturday’s win because of fluid leaks and Walters had to hold off Tony Cove and Ross Smith for Sunday’s win.
A last-lap crash at turn 10 saw Bruce Kitchen go upside-down over the tire wall. Crews got him out and reports are that he is sore but ok.
Monday, September 18, 2006
SHEPHERD TO PILOT NO. 6 SCOTTS MIRACLE-GRO FORD AT LAS VEGAS
Concord, NC (September 18, 2006) - Roush Racing announced today that 20 year-old Canadian Peter Shepherd will drive the No. 6 Scotts Miracle-Gro Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 23.
Shepherd will make his third truck series start of his career and the 2006 season, but his first in the No. 6 Ford. Shepherd was named the driver after teammate David Ragan was entered in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series races at Dover.
"I'm really fortunate to be in the position I'm in with Roush Racing and the opportunities they give me," said Shepherd. "The Scotts crew is right up there in the battle for the Craftsman Truck Series owner's championship, so it's important that we have a good run to help them stay up there in the points battle. Mike Beam and all their guys have done a really good job all year and I hope that I can give them a good finish in Las Vegas."
Shepherd was selected as one of the 25 finalists for Roush Racing's Driver X competition in 2005. Following a stellar performance at Martinsville, Shepherd advanced to the second round of the competition at Darlington, where he continued to impress team owner Jack Roush.
"When I saw Peter's performance at Martinsville, it reminded me so much of a young Mark Martin, someone who has the ability to learn and adapt very quickly," said Roush. "He's the most talented 19-year old I've ever seen."
Shepherd joins Mark Martin, David Ragan and Auggie Vidovich as drivers who have seen time in the No. 6 in 2006. The Scotts team currently sits third in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owner points, 182 out of the lead. Mark Martin is currently tied with Johnny Benson for most series wins in 2006 at four races each.
- From Roush Racing
Shepherd will make his third truck series start of his career and the 2006 season, but his first in the No. 6 Ford. Shepherd was named the driver after teammate David Ragan was entered in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series races at Dover.
"I'm really fortunate to be in the position I'm in with Roush Racing and the opportunities they give me," said Shepherd. "The Scotts crew is right up there in the battle for the Craftsman Truck Series owner's championship, so it's important that we have a good run to help them stay up there in the points battle. Mike Beam and all their guys have done a really good job all year and I hope that I can give them a good finish in Las Vegas."
Shepherd was selected as one of the 25 finalists for Roush Racing's Driver X competition in 2005. Following a stellar performance at Martinsville, Shepherd advanced to the second round of the competition at Darlington, where he continued to impress team owner Jack Roush.
"When I saw Peter's performance at Martinsville, it reminded me so much of a young Mark Martin, someone who has the ability to learn and adapt very quickly," said Roush. "He's the most talented 19-year old I've ever seen."
Shepherd joins Mark Martin, David Ragan and Auggie Vidovich as drivers who have seen time in the No. 6 in 2006. The Scotts team currently sits third in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owner points, 182 out of the lead. Mark Martin is currently tied with Johnny Benson for most series wins in 2006 at four races each.
- From Roush Racing
CASCAR: Mark Dilley / Dodge Kawartha Report
Mark Dilley wins the last-ever CASCAR Super Series race
Victory in Kawartha’s Dodge Charger 250 sweet for several reasons
BARRIE, ON – It would be hard to top the kind of day that Mark Dilley had on Sunday at Kawartha Speedway. The driver of the #9 Dodge / Mobil1 / Exide / Leland / Avenue MotorWorks / CRS / NTN Dodge Charger will go into the history books as the winner of the last-ever CASCAR Super Series race; the ‘Dodge Dealers of Ontario Dodge Charger 250, presented by MOPAR’.
Dilley started third in the race and came out on the winning end of a superb back-and-forth battle with five-time Super Series champ Don Thomson Jr. Dilley bided his time, waiting for an opening as he pressured the leader in the late-going. With 16 laps to go, Thomson slid high and Mark made the most of the opportunity. From there, he survived several late-race restarts en route to the win.
It was Dilley’s first feature win of the season, and it went a long way toward making up for some of the ‘wins that got away’ earlier in the summer.
“We pitted early and found that the right-rear tire was blistering a bit,” said Dilley, soon after completing his celebratory victory ‘donuts’ on the front-straight at Kawartha Speedway. “It was a great call by my crew to bring me in at that point to make the change and fix our loose condition. After that, the car would really ‘come on’ about 15 laps into the runs. To win the last-ever CASCAR Super Series race in an event sponsored by the Dodge Dealers, Dodge and MOPAR is a great honour.”
Down the final stretch of the 2006 season, the Dodge-sponsored Charger driver was the hottest racer on the CASCAR circuit, scoring podium finishes in the final three races, culminating with his win in the Kawartha finale.
Based on the result, the Barrie, ON racer finished the season in fifth-place in the overall points, just one marker behind his Whitlock Motorsports teammate Dave Whitlock.
Adding to the jubilation of winning his sponsors’ race was the fact that Dilley’s checkered flag run secured the CASCAR Manufacturers’ Championship trophy for DaimlerChrysler / Dodge / MOPAR for the second year in a row.
“To contribute to us winning the Manufacturers’ Championship is just huge,” continued Dilley. “I’m glad I could get a win for them. I’m just so grateful to all of our sponsors for their support this season. I’d also like to thank my crew for all their great work. They give it everything they have and put me into a great car for every race and I want them to know that I appreciate their efforts and talents.
I’d also like to recognize Dave Whitlock and Whitlock Motorsports. It’s a pleasure to be part of one of Canada’s top motorsports operations and I’m looking forward to continuing our successful relationship.”
KAWARTHA RACE NOTES: Mark Dilley guided his #9 Dodge-sponsored Charger to victory lane in Sunday’s CASCAR Super Series season finale at Kawartha Speedway. Five-time National champion Don Thomson Jr. came from the back of the field at the start to take second in the closer. Thomson was forced to change engines prior to the green flag, which relegated him to the tail of the pack. DJ Kennington guided his Dodge Charger to the third and final podium position.
There was a changing of the guard on Sunday as third-year CASCAR driver J.R. Fitzpatrick won the Super Series points championship, ending Thomson’s five-year run at the top.
Dodge driver Jason Hathaway closed out his successful rookie campaign with a sixth-place finish to secure the series’ Rookie of the Year Award in style.
Looking ahead to next year, the CASCAR Super Series will be re-branded ‘The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series’. The tour will pick up where CASCAR left off. “I’d like to thank Tony Novotny for bringing the sport to where it is now,” said Dilley. “It took a lot of work and vision and we were proud to play part in getting it to where it is now. We look forward to competing in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in 2007 and beyond.”
UNOFFICIAL POINTS: CASCAR SUPER SERIES (Top 10 // After 11 events, as of September 17, 2006): 1. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (1868 pts.); 2. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (1823); 3. #02 Kerry Micks (1817); 4. #39 Dave Whitlock (1800); 5. #9 Mark Dilley (1799), 6. #22 Scott Steckly (1777); 7. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (1750); 8. #1 Peter Gibbons (1717); 8. #17 DJ Kennington (1717); 10. #19 Brad Graham (1677)
CASCAR CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT: Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the 7th Annual Racing With James Turner Charity Golf Tournament. It takes place the National Pines Golf & Country Club, in Barrie, ON. The tournament benefits Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion Foundation & the Canadian Diabetes Association.
Prepared by Inside Track Communications // For more information about the #9 Dodge team and its sponsors, visit www.whitlockmotorsports.com. For more on CASCAR, including complete race results, reports, point standings, event schedules and upcoming broadcast times for Super Series races on SPORTSNET, see www.cascar.ca
Sunday, September 17, 2006
CASCAR Sportsman Series: Kawartha
McGlynn’s third consecutive CASCAR Sportsman Series victory earns him his first points championship
PETERBOROUGH, ON – Shawn McGlynn continued his late-season domination of the CASCAR Sportsman Series with a victory, on Saturday night, in the 100-lap season finale at Kawartha Speedway. The result thrust the Kitchener, ON racer to the top of the point standings following the fifth and final race on the 2006 schedule.
“We had an awesome season and we couldn’t have hoped for more,” said McGlynn, who won the final three races of the season en route to the title. “We came here two points out of the lead and we knew we had to get the pole, lead the most laps and finish ahead of Dion Verhoeven by one position, so we weren’t holding anything back. We worked hard and came out on top.”
McGlynn’s Ford Taurus started on the pole, but it was 2005 series champion Verhoeven (McRoberts Fuels Pontiac) who jumped to the early lead from his starting position, immediately to McGlynn’s right. Verhoeven, from Kerwood, ON, showed the way for the first 13 laps, but gave way to Steve Munro (Mattel Hot Wheels Chevy) at that point. Munro, who hails from Carp, ON led until lap 34.
McGlynn was aware of the fact that in order to earn the championship, he would have to take the lead prior to lap 50 and lead the rest of the way to the checkered flag (thereby scoring ‘most laps led’ bonus points). And that’s exactly what he did, driving by Munro and into the lead, on lap 35, in what would be the race’s final lead change.
At the checkered flag, McGlynn came home 1.3-seconds ahead of Munro, with Verhoeven close behind. In the final point standings, McGlynn (407 pts.) denied Verhoeven (404) his second-consecutive Sportsman Series title by just three markers.
UNOFFICIAL FINAL POINT STANDINGS (Top 12 after 5 events, as of September 16, 2006): 1. #81 Shawn McGlynn (407 pts.); 2. #77 Dion Verhoeven (404); 3. #00 Steve Munro (382); 4. #32 Mike Alguire (370); 5. #11 Cole Weber (358); 6. #95 Ron Lethbridge (354); 7. #82 Dave Connelly (340); 8. #48 Doug Cathcart (333); 9. #67 Scott Mitchell (327); 9. #36 Alan Lebert (327); 11. #66 Josh Wood (273); 12. #20 Dave Didero (268)
CASCAR SPORTSMAN SERIES
RESULTS: Kawartha 100
Kawartha Speedway // Race #5 // September 16, 2006 // Peterborough, ON // 100 Laps
FIN. ST. # DRIVER (HOMETOWN) SPONSOR / MAKE LAPS
1 1 81 Shawn McGlynn (Kitchener, ON) McGlynn Motorsports Ford Taurus 100
2 3 00 Steve Munro (Carp, ON) Mattel Hot Wheels Chevrolet Monte Carlo 100
3 2 77 Dion Verhoeven (Kerwood, ON) McRoberts Fuels Pontiac Grand Prix 100
4 5 32 Mike Alguire (London, ON) A-DOR Construction Pontiac Grand Prix 100
5 6 11 Cole Weber (New Hamburg, ON) Haffner Motors / Harman Dodge Charger 100
6 9 45 Bob Merrifield (Belle River, ON) Re/Max Preferred Realty Dodge Charger 100
7 7 95 Ron Lethbridge (Barrie, ON) Cash Advance / The Fuel Genie Dodge Charger 100
8 4 09 Kent Nuhn (Williamsford, ON) Nuhn’s Auto Parts Chevrolet Monte Carlo 100
9 8 82 Dave Connelly (Arnprior, ON) Maple Leaf Top Dogs / Maytag Dodge Charger 99
10 11 66 Josh Wood (London, ON) Pontiac Grand Prix 98
11 13 20 Dave Didero (Ancaster, ON) Mid-America Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 98
12 12 48 Doug Cathcart (Richmond, ON) Cathcart Mechanical Performance Pontiac Grand Prix 98
13 15 36 Alan Lebert (Stony Point, ON) Al's Yardworks Pontiac Grand Prix 95
14 14 50 Tom Bell (Mississauga, ON) ATTO Pontiac Grand Prix 91
15 10 39 Kevin D’Amore (LaSalle, ON) Integration Action for Inclusion Dodge Charger 61
16 16 67 Scott Mitchell (St. Catharines, ON) Martindale Dental Chevrolet Monte Carlo 6
R after the hometown denotes Rookie contender.
TIME OF RACE: 36 minutes and 14 seconds // MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.304 seconds // CAUTIONS: 2 for a total of 12 Laps // LAP LEADERS: #77 Dion Verhoeven (1-13); #00 Steve Munro (14-34); #81 Shawn McGlynn (35-100) // POLE AWARD: #81 Shawn McGlynn (18.472 seconds) // FASTEST LAP OF THE RACE: #81 Shawn McGlynn (18.556 seconds / 72.753 mph)
Contact CASCAR’s Toronto Office at (416) 531-4714 or visit www.cascar.ca
Prepared by Inside Track Communications.
CASCAR: Kawartha results
Dilley and Fitzpatrick are the big winners in the Dodge Charger 250 CASCAR Super Series finale at Kawartha Speedway
PETERBOROUGH, ON – The 2006 CASCAR Super Series season came to a close on Sunday afternoon at Kawartha Speedway. Dodge-sponsored Charger driver Mark Dilley won the ‘Dodge Dealers of Ontario Dodge Charger 250 presented by MOPAR’ at the 3/8-mile, Peterborough-area stock car oval. It was the first feature win of the season for the Barrie, ON resident, making him the ninth different winner in 11 races.
“Everything hit on eight cylinders today,” said Dilley, after the race. “We pitted early and found that the right-rear tire was blistering a bit. It was a great call by my crew to bring me in at that point to make the change and fix our loose condition. After that, the car would really ‘come on’ about 15 laps into the runs. It’s a great honour to win for Dodge today in this great race.”
Sharing the spotlight with Dilley was 18-year-old J.R. Fitzpatrick, who earned his first CASCAR Super Series points championship by completing the 11-event series 45 points ahead of Don Thomson Jr.; his Fitzpatrick Motorsports teammate. Thomson (Home Hardware Chevy) won five consecutive CASCAR National championships between 2001 and 2005.
“The goal today was to win the title, and stay out of trouble,” said the young champion. “We’re going to take this, enjoy it, and start thinking about winning another one. At the start of the season, I set a goal for a top-five points finish. We exceeded everything we wanted to achieve, by far.”
Fitzpatrick, driver of the Milwaukee Tools Chevy, avoided trouble for most of the 250-lap race but was involved in a mild scrape in the late-going, triggered by two other drivers. The Ayr, ON youngster soldiered home for a ninth-place result, which was more than sufficient to secure the prestigious points championship.
Finishing second to Dilley in Sunday’s Dodge Charger 250 was Don Thomson Jr., who overcame a blown motor during qualifying which relegated him to the tail-end of the 25-car field for the start of the feature race. The Hamilton, ON resident earned the ‘Fast Eddie Hard Charger’ award by advancing 23 positions.
Castrol Dodge Charger driver DJ Kennington claimed the final podium spot at Kawartha. The St. Thomas, ON racer started on the pole and led the first 100 laps, but used up his tires after pitting early, and could do little to challenge Dilley and Thomson at the end. Fourth-place went to Scott Steckly (ERB Dodge), ahead of Kawartha track promoter Derek Lynch (Canadian Shield Dodge).
Jason Hathaway (Snap On Dodge) wrapped up his inaugural Super Series season with a sixth-place showing. The Appin, ON racer earned the Rookie of the Year Award driving for the #3 Ed Hakonson Racing (EHR) team. Things came together for Hathaway late in the season with several strong runs. His final three races produced three top-six finishes, en route to 11th overall in the Super Series points. Dilley’s victory in the Dodge Charger 250 secured a second-consecutive CASCAR Manufacturers’ Trophy for DaimlerChrysler / Dodge / MOPAR.
UNOFFICIAL POINTS: CASCAR SUPER SERIES (Top 15 // After 12 events, as of September 17, 2006): 1. #84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (1868 pts.); 2. #4 Don Thomson Jr. (1823); 3. #02 Kerry Micks (1817); 4. #39 Dave Whitlock (1800); 5. #9 Mark Dilley (1799), 6. #22 Scott Steckly (1777); 7. #60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (1750); 8. #1 Peter Gibbons (1717); 8. #17 DJ Kennington (1717); 10. #19 Brad Graham (1677); 11. #3 Jason Hathaway ® (1647); 12. #10 Doug Brown (1646); 13. #25 Jim Lapcevich (1638); 14. #11 Ron Van Es (1362); 15. #Jeff Lapcevich (1351)
CASCAR ON TV: For information regarding initial airings and replays of Super Series races, please check your local listings or visit http://www.cascar.ca/schedule/tv_schedule.html.
CASCAR Super Series
RESULTS: Dodge Charger 250 presented by MOPAR
Round #11 // September 17, 2006 // Kawartha Speedway
Peterborough, Ontario // 3/8-mile banked oval
FIN. ST. # DRIVER (HOMETOWN) SPONSOR(S) / MAKE LAPS
1 3 9 Mark Dilley (Barrie, ON) Dodge / Mobil 1 / Exide / Leland / Avenue M.W. / CRS Dodge Charger 250
2 7 4 Don Thomson Jr. (Hamilton, ON) Home Hardware Chevrolet Monte Carlo 250
3 1 17 DJ Kennington (St. Thomas, ON) Castrol Dodge Charger 250
4 4 22 Scott Steckly (Milverton, ON) ERB / AW Millwrights Dodge Charger 250
5 9 77 Derek Lynch (Warkworth, ON) Canadian Shield / JJ Stewart Motors Dodge Charger 250
6 13 3 Jason Hathaway (Appin, ON) ® Snap-On Tools / Arctic Cat / Super 8 Dodge Charger 250
7 6 39 Dave Whitlock (Wyoming, ON) NTN Bower / Griddly Headz / NMT Dodge Charger 250
8 5 1 Peter Gibbons (Stouffville, ON) Canadian Tire / Monroe Brakes Chevrolet Monte Carlo 250
9 2 84 J.R. Fitzpatrick (Ayr, ON) Milwaukee Tools Chevrolet Monte Carlo 250
10 11 02 Kerry Micks (Mt. Albert, ON) Cdn. Detailing Services Ford Taurus 250
11 17 23 Jeff Lapcevich (Caistor Centre, ON) CARHARTT / Tim Hortons / EMCEA Transport Chevrolet Monte Carlo 249
12 25 88 Dave Jacombs (Mt. Hope, ON) Lou's BBQ / CPS Flooring Ford Taurus 248
13 16 50 Joey McColm (Ajax, ON) ® ATTO Dodge Charger 248
14 21 71 Bryan Cathcart (Peterborough, ON) Mid-America Motorsports Chevrolet Monte Carlo 246
15 10 19 Brad Graham (Glencoe, ON) Challenger Motor Freight / Logel’s Dodge Charger 245
16 15 11 Ron Van Es (Smithville, ON) Star Van Systems Chevrolet Monte Carlo 244
17 23 18 Chad McGlynn (Kitchener, ON) McGlynn Motorsports Ford Taurus 241
18 22 09 Kent Nuhn (Williamsford, ON) ® Nuhn Motorsports Pontiac Grand Prix 239
19 20 93 Joe Goncalves (Concord, ON) Bolt-On Performance / Pro-Spray Chevrolet Monte Carlo 227
20 18 43 Bob Merrifield (Belle River, ON) Re/Max Preferred Team Dodge Charger 222
21 19 86 Kenny Forth (Lynden, ON) Midnight Sun / Parkinson Tours / Halltech Ford Taurus 215
22 12 10 Doug Brown (Brantford, ON) NAPA / AUTOPRO Chevrolet Monte Carlo 165
23 14 25 Jim Lapcevich (Hamilton, ON) EMCEA Transport / Tim Hortons Chevrolet Monte Carlo 114
24 8 60 Ron Beauchamp Jr. (Windsor, ON) MOPAR / Mobil1 / Exide / Chrysler Jeep Dodge Svc. Dodge Charger 73
25 24 36 Al Lebert (Stoney Point, ON) Al’s Yardworks Garden Centre Pontiac Grand Prix 35
POLESITTER: #17 DJ Kennington (18.084 seconds) // TIME OF RACE: 1 hour, 47 minutes and 11 seconds // AVERAGE SPEED: 52.479 mph // MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.256 seconds // CAUTIONS: 7 for a total of 41 // LAP LEADERS: #17 DJ Kennington (1-100), #23 Jeff Lapcevich (101-104), #02 Kerry Micks (105-122), #9 Mark Dilley (123-128), #02 Micks (129-160), #9 Dilley (161), #02 Micks (162), #9 163-196), #4 Don Thomson Jr. (197-230), #9 Dilley (231-232), #4 Thomson (233), #9 Dilley (234-250) // GOODYEAR BELTS & HOSES FASTEST LAP: #4 Don Thomson Jr. (18.445 seconds) // FAST EDDIE HARD CHARGER: #4 Don Thomson Jr. (Advanced 23 positions) ** Thomson Qualified 7th, but blew his motor after recording his qualifying lap. The hange of motor in the #4 meant that he had to go to the back of the field (25th) for the start of the race.
Prepared by Inside Track Communications
TARGA Newfoundland 2006 Comes to a Close with Swain and Bell Clinching a Podium Finish
The last day of the TARGA Newfoundland 2006 Road Rally Race was definitely the most challenging one of the event. The 10 competitive stages scheduled for the day included both tight in town sections separated by long fast runs, and Team TARGA Corvette was in its element.
The day began with Mark Swain (driver) and Mike Bell (navigator) leading the pack with a narrow 2-second lead over the Subaru WRX. Swain and Bell in the yellow Corvette were gaining momentum on their competitors throughout the morning. The car was working perfectly as the team extended their lead by another 10 seconds in the morning.
Just before lunch in Upper Island Cove (home of Craig Sharp from Canadian Idol), the team approached a slow junction in the road where the course marking tape was torn down and blowing across the proper course. Turning around and getting back on track cost Team TARGA Corvette their lead. After a quick mechanical check at the lunch stop the boys were able to refocus and ran the remainder of the event without any further incident. The day ended as the car was brought to the waterfront in St. John’s Newfoundland for a ceremonial finish. After a relatively hard week on the road the Corvette is no worse for wear.
Mark Swain and Mike Bell finished 2nd in their class in the TARGA Newfoundland 2006 road rally race. Congratulations to Keith Townsend and Jen Horsey on their 1st place finish, they were great competitors throughout the week, and we look forward to challenging them again.
Team TARGA Corvette would like to thank all of the volunteers, organizers, marshals, and spectators for their support throughout the week. We would also like to thank the members of Team TARGA Corvette: Michele Bell, Lindsay Gurr, Stephen and Melissa Johnson, David and Margaret Swain and Paul Swain. Without your help this event would not have been possible.
Team TARGA Corvette appreciates the support of:
Mobil 1
Cole Engineering
Wilson Niblett Chevrolet
Hickman Motors
Inside Track Motorsport news.
Carbotech Brakes
Be sure to check http://www.targanewfoundland.com/ for more information on this exciting event.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Bourque: Update from Loudon, NH
Canadian Pierre Bourque is in Loudon, NH for this weekend's NASCAR Busch East Series race at New Hampshire Int'l Speedway. The event is part of a busy weekend at NHIS, featuring the first race of the Chase for the Nextel Cup, as well as the Modified Tour.
Here is an update from Pierre at the track....
"We had a wet Thursday down here. We managed a dozen laps or so in a rain-shortened practice session yesterday around noon.
"I was 22nd quickest out of 46 cars entered before the skies opened up and the rains fell for the balance of the day. So our late-afternoon qualifying session was cancelled and NASCAR reverted to the rule book to line up the cars in the order of points in the championship.
"So I will start 17th tomorrow. The race is noon. 125 laps. I am totally pumped because it is the first time all season long that I am actually back at a NASCAR track that I've raced on before. It felt really good out there yesterday, I was barely warming up when I had to come in, so I feel we are well placed for the race."
- Pierre
OSCAAR: Biederman Memorial at Peterborough
Peterborough Speedway will play host to OSCAAR’s most prestigious race of the 2006 season on Saturday September 16th.
The high banks of Peterborough Speedway always provides some of the best Outlaw racing throughout the OSCAAR season, and the Don Biederman Memorial 75 lap feature event is guaranteed to provide fast and furious wheel to wheel action that will keep fans on the edge of their seat.
The Don Biederman Memorial pays tribute to the life and legacy of one of Canada’s finest Super Late Model drivers of all time. The familiar 43 was notorious for his winning ways, aggressive style, and his outspoken and cantankerous character. If Don wasn’t thrilling the fans in the stands with his on-track performance, then his off-track antics kept things most exciting. Admired for his passion and dedication to short track racing, Biederman possessed the fire and desire to win every time behind the wheel.
There is no doubt that as a Canadian, Biederman achieved great success in racing the short tracks of Canada, and across the border. During his career he won countless prestigious events and championships. Perhaps his greatest achievement was winning the 1977 Oxford 250 in Oxford, Me., where he beat many of the established NASCAR stars of the day. In 2001, Don Biederman earned one of Canada’s highest honours in racing, as he was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Since the inception of this annual event there have been four different winners of the Don Biederman Memorial. Leading the charge will be three time winner John Fletcher in his JNE Consulting #61. This team is also the current OSCAAR point leader and has a series high of six feature wins in 2006. Second place point man Rob Clarke comes into the 2006 version of the Don Biederman Memorial as a two-time and defending Champion of this event. The #49 Outlaw of Clarke always runs very competitive at Peterborough, as this team picked up the feature win earlier in 2006. Stu Robinson Jr will be returning to Outlaw competition at Peterborough Speedway for the first time in a couple of years. The 2001 winner of the Don Biederman Memorial has teamed up with the #11 Robbins Motorsport team for the remainder of the 2006 season. The only other previous winner of this prestigious event is Dave Taylor who took the win 2000. Dave does not currently pilot a super late model, but can be seen in the pits each and every week.
The 8th Annual Don Biederman Memorial event should prove to be one of the most competitive in recent years. 2006 may be the year that a new name is added to the winners trophy. Leading the charge has to be the #67 of Phil Bullen who is having a break out season in 2006. Drew Spicer has been knocking on the door all year looking for their second OSCAAR feature win. 2006 Rookie of The Year candidate Glenn Watson might surprise everyone and become the first rookie to win this prestigious event. Two previous rookies of the OSCAAR series, Ed Bowlby and TJ Woosley could also play the spoiler role this weekend and pick up their first ever feature win in OSCAAR. Steve Lyons turned a lot of heads in his first ever OSCAAR event leading a large portion of a feature event at Kawartha Speedway a few weeks back, as he could prove to be the Cinderella story of 2006 by taking the win this weekend.
No matter who you cheer for each week, you can be assured that each and every OSCAAR Outlaw driver will be doing their best to honour the memory of the familiar #43 of Don Biederman.
In addition, to 75 laps of awesome Outlaw Super Late Model racing action, the season high purse will also include the Abrams Towing Pole Award, Bryan Cathcart Trucking 1/2 way Leader and Most Laps Lead Award, Peterborough Speedway and OSCAAR have many added attractions this Saturday September 16th. The Don Biederman Hall of Fame car will be on display throughout the evening. The OSCAAR Outlaws will be joined by the Hurricane Midgets, Mini-Stocks, Four Funs and a Donut Race. What is a Donut Race you ask?!? Be sure to attend to find out. Bike Races will be held at intermission for the kids. Prior to the feature, OSCAAR will host an autograph session so that you can meet and greet your favourite drivers.
For custom car enthusiasts, Ruckiss Rydez will be presenting the 1st Annual Show N’ Shine, a custom car show specializing in hot rods, imports, trucks and outlaws. Fans will be able to “cruise” the custom car area, and vote for their favourite hot rod.
Be sure to arrive early, as the Outlaws and Peterborough Speedway will be hosting a Pre-Race Corn Roast in honour of all our supporting fans!
All of this exciting entertainment wrapped in one single event – The 8th Annual Don Biederman Memorial! Spectator gates will open at 4:00, with racing action getting underway at 6:00! Admission at the spectator gate as follows: Adults - $18.00, Youth/Seniors - $16.00, Kids 6-11 - $2.00 and Kids Under 6 are Free.
By Kim Mahony / OSCAAR
The high banks of Peterborough Speedway always provides some of the best Outlaw racing throughout the OSCAAR season, and the Don Biederman Memorial 75 lap feature event is guaranteed to provide fast and furious wheel to wheel action that will keep fans on the edge of their seat.
The Don Biederman Memorial pays tribute to the life and legacy of one of Canada’s finest Super Late Model drivers of all time. The familiar 43 was notorious for his winning ways, aggressive style, and his outspoken and cantankerous character. If Don wasn’t thrilling the fans in the stands with his on-track performance, then his off-track antics kept things most exciting. Admired for his passion and dedication to short track racing, Biederman possessed the fire and desire to win every time behind the wheel.
There is no doubt that as a Canadian, Biederman achieved great success in racing the short tracks of Canada, and across the border. During his career he won countless prestigious events and championships. Perhaps his greatest achievement was winning the 1977 Oxford 250 in Oxford, Me., where he beat many of the established NASCAR stars of the day. In 2001, Don Biederman earned one of Canada’s highest honours in racing, as he was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Since the inception of this annual event there have been four different winners of the Don Biederman Memorial. Leading the charge will be three time winner John Fletcher in his JNE Consulting #61. This team is also the current OSCAAR point leader and has a series high of six feature wins in 2006. Second place point man Rob Clarke comes into the 2006 version of the Don Biederman Memorial as a two-time and defending Champion of this event. The #49 Outlaw of Clarke always runs very competitive at Peterborough, as this team picked up the feature win earlier in 2006. Stu Robinson Jr will be returning to Outlaw competition at Peterborough Speedway for the first time in a couple of years. The 2001 winner of the Don Biederman Memorial has teamed up with the #11 Robbins Motorsport team for the remainder of the 2006 season. The only other previous winner of this prestigious event is Dave Taylor who took the win 2000. Dave does not currently pilot a super late model, but can be seen in the pits each and every week.
The 8th Annual Don Biederman Memorial event should prove to be one of the most competitive in recent years. 2006 may be the year that a new name is added to the winners trophy. Leading the charge has to be the #67 of Phil Bullen who is having a break out season in 2006. Drew Spicer has been knocking on the door all year looking for their second OSCAAR feature win. 2006 Rookie of The Year candidate Glenn Watson might surprise everyone and become the first rookie to win this prestigious event. Two previous rookies of the OSCAAR series, Ed Bowlby and TJ Woosley could also play the spoiler role this weekend and pick up their first ever feature win in OSCAAR. Steve Lyons turned a lot of heads in his first ever OSCAAR event leading a large portion of a feature event at Kawartha Speedway a few weeks back, as he could prove to be the Cinderella story of 2006 by taking the win this weekend.
No matter who you cheer for each week, you can be assured that each and every OSCAAR Outlaw driver will be doing their best to honour the memory of the familiar #43 of Don Biederman.
In addition, to 75 laps of awesome Outlaw Super Late Model racing action, the season high purse will also include the Abrams Towing Pole Award, Bryan Cathcart Trucking 1/2 way Leader and Most Laps Lead Award, Peterborough Speedway and OSCAAR have many added attractions this Saturday September 16th. The Don Biederman Hall of Fame car will be on display throughout the evening. The OSCAAR Outlaws will be joined by the Hurricane Midgets, Mini-Stocks, Four Funs and a Donut Race. What is a Donut Race you ask?!? Be sure to attend to find out. Bike Races will be held at intermission for the kids. Prior to the feature, OSCAAR will host an autograph session so that you can meet and greet your favourite drivers.
For custom car enthusiasts, Ruckiss Rydez will be presenting the 1st Annual Show N’ Shine, a custom car show specializing in hot rods, imports, trucks and outlaws. Fans will be able to “cruise” the custom car area, and vote for their favourite hot rod.
Be sure to arrive early, as the Outlaws and Peterborough Speedway will be hosting a Pre-Race Corn Roast in honour of all our supporting fans!
All of this exciting entertainment wrapped in one single event – The 8th Annual Don Biederman Memorial! Spectator gates will open at 4:00, with racing action getting underway at 6:00! Admission at the spectator gate as follows: Adults - $18.00, Youth/Seniors - $16.00, Kids 6-11 - $2.00 and Kids Under 6 are Free.
By Kim Mahony / OSCAAR
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