Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

NASCAR Canada to race in Quebec without JV

The last time the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series raced at Autodrome St. Eustache, Que., the star attraction was 1997 Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. The place was packed (as you can imagine) and JV was literally mobbed during a pre-race autograph session.

Unfortunately, when they dropped the green flag, Jacques’ race lasted about 50 feet. He hit the spinning Don Thomson Jr. and his Dave Jacombs-prepared car was too heavily damaged to continue. Poor Jacques was trapped in the infield for the duration of the race. There’s no tunnel or bridge at St. Eustache and he had to stay there until the race ended.

In any event, JV is not entered at St. Eustache this weekend but the rest of the stars of the NASCAR Canada series are and the race in Quebec Saturday night should be spectacular because it will probably feature a rematch of the rivalry between J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge and Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond, Que.

Ranger, the defending national champion, is racing primarily in the U.S. this season (where he’s doing very well). Fitzpatrick, although competing full time in the Canadian Tire Series, is also driving on occasion in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and leaving his mark there. So a head-to-head meeting between these two on a quarter-mile track should be a promoter’s dream.

However, note the use of the word “probably,” because Ranger will be racing at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., in the afternoon. He’ll then try to make his way to St.  Eustache in time for the National 250.

“If it all goes well, it will work,” he said, “but it’s going to be tight.”

This event is the third of 13 races on the NASCAR Canadian Tire schedule and the second of eight oval-track events. It’s the fourth visit to the track for the series.

The Canadian Tire Series was at St. Eustache twice last year.  In the season-opener, Dave Whitlock, just days after announcing he would retire at the close of the season, earned his first career series victory by edging Kerry Micks and Ron Beauchamp Jr.

The second visit in July was pushed back a day due to rain, but the highlight of the event Villeneuve’s series debut. It was 2008 champion Scott Steckly, however, who took the checkered flag, holding off D.J. Kennington and John Gaunt.

The Canadian Tire Series then heads to the Streets of Toronto for the Jumpstart 100 on Sat., July 17. It will be the second of five road-course events on the 2010 schedule.

This will be the first time that the NASCAR series has participated in the Honda Indy Toronto, although the former CASCAR Super Series raced at what was the Molson Indy years ago.  Expected entries for the race include Ranger, Fitzpatrick, Micks and Jason Bowles — all accomplished road racers and winners of NASCAR road-course events.

The Canadian Tire Series will also be on the Honda Indy Edmonton program the week after Toronto.

Racing roundup: F1 finds another way to screw up

Headlines:

1. Why can’t Formula One get its act together?

2. Payback wins for Jimmie Johnson in NASCAR

3. Why they love Danica and IndyCar in New England

FORMULA ONE: I still don’t understand what went on in the Grand Prix of Europe at Valencia, Spain, on Sunday but I don’t feel badly because I don’t think anybody in Formula One understands, either.

I’m not talking about the results – Sebastien Vettel won for Red Bull-Renault, followed by the McLaren-Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button – or the huge crash involving Mark Webber and Heiki Kovalainen (talk about a miracle . . . you can watch it here).

I am talking, however, about the pace car muckup that followed the big crash.

After Webber almost went into orbit, and then climbed out of his wrecked Red Bull without suffering much more than a headache (is this the second or third time, he's gone for a mid-race flight?), they sent out the safety car.

As soon as this happened, all the drivers near the pits ducked in to make their mandatory pit stop. The four leaders, however (Vettel, Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa), had gone past the pit entrance so had to do another lap.

The safety car pulled onto the track to collect  those four but entered the track after Vettel had gone past.

(Shades of the Canadian Grand Prix of 1974 when a safety car was used for the first time in the history of F1 and pulled out in front of the wrong car).

The safety car pulled up beside Hamilton who said (I’m making this up), "I’m not letting some stupid safety car keep me from chasing after Vettel," so he passed the pace car. (Scott Goodyear of Toronto lost the 1995 Indianapolis 500 for passing the pace car; that is how serious passing the pace car can be.)

The safety car then pulled in front of Alonso, who was running third at the time, and Massa, who was fourth. Those two then had to follow the safety car around to the pits, where they made their stops.

Then it got really confusing (as if the above wasn’t confusing enough already).

Race control determined that it would wave around some of the tail-end cars that had exited the pits and were directly behind the safety car. This was done so the safety car could pick up Vettel, the race leader. When that happened, the guy who fell in directly behind Vettel – who was there because he broke the rules and passed the safety car – was Lewis Hamilton.

The drivers who had been running third and fourth until this screwup happened, Alonso and Massa, were now back in ninth and tenth.

And Michael Schumacher lost any number of positions when he had to stop at the end of pit road because somebody turned the light from green to red.

(How F1 avoids post-race violence in these situations, I’ll never know.)

It was an unholy mess.

The stewards (under the direction this time of retired driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen) decided a drive-through penalty was sufficient punishment for Hamilton, who went into the pits in second place and left in second place.

Some punishment.

Oh, and then it was determined that most of the drivers following along behind the safety car had been exceeding the speed limit and so the stewards punished nine of them by handing out five-second penalties, which were about as effective as Hamilton’s drive-through (although Alonso went from ninth to eighth in the final standings and Nico Rosberg moved from 11^th to tenth).

Formula One has had trouble with the safety car in two Grands Prix this season – Monaco and this one. It’s time they got their act together – and I have two suggestions:

They can either scrap the safety car (unless the circumstances are extremely dire) and go back to local yellows or else dispatch the safety car and then line up the cars behind it in the order they were running at the time of dispatch.

Otherwise, there will be no end to these controversies.

And the penalty for passing the safety car? The offending driver must restart at the back of the field. Anything less and school's out.

Notebook jottings:

– Hamilton has gotten himself into trouble at least twice in recent years for lying. Why is it that he has such a hard time telling the truth? He was asked in the post-race interview to talk about the safety car incident and this was his reply: "I really don’t remember much about it."

Sure, Lewis. Sure.

Oh, and didn't you like that "Vettel ran into me" radio transmission from Hamilton?

It was the other way around, Lewis.

– The driver of the race was BMW-Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi, who stayed out during the yellow for Webber’s crash and restarted in third place. He held the spot until late in the race when he had to make his mandatory pit stop. But upon rejoining, he outfoxed Alonso to take eighth place away from him and managed to pass Sebastien Buemi on the last corner of the last lap to finish a solid seventh.

– Alonso was beside himself with the turn of events. He played by the rules and got screwed; then he was flat-out outraced by a rookie. His neck was the colour of his Ferrari afterward when he accused race officials of "manipulating" the results.

That is the pot calling the kettle black. Mr. Alonso won a certain race in Singapore several years ago because Renault team principal Flavio Briatore and driver Nelson Piquet Jr. conspired to manipulate the results.

– Although the Kovalainen-Webber crash was just one of them racin’ deals, it’s F1's tolerance of blocking – oops, defending one’s position – that’s really at fault. Even though Webber was travelling much, much faster than Kovalainen, Heiki automatically put the block on him and Webber’s moon shot was the result.

– Michael Schumacher turned several fastest laps during the race. Don’t count him down and out – yet.

– Nico Hulkenberg pulled his Williams-Cosworth off the circuit because of a tire issue, calmly exited the car, carefully re-attached his steering wheel and then casually walked over to the tire wall where he just lost it.

He kicked and kicked at those tires three or four times before walking off. He was furious.

Now, will that turn up on You Tube? Will commentators be giggling about that? I don’t think so, and yet when Danica Patrick got out of her car several years ago and stamped her foot in anger and frustration, it was all of the above.

– Jenson Button said after the race that "you can’t pass around here."

Oh?

Tell that to Kamui Kobayashi.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP: Jimmie Johnson didn’t wait very long to deliver a little payback to Kurt Busch in Sunday’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Three laps, to be exact.

When the dust settled, he’d won his second consecutive Sprint Cup race and fifth of the season and appears well on his way to his fifth straight Sprint Cup title.

Oh, I know: he’s only second in the standings behind Kevin Harvick. But after a slow start (for him), Johnson’s got the bit in his teeth now and should continue being his usual winning self from now until the end of the season.

Tony Stewart finished second and Kurt B. was third, with Jeff Gordon fourth and Harvick fifth.

On Lap 195, Busch edged up on Johnson and tapped the left-rear of his car just hard enough to force Johnson up the track while he fought to control his car. This opened a lane down low for Busch, who scooted into the lead.

It was a classic bump-and-run short-track move and Busch executed it perfectly.

But he couldn’t pull away from the perennial champion, who caught Busch with two laps to go. Johnson tried the bump-and-run himself and it didn’t work. He tried it again a lap later – just before the white flag lap – and it worked this time. He got Busch so out of shape that not only did he slide by but Stewart moved past Busch from third place to second, which is the way the race ended.

Busch didn’t see any problem with any of the tradin’ paint goin’ on out there. Johnson, however, was far from pleased with having to race that way.

"When that happened (when Busch tapped him out of the way), I thought, ‘I don’t care if I win this race or not, I am running into him and getting back past him one way or another,’ " Johnson said in Victory Lane.

"But I’m not very good at that stuff – usually I crash myself. So I settled down and did my job and I won."

There was lots of bumpin’ and bangin’ during that race. Juan Pablo Montoya wound up in the wall after feuding with Jeff Gordon and Reed Sorenson, and Denny Hamlin and David Reutimann argued, as did Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch.

Notebook jottings:

– Kyle Busch’s anger-management classes must be having an effect. Knocked out of a top five finish by Burton, Busch actually talked to the media and didn’t threaten anybody.

– They had one stretch of more than 200 laps of green-flag racing. What is NASCAR coming to?

– NASCAR takes way too long to get races restarted after a routine caution. They threw the yellow when Kyle Busch spun after coming together with Burton and then took five laps to get going again, even though there was nothing on the track.

– All the drivers were sucking on bottles of Coke when the TV cameras showed up. Their dentists must love seeing that.

NATIONWIDE: According to Jerry Gappins, the vice-president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Danica Patrick was responsible for a 30 per cent increase in ticket sales for the Nationwide race Saturday, which was won by Kyle Busch.

She’s money in the bank, which is why NASCAR is courting her so strongly.

You listen to the NASCAR announcers, and she can do no wrong. The drivers fall all over themselves to make her feel welcome (and to stay on NASCAR’s good side). Said Jeff Burton on the weekend:

"It takes a lot of guts to expose yourself in front of millions of people, in front of all the media, in front of all your peers," he told Steve Ballard of the Indianapolis Star.

"If somebody came up to me and said, ‘Hey, you want to run Texas in an IRL car?’ I’d say, ‘Hell, no. I don’t want to get embarrassed.’ She’s doing that. I have a lot of respect for that."

They wouldn’t be saying that about some guy . . . 

In any event, Danica is no different – as a friend of mine said – than Juan Montoya, Sam Hornish, A.J. Allmendinger, Max Papis. Scott Speed or Marcos Ambrose when they started their NASCAR careers.

No better, no worse.

INDYCAR: No race this weekend – the IZOD IndyCar Series will be in action next weekend at Watkins Glen and then will be here in three weeks for the Honda Indy Toronto – but the Indy cars still made news at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend.

Right smack-dab in the middle of the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series weekend, Dario Franchitti drove a few laps in his Target Chip Ganassi car and track owner Bruton Smith himself made the announcement that the IndyCar series will return to the New England speedway for a race in 2011.

I just don’t get why NASCAR is being so kissy-kissy with the Indy car series. Up until two years ago, or so, the big stock car organization was intent on burying the open-wheel series. Since then, there has been a big thaw and wheelers and dealers in both camps have been frequenting the other’s races and events.

In May, it was Smith who broached the idea of awarding a $20 million bonus prize to any driver who could win both the Indianapolis 500 and the World 600 on the same day. Some in the media immediately pooh-poohed the idea but, surprisingly, NASCAR appeared to welcome it.

Could all of those empty seats at New Hampshire yesterday have anything to do with it?

Could Sprint Cup-IndyCar double-headers be out there on the horizon?

AND FINALLY: Mikhail Goikhberg of Toronto finished third in Saturday’s USF2000 race in New Jersey and followed that with a second on Sunday. Quipped the Russian-Canadian: "I was third yesterday and second today. I wish this was a triple-header!" . . . . Robert Wickens of Toronto and Guelph had an up-and-down weekend while running in the GP3 Series at the European Grand Prix. On Saturday, he was second. Sunday, he was 16^th but was penalized 10 grid positions at the next race (Silverstone for the British Grand Prix in two weeks) for rough racing. Markham’s Daniel Morad was 12^th Saturday and 19^th Sunday. . . . Jordan Szoke of Brantford won both rounds of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at the weekend, finishing first Saturday and again Sunday at Calgary’s Race City. He’s won three straight races aboard a Honda to open the 2010 season. Well done.

Honda Indy Toronto to sponsor Paul Tracy

Last year, when the Honda Indy returned to Toronto, there was (to put it mildly) a lack of promotion and the race organizers – indeed, even the title sponsor – were roundly criticized for it.

I was among the boo-birds, although I wasn’t as critical as some. When I did an interview with Alex Tagliani recently, he set me straight on a lot of things I hadn’t considered. Said Tag (in so many words): Last year was a trial run. They had to find out what they had to do to start the rebuilding process. This year will be better.

He was right.

The latest in what is an impressive round of promotional announcements came late yesterday when it was announced the Honda Indy Toronto will be title sponsor of Paul Tracy’s car in the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, N.Y., July 2-4.

Watkins Glen attracts a large crowd for the annual Indy car stop there and the race will be broadcast in the United States by ABC. Which means sponsoring Tracy can only be seen as a smart marketing move.

Now, the Honda Indy Edmonton has sponsored Tagliani in previous years (and this one, too), but this is the first time the Honda Indy Toronto has gotten involved with car sponsorship and it’s another bright spot in their buildup to the big race here July 16-18.

Yesterday’s release said Tracy would race at the Glen for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, whose regular driver, Mike Conway, was badly injured at this year’s Indianapolis 500. The release continued:

Tracy, the 2003 Champ Car World Series champion, will be making his ninth IZOD IndyCar Series start and his second at Watkins Glen International. He is one of the most successful drivers in Indy car racing with 31 career victories.

"It's obviously a good feeling to get more races, especially being able to race at the Glen and building up momentum before going into the Canadian events," said Tracy, whose sponsorship package for the Watkins Glen race includes wheel manufacturer Motegi Racing. "It's also great to have the support of Honda Indy Toronto for this race as well.

"I'm really excited about working with Robbie Buhl again and to get to work with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. I've known Robbie (a part-owner of Dreyer & Reinbold) since when we competed against each other in the Indy Lights Series. It's very exciting to branch out with another team I haven't been with before and I'm looking forward to a good weekend."

"We are very happy to have Paul drive for us," Buhl said. "He's a great driver and a big personality and we are thrilled to have him driving for us in Watkins Glen. We were extremely strong there last year and with Paul's racing experience and him being teamed up with Justin Wilson (the team’s other driver), we feel that we'll have an extremely strong package for the weekend.

"We obviously wish that Mike could be with us, but we just want him to have a quick recovery. Paul was a perfect fit and we couldn't be happier to have him behind the wheel."

Wilson is the defending race winner, having taken a Dale Coyne Racing entry to Winner's Circle in 2009. It was Coyne's first Indy car victory as an owner.

Pirelli tires back in F1, calendars can't be far behind

Of all the calendars that Formula One’s tire suppliers put out over the years, Pirelli’s was always the best.

The Goodyear calendars always featured the best racing photography. The Bridgestone calendars were always the best designed. The Pirelli calendar was a joy to behold because the featured models were breathtaking.

So the best news today, which follows on the heels of the announcement that Pirelli will return as F1’s tire supplier in 2011, is that the calendars won’t be far behind.

I sure hope they put me on the list to receive one.

The announcement today said this:

"Pirelli, the Italian tire firm, will supply all the Formula One teams from 2011-2013 with six types of tire: four for dry weather, one for rain and one intermediate.
"Pirelli – which has supplied tires exclusively for the GP3 championship this year – will also supply the GP2 championship from 2011, becoming the sole provider of tires for the most prestigious single-seater championships in global motorsport.
"The Milan-based firm is already present in the World Rally Championship, the World Superbike Championship, the Rolex Sports Car Series in North America, the Motocross World Championship and several other national championships for both cars and bikes.
"This new Formula One agreement crowns Pirelli’s historic involvement in world motorsport, which dates back to 1907 when the Italian firm won the epic Paris-Peking road race.

The last Grand Prix victory claimed by Pirelli was the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix, with Nelson Piquet driving for Benetton.

That last sentence could become trivia someday.

 

There is a lot of bad weather in the U.S. Midwest this year. Tornados in Minnesota up near the Canadian border are unusual and scary.

On the north side of Indianapolis this week, lightning strikes set several shops in a plaza ablaze. At least one dry cleaning business burned to the ground.

Among the items lost were all the uniforms belonging to Alex Tagliani’s Fazzt Racing Team.

Said Tag’s wife, Bronte Tagliani: “I feel bad for the business owners of that complex. It's totalled.”

 

The announcement of Paul Tracy’s deal for the Watkins Glen race July 4 is expected today. Cross fingers.

Jacques Villeneuve's still got that old magic

Headlines:

1. Jacques Villeneuve shows he’s still an exciting racer

2. Paul Tracy reportedly to drive warmup for Toronto

3. Toronto’s Wilkins eyes points lead in Grand Am Rolex

Usually, this Monday Morning racing roundup would concentrate on the Sunday races – Jimmy Johnson’s NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in California and Tony Kanaan’s exciting IndyCar win in Iowa, which was his first in two years – but both pale in comparison to Jacques Villeneuve’s performance in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide race at Road America.

I know, Villeneuve didn’t win but if it hadn’t been for a broken alternator wire he not only would have been fighting for the victory but been guaranteed a solid second at the checkers.

As it was, when his engine started gasping for life on the last lap (it started coughing a lap earlier), Villeneuve was passed by car after car on the four-mile-long Road America circuit until he finally made it home in 25^th place.

Sprint Cup regular Carl Edwards, who was in a class by himself on Saturday, won the race with Mississauga’s Ron Fellows second and Brendan Gaughan third. J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge, who partnered Fellows as a "Team Canada" entry for JR Motorsports, finished seventh, giving team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. two cars in the top ten.

Villeneuve, who was driving the first of two races for Braun Motorsports – the other will be the NASCAR race at Montreal in late August – was the star of the race for showing time after time that you can make a pass in a NASCAR race without having to run into the guy racing next to you (see Sunday’s Cup race at Infineon for a comparison).

With 17 laps to go, Villeneuve passed five – count ‘em, five – cars going into "Canada Corner" on the Road America track and took the lead by holding the inside on a three-wide entry into the turn.

No muss, no fuss, no bashin’ and crashin’. Just guts and nerve and beautiful race-driving ability.

Villeneuve, who won two races at Road America back in his CART Indy car days, had this to say afterwards:

"I still remember the track as if I had driven it last week," he told Paul Gohde, of racingnation.com. "It was always one of my favorite road courses and I was looking for an excuse to come back here and it's been great fun.

"These cars (as compared to the Indy cars) are very heavy and don't have downforce. It's a huge difference, especially in the high-speed corners. You change your braking distance. In the Carousel (turn) and the last part of the track where you have rolling corners and high-speed corners – in an Indy car you wouldn't brake. You'd stay flat or lift a little bit. Now you have to brake a lot and position the car."

He did all that with style and sophistication and talent befitting a Formula One world champion: He certainly impressed winner Edwards, who told a TV interviewer:

"Wow, to race all day with Jacques Villeneuve and then to hold off Ron Fellows at the end, it’s just cool."

Notebook jottings:

– Rusty Wallace might have been a great racing driver and might have talent in other areas (he designed the speedway in Iowa where the IndyCar series raced Sunday) but he’s a disaster as a TV colour commentator.

First, I don’t know what it is with these U.S. announcers that they can’t seem able to pronounce the name "Villeneuve." Is it really that hard? Paul Page, for years, called Jacques. "Vellino." Now, I like Paul Page and always felt his voice said "Indy car racing" like no other could, but he’s a professional announcer and it drove me crazy to hear him mispronounce Jacques’ name.

Now we have Wallace mangling it even more. How in the world does "Villeneuve" become "Val-a-new?" Which was the word that came out of Rusty’s mouth every time he mentioned Jacques’ name on Saturday.

And then – I have to watch my blood pressure here – he actually had the audacity to say, "Jacques ‘Valanew’ reminds me of Marcos Ambrose."

That’s like saying Placido Domingo reminds me of the guy I heard singing in the church choir.

Way to go, Rusty. You’re comparing a world champion to a go-kart racer, which is what Marcos Ambrose is in comparison to Jacques Villeneuve.

There’s more to life than NASCAR, Rusty. Open your eyes.

– If I know Ron Fellows, he pulled out his cellphone after the Nationwide race and called Dale Earnhardt Jr. to tell him, A – that he’d finished second and, B – that he was available to fly to the coast and take over the 88 Cup car if Junior wanted to give it up.

Earnhardt, of course, would say thanks but no thanks. But he’d be wise to take the chance because every time Ron Fellows straps himself into a competitive race car these days, he’s a candidate for the top step on the podium.

As it was, Dale Jr. finished 11^th in California Sunday. Who knows if Fellows could have done better – but it’s a good bet, considering the way he's driving these days, that he might have.

– J.R. Fitzpatrick did a fine job to finish seventh on the road course and has several more shots lined up. And expect an announcement this week on some oval starts that he’ll make before the season is over. All these, of course, in addition to his regular ride in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

– Although it doesn’t really fit in here, we’ll stick it in anyway. Fitzpatrick’s arch rival in the Canadian Tire series, Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond, Que., won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Infineon on Saturday. He ran out of fuel on the final lap but managed to get the car around to the checkers before anybody caught him.

Ranger and Fitzpatrick will go head-to-head in the NASCAR race at the Honda Indy Toronto July 16-18, which should be really exciting. Those two usually put on a good show.

– Fellows hit one of his crewmen when he was pulling into his pit during an early-race stop. The guy wasn’t hurt but some front-end damage was done to the race car . . . NASCAR’S conducting of road-course races is awful. Why in the world would they do two pace/parade laps of a circuit that’s four-miles long – at 35 miles an hour behind the pace car? One is enough. And although the TV announcers said the red flag to clean up a huge crash was 31 minutes long, it sure felt like twice that . . . The race ran so long that Villeneuve’s pit crew had to leave to catch a plane to California where they had to work the Cup race Sunday. Some of Jason Leffler’s crew were made available if JV had to make a late-race stop (which he didn’t) . . . David Hobbs was the track announcer at Road America. The ex-F1 and Indy car pilot lives part-time in Wisconsin.

SPRINT CUP

Rusty Wallace’s hero, Marcos Ambrose, pulled one of the great boneheaded moves late in the Cup race at Infineon Sunday that many of the published and broadcast reports said cost him the victory.

Maybe.

There were still six laps to go when this happened and perhaps he holds on and perhaps he doesn’t. Personally, I don’t think he could have stayed in front of eventual winner Jimmie Johnson, who had a full head of steam on. Robby Gordon was second and Kevin Harvick finished third.

This is what Ambrose did that’s got all those tongues clucking. To save fuel, and while running in the lead during a caution period, he turned off the motor of his car. Now, this isn’t unusual: over the years, many stock car racers on road courses have done the same thing to conserve petrol. You’re going downhill, so you shut off the engine and coast and when you have to pick up the pace you fire it up again You might only save a cupful, but it could make all the difference at the end of the race.

But Marcos decided to turn off his motor when he was going uphill. It was like he stopped on a dime.

By the time he brought the car back to life, he’d dropped to seventh place. He immediately blasted past everybody and took what he thought was his rightful place behind the pace car but NASCAR sent him back to seventh for "failing to maintain pace."

Anyway, it was an exciting race for people who like the tradin’ paint aspect of NASCAR. As explained above, I personally prefer the artistry shown by Jacques Villeneuve at Road America but maybe I’m in the minority.

INDYCAR

The big news to emerge from the IZOD IndyCar Series race at Iowa, won by Ton Kanaan by a heartbeat over Helio Coastroneves, with EJ Viso third (Canadian Alex Tagliani was 12th), is that Paul Tracy may have a ride for the next race at Watkins Glen, on July 4, which would give him a warmup before the Honda Indy Toronto on July 16-18.

Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star reports that Tracy is all but certain to be racing for the Dreyer & Reinbold team alongside regular driver Justin Wilson with Graham Rahal possibly in a third team car.

Tracy had said in Toronto a few weeks ago that it was possible he’d be in a car for Watkins Glen entered by KV Racing Technologies, which ran him last year at Watkins Glen and the two Canadian stops at Toronto and Edmonton.

The great Canadian champion, who failed to make the lineup for this year’s Indianapolis 500 because KV Racing withdrew his car and he was then unable to get it back into the field, said at the time that because he hadn’t run at Indy there was unused money available for the engine lease program so it wouldn’t cost a sponsor much to back him for the race at the Glen.

But it didn’t happen and Tracy was looking at only the two Canadian races with KV Racing until the opportunity came up with Dreyer and Reinbold. He’s apparently signed a contract.

Oh, Takumo Sato had another crash in a KV Racing car at Iowa Sunday. Maybe KV couldn’t run Tracy at the Glen because they’re out of cars . . .

Oh, and Danica Patrick, who was 10^th at Iowa, will return to the NASCAR Nationwide series for a one-off next weekend at New Hampshire. If she doesn’t have to qualify her way into the race, she can thank J.R. Fitzpatrick for finishing seventh at Road America and getting the No. 7 car into the Top 35 in points, which would lock her into the field.

OTHER RACING:

– It was poetic justice at Mid-Ohio Saturday during the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car race after Max Angelelli ran Rob Barbosa off the road while trying to pass where he knew he couldn’t.

So Barbosa blasted his way back onto the track, kicking up some stones and grass and mud in the process. Along came Angelelli seconds later, only to lose control and spin when his wheels came into contact with the muck on the road left by Barbosa.

Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas won the race, as usual (it was their fifth win in seven races) with Ozz Negri and John Pew second. Closing fast as a bullet at the end was Mark Wilkins of Toronto (with American partner Burt Frisselle) in the AIM Autosport of Woodbridge Pacific Mobile/Biosign No. 61 Ford Riley.

Wilkins passed fellow Canadian Michael Valiante of Vancouver with two laps remaining to make it onto the podium. The finish moves the AIM team drivers into second place in the standings behind Pruett and Rojas.

– James Hinchcliffe of Oakville and Philip Major of Ottawa finished fifth and sixth respectively in the Indy Lights race at Iowa won by Sebastian Saavedra. "Hinch" now holds down third place in the Indy Lights standings. By the way, rookie Major drove the fastest lap of the Indy Lights race – 160.218 mph (20.076 seconds).

– Jamie Collard of Burford made a thrilling last-lap pass of leader Glenn Styres of Ohsweken to win the Southern Ontario Sprints feature at Brighton Speedway on Saturday night. Keith Dempster of Alton was third.

– Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., won the World of Outlaws Late Model Series race Sunday at Cornwall Motor Speedway. The win was worth $10,600. Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., was second and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., was third.

IRL says its Safety Team can - and will - do better

A “mantra” is a word or phrase repeated again and again to hammer home a message.

The current president of the United States won the last campaign by using the mantra, “Yes, we can.”

You heard it over and over and over and it meant that anything was possible (if you voted him in.)

Ever since the Simona De Silvestro fire incident, the folks at the Indy Racing League have included a phrase in all their releases that could be considered a mantra: “The Safety Team consists of approximately 24 highly-trained personnel . . .”

That phrase was included again yesterday when the League issued its report on the fire at Texas Motor Speedway in which the driver was lucky to escape with only a slight burn.

All I have to say is that if those people really were/are “highly trained,” they wouldn’t have made the mess they did when they arrived at the scene with a racing car on fire and the driver struggling to get out.

They appeared confused and ill-prepared. They appeared to be anything but “highly trained.”

Here is the text of the IRL’s report on its investigation into the fire and the Safety Team’s response:

“Upon review of the on-track fire during the June 5 race at Texas Motor Speedway, the Indy Racing League discovered a procedural error in the packing of a fire hose on one of its trucks that caused it to malfunction as well as a breakdown in Safety Team protocol in its response to the incident.

"First and foremost, the Safety Team puts the highest priority on driver safety," said Mike Yates, track safety manager for the Indy Racing League. "Prior to every race, the Safety Team tests all hoses to ensure they're working. At Texas, there was an error in the re-packing of the hose after the test, which caused it to malfunction. We are modifying hoses on all the trucks beginning this weekend in Iowa to prevent this from happening again.

"Additionally, upon arriving at the scene of the incident, our protocol calls for Safety Team members to take pressurized canisters with water and Cold Fire to the car to extinguish the fire as a first response. In situations like this, decisions are made in a split second based on the severity of the incident. After critiquing the situation, we have determined that the canisters are a more efficient and effective way to quickly suppress on-track fires. This will be reviewed with all Safety Team members."

Look, I understand that those people have a very tough job. It is a really dangerous job. At least one member of that team put his own life at risk when he went to De Silvestro’s aid.

But it was obvious they weren’t prepared for what happened there. If there was a malfunction of equipment, as has been determined, then Plan B should have kicked in and there didn’t appear to be a Plan B.

I’ve talked ad nauseum about the Oswego Speedway Safety Crew but the fact of the matter is that they practice. They create situations and plan how to react. And I have relatives who are firefighters who tell me that if there aren’t fires to fight, they review how to fight them so they’re prepared.

Let’s hope the IRL and its Safety Team have learned a huge lesson and that if they have to spring into action at Iowa this weekend, or Watkins Glen in a few weeks or at the Honda Indy Toronto in July that each member knows his responsibilities and how to react if something goes wrong.

And that the folks putting out the media releases will wait a bit before using the words “highly trained” again.

 

Last Monday, in the commenting section following my report on the Grand Prix of Canada, the NASCAR race at Montreal and the Can-Am Cup Formula Ford race at Mosport, some wag wrote:

“Who won the FF race in Montreal?”

Good point.

Xavier Coupal (just one of many young up-and-coming Quebec racers) led the Saturday race from start to finish with Olivier Bonnet (the son) and Michel Bonnet (the father) finishing second and third. Steve Pickering of Kingston was fourth.

On Sunday, Coupal spun out and failed to finish. Olivier Bonnet won the race, edging his father Michel and Kingston’s Pickering, who was third. Matt White of Toronto was fourth.

I’m old friends with Steve Pickering’s father, Hector, who was Canada’s best NHRA Top Fuel drag racer back in the late-1980s, early 1990s.

It was Hector’s Formula Ford team that a young Toronto Beaches high school student named Gavin Ward volunteered with at Mosport and Ward has since gone on to the Red Bull Formula One team where he is a race engineer.

By the way, that Sunday race was so close that if you blinked, you missed seeing the finish. The Bonnets and Pickering flashed across the line and three-tenths of a second separated first and third.

 

I also missed out reporting on three other Ontario kids who are in international competition.

In the Italian Formula 3 series, Gianmarco Raimondo of St. Catharines finished 12^th in last weekend’s first race at the Hockenheimring in Germany and 11^th in the second race.

Now, I know Raimondo is probably disappointed with his results but he shouldn’t be. He’s a raw rookie who was only running his third and fourth races in that series. And anybody you ask will tell you that the differences between North American racing (where he was a champion) and European racing are like night and day. Those racers over there are ruthless and the fact that Raimondo is hanging in there, and finishing in the top 50 per cent of the fields, is commendable.

Meantime, in the same series and races, Nelson Mason of Niagara Falls (his family is working its way through the maze of approvals required to build that speedway just off the QEW in Fort Erie) finished 16^th in the first race and 14^th in the second.

And, finally, Alex Ellis of St. Catharines won the first race of the Jim Russell Championship Series and came second in race 2. He is leading the championship by two points.

The Jim Russell championship has been downgraded from 18 races to six because only six drivers entered the series. And instead of a fully sponsored season in the FIA Formula 2 championship, the winner this season will receive an Indy Lights test and entry into the Lights race at Infineon Raceway in August.

A one-off in Indy Lights is nothing to sneeze at. Ellis could maybe turn more heads there than he ever could in Europe.

JR Motorsports promotes Fellows, Fitzpatrick

Ron Fellows of Mississauga and J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge (who won last Sunday's NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race at Mosport) will both be driving this coming weekend for Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America near Elkhart Lake, Wisc.

As happens before most NASCAR races, the teams email out press releases containing details of the upcoming event and extolling the virtues of their driver or drivers.

I received this one from the JR Motorsports this morning. As I imagine there will be significant interest in the performance of "Team Canada," I am including the entire text in this post.

Enjoy!

JR MOTORSPORTS TEAM PREVIEW

No. 88 AER Manufacturing Chevrolet/No. 7 Schick Hydro Chevrolet

 

EVENT – The Bucyrus 200 (50 laps / 200 miles)

TRACK – Road America (4.048-mile road course)

DATE – Saturday, June 19, 2010

TV / RADIO –TSN2  (coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. EST) / MRN (broadcast begins at 3:00 p.m. EST)

 

Ron Fellows

No. 88 AER Manufacturing Chevrolet

 

"It's great to be back with JR Motorsports this year. We’ve had some fun races in the past and we’ll continue that this weekend. I’m very optimistic on our chances for a solid run at Road America. With the powerful Hendrick horsepower we have under the hood and solid preparation the No. 88 AER team offers, we have as good a shot as anyone in the field to go to victory lane.

 

“Road America is a great facility to be hosting a Nationwide Series race. It’s one of the coolest natural terrain courses around. I’ve run there a few times in the past and it’s always an adventure. You can bet you’ll see some crazy things happening with guys trying to beat one another into the corners to make passes. It will throw a lot of challenges your way, especially with the elevation changes. You’ve just got to be prepared with your footwork inside the cockpit and match your RPM’s when you downshift into the corners. Turn 14 is an important corner. If you don’t get through that corner exactly right and carry the proper amount of speed up the frontstretch, you can lose a lot getting up to the top of that hill.” 

 

J.R. Fitzpatrick

No. 7 Schick Hydro Chevrolet

 

“This is a great opportunity for me, and I’m excited to drive the No. 7 Schick Hydro Chevrolet. As a driver, surrounding yourself with good people and good equipment is all you can really ask for, and we’ve got that with JRM. Schick Hydro has been a wonderful sponsor of mine for some time, and I’m thankful to them for making this possible.

 

“It’s going to be an interesting weekend to say the least. Racing at Road America is going to put a lot of drivers on the same page as far as experience. I’m one of the many guys in the field that hasn’t raced there yet. Thankfully NASCAR has given us substantial practice time on Thursday to get accustomed to the track.  I’ve spent the week on a simulator trying to get as familiar as I can with this place. It may be a four-mile track, but it’s a fast four miles. We’re going to be carrying a ton of speed down into turn one and I’m sure you’ll see a lot of guys trying to get make passes there. I just want to keep the fenders on our Schick Hydro Chevrolet clean and hopefully we’ll be up front near the end when it counts.”

 

JR MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK --

 

TEAM CANADA – JR Motorsports will feature drivers hailing from north of the border this weekend at Road America. Canadians Ron Fellows and J.R. Fitzpatrick will fill the seats of the No. 88 and No. 7 Chevrolets at the 4-mile road course. Fellows hails from Windsor, Ontario, while Fitzpatrick’s hometown is Cambridge, Ontario. The two join Fort Frances, Ontario native Steve Arpin as Canadians to drive for JRM in 2010.

 

FITZPATRICK DEBUT – Fitzpatrick will make his first of three starts for JRM in the No. 7 Schick Chevrolet this weekend. His next two starts come on Aug. 7at Watkins Glen and Aug. 29 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, all with Schick Hydro as the primary sponsor. Fitzpatrick becomes the sixth driver to pilot the No. 7 Chevrolet this season, joining Steve Arpin, Landon Cassill, Danica Patrick, Scott Wimmer and Josh Wise. Wimmer secured the team’s best results with consecutive top-10 finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway, leading 39 total laps. 

 

FITZ STATS - Fitzpatrick has four starts in the Nationwide Series – all at road courses – with a career-best finish of 18^th at Watkins Glen in 2009. He finished 27^th in his most recent NNS race at Montreal in 2009. In NASCAR’s Canadian Tire Series, Fitzpatrick took the checkered flag in last weekend’s race at Mosport International Raceway. It marked his fifth career win in the series and he now leads the standings by 25 points. 

 

GOOD FELLOWS – Known for his impeccable road-course talents, Fellows owns three career starts with JRM. He earned one win and one-top five finish and has led seven laps in those events. He has qualified in the top 10 in every race while driving for JRM. Fellows’ next race in the No. 88 comes at Watkins Glen International on Aug. 7.

 

LONG-TIME PARTNER – AER Manufacturing, the primary sponsor of the No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend, has been a supporter of Fellows for 20 years in the Trans Am Series, NASCAR and the American Le Mans Series.

 

FITZPATRICK HISTORY - In 2008, Fitzpatrick leveraged his one win and five podium finishes to become the youngest ever Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing National Champion at the age of 18. Two years prior, he became the youngest winner in CASCAR Super Series history. He continues to storm through the Canadian Tire Series earning five wins, 14 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes with five poles in 31 career starts. Fitzpatrick retains the additional distinction of being the Canadian Tire Series Most Popular Driver in 2007.

 

JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES - A longtime sports car and road-racing veteran, Fellows is credited with three class championships in the American Le Mans Series, two class wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and 19 overall victories in the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series as a member of the Corvette Racing Team. His NASCAR credentials include six overall wins (two in the Camping World Truck Series), and two runner-up finishes in Sprint Cup competition. 

 

NATIONWIDE SERIES STATS – Fellows’ Nationwide Series history goes back 13 years to 1997. In his 15 career races, he has scored four wins, seven top-five, and eight top-10 finishes. Fellows earned two poles, led 200 laps, and had an average finish of 17.1 with an average start of 7.1.

 

TEAM POINTS POSITION – The No. 88 AER Manufacturing team sits ninth in the 2010 owner points after last week’s race at Kentucky Speedway. The No. 7 team gained two positions and now occupies the 24^th spot in owner points.

 

SUAVE MEN RAISES THE STAKES - Suave Men recently announced its Head-to-Head Challenge, a challenge pitting the No. 88 team against the No. 7 team in July at Chicagoland Speedway. Dale Earnhardt Jr. issued the challenge to his teams, and will factor in average practice speeds, qualifying, pit-stop times and race results. The team with the best times will have a donation made on its behalf to The Dale Jr. Foundation.

 

NEW, IMPROVED AND FREE JR NATION FAN CLUB – Now race fans can be part of all the JR Motorsports action with a free subscription to The JR Nation Crew Fan Club – the official fan club of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports.  The club has just launched a new website complete with chat rooms, forums and blogs from your favorite JRM drivers.  Join today by logging on to www.dalejr.com/jrnation.

Motorsport roundup: A weekend of repeat winners

Not a lot of surprises in auto racing this weekend.

Lewis Hamilton, who won the last Formula One race a fortnight ago in Turkey, won Sunday’s Grand Prix of Canada before a massive crowd in Montreal.

In NASCAR, Denny Hamlin, who won last weekend’s Sprint Cup race at Pocono, won the Helluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan International Speedway. It was his fifth win in the last 10 races.

At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Audi reclaimed the podium big-time after a year’s absence.

At Mosport, where NASCAR Canadian Tire Series young tigers Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond., Que., and J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge have been taking turns winning on the legendary road course, it was Fitzpatrick’s turn Sunday, with Ranger finishing second.

And also at Mosport, Shane Jantzi of Ayr won the Can Am Cup, which is presented annually to the driver who wins a special Formula Ford 1600 race. The Cup has been presented five times and the only winner has been Jantzi, who happily admits to being in a rut.

I was at Mosport, and my story for the Star and thestar.com/sports (click here if you missed it) pretty much wrapped up the weekend results there. But here are the usual notebook jottings and observations.

Formula One

– There are too many rules in Formula One and I wish they would throw most of them out. Having said that, somebody’s going to get killed one of these days with all the racing that’s going on heading into the pits and then going out of the pits and if there isn’t a rule against this, there should be.

Hamilton got into it side-by-side with Alonso leaving the pits Sunday and both drivers were trying to intimidate the other. NASCAR and Indy car have two lanes leaving the pits – the outside (where cars are at the speed limit and are out of the way of cars leaving their pit) and the inside where drivers are supposed to travel once they exit theiir pit and are getting up to speed.

There is only room for one lane in Formula One and it is marked accordingly. If it was golf, Hamilton would have been marked out of bounds Sunday. It’s time the stewards (or somebody) put a stop to this.

– Before the season started, I was excited at the prospect of Michael Schumacher returning. I thought it would give F1 a shot in the arm and that he wouldn’t be returning if he wasn’t competitive.

Two things have happened. Some drivers (and I’m not alone on this) have performed admirably and are driving much better than most people expected. Jenson Button is one. Mark Webber is another. So F1 didn’t need Schumacher, after all.

Second, and worse: he’s lost it. He can’t race with the young guys that are out there. And the arrogance that once was admirable (or, at least, understandable) when he was winning is still there and making him look foolish.

His banging of wheels and sliding all over the place Sunday in attempting to prevent faster cars from passing him was embarrassing.

And – horrors! – he finished the race a lap down.

He should rethink continuing beyond 2010.

– The fact that Schumacher is failing – not exactly miserably, but close to it – and other "old guys" like Pedro de la Rosa and Jarno Trulli are not exactly setting the world on fire is bad news for our own Jacques Villeneuve, who’s still telling people (and the press) that he’s seriously hoping to land an F1 ride in 2011.

If a seven-time world champion can’t get a handle on things, it’s highly unlikely a one-time world champion would do any better. And JV isn't much younger than the 40-plus Schumey.

– The race itself, with Jenson Button following Hamilton home, with Fernando Alonso third (story and results here) was fast and exciting and there was plenty of passing. It was just the sort of thing F1 needed. And with a crowd of 115,000 on hand (more than 300,000 admissions were recorded during the three days), it was more than a roaring success.

NASCAR

– Denny Hamlin did something to a ligament in his left knee while playing basketball last winter. After he won his first race of the season in late March, he had an operation to repair it. He’s been almost unbeatable since, which makes you wonder what kind of a bionic part went into his leg.

He won Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup start in Michigan (see story and results) with almost ridiculous ease. He led 123 of the 200 laps and the only other driver who really had anything for him was second-place finisher Kasey Kahne.

Having said that, when there was a "debris caution" called on lap 182, Hamlin had a nearly 10-second lead over Khane. That's how dominant he was on this day. Once the "debris" was cleared and the green thrown – with the field all bunched up – it took Hamlin about a nonsecond to start pulling away from Kahne again.

He had no trouble wracking up his 13^th career victory, with Kahne second, Kurt Busch third, Jeff Gordon fourth and Tony Stewart fifth.

– Hamlin knows what happens in NASCAR when somebody has a 10-second lead. It’s called a "debris caution" that bunches up the field and makes for better TV.

"I realize we are in show business," said Hamlin.

Good for him for saying that. There are still people out there who think that NASCAR’s all about the racing – and that pro wrestling isn’t fixed.

24 Hours of Le Mans

The braintrust of the Peugeot Motor Co. no doubt will be gathering in Paris Monday morning to try to figure out what happened at the 24 Hours of Le Mans where the company’s one-year reign at the top of the endurance-racing heap came to an abrupt halt once this year's race started on Saturday.

The car that won the pole went out early with a suspension failure and the other two factory entries that started second and third retired with engine problems.

Audi’s one-two-three sweep (story and results here) was led by Mike Rockenfeller, Romain Dumas and Timo Benhard.

I'll be honest, a 24-hour race like Le Mans is great when you're in it -- or at it (because the party can be something else). But as a TV spectacle? Not as much.

It really is a race for the purists.

Mosport:

– The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race unfortunately didn’t live up to its billing.

Andrew Ranger and J.R. Fitzpatrick have always put on a terrific show (although Fitzpatrick missed one race) and there was great anticipation for this one.

Fitzpatrick went into the pits for fuel fairly early and the luck of the draw kicked in. There was a full-course caution while he was in there, which meant he was fuelled up and ready to go the distance when Ranger (and several others who were running well in the early going) had to make their fuel stops.

Ranger gave it the old college try, but just couldn’t make up the distance. He got about five seconds behind Fitzpatrick but that was as close as he got.

Fitzpatrick will now turn his attention to next weekend’s NASCAR Nationwide race at Road America. He’s driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team (as is fellow Canadian Ron Fellows) and this presents a great opportunity for him to make an impression.

– The Formula Ford 1600 Can Am Cup race that’s been held as part of the Celebration of Motorsport weekend at Mosport every October was deliberately moved to this weekend this year in hopes of attracting more participants.

But after it was placed on the calendar, the Grand Prix of Canada promoters added Formula Ford races to their event and many of the entrants expected at Mosport went to Montreal instead (and who can blame them?).

As a result, Shane Jantzi of Ayr, who has never lost a Can Am Cup race, won the trophy again.

Even he would like some more competition.

"You know," he said, "that if I had the money I would have liked to go on to Indy Lights by now. But while I’m racing in this class I’m going to do my best and it’s a thrill for me to have won this trophy for the fifth time.

"But we need the Formula Ford cars from Quebec to come here for this race. And we need some of the American FF runners as well. This could be a great event, but we need more cars."

Preview: More racing than the Grand Prix this weekend

Although the eyes of the world will be on Montreal this weekend for the 41^st Formula One Grand Prix of Canada that will go to the post at noon on Sunday (11:55 a.m., TSN), there are other races scheduled that you should know about.

Starting with the 24 Hours of Le Mans (Speed Channel, 8:30 a.m. Saturday), the weekend will also see the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Series and the Formula Ford 2000 and FF1600 series all racing at Mosport.

At Le Mans, Canada will be represented by Tony Burgess of Toronto, who will be driving his sixth Le Mans with Americans Michael Lewis and Bryan Willman in the Autocon Motorsports P1 Lola B06-10. His best finish previously was third in class in 2000.

Burgess said his goal is to finish.

“We will be up against very good cars such as Audi and Peugeot (which won the pole Thursday),” he said in a release. “We can’t hope to match pace with them but it is an endurance race, so if we finish without any delays then chances are we will be in the top 10.”

At Mosport, the second race of the 2010 Canadian Tire-sponsored stock car series – which is Canada’s only national racing championship – will get the green flag Sunday at 1:30. Sponsored by Vortex Brake Pads, the race will go 200 miles, or 1 hour and 45 minutes, whichever comes first.

Reigning Series champion Andrew Ranger – who missed the season-opening joust at London’s Delaware Speedway last Saturday that was won by D.J. Kennington – and J.R. Fitzpatrick will renew their rivalry. In the three Canadian Tire races ran on Mosport’s road circuit, Ranger has taken two and Fitzpatrick one.

Ranger, who won both Canadian Tire Series races at Mosport a year ago on the road course and the oval, is running a limited schedule while he focuses on a NASCAR series in the U.S. But he’s excited about getting into some Canadian action this weekend.

“The competition is always really good there because it’s such a fast track,” Ranger said in a handout. “With guys like Scott Steckly and J.R. Fitzpatrick who run really well at Mosport, it will be really hard.  Fitzpatrick is fast on both the oval and the road course.  He’s got a good car and we always have a battle.  It’s great for the fans to watch.”

Fitzpatrick, who finished second at Delaware, is running the full Canadian Tire Series schedule while also driving some races for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

“Ever since 2007, Andrew and I have been racing each other hard and clean,” said Fitzpatrick. “We always put on a good show and a lot of people like to watch the rivalry that we have.  It makes for great racing and that’s why I am glad to hear that Ranger is coming to Mosport.

“It’s going to be a great race.”

Other NASCAR Canada drivers expected to run well at Mosport include Kerry Micks, Mark Dilley and Pierre Bourque.

“Rain or shine, I love this track,” said Bourque, of Ottawa. “I have no doubt we’ll have a strong qualifying session and we’ll be in the hunt for an excellent finish in the race itself. I’ll be tweeting updates, pictures and video with my iPhone through the weekend,” he said, in putting in a plug for his sponsor, Telus.

Road-racing veteran Robin Buck will also see action at Mosport as he kicks off his four-race season that will also include the Honda Indy Toronto, Trois-Rivieres and the NASCAR August weekend in Montreal.

The Castrol Canadian Touring Car Series will race twice at Mosport – on Saturday at 1:25 p.m. and again on Sunday at 3:30 p.m.

And the Touring Car championship is releasing the first of seven Webisodes and Video Race Recaps this weekend. According to a release, the Webisodes are designed to take viewers behind the scenes of the series, from the paddock to the pitlane to the track and the podium. Viewers will learn about the challenges as the drivers and teams fight their way to the top.

“We have been working with Mark Drager and his Phanta Media team over the past two years to put together the right concept that would bring the championship to life via the Internet,” stated series president, John Bondar.

“And I believe that we have found a fabulous formula to build brand awareness and showcase the competition.

“Initial response has been incredible!”

For further information, go to www.touringcar.ca

Also in action this weekend will be the Brian Stewart Racing Karting Championship at the recently repaved Innisfil Indy Kartways located in Gilford.

As is the case with the F1 drivers in Montreal, practice begins Friday and then there is a full schedule of warmups, qualifying, pre-final and final races set for both Saturday and Sunday.

Oh, and before I forget, if you’re glued to your TV for Le Mans and the Grand Prix, you can watch a recording of the opening NASCAR Canada race at Delaware on Saturday at 2 p.m. on TSN.

The race will be repeated next Wednesday at 12:30 in the morning and 3:30 in the afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

Ferrari signs young Canadian kart star Stroll

Last summer, I wrote a column about karting and mentioned a little guy from Montreal named Lance Stroll, who’d already been marked for greatness at the age of 10.

(For that column, click here.)

He was being coached at the time by six-time World Kart Champion Mike Wilson from England. Prior to last summer, the only time previously that Wilson had come to Canada was in 1998 for the FIA North American Karting Championships that were held on the kart track at Mosport.

His driver then? A kid from Spain named Fernando Alonso.

Wilson doesn’t waste his time with posers, apparently. The news today is that young Lance Stroll, who’s now the ripe old age of 11, has been signed by Ferrari’s driver development program.

James Allen (you remember him – he was the play-by-play announcer for years when Britain’s ITV had the contract to broadcast Formula One races) reported on his website today that Stroll is the “youngest member of the recently formed Ferrari Driver Academy, which is managed by former Ferrari race engineer Luca Baldisserri.”

Baldisserri is a great friend of Eric Jensen, the Canadian team owner in Formula BMW and Atlantics.

Allen notes that Stroll’s signing parallels the system that McLaren has had for years that saw Lewis Hamilton join the program when he was 13.

Allen says Stroll finished sixth in the world finals in his category last year and has won Canadian and U.S. championships.

“He is young but he has already shown that he is exceptionally talented,” Baldisserri said in a release. “We will follow him step by step and he will take part in our courses at Maranello.”

It is symbolic that Ferrari chose to make the announcement of the young Canadian’s signing on the eve of the Canadian Grand Prix, which is returning to Montreal after a year’s absence.

The last Canadian to sign with the famous Italian marque was the legendary Gilles Villeneuve, after whom the circuit where the GP will be held is named.