Two items of interest today for racing fans to chew on:
1. Remember last Friday, when I wrote that you shouldn’t waste any time making hotel reservations in Montreal for next June’s returning Grand Prix of Canada because rooms would be snapped up quickly?
Well, forget the rooms. (I don’t mean you should forget them, it’s just that there are bigger fish to fry – such as tickets to the race.)
That’s correct. If you want a seat when you attend the Grand Prix next June, you’d better get your name in fast because although tickets aren’t exactly on sale as yet, organizers want people to express their interest as quickly as possible.
This is a paragraph included in an email I received from organizers Monday:
"Details regarding ticket sales for the 2010 Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada to be held on June 11-13 will be released soon. However, as of today, all the Formula 1 fans intending to purchase tickets for this event should register on-line click here for the link or send a telefax to 514-350-0007. The ticket office attendants will contact them at a later date."
So don’t delay!
2. Roger Slack is back in the auto racing biz.
Roger Who?
The grandson of legendary southern Ontario Cayuga Speedway owner and promoter Bob Slack, that’s who.
Roger was Humpy Wheeler’s right-hand man at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte for many years. His duties included promoting modified, late model and sprint car shows at the Dirt Track @ Lowe’s plus just about everything else you could think of so far as the running of the big speedway was concerned. When Wheeler left following the 2008 Coca-Cola 600, Slack wasn’t far behind.
The World Racing Group, which includes the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and the Super DIRTcar Series, announced Monday that Slack, 35, will be the organization’s new Executive Vice-President of Events.
Slack, son of one of Ontario’s most famous late-model drivers, Randy Slack, has been involved in racing for most of his life. He cleaned toilets at Cayuga Speedway when he was a kid and his grandpa owned the place. His first promotion was a bicycle race when he was in elementary school.
He told me once – and I wrote it up in one of my columns – that DIRT Motorsports promoter Glenn Donnelly once saw him on top of his father’s hauler at Rolling Wheels Raceway in New York, pretending to be flagging the races. Donnelly decided to give the-then-14-year-old a shot at the real deal.
"Not long after, I flagged my first race at Rolling Wheels. Two years later, when I got my driver’s licence, I started to travel all over and I flagged all over. I flagged with the ASA (stock car series) and I flagged at kart races. I flagged big rigs and late models. I flag at the Chili Bowl midget races (indoors every January in Tulsa, Okla.) and I flag some World of Outlaws races."
A graduate of Hamilton’s McMaster University, Slack went south about 15 years ago to learn from the master, Wheeler. The training seems to have paid off.
Just one thing: will Slack the executive climb up on the flagstand now and again to flag the odd Outlaws race? Don't bet against it.
Friday, November 27th 2009,Montreal race's return was confirmed at a press conference in the Canadian city on Friday afternoon.
The deal to secure the race's place on the calendar has been helped by the governments of Canada and Quebec, Montreal and Tourisme Montreal - who together have helped put together an £8.5 million annual investment plan for the next five years.Quebec minister of finance and minister responsible for the Montreal region, Raymond Bachand said: "For Quebec, this event by itself results in annual tax revenues of more than $10 million (£5.5 million), for a $4 million (£2.2 million) investment, minus revenues from ticket sales....the same math that Gov. love to use....spend $17 million to get maybe get $10 million!!! This means everyone at the race must spend over $2000.(per person) over there normal weekend spending.
Posted by: dj | 12/01/2009 at 12:27 PM