Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

What (and who) will be racing at Mosport next July 22?

When the lights went out in Mississauga Saturday night – it was one of those power failures that catch your attention; you look out the window and there isn’t a light on for miles – I fired up my laptop and rocket stick to find out what was going on and, after learning it wasn’t the end of the world, I called up the American Le Mans Series website and watched the last laps of the Petit Le Mans.

The big news of the weekend – other than the race results; Peugeot beat Audi, end of story – is that the 2012 schedule issued on Friday includes the traditional mid-summer stop at Mosport but the very, very interesting thing is that the race is scheduled for Sat., July 21, instead of the traditional (there’s that word again) Sunday.

So the question today is: what series is going to be in action at Mosport on Sunday, July 22, 2012? I guarantee you that there will be something big happening out there.

I make these suggestions purely as guesses. I have not talked to anyone officially, or even off the record.

– It’s possible there could be a NASCAR Nationwide Series race or a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Neither schedule has been published. The Sprint Cup Series is off that weekend, which means one or more Sprint Cup drivers (like Dale Earnhardt Jr.) could perhaps make an appearance to help out their friend, and good soldier, Ron Fellows on his first big promotion.

– The Grand Am Rolex Series could race there – although I doubt the ALMS would want to play "second fiddle" to the Grand Am.

– The IZOD IndyCar Series frequently twins with the ALMS. They were together this year for double-headers at Long Beach and Road America, the ALMS on Saturday and the Indy cars on Sunday.

Yes, I know, the IndyCar Series races in downtown Toronto every July. But that race has been in trouble for years, never mind the last several. One way to revive the interest, and the attendance, would be for the Toronto promoters, Savoree-Green, to co-promote a race at Mosport with Fellows and his group.

The Indycar schedule has not been released. This could be one of the surprises when it comes out at Las Vegas in two weeks.

Who knows?

I can tell you this: When Canada’s longest, continuously operating, legendary road racing circuit changed hands last June, co-owner Fellows said this: "Mosport is a big-event race track and is open for business."

The ALMS has been the big event of the summer at the storied circuit north of Bowmanville for years. I suggest one way or another that it will have company, starting in 2012.

Kurt Busch wins NASCAR race, Puegeot wins Petit Le Mans

L'ESTAGE, RICHARD CANADIAN RALLY CHAMPIONS AGAIN

Kurt Busch won Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover, Del., with Jimmie Johnson second and Carl Edwards third. Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards remain tied for the Chase leadership. Tony Stewart, who won the first two Chase races, was 25th Sunday.

For complete details, click here.

At the Pacific Rally in British Columbia, Antoine L'Estage of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., and his co-driver Nathalie Richard of Halifax clinched the 2011 Canadian Rally Championship with only the Rally of the Tall Pines at Bancroft remaining.

The team finished second in the rally to Pat Richard of Squamish, B.C. and Alan Ockwell of Toronto but their points earned them the championship, their fourth national title and their second of 2011 after locking up the North American Rally Cup with their win at the Rallye Défi in September.

For complete details, click here.

Earlier . . .

Puegeot came out on top at Saturday’s Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Georgia after Audi ran into big trouble, including having one car crash out of the 10-hour event.

Stephane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny and Alexander Wurz drove the Puegeot to Victory Lane in the final American Le Mans Series race of 2011.

One factory Audi suffered transmission failure and dropped out after seven hours. The other crashed out with French driver Romain Dumas at the wheel.

The top LMP2 car was driven by Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa.

Ryan Lewis, Ken Dobson and Henri Richard (no, not the hockey player) won the Le Mans Prototype Challenge class; Giancarlo Fisichella, Gianmaria Bruni and Pierre Kaffer won the GT class in a Ferrari and GT Challenge was won by Jeroen Bleekemolen, Sebastiaan Bleekemolen and Tim Pappas in a Porsche 911.

Canadians: Kyle Marcelli of Barrie finished second in LMPC, Tony Burgess of Toronto was fifth in LMP1, Kenny Wilden of Oakville was 26^th in GT.

For full story and complete results, click here.

Elsewhere, Will Power won the pole for Sunday’s IZOD IndyCar Series race at Kentucky Speedway, with Graham Rahal second and Oakville’s James Hinchcliffe third (great stuff!).

Perennial (it seems) IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti could only qualify 11^th. Simona De Silvestro outqualified Danica Patrick 49.123 seconds to 49.158 and they will start 13^th and 14^th respectively.

Pippa Mann is so far over her head it hurts to watch and she crashed yet again. The poor girl can’t seem to complete a lap before running into a wall. Although she is down to start 28^th, IndyCar officials would do everybody a favour by refusing to let her start.

And Dan Wheldon, who replaced Alex Tagliani in Tag’s regular ride for this race, will start last after his car failed pre-qualifying tech inspection. This (apparent) manipulation of reality in a desperate attempt to draw attention to this series is getting, frankly, tiresome.

The car failed tech inspection. Sure.

In NASCAR, Carl Edwards won the Nationwide Series race at Dover, with Brad Keselowski second and Clint Bowyer third – all Sprint Cup drivers, of course. At Kentucky, Ron Hornaday won the Camping World Series truck race, with Austin Dillon second and James Buescher third.

For the record, no trucks entered in that race failed to pass tech.

What's with NASCAR racing in Montreal in October?

The NASCAR 2012 Sprint Cup schedule landed in my email box Wednesday morning and my adrenaline started to pump when I read the first paragraph:

“NASCAR announced today the 2012 schedule for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, with a lineup featuring a number of adjustments from the 2011 edition.”

Wow. A number of adjustments. Let’s see . . .

- One of the Chase races will be on a road course?

- Montreal’s Nationwide race will become a Sprint Cup race?

- Toronto/Mosport will get a Nationwide race in 2012?

Well, none of the above. It turns out that the word “adjustments” means just that. No additions, or subtractions. Same old, same old.

“Adjustments” means moving a race a week ahead so as not to clash with the Easter weekend, one race trading places with another, and so-on.

I’ll publish the schedule at the bottom of this post, so if you’re planning a trip in 2012, you’ll know what dates to mark down on your calendar. The Daytona 500, for instance, will be a week later next year, on Feb. 26, rather than in the middle of the month.

Now, in recent years, NASCAR issued the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck schedules at the same time as the Sprint Cup schedule but that’s not the case this time around. And what makes it curious is that a NASCAR executive said in mid-summer that he expected the Nationwide, in particular, to be out by mid-September.

Well, it’s nearly the end of the month and there’s no sign of it. Now we're told it should be ready by the end of the first week of October.

Jayski.com, which is owned by NASCAR TV partner ESPN, has got a Nationwide schedule, of sorts, posted with a lot of blanks and question marks.

Of importance to Canadians is the Nationwide race weekend in Montreal that has traditionally been held in August since it was started five years ago. There is no sign of it in August and, in fact, it’s tentatively scheduled (according to Jayski) for Oct. 6, which is two days earlier than the date they ran the first F1 Canadian Grand Prix at what is now Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. That was on Oct. 8, 1978, and it was bitterly cold and there were flurries in the air. When Gilles Villeneuve won the race and got out of his Ferrari, he put on a parka before he went to the top step of the podium.

If NASCAR is seriously thinking of racing in Montreal in October, then somebody has got to tell them what Montreal can sometimes be like at that time of year.

Having said that, I think the race might have been "parked" on that date to give NASCAR a way out if the Montreal promoters can’t get their act together and the race has to be cancelled.

I’d like to think the holdup is because Mosport officials and NASCAR could be crossing the t's and dotting the i's on a contract to promote a Nationwide race there - according to Jayski's "schedule," Sat., July 14 and Sat., Aug. 18 are both open dates and central Ontario is lovely at that time of year - but that’s unlikely.

The other reason some racing fans are keen to see the finished Nationwide schedule is because it could determine whether Danica Patrick will be able to race in the 2012 Indianapolis 500 on May 27. She said when she made the announcement that she was moving to NASCAR that any chance of doing the 500 would depend on the Nationwide schedule.

Jayski's calendar has the Nationwide Series at Iowa on Sunday, May 20, when qualifying is scheduled to be held in Indianapolis. If that holds, Patrick - who could fulfill her Nationwide commitment at Charlotte on Sat., May 26 - would only be able to drive at Indy if someone else qualifies her car, which is unlikely.

But we won't know any of this until NASCAR gets around to publishing the official calendar.

(On the schedule below, think 'TSN' when you see FOX, SPEED or ESPN)

2012 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

Date                Site                                                                                                     Network

2/18                 Daytona International Speedway (Shootout)                                     FOX

2/19                 Daytona International Speedway (Daytona 500 Qualifying)              FOX

2/23                 Daytona International Speedway (Duel)                                            SPEED

2/26                 Daytona 500                                                                                       FOX

3/4                   Phoenix International Raceway                                                          FOX

3/11                 Las Vegas Motor Speedway                                                              FOX

3/18                 Bristol Motor Speedway                                                                     FOX

3/25                 Auto Club Speedway                                                                          FOX

4/1                   Martinsville Speedway                                                                        FOX

4/14                 Texas Motor Speedway                                                                     FOX

4/22                 Kansas Speedway                                                                              FOX

4/28                 Richmond International Raceway                                                      FOX

5/6                   Talladega Superspeedway                                                                 FOX

5/12                 Darlington Raceway                                                                           FOX

5/19                 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (Charlotte Motor Speedway)            SPEED

5/27                 Charlotte Motor Speedway                                                                 FOX

6/3                   Dover International Speedway                                                           FOX

6/10                 Pocono Raceway                                                                               TNT

6/17                 Michigan International Speedway                                                      TNT

6/24                 Infineon Raceway                                                                               TNT

6/30                 Kentucky Speedway                                                                          TNT

7/7                   Daytona International Speedway                                                       TNT

7/15                 New Hampshire Motor Speedway                                                     TNT

7/29                 Indianapolis Motor Speedway                                                            ESPN

8/5                   Pocono Raceway                                                                               ESPN

8/12                 Watkins Glen International                                                                  ESPN

8/19                 Michigan International Speedway                                                      ESPN

8/25                 Bristol Motor Speedway                                                                     ABC

9/2                   Atlanta Motor Speedway                                                                    ESPN

9/8                   Richmond International Raceway                                                      ABC

9/16                 Chicagoland Speedway                                                                      ESPN

9/23                 New Hampshire Motor Speedway                                                     ESPN

9/30                 Dover International Speedway                                                           ESPN

10/7                 Talladega Superspeedway                                                                 ESPN

10/13               Charlotte Motor Speedway                                                                 ABC

10/21               Kansas Speedway                                                                              ESPN

10/28               Martinsville Speedway                                                                        ESPN

11/4                 Texas Motor Speedway                                                                     ESPN

11/11               Phoenix International Raceway                                                          ESPN

11/18               Homestead-Miami Speedway                                                            ESPN

Earnhardt & Danica - birds of a feather

J.R. Fitzpatrick leaves GO Canada Racing; TV times for races

Although it might look a little strange on the outside, the reason that Rick Hendrick signed Dale Earnhardt Jr. to a five-year contract extension this week is the same as Earnhardt and Tony Stewart signing Danica Patrick to drive for them:

Auto racing – rightly or wrongly – is a commercial sport completely dependent on major money and drivers who are personally popular and can attract serious corporate dollars are always going to be most in demand.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t won a race since 2008 but he’s still the most popular driver in NASCAR. Patrick has never won a stock car race, period, and only has one Indy car win to her credit but is about to give Earnhardt a run for his money so far as popularity is concerned.

It might not be fair, but it’s the way it is.

I can remember going to some of the early Indy Racing League races in places like Phoenix and Nazareth and the USAC Silver Crown cars were always on the undercard. Terrific drivers like Dave Darland, Dave Steele and Tracy Hines would put on some wonderful shows.

In the press conferences afterward, at least one of those drivers would make a remark like, "if I had a rich uncle like some of those guys, I’d be in an Indy car too," and I’d feel sorry for the man who said that because it wasn’t just money that got some people into the big league and not others, and it sure wasn’t just talent that got some in and some not, but it was all of the above – plus timing plus luck. It’s all got to come together; one or two of those variables by themselves just won’t do it.

Earnhardt is where he is because he can drive the wheels off a race car, sure, but his last name hasn’t held him back either. Patrick has talent, charisma, a big sponsor and good looks. Nothing wrong with any of that.

If you’re a race team owner, and you can have a driver who will challenge for the win and bring a couple of million bucks to the table versus someone with talent and no cash, which one would you choose?

And if you can lock up somebody through 2017 like Rick Hendrick did this week with Dale Earnhardt Jr., so much the better.

Just about everywhere you turn these days, there are dueling Danica columns. Some people obviously like her and some people obviously don’t. At the end of the day, though, they’re all writing about Danica and if you’re trying to draw attention to yourself, as she is, do you really care what anybody says about you?

Of course not, because your sponsor, GoDaddy.com. won’t look at what’s said or written but will just count up the numbers and say, ‘Right on!

There used to be a saying in the newspaper biz: it doesn't matter what you say about me as long as you spell my name correctly. It still holds true, whether it's a voice on radio or TV or part of the so-called social media.

I was watching the Blue Jays beat the Orioles Thursday afternoon and the camera zeroed in on a two-seater Indy car taking people for rides around the temporary street circuit that’s been laid out in the vicinity of Camden Yards in Baltimore, site of this week’s American Le Mans Series and IZOD IndyCar Series double-header.

Here are the TV Times for all of this weekend’s races:

ALMS: Baltimore Grand Prix, Sat., 4:30 p.m. till 6:30. Sportsnet One, live; Sun., 4 p.m., ABC, delay.

INDYCAR: Baltimore Grand Prix, Sun., 11 p.m. TSN2, delay.

NASCAR: Trucks, Fri., 7:30 p.m. SPEED, live; Nationwide, Sat., 7:30 p.m . TSN2, live; Sprint Cup, Sun., 7:30 p.m. TSN2, live.

Speaking of NASCAR, Cambridge racer J.R. Fitzpatrick, who’s turned heads while driving in NASCAR’s trucks and Nationwide divisions, is a star of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and even finds time to run the occasional Can-Am TQ midget race, has severed his connection with Toronto financier Steve Meehan’s GO Canada Racing Team.

Fitzpatrick notified the motorsport media Thursday evening that he will no longer drive for the No. 67 Nationwide car and will concentrate in the meantime on the Canadian Tire Series. But he vows to be back in a Nationwide Series car before the season is over.

"I want to thank all the guys at the shop in Nashville for all their hard work," said Fitzpatrick, who finished fifth in the Nationwide race at Montreal two weeks ago, which was his third Top Ten finish in the Nationwide Series this season.

"I think I played a large role in helping GO Canada develop their program. Thanks to Steve Mehan for bringing me in at the beginning to do that."

Fitzpatrick added that he wants all his fans to be assured "that I will be making some really cool announcements about the continued development of my NASCAR career."

Kyle Busch loses licence for 45 days

NASCAR star Kyle Busch lost his licence for 45 days this week because of a speeding ticket he received in May.

Busch the Younger was at the wheel of a $400,000 Lexus and got himself a little carried away, going 128 miles an hour in a 45 zone.

He stopped immediately and cooperated with police. He was most apologetic

But here’s the rub.

In North Carolina, as is the case everywhere else, the officer cited Bush on two charges - for speeding and for reckless driving. This is a standard plea-bargain ploy: the defendant agrees to plead guilty to the first charge in exchange for having the second charge dropped. You see this sort of thing all the time. The prosecutors get their guilty pleas the easy way and don’t clog up the court system.

But that wasn’t the case this time and Bush’s lawyer spent most of the 30 minutes he spoke in defence of the driver by pointing out to the court how the particular prosecuting attorney in this case hadn’t given Bush that option, even though he’d offered that sweet little deal to all sorts of other people.

Now, Busch’s lawyer didn’t come out and say it but I will: that prosecutor is a NASCAR fan and he doesn’t like Kyle Busch and that’s why he let both those charges stand.

In any event, the judge passed sentence on Busch for the speeding infraction and simply ignored the more serious charge of reckless driving.

Want to bet that the judge is a Kyle Busch fan?

So you had a Kyle Busch hater and a Kyle Busch fan facing off. One a prosecutor and the other a judge.

Guess who won?

In the process, Kyle Busch won too. Kinda.

If you would like to read more about the cut and thrust that went on inside that courtroom, here's a link to the full story.

Here’s a surprise. African-American race driver Willy T. Ribbs is on the comeback trail. He’s going to get back into a race car – an Indy Lights car, to be precise – for the race at the Baltimore Grand Prix on Labour Day weekend.

The IZOD IndyCar Series and the American Le Mans Series will be racing through the streets of Baltimore then and the show will include support series like the Indy Lights.

Ribbs, 56, is an experienced road racer who raced in CART back in the 1990s. In fact, he was sponsored for a time by Bill Cosby. In recent years, he’s formed Willy T. Ribbs Racing with his friend and business partner Chris Miles of Starting Grid, Inc.

"Even though I have been out of the car for 10 years, I have never 'officially' retired," Ribbs said. "Chris said he got the idea for me to race again when he heard Wally Dallenbach say during an IndyCar broadcast that he was going to drive a Lights car in Edmonton.

"For whatever reason, Wally didn't do it, but the more Chris kept talking to me, the more I got pumped up about racing again and Baltimore is the perfect place to do it. I'm sure the consensus will be that I should not be racing against these young guns, but as Chris reminded me, when the [Sprint] Cup boys come down and race in the Trucks and Nationwide Series, no one seems to mind. So I told Chris, 'Done deal, I'm in!' "

Miles, a principal in Willy T. Ribbs Racing, facilitates opportunities for minority participation within all facets of the motorsports industry through his company, Starting Grid.

Finally, NASCAR announced Wednesday that the No. 11 team of Marty Gaunt out of Barrie, which competes in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series,  has been penalized as a result of rules violations committed last Saturday during the race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal.

The team was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-I (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20E-5.10.1A (Carburetor Eligibility: The carburetor must remain as supplied by the NASCAR-approved supplier – Unapproved carburetor modification; power valves.) of the 2011 NASCAR rule book. The violations were discovered during post-race inspection on Aug. 20.

Jonathan Davis, crew chief of the No. 11 car, has been fined $5,000, suspended from NASCAR until the fine is paid and placed on NASCAR probation until Sept. 21.

Car owner Gaunt and driver Jason Bowles of Ontario, Calif., who finished third in the race behind winner Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond, Que., and second-place finish Alex Tagliani of Montreal, have been penalized with the loss of 100 championship owner and 100 championship driver points, respectively.

Auto racing roundup; Is NASCAR coming to Toronto?

 
COURTESY OF EVA FOLEY

The picture above is of the first two Canadians to race in the Daytona 500 – Jim Bray of Brantford (left) who was the second (in 1964) and Richard (Dick) Foley of Montreal who was the first in 1959.

The two pioneers got together at Montreal this weekend where Bray had a car entered in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race on Saturday and Foley gave the field the green flag to start the race, which was won by former Champ Car and Formula Atlantic driver Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond., Que., who’s now trying to carve out a career in stock cars.

Ranger, who won this race a year ago, scored his second victory in four Canadian Tire Series starts this season. In all, Ranger has won 14 Canadian Tire races in his career and it was his third at Le Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.

Kerry Micks of Mt. Albert, Ont., was second and Jason Bowles of Ontario, Calif., finished third. Jeff Lapcevich of Grimsby and Alex Tagliani of Montreal were fourth and fifth.

Scott Steckly of Milverton, Ont., continues to lead the points standings after finishing seventh.

WILL MOSPORT BE ON NASCAR 2012 SCHEDULE?

Maybe.

But it sure sounds like it – if the track north of Bowmanville can be spiffed up enough to satisfy NASCAR.

Steve O’Donnell, who’s senior vice–president of racing operations for NASCAR, told NASCAR.com this weekend that if the August event at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve doesn’t continue, there are other Canadian facilities the sanctioning body might consider.

"We've gotten inquiries from a number of different venues, all with the desire for a Nationwide event in 2012," O’Donnell said. "We're weighing a lot of those options. The Canadian market is important to us."

Canadian racing legend Ron Fellows (Le Mans, ALMS, Grand Am Rolex, NASCAR, etc.) purchased Mosport in June, with two partners, and has let it be known the facility is open for big-event business and that includes NASCAR.

Said O’Donnell: "Ron's been in the industry for a long time and there's been interest from facilities in Toronto and other places in the United States as well," O'Donnell said. "So we're kind of weighing all those and making sure that No. 1, it fits for the fans and (that) it's in an event we think that the fans would want to see.

"Obviously it has to fit for the garage area and to make sure we think it's a benefit for them, and our television partners – so there are a lot of factors that weigh into the decision."

O’Donnell said Canadian race fans won’t have to wait long to find out if Montreal will continue on the schedule or whether other venues might be in play.

He said the 2012 Nationwide schedule would begin coming into much sharper focus – including the possibility of additional Canadian events – in a matter of weeks.

"Typically, we look at that mid-September time frame (for the following year’s Nationwide schedule to be released)," O'Donnell said. "We've got a number of agreements in place so you should start hearing some news fairly soon but usually mid-September is when we like to get that [schedule] out."

BUT COULD THAT ALSO MEAN TORONTO?

Okay, that was the real news. Now, let’s you and me have some fun.

1. Andrett-Green Racing (now Savoree Green) had a three-year agreement to run an Indy car race through the streets of the CNE and along Lake Shore Blvd. West. That agreement ended when this year’s race was held. As of this moment, there is no formal agreement in place to hold an Indy car race at the Ex next year.

2. The Indy car race has never come close to being anything like it was when CART was the sanctioning body. This year’s event drew in the vicinity of 25,000 spectators on race day. This race is not creating the excitement it once did.

3. The Ontario government granted $3 million to this race – a million bucks a year in public subsidy. There is no reason why this subsidy for a car race would not continue. Sure, somebody would have to apply for it, but it would probably be there.

4. The Quebec government turned up its nose when the promoters of the Montreal event asked for public money to continue to put on the event there, which is why the race this weekend might be the last.

5. There have been rumours for some time that the promoters of the Montreal stock car race and the Formula One race there (one and the same, by the way) want to promote a race in Toronto and it’s been assumed it would be an Indy car race. But with the absence of an agreement for an Indy car race (see above), and their relationship with NASCAR, the possibility of another kind of race in Toronto is very real.

6. However, Savoree-Green, with the help of $750,000 in public money, replaced the aged walls and fencing for this year’s Indy car race that had been in use since the first Molson Indy in 1986. The walls are significantly higher and stronger now. The last time I recall a circuit improvement of this magnitude was in 1992 when the original walls and fences at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway were replaced by higher walls and stronger fences. Shortly after that work was completed, it was announced that the Brickyard 400 for stock cars would be held in 1994. 

7. So, add up all of the above, and maybe even do a little reading between the lines, and I suggest that one way or another, the NASCAR Nationwide race that is likely on its way out of downtown Montreal might very well land in downtown Toronto next year.

Yes, instead of August in Montreal it would have to be July in Toronto but the Sprint Cup Series always has a break in the second or third week of July and that would be perfect because – natch – all of the top Sprint Cup drivers would want to drive in the first Nationwide race in Toronto, wouldn’t they?

(Allow me to suggest that if NASCAR came to the CNE and the promoters convinced Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick to join Danica Patrick - yep, she'll be running full-time in the Nationwide next year - and the rest of the Nationwide regulars, plus the usual Canadians like Ranger and Fitzpatrick, the 70,000 that used to show up on race day for the Molson Indy would look miniscule in comparison . . .)

Oh, and what would happen to the Honda Indy? Well, as I’ve been suggesting for the last while, it would (and should) go to Mosport where it would draw a huge crowd and everybody would be happy.

This has been whimsy, but if it happens, just remember that you read it here first.

CANADA’S 'NEXT F1 DRIVER' WICKENS WINS BIG

(and other weekend results and comments)

– Robert Wickens of Guelph and Toronto swept the World Series by Renault races at Silverstone in England this weekend. There was no admission for the Renault F3.5 headliner event, so 120,000 people watched the young Canadian win both poles and both races to regain the lead in the series.

– As everybody knows (or should know), Marcos Ambrose won the Nationwide Series race in Montreal at the weekend, with Alex Tagliani second and Michael McDowell third. Young Canadian J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge was fifth.

Other Canadians: Ron Fellows finished 11^th; Jacques Villeneuve was 27^th, Louis-Philippe Dumoulin was 28^th, Maryeve Dufault was 30^th, Patrick Carpentier was 32^nd, D.J. Kennington was 40^th and Andrew Ranger was 41^st.

Okay, two observations about Ambrose’s victory.

First, I wonder about the calibre of drivers in that series. Ambrose was T-boned by Jacques Villeneuve (who’s resembled a battering ram every time he’s gone racing this year, it seems) and knocked around. Parts of his car were knocked askew. Yet he had time to deliver payback to Villeneuve (he spun him out) and get back to the front of the field before the race ended.

He’s either awfully good or else just about everybody else in that race was not so good.

Second, a part from his car – a spring – was seized by NASCAR afterward and the implication was that it was an illegal part. Which meant his team cheated. NASCAR’s policy is that the winner remains the winner and the team gets fined and loses points, if guilty.

But is that right? Is it fair? Cheating’s been going on forever but those questions must still be asked.

– Kyle Busch won the Sprint Cup race at Michigan, with Jimmie Johnson second and Brad Keselowski third. It was nothing special. With three races left before the Chase, Clint Bowyer, Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle are on the outside looking in. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart are hanging on by their fingernails.

- Kevin Harvick won the Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan. It had more excitement than the Cup race.

– The American Le Mans Series must think it’s the IndyCar Series.

Muscle Milk Aston Martin Racing had one of its best days in racing, if not the best, at Road America on Saturday, taking its third victory in a row in a four-hour endurance race that was more of a sprint to the checkered flag that resulted in the closest finish in ALMS history.

Asked to do the impossible of "push hard and save fuel," Klaus Graf drove an amazing race to hold off a charging Guy Smith in the Dyson Racing Lola in the final 30 minutes of the race and capture the win by 0.112 seconds.

Wow.

Canadians: Tony Burgess of Toronto finished third in the Prototype 1 class and seventh overall; Kyle Marcelli of Barrie was 16^th overall and sixth in the Prototype Challenge class; Kenny Wilden of Oakville was 35^th overall and 16^th in GT.

In Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Racing, Jon Fogerty and Alex Gurney won the race at Montreal, with Max Angelelli and Ricky Taylor second and David Donohue and Darren Law third – all driving Daytona Prototypes.

Canadians: Mark Wilkins finished eighth in the AIM Autosport Riley-BMW GAMMA 88-sponsored No. 61. Paul Dalla Lana of Toronto was fourth in GT and 14^th overall.

– One of the most exciting races at Circuit Gille-Villeneuve this weekend was the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Series race that saw motor problems and other mechanical woes sideline a lot of the heavy favourites. In the end, Brampton auto dealer Bob Attrell won the Super Touring class.

No less than seven race leaders dropped out because of blown engines or other mechanical difficulties, handing Attrell the victory. Jocelyn Hebert of Trois-Rivieres won the Touring Class race.

- Brett McCormick of Saskatoon, who won the Canadian Superbike Championship on Saturday at Mosport, had his bid for a perfect season in the series sponsored by Parts Canada fall short in the wet final round on Sunday.

According to an email from John Hopkins, one of the wildest Superbike races in many years saw Brantford's Jordan Szoke score his first victory when McCormick crashed on the final lap.

Matt McBride of Mississauga scored a career high second place finish Sunday behind Szoke  and Sherbrooke, Que.’s Francis Martin. 

Szoke, who saw his five-year reign nas national champion end on Saturday, was elated after the Sunday race. “This is one of the greatest wins of my career,” he said. “It’s tough seeing your number one plate taken away, especially after having it for so long but this will make the winter a little easier.”

Dixon wins in IndyCar; Hinchcliffe future uncertain

UPDATE: Scott Dixon won the IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio. Dario Franchitti was second and Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third. Alex Tagliani was Montreal was sixth.

James Hinchcliffe of Oakville finished 20th but led 26 laps of the 85-lap race. There have been rumours for several weeks that "Hinch" doesn't have any sponsorship money left and wasn't expected to drive for Newman-Haas Racing past the race in Edmonton.

But it was reported on the telecast that Hinchcliffe was in the second team car today because of the largesse of one of the team's owners. Whether his Indy car career will continue at this time is the question.

Meantime, the NASCAR  Sprint Cup race at Pocono was suspended because of rain. Joey Logana was leading with Jimmie Johnson second and Denny Hamlin third.

Earlier, lots happening – and has already happened – this weekend, so let’s get right to it.

- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Iowa Speedway Saturday night, courtesy of his teammate, Carl Edwards.

Stenhouse was leading and was coming out of the fourth turn on the last lap when his engine let go. Edwards came up behind him and rammed him, pushing him across the finish line in the process.

As NASCAR.com reported: "Edwards, who led 109 of the race's 250 laps, actually lifted Stenhouse's car as they approached the finish line. Both cars were out of control as they crossed the line. Edwards' car came to rest against the outside of the pit road wall."

Neither driver was injured. Pole-sitter Elliott Sadler was third.

– First off the mark today will be the rain-postponed NASCAR Camping World Series truck race from Pocono International Raceway. Held over from Saturday, it will get the green flag at 9 a.m. or shortly thereafter and can be seen on SpeedTV. Kevin Harvick is on the pole. UPDATE: Harvick won the race Sunday morning.

– Joey Logano is on pole for the NASCAR Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono International Raceway today in a race that can be seen on TSN starting with the pre-race show at noon. Kasey Kahne will start second with Martin Truex Jr. third.

Nothing like a little pressure to make a guy perform, eh? The word was that if Carl Edwards left Jack Roush Racing to go with Joe Gibbs, Logano would be cut loose. Edwards decided to stay put but that doesn’t mean Logano is home free and has to either win or run really well to keep his job.

- Meantime, for what it’s worth, Kyle Petty doesn’t think Danica Patrick is ready to make the jump to Sprint Cup.

Okay, but – err, Kyle – the yet-to-be-announced move will be that Patrick will run a full season of Nationwide Series races with a couple of Cup starts thrown in – oh, and the Indy 500, of course.

That doesn’t sound to me like she’s going to go straight to Cup, which seems to be what you’re objecting to.

Now, I like Kyle Petty because he’s done a lot for charity. I think he has a good heart. And he’s a good talker and that’s why he’s good on TV.

But for a guy who was a colossal failure as a racing driver to be passing judgment on anybody else’s ability to drive a racing car is just a bit much. Petty was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and lasted as long as he did simply because of his name.

In 30 years he started nearly 850 Cup races and won exactly eight of them.

Wow.

He spent no time at all in the minors. His first start was an ARCA race at the Daytona Speedway, which he did win. He went to Winston Cup shortly thereafter and crashed a lot – from the beginning of his career to the end.

The guys who count here – the Dale Earnhardt Juniors, the Tony Stewarts and the Ryan Newmans – acknowledge she was super talent and needs seasoning. She knows that too. That’s why she’s going Nationwide.

Maybe Kyle Petty might have been a better racing driver if he’d spent some time in the smalls before jumping straight to the bigs.

– Scott Dixon won the pole Saturday for today’s IZOD IndyCar Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, while Justin Wilson suffered a back injury in a crash and will be replaced by Simon Pagenaud.

Ryan Briscoe will start second in the race with Dario Franchitti third.

James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, driving for Newman-Haas, will start seventh beside the second Canadian in the race, Alex Tagliani of Montreal. It's Hinch's best road-course starting position.

Simona de Silvestro is the fastest woman, qualifying 14^th.

Wilson went off the track during morning practice Saturday and suffered an anterior compression fracture of the fifth vertebra and will travel to Indianapolis today for treatment. Pagenault auditioned for a 2012 seat with Sam Schmidt Motorsports at the Mid-Ohio course this week so was up to speed to take over from Wilson. He qualified 19th.

This race can be seen this afternoon live on TSN2 at 2 p.m.

– At the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres, Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond, Que., won the pole Saturday for today’s NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race that can be seen live on TSN at 5 p.m. Ranger, by the way, has won the last three stock car races at the temporary road circuit.

Scott Steckly of Milverton, Ont., will start beside Ranger on the front row while defending series champion D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas, Ont., qualified third.

– Esteban Guerrieri will start from pole for today’s Firestone Indy Lights race at Trois-Rivieres. Up-and-comer Conor Daly will start second with Peter Dempsey third. Lone Canadian in the field is David Ostella of Markham, who will go off 12th.

– In the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Series race Saturday at Trois-Rivieres, Nick Wittmer of Hudson, Que., won the Super Touring Class with Richard Boake of King City, Ont., second and Dean Fantin of Amherstburg third.

In Touring Class, Jacques Belanger – who was been racing for 20 years – scored his first victory. Jocelyn Hébert of Becancour, Que., was second and Alain Lauziere of Vaudreuil-Dorion was third.

On Friday night, the Touring Cars raced after sundown in front of packed grandstands and Matthieu Audette of Ste-Anne-des-Lacs, Que., was the winner, with Wittmer in second and Sasha Anis of Mississauga third.

In Touring Class, Lauziere was first, with Tom Kwok of Markham second and Hébert third.

The race ended with a red flag as Touring Class drivers P.J. Groenke of Toronto (who’s been hotter than a pistol lately) and Michel Sallenbach got together while Groenke was trying to pass and he wound up rolling his car and sliding down the backstraight on his roof.

Although the car was demolished, Groenke was not hurt and drove in Saturday’s race, finishing fifth.

– Jordan Szoke of Brantford will start from pole for today’s Canadian Superbike Championship by Parts Canada round at Atlantic Motorsport Park in Shubenacadie, N.S. Series points leader Brett McCormick of Saskatoon will start second and Andrew Nelson of Kars, Ont., will go off third.

Senna videos, F1 on pay TV and other racing subjects

In case you missed columnist Dave Feschuk’s gripping review of the Ayrton Senna film, here’s the link.

Also, if you go to this link, you will find a page of YouTube videos on Senna, some quite emotional.

Paul Menard was as unlikely a winner of the Brickyard 400 Sunday as Trevor Bayne was in February in winning the Daytona 500.

It was his first win in nearly 170 Sprint Cup starts (see post below) but it was as much a victory for his father, John, as it was for him.

John Menard, a multi-millionaire owner of a chain of U.S. Midwest Home Hardware-type stores, has been trying for more than 30 years to win at Indianapolis, sponsoring Indy cars as well as stock cars.

John Menard was an early supporter of Tony George’s Indy Racing League and yet the closest he came to winning the Indy 500 was 1999 when he hired CART driver Robby Gordon to pilot his car, only for Gordon to run out of fuel on the last lap and wind up fourth.

John Menard’s name has frequently been linked with others seeking to purchase the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, if it should ever be put up for sale. Bruton Smith’s name, and Tony George’s, are often mentioned in the same breath as his.

Once upon a time, when I went to the movies, I paid my admission and got coming attractions and a movie. Now, for the same price, I also get 10 minutes of commercials.

It’s the way of the world and is another reason why nobody should be surprised that Formula One will be available half the time on pay TV in England, starting in 2012.

The news that F1 has gone and done this, literally without warning, has generated a hot response on this blog and elsewhere. Many people have said that if this also turns out to be the case on this side of the pond that they will swear off F1 forever.

Bernie Ecclestone doesn’t think this will happen and I’m not so sure either. You’re either a fan of something, or you’re not. If you aren’t a fan, or are on the fence, you will care less. But if you are a fan, your resolve to give up the sport will only last for so long.

I give up on the Maple Leafs every year around Nov. 1. I swear I will never watch those bums play another game. This lasts, usually, until about Nov. 15. I even pay Rogers extra to include Leafs TV on my pay TV subscription, that’s how much I hate those guys.

By the way, let’s not split hairs about what’s pay TV and what isn’t. It’s all pay TV in Canada (or just about) because most of us pay Rogers or Bell to provide us with our television. I’m talking about the possibility, which I don’t think is that far off, when we will be asked to pay a premium to watch F1 races. Ergo, that's what I'm talking about when I say "pay TV."

It’s worked for professional wrestling and mixed martial arts; why not F1? And why not the Super Bowl? And the Grey Cup? How about the Olympics? The World Series? No, not next year or the year after, but some time in the not-too-distance future.

It’s inevitable with all pro sports and particularly F1. Sponsorships and rights fees to televise the races will only raise so much money. F1 is a privately owned big, big business and how successful the business is depends on net worth and cash flow.

To keep it going, the money’s got to come from somewhere and sooner or later it’s going to come directly from you and me.

There have been 14 different winners of the 20 NASCAR Sprint Cup races held so far in 2011. Keven Harvick and Kyle Busch lead with three wins apiece, with Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon winning two each.

Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Trevor Bayne, Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski, Regan Smith and Paul Menard have one each.

Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are the only drivers in the top ten who haven’t made it to Victory Lane.

Speaking of Edwards, there are reports, rumours, etc., that he has been offered a $10 million signing bonus to take over the No. 20 Home Depot car at Joe Gibbs Racing. Tony Stewart had that ride and handed it off to Joey Logano, who hasn’t performed. Edwards would be a good choice.

It would also give Joe Gibbs a break. Edwards is his own man; a mature guy. Gibbs had to put up with Stewart's anger management issues and handled that just about flawlessly. Then he inherited Logano's father. And Kyle Busch's antics. Busch seems to have settled down completely. With Logano off the team, dad will be elsewhere also. Gibbs will be able to breathe a big sigh of relief.

Before we leave NASCAR, Steve Arpin of Fort Frances, Ont., finished 13th in the Mike's Hard Lemonade-sponsored truck in the Camping World Series race at Lucas Oil Raceway outside Indianapolis last Friday night. Arpin had qualified 19th.

There were lots of empty seats at the Grand Prix of Hungary, unlike the early years of the modern era. The first was held in 1986 in front of a packed house and I always thought the major media missed the real story there.

It marked the first time that an F1 race – Formula One being the epitome of capitalism – had taken place behind what was then called the Iron Curtain. It was the beginning of the end of Soviet Union-style communism. By the end of the 1980s, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was all over.

F1 going to pay TV; VIDEO: Kasey Kahn’s flips sprint car out of track

That got your attention, didn’t it? (The F1 report is down below.)

Several days before NASCAR star Tony Stewart took on the World of Outlaws sprint car regulars at Ohsweken Speedway and beat them (that happened Wednesday night at the Six Nations Reserve track near Brantford), another Sprint Cup regular, Kasey Kahne, was racing with the Outlaws at Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania.

This is what happened:  watch video here

Kahne survived but it was a close call and his NASCAR employers might be having a talk with him, even as we speak, considering that the NASCAR circus is in Indianapolis for a race Sunday.

Stewart and Kahne are throwbacks to the old days of barnstorming racing drivers, or "Outlaw" drivers, who didn’t race regularly at a particular track or in a particular series but showed up now and again to beat the regulars and make off with the prize pot, which was usually large, which attracted them in the first place.

The locals didn’t like ‘em in the old days and – if truth be told – the regular Outlaw tour drivers today probably don’t really like ‘em all that much either. I mean, Tony and Kasey might be okay guys but Stewart won $10,000 at Ohsweken Wednesday night and that’s a pay packet any one of the other tour regulars would have been very happy to pocket.

The World of Outlaws series is at Brockville Speedway tonight and in Drummondville, Que., tomorrow night. Stewart and Kahne won’t be there.

By the way, an aside: If Kahne is not in the NASCAR Chase for the Championship, it is a good bet he will be in an Indy car at Las Vegas in mid-October for that final IZOD IndyCar Series race in which a $5 million bonus will be paid to any outsider (or "Outlaw") who can beat the regulars.

FORMULA ONE GOING TO PAY TV

I have been suggesting for some time now that as more and more countries balk at continuing to pay extortion money in the millions to Bernie Ecclestone for the pleasure of presenting F1 races on their home soil, the chances of making you and me pay to watch the races on special pay TV channels has been increasing.

Well, the penny dropped today when it was revealed that Britain’s BBC (where TSN gets its signal) will only carry half the races next year and the rest will go on Sky TV, which is a pay TV channel in Britain that charges more than 30 British pounds a month ($45 a month Canadian) for its sports package of soccer, rugby and – now – F1 races.

Canada was the first to call Berni’s bluff and is now paying a sanctioning fee that is significantly lower than it was previously. We lost our race for a year but it paid off (at least in the short term). Other countries are starting to follow suit. Australia has served notice it no longer will pay up, as has the local and state government where the Nurburgring is located in Germany, and so-on. Even Malaysia, Singapore and China have been rumbling about the costs. (It seems that only the newbies, India and the U.S., are willing to fork over outrageous amounts, but give them a few years and they'll see the light.)

F1 is going to have to get the money from somewhere, so guess what? Get ready to shell out.

It’s too early to say what the implications are for Canadian fans in the short term but I’ll bet you right now that within five years (and maybe a lot sooner), you’ll have to pay Rogers or Bell a pretty penny to watch those races.

They already have Major League Baseball packages you can buy, and NHL and NFL packages, and WWE wrestling pay-per-view and MMA pay-per-view.

How does F1 pay-per-view sound?

Meantime, it’s still free (okay, you have to pay a cable fee to get "free" TV, but you get my drift) and you can watch qualifying from Hungary tomorrow at 7:55 a.m. and the race on Sunday at the same time – all on TSN. Lewis Hamilton’s still hot, with Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Mark Webber and Sebastien Vettel rounding out the top five in practice today.

NASCAR, of course, is in Indianapolis for the Brickyard 400 (TSN Sunday at noon; green flag at 1 p.m. approx.) The Camping World Truck Series will race on SPEED tonight at 7:30 – they’re at Lucas Oil Raceway (which used to be Indianapolis Raceway Park) – and the Nationwide Series will race on TSN2 Saturday night at 7:30, also at the Lucas Oil track.

No IndyCar this week. They go to Mid-Ohio next weekend for a double-header with the ALMS.

Racing: Whither Vettel? IndyCar penalties and a hot ALMS race

When you’re on assignment at one race (the American Le Mans Series race at Mosport, see post below), it’s a challenge trying to keep up with what’s going on elsewhere. But here goes.

Formula One: When I turned on my recording equipment Sunday night to watch the race, I wondered if I’d somehow (or it somehow) made a mistake. There were three guys on the podium, all right, but Sebastien Vettel wasn’t among them.

There was Lewis Hamilton, the winner, with Fernando Alonso second and Mark Webber third. I had to go back further to watch Vettel cross the line in fourth, with Felipe Massa fifth.

Good grief! That’s the first time Vettel hasn’t been on the podium in eons! And as I rolled the recording backwards even further, I actually saw him spin!

What is the world coming to?

I refuse to believe there are chinks in that guy’s armour. Maybe he didn’t like the chilly weather in Germany (unlike the sweltering heat at Mosport). Maybe he got out of bed on the wrong side.

Whichever, he will be back in form again soon and at the end of the season we’ll find out what was really going on this weekend (maybe his girlfriend dumped him, or Red Bull racing czar Helmut Marko didn't say good morning to him. Or something).

Anyway, a fast-forward review of the race showed Hamilton deserved to win and it was a fighting Alonso who managed to make it into second. The championship is over but those guys are showing that they’ll go down swinging.

Three things to chew on between now and the next race in Hungary next weekend . . .

– Although there is a contract to hold this race through 2016, the government has informed B. Ecclestone, et al, that this was the last German Grand Prix to receive a huge public subsidy. So add Germany to the growing list of countries where the government has said enough!

It won’t happen for a few years but every time there is one of these announcements, the closer F1 is to going on pay television. Trust me. It’s coming and it will happen sooner than anybody realizes. Regardless of what Bernie says.

– Timo Glock has signed a contract to race for Virgin F1 through the 2014 season. Is that nuts, or what? Glock finished 17^th on Sunday, three laps behind the winner. Just the kind of guy you want to sign to a long-term contract, right?

– Although he sat out the German Grand Prix, Lotus insists it wants to sign Jarno Trulli to a contract for 2012. Is that nuts, or what? Trulli finished 23^rd in the last race, the British GP. And his replacement for this weekend, Karun Chandhock, finished 20^th, four laps behind, in Germany. Why would Lotus want to keep either one of those guys?

IZOD IndyCar Series: So after not calling any penalties for avoidable contact in Toronto two weeks ago, when there were a whole bunch of avoidable accidents, the IndyCar race officials were handing them out left, right and centre in Edmonton on Sunday.

Alex Tagliani, Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay received drive-throughs for plowing into people. E.J. Viso would have received one also but Race Control determined that since he lost a lap in his accident it was penalty enough.

Somebody else who would have qualified was Graham Rahal, who was knocked off the track on the first lap and proceeded to drive right back on and into the path of Canada’s own Paul Tracy. The ensuing collision put them both out - so no penalty.

Tracy would have had every right to be boiling over with anger at Rahal’s stupidity but since he did the same thing at San Jose a few years ago (and drove into the side of fellow Canadian Tagliani at the time) he probably figured what the hell: what goes around comes around.

In any event, Will Power won the race Sunday on the newly configured City Centre Airport circuit with last year’s winner Helio Castroneves second (what? He didn’t win last year? Oh, yeah – that’s right. They penalized him for blocking. The phantom block; maybe that’s why he was on his best behaviour this year . . .) and Dario Franchitti finished third.

Top Canadian was James Hinchcliffe, who finished 15^th, while Tag was 17^th and Tracy was officially 26^th and last.

Top woman was . . . guess who? Danica Patrick in ninth.

Next race is in two weeks on a twin bill with the American Le Mans Series at Mid-Ohio.

Question: should the ALMS race in Toronto with the Indy cars or should the Indy cars race at Mosport with the ALMS?

They had a whopping big crowd at Mosport for the ALMS. I suggest records could be broken if the Indy cars returned to their natural road-course home. Put those two series together for a weekend and it would be like the grand old days of Formula One out there.

One last observation. I don’t recall race promoters ever getting as many pats on the back as Octane Motorsport Events has as the result of the Edmonton race. It strikes me as being a bit over the top when newspaper columnists as well as the sanctioning body positively gush over somebody doing their job.

Is there something going on? I mean, there have been rumours that Octane would like to take over promotion of the Toronto Indy. So is this part of the campaign?

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series: Scott Steckly of Milverton, Ont., driving a Canadian Tire-sponsored Dodge, won the NASCAR Canada race Saturday night at the Motoplex Speedway and Event Park in Vernon, B.C., a race he won a year ago. It was Steckly’s 10th career victory and his first since he won the season opener at Mosport Speedway in May.

Defending series champion D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas, who led a race-high 135 laps, finished a close second in his familiar Castrol Edge Dodge while Kerry Micks of Mt. Albert, Ont., was third in his Dickies/Beyond Digital Imaging Ford.

Ron Beauchamp Jr. of Windsor and Mark Dilley of Barrie completed the top five. Don Thomson Jr. of Hamilton was sixth with Pete Shepherd III of Brampton seventh and J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge eighth. Nathan Weenk of Lethbridge was ninth and Jim White of Kamloops completed the top 10.

The race was slowed 12 times by caution; the race lead exchanged hands eight times among three drivers. In the point standings, Steckly increased his lead over Kennington to 97 points. Fitzpatrick remains in third followed by Thomson and Micks.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will race at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway in Saskatoon on Wednesday.

Other racing: The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series had the weekend off and drivers will next saddle up for the Brickyard 400 at Indy next weekend. The "400," by the way, represents the number of fans they’re expecting at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. . .

Even the Sprint Cup guys like Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick who own teams in the Nationwide and Camping World Trucks took the weekend off and put other drivers in their vehicles.

One guy who should have taken a weekend off was Kasey Kahne, who decided to do a little World of Outlaws sprint car racing and went flying right out of the ballpark at Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania.

Kahne won’t be running with them but the Outlaws will be at Ohsweken Speedway on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford on Wednesday night. From there, they go to Brockville Speedway and to race tracks in Quebec before heading back to the U.S.A.

Meantime, it was not the greatest of days for Canadians in the Grand Am Series races in New Jersey.

In the Rolex Sports Car race, the AIM Autosport of Woodbridge No. 61 Daytona Prototype normally wheeled by Mark Wilkins of Toronto and American Burt Frisselle was MIA from the race won by Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas.

In the Continental Tire race, Paul Dalla Lana of Toronto finished sixth in the race won by Billy Johnson and Jack Roush Jr. Karl Thomson of Toronto, driving for his Compass 360 Racing team, finish 21^st overall and 9^th in the ST class. Scott Maxwell of Toronto was 46^th overall and classified 20^th in the GS class. Ashley McCalmont of Dundas was 49^th overall and 23^rd in GS.