Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

NASCAR truck racing: more exciting than the Chase?

Several months ago, in a private email to a friend, I indicated I wasn’t getting too terribly excited at the prospect of NASCAR Camping World Series truck race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

He wrote back and said this (I killed the email, so this is a paraphrase):

“You are mistaken if you think that way. The truck series is great entertainment and is where many of the future stars of NASCAR are starting out. The racing features a take-no-prisoners style and I expect – if they come – that they’ll put on a terrific show.”

I wrote him back and said I’d take a closer look – which I did, and I’m now caught up in the excitement of the championship battle.

Let me rush to say here that there has been no announcement about any of this happening. It's still all conjecture. But there's definitely something going on between NASCAR and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, so I think this entry is timely.

Tuesday afternoon, Erik Arneson, who’s vice-president of media relations for the Speed network, sent out a release pointing out that with four races remaining, rookie Ty Dillon (who’s the grandson of team owner Richard Childress) leads James Buescher by exactly one point, making it the closest points race in series history at this time of the season.

And three other drivers are within shouting distance: Timothy Peters is only 28 behind, Parker Kligerman – who won the Talladega race last weekend - is 34 back and Joey Coulter is 50 behind.

Those five drivers all have a shot at the title (unlike those racing in the Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship - Matt Kenseth won the race on Sunday and is still last in the standings and how can that happen?) and anybody with the Speed Channel in their cable lineup can watch it all go down to the wire, starting Oct. 27 at Martinsville and continuing Nov. 2 at Texas, Nov. 9 at Phoenix and Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Here’s another reason I think the trucks would be a good curtain-raiser for NASCAR at Old Mosport: some of Canada’s young stock car chargers could line up some rides.

I suggest J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge would be a natural (he’s raced in the truck series previously and done extremely well), as would Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond., Que.

And it might be fun to see sponsor Castrol Edge arrange a ride for two-time NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas.

Any of them would be able to give the Dillons, the Bueschers, the Peters’, the Kligermans and the Coulters a run for their money.

And it just  might happen. As CTMP co-owner Ron Fellows said at the weekend, it's going to be an exciting next couple of weeks.

So stay tuned.

One more thing about NASCAR. The Sprint Cup drivers are grumbling about having to race at restrictor-plate tracks like Talladega and some commentators are suggesting the drivers could avoid the carnage if they didn't drive as aggressively.

Everybody in NASCAR has been lulled into a false sense of security. What happened on Sunday in Alabama happens all the time in NASCAR and yet, once again, everybody walked away.

As a friend of mine wrote in a private email, if that accident had happened a little further along the track and one of those cars had gone through the fence and into the crowd, it would have been the disaster of disasters.

And if one of the stars of that series, a Jimmie Johnson or a Jeff Gordon or (in 2013) a Danica Patrick, is killed one of these times, the sport will suffer a huge setback. Don't believe me? Look at the reaction after Dan Wheldon was killed at Las Vegas. The title sponsor of that series wants out, that's what.

That is what NASCAR has to think about very carefully.

Yes, the fans like the "big ones." But if there's a disaster, how will the sponsors and the TV networks react?

In the end, they - not the fans - are who count.

Fellows optimistic about NASCAR

Several days have passed since the two big races of the weekend were held (Sebastien Vettel and Matt Kenseth were the winners in F1 and NASCAR, respectively) so today’s entry will be more of a collection of random thoughts than race reports with comment.

First, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and its NASCAR future.

Ron Fellows told me during the weekend that the cancellation of the 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve was unfortunate for two reasons: as a driver, he likely won’t get to race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve again but, more important, that when it's combined with the cancellation of the 2013 Edmonton Indy, it’s not particularly good news for Canadian motorsport in general.

Fellows said he didn’t expect the cancellation of the Montreal race would lead directly to the Nationwide Series event being moved to his facility, although he didn’t deny that the possibility had crossed his mind.

But if anything, he hinted that if there is to be a NASCAR touring series race at Old Mosport in 2013 it will likely be a round of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

And he admitted to being surprised, and encouraged, by comments published on the NASCAR.com Internet site by Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's senior vice president for racing operations, who said the league is hoping to fill the Montreal gap with another national-series race in Canada next year, most likely a Camping World Truck Series event.

"Certainly we want to be in Canada in some capacity, either Trucks or Nationwide next year," O'Donnell told NASCAR.com on Friday. "That's a hugely important market to us. We've got some work to do certainly to make that happen. But we've got no complaints certainly about the fan base that turns out for the event."

O'Donnell called a potential Truck Series event in Canada "fairly realistic" for next season, although he declined to name the potential venue. "We've got a good shot at that," he added. "Nationwide, a much longer shot. You may be looking at 2014 for that. But I feel fairly good about our ability to bring a Truck event up to Canada in 2013."

So, in short: nothing concrete to report about NASCAR and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as yet but, as Fellows said: "It will be an interesting next couple of weeks."

I would add that it will be an interesting next couple of years.

Okay, moving right along.

Five Ontario drivers will be at the Indinapolis Motor Speedway this Wednesday and Thursday to participate in the annual Mazda Road to Indy Test.

The test is designed to provide drivers with seat time in USF2000, Star Mazda and Firestone Indy Lights cars on the road course at the Speedway in order to showcase their talents to potential teams for the 2013 season.

Michael Adams of Courtice, Dalton Kellett of Stouffville, Nathan Blok of Pembroke and Matthew DiLeo of Innisfil will be showing their stuff in USF2000 cars. David Ostella of Maple will be auditioning for another Indy Lights ride.

Good luck to all those drivers.

Short takes:

- Lewis Hamilton is now reportedly "rubbishing" his teammate at McLaren, Jenson Button. I can hardly wait for him to get to Mercedes and try pulling some of this stuff. He’s going to a German team that has a German driver. Does anybody really think he’s going to be No. 1 over there?

- Romain Grosjean is getting a bum rap, I think. Crashing is what you get at the start of just about every F1 race because it’s a race. Some guys get going like rockets, others are not so fast. Kimi Raikkonen hit the back of Fernando Alonso’s car and Alonso was out of the race. Didn’t hear much about that. Grosjean hits Webber, who was able to keep going, and all hell breaks loose. Romain is everybody’s favourite whipping boy at the moment. What if it had been a veteran F1 driver who ran into Webber? Would he have been so vocal? Would he have been so insulting?

- I didn’t hear anybody criticizing Tony Stewart after the Big One at Talladega. (Grosjean might fit in really well in NASCAR . . .) I didn’t hear anybody suggesting that Stewart be thrown out of the next race. They don’t hand out grid penalties in NASCAR, do they?

Stewart owned up to making a mistake. "I was trying to win the race," he said.

Isn’t that what racers are supposed to do?

- I think I should run a pool on how long Kurt Busch lasts with Furniture Row Racing. One race? Six? A quarter of the 2013 season? Sunday, he makes a fool of himself again and this time he blames his "competitive desire." There is no hope for that man.

- The NASCAR story on the autosport.com website starts like this:

"Matt Kenseth claimed his second NASCAR Sprint Cup win of the season by driving through the carnage of a last-lap pileup at Talladega."

How can you drive through something when you’re already ahead of it? See photo above. Kenseth is in the pink car. The one in front. Which is where he was when the wreck started.

Stunning news: No NASCAR in Montreal in 2013

WILL WE SEE NASCAR AT CANADIAN TIRE MOTORSPORT PARK NEXT YEAR?

This has not been a good year for a Montreal promoter of automobile racing in Canada.

In September, Octane Motorsports Events, Inc., cancelled the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series race in Edmonton and filed for bankruptcy.

Today - Friday - Octane Management informed NASCAR that it would not promote the August, 2013,  Nationwide Series weekend at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal that over the last six years has also featured the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

As Octane Management holds the rights to auto racing at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, there is no immediate hope that NASCAR could find another promoter to continue racing in Montreal.

Octane promotes the Formula One Grand Prix of Canada and has a contract that runs through 2014.

There was one year remaining on the Indy race contract with the City of Edmonton when Octane Motorsports Events, Inc., announced the cancellation and filed for bankruptcy. Court papers in Montreal showed more than $5 million owing.

Octane Management operated on a year-to-year contractual basis with NASCAR, so no contract was yet in place for 2013.

Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette reports that NASCAR was caught by surprise. As reported by Stubbs, NASCAR senior vice-president of racing operations Steve O’Donnell said from Daytona Beach:

“We certainly feel like we’ve had a great run in Montreal and certainly anticipated being back next year, if not many years beyond that. That was our intention.”

Stubbs reports that O'Donnell said Octane Management head François Dumontier told NASCAR he wanted a Sprint Cup race by itself or for the Nationwide race to be on the undercard of a Cup race in order to keep the event alive.

Said O’Donnell to the Gazette's Stubbs: “Canadian fans are huge supporters of NASCAR and it’s very important for us from a national-series perspective to be there. So we’ll certainly explore all avenues to do that. Who knows what the future brings? But it’s unfortunate it didn’t work out in Montreal.”

The 2013 Nationwide Series schedule has still not been issued. There is now officially a hole in it in August.

I was at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park last Saturday for the CASC-Ontario Region Celebration of Motorsport races and can report that work is progressing on the new Corporate Centre on driver's left at Turn Ten. All will be ready by spring and just about everything else about the legendary circuit formerly known as Mosport - sight lines, pavement paddock, RV parking spaces, and so-on - has been spruced up.

I suggest there is a very good chance that the Nationwide Series race originally scheduled for Montreal next August will just be moved 470 kilometres west.

We should have word on that very soon - in fact, maybe sometime this weekend.

One last thing: this will not be good news for the Indy car race(s) at the CNE next July.

Auto racing is all about buzz, and I can tell you where the buzz is going to be around here next year and it ain't gonna be at the Ex.

NASCAR: Twelve drivers, five words each; Schumi retires

I work with a guy, Bob Bishop, who’s a great fan of NASCAR racing.

A family man, he still finds time to travel to at least a race a season and is particularly partial to Darlington Raceway and the Bojangles’ Southern 500.

Bob has his own blog and on the eve of the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 (what a mouthful, eh?) at Talladega Superspeedway, he’s come up with a unique little feature entitled "Twelve drivers, five words each," in which he lists the 12 Chase for the Championship competitors and makes an editorial comment in five words (unlike some writers he knows – me, for example – who just go on, and on, and on).

Here are two examples:

Blue Deuce: Best driver not named Johnson

Junior: It’s not going to happen

Click here for the rest

Michael Schumacher did today in Japan what he should have done before Lewis Hamilton announced that he's taking his seat at Mercedes in 2013 and announced his retirement at the end of the season.

Click here for details

Good luck to him from now until the finish. Let's hope he exits the sport with dignity and grace and goes on to lead a long and fulfilling life as an ambassador for motorsport and an advocate for better driver training and driver safety.

I made mention the other day of the passing of Chris Economaki, editor and publisher emeritus of National Speed Sport News. In the tribute, I wrote about his appearance at the first Canadian Motorsports Expo in 2007 at the Toronto Congress Centre (it’s since moved to the International Centre).

Economaki appeared on a media panel at the Expo and entertained the audience with his wit and wisdom. He was a remarkable man who was interchangeable among the media; equally at ease while writing his column, talking on the radio or reporting from the pits at NASCAR, Indy car and Formula One races.

Glenn Butt, who promoted the first Expo with his father, Ed (Inside Track Motorsport News magazine is now a partner), emailed me a photo of members of that elite panel that he took at the conclusion of that first presentation - and don’t we all look snazzy in our Motorsports Expo jackets?

From left, in the photo above are: Erik Tomas of Raceline Radio, yours truly, Chris Economaki, Greg MacPherson of Inside Track and Tim Miller of the Hamilton Spectator and Toronto Star Wheels.

Services for Economaki were held earlier this week in New Jersey and an old friend of his, Jim Bray of Brantford, the second Canadian to qualify and race in the Daytona 500, flew in to pay his respects.

Bray was surprised that there was nobody from NASCAR among the 100 or so mourners. "I had a chat with Roger (Penske) and Skip (Matczak, a noted short-track racer) says hello," reported Bray. "And Foyt (A.J.) was a pallbearer. But I didn’t see anybody from NASCAR; just short-track racers and Indy people were there."

The results of that final CASC-Ontario Region Formula 1600 race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park are now official and the 2012 series champion is Michael Adams of Courtice.

Caitlin Johnston of Orangeville, who was tied with Adams going into that final race last Sunday and who led most of the race until she was knocked out of second place and into a tire wall by Adams on the last corner of the last lap, was unable to successfully appeal the result.

Both drivers had wonderful seasons. It’s too bad it ended like it did but, as they say, that’s racing.

Meantime, I have to correct an error I made when I wrote about this series in my Monday entry. It is no longer called "Formula Ford," as Honda engines are also allowed, so the correct name is F1600.

(However, I suggest they go back to the drawing board on that name too, because although the Ford engines are 1600 cubic centimetres, the Honda engines are only 1500 CCs.)

Tony George reportedly seeking to take over IndyCar

One day after CEO Randy Bernard officially released the IZOD IndyCar Series' 2013 schedule on - of all places - the Speed TV cable show Wind Tunnel, the publication Sports Business Journal reported that Bernard is walking on very shaky ground because a group led by Tony George is trying to purchase the series.

The future of the series, and Bernard's tenure as president and CEO, rests - according to the Journal - with Mari Hulman George, who is majority owner of shares and chairman of Hulman & Co. and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as well as being Tony George's mother.

Because Tony George has surrounded himself with the heavyweights of the Indy car world - Chip Ganassi, Roger Penske and Michael Andretti are reportedly on board - it's a pretty safe bet that his proposal will at least receive serious consideration.

Tony George, you will recall, is the fellow who broke away from CART in the mid-1990s and triggered the Indy car civil war by creating the Indy Racing League.

When CART went bankrupt in 2003, George attempted to purchase the assets in order to kill it but an Indiana judge sided with race team owners Kevin Kalkhoven, Paul Gentilozzi and Gerald Forsythe, who then formed the Champ Car World Series.

In 2008, when Kalhoven discovered others in the Champ Car paddock were quietly talking to George, he made peace with the IRL owner and a merger was eventually negotiated.

But the war had cost both sides millions and when the dust had settled, all was not well with the George family - notably Tony George's three sisters, who were resentful that their brother, in his role as president and CEO, had spent serious family money to fight the war without consulting them.

In a palace coup shortly after the 2009 Indianapolis 500, Tony George was stripped of his title and responsbilities as chairman and CEO of Hulman & Co. and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

A new president and CEO of the Speedway was hired and Bernard was convinced by one of the George sisters in 2010 to leave the professional rodeo series he was running to take over the newly named IndyCar Series.

There have been some successes since but also plenty of mistakes and Indy car insiders have been aware for some time that Tony George was plotting a comeback.  

According to Sports Business Journal, a group led by George that includes Penske, Ganassi, Andretti and one or two other influential owners (including Kevin Kalkhoven) has made a presentation to the board of Hulman & Co. and the Indianapolis Speedway to purchase control of the race series and to run it.

If true, Randy Bernard will be out of a job.

Here's another thing that I suggest will come true. Never again will the following year's Indy car schedule be formally issued to the world on a cable TV program at 9 o'clock on a Sunday night.

If you're ever looking for a definition of bush league, ladies and gentlemen, that was it.

For complete details of the Sports Business Journal story, please click here.