Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

Electric-car racing and the NASCAR Canada schedule is out

My friend, Gary Morton, has another idea – and he might really be on to something this time.

You’ll recall that he was the fellow I quoted a few weeks ago as saying the solution to the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park controversy is to just do what the founders of the place did back in 1961: contract "motor" and "sport" into one word, Mosport, and call the place Canadian Tire Mosport Park and everybody would be happy.

Three things:

– First, and this sort of thing is inevitable, some people wrote and said Gary was way behind because this had been suggested before, which was news to me or I would have put it in the paper sooner.

– Many others wrote to say it was a wonderful idea, because they hadn’t heard anybody suggest anything like it before either.

– Last, it’ll never happen. Canadian Tire Corp. bought the naming rights to the place and that’s what they want to call it. The signage, the letterhead and the souvenirs have all either been changed, or are on order, and there’s no turning back.

In the short term, anyway.

But as I said, he has another idea and it has to do with electric cars and racing – two things that keep turning up in the motorsport news cycle with a degree of regularity these days.

For instance, last week it was announced that Rome would become the first European city where a round of the FIA Formula E Championship would be held, in 2014. The first city to announce a date in what is promised to be a 10-race series was Rio do Janeiro, in August.

Still no word on a North American city but there will be likely be one or two. A full schedule is promised soon.

This is for real, folks. The FIA is behind it and McLaren has announced that it will design and build the powertrain for the first Formula E cars, in partnership with Spark Racing Technology (SRT).

They’re going to build 42 cars to get the championship going with, hopefully, 10 teams and 20 drivers. Formula E, however, is an "open" championship and other car designers and constructors are being encouraged to build a Formula E car.

My friend "Mort" says he has the answer.

"Take the Delta Wing car and put an all-electric motor in it, preferably one built by Tesla," he writes. "Get the universities involved – Virgina Tech., U of T, Queen’s, Cal Tech., MIT, etc. It’s the perfect way to save open-wheel racing in North America."

He got a big response to his Mosport suggestion. We’ll see how he does on this one.

Other Monday Morning Morning Roundup items:

- The 2013 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 schedule was issued at the weekend and features 12 races at 11 tracks across five provinces. Of those dozen races, three of them will be held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park north of Bowmanville – two on the road course and one on the oval speedway.

The series will open on the road course at Old Mosport on the traditional Victoria Day weekend in May and race there again in June on the oval. Labour Day weekend will be the biggie, though, when the stock cars share the stage with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

The Canadian series has two other road-course races, both in Quebec - at the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres and at Circuit ICAR at Mirabel Airport.

Short track oval speedway races will be held at Autodrome St. Eustache, Riverside Speedway in Nova Scotia, Motoplex Speedway in Vernon, B,.C., Auto Clearing Motor Speedway in Sakatoon, Delaware Speedway outside of London, Ont., and Barrie Speedway.

The season will wrap up, as it traditionally does, on Sept. 21 at Kawartha Speedway near Peterborough.

The schedule was issued at the Night of Champions Touring Awards at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte on Saturday night.

D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas, who won his second NASCAR Canada title in three years this season, was among those honoured at the affair. Martin Roy was named Rookie of the Year in the Canadian series and the Most Popular Driver award went to Ray Courtemanche Jr. (and I have no idea how that happened . . .).

– Lotus has been released from its contract by IndyCar, so the only engine suppliers in 2013 will be Chevrolet and Honda. They shouldn’t have any trouble supplying the field because I suggest car count will become a story again. We won’t cross that bridge till later but it is highly unlikely that 25 or 26 cars will be showing up for every race, as was the case this year.

– 12-year-old Devlin DeFrancesco of Toronto, who won a Canadian karting championship this season, travels to Brazil next weekend for the famous 12-hour Gran ja Viana 500 kart race. His teammates? None other than Tony Kanaan and Rubens Barrichello.

Another Canadian youngster will also be making the trip. Jamie Riberdy will represent the Brian Stewart Racing Karting Championship Series and his trip is being paid for by Luis Ruibal and Wagner Rossi of MG Tires.

Care to keep an eye on these kids? Follow the action at: www.betocarrero.com.br/500milhas

– The World of Outlaws sprint car series issued their 2013 schedule last week and it’s a killer. Get this: they will race more than 90 times from February until November. Their Canadian swing starts on Sat., July 27, at Drummondville, Que., and goes to Cornwall Motor Speedway on the Sunday. Then, it's on to Ohsweken Speedway on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford two nights later on Tuesday, July 30.

The last two times the Outlaws raced at Ohsweken, NASCAR star Tony Stewart was the winner. Will he make it a hat trick in 2013? You can bet he’ll try.

– Austin is after the FIA to give it another date for its Grand Prix because it was discovered that the 2013 event (Nov. 17) is being held the same weekend as a Texas Longhorns football game.

They just found that out? That football schedule's been out for months! Don’tcha think somebody might have looked and told the FIA to take that into consideration? Just wondering . . .

Roundup: NASCAR stock cars to join trucks at Old Mosport

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park has announced its major event schedule for 2013 and the really good news is that two of Canada’s finest racing series will be on the program next Labour Day weekend with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire stock cars and the Canadian Touring Car Series sedans will be sharing the legendary road circuit north of Bowmanville, formerly known as Mosport, with the Camping World trucks, which make up one-third of NASCAR’s top travelling series, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide stock cars being the other two.

The NASCAR Canada stock cars will actually be racing at Old Mosport three times next year. The Canadian Tire Series will headline the annual, traditional, Victoria Day SpeedFest on the road course that will also feature the Trans-Am Series, the Canadian Touring Cars and the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada.

And in addition to Victoria Day in May and Labour Day in September, the stock cars will also race at the Old Mosport oval on June 22.

Other big events at Canadian Tire Mosport Park (heh, heh) next summer will be the American le Mans Series on July 18-21, making its last stop before unification with the Grand-American Road Racing Series the following year; the Canadian Historic Grand Prix on June 14-16 and the Canadian Superbike Doubleheader Weekend in August.

More information and tickets can be found at: www.canadiantiremotorsportpark.com.

Meantime, the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada has announced a special ticket package for next June that will allow a person to purchase a reserved seat in a different grandstand for each day of the three-day event.

Quantities are limited, so if you want in you’d better get cracking. Ticket combinations come in three packages - gold, silver and bronze and are on sale for $485, $449 and $267.50, respectively. More information at 514 350-0000 or 1-855-790-1245. Or go to www.circuitgillesvilleneuve.ca.

And tickets for the 2013 Honda Indy Toronto will go on sale next Monday, Dec. 10. And remember, the event will now feature two official, fully-sanctioned IZOD IndyCar Series races, one with a standing start on Saturday and a second with a rolling start on Sunday. Each event will be full length, with full points and full prize money.

The promoters are making changes to some of the grandstands. They plan to build three new “super-structure” grandstands – one at Turn 10 (consolidating three grandstands), a taller structure at Turn 11, and a Turn 3 Grandstand that will see the addition of 15 rows.

According to a release, the switch to larger grandstands will result in an important additional benefit: greater track-side access for General Admission ticketholders and fans who might wander around looking for multiple viewpoints. Tickets start at $35 for General Admission. For more information, go to www.hondaindy.com.

Here’s a change of pace: The Canadian Motortsport Hall of Fame has launched a new, redesigned, website — www.cmhf.ca

This easy-to-navigate website details the history of motorsport in Canada and features biographies, including photos, of more than 150 inductees.

Said general manager Sid Priddle: “Thanks to the development efforts of highly respected freelance journalist (and Wheels Insider) Gary Grant, CMHF is able to bring you this new look. Gary is also responsible for the creation of our Facebook page.”

As is the case with any new project, the website is a work in progress. However, the hall hopes to keep the site informative and current.

And the CMHF is looking forward to your feedback. Just click on “contact” and submit any comments or questions.

Meantime, Andretti Autosport introduced its drivers lineup for 2013 on Wednesday and it’s the same as 2012 with two minor twists. Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay will carry the No. 1 on his car instead of his familiar 28 (although “28” is included in the livery) and Marco Andretti will drive car No. 25, instead of 26. They have their reasons. James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, meantime, will continue aboard the No. 27 Go Daddy car.

Conor Daly, the son of ex-F1 and Indy car star Derek Daly who cut many of his racing teeth on the Ontario Formula Ford circuit driving for Brian Graham, will test for A.J. Foyt's IndyCar team at Sebring soon. Daly had designs on a career in Formula One but the IndyCar test would indicate he’s going to Plan B. He’s smart. You have to be the absolute best and have all the connections and the money needed to get into F1. That’s a triple whammy and very few young athletes have all three. It’s why I really hoped Guelph’s Robert Wickens would have taken a crack at IndyCar a year ago when his path to F1 was blocked. Believe it or not, it might be too late now.

Here’s not very good news. The Star Mazda Series is for sale and whether a buyer can be found in time for the 2013 season is questionable. In a letter to drivers and sponsors, Star Mazda owner Gary Rodrigues said the series would fold if it can’t be sold.

It seems that it doesn’t only cost a fortune to go racing these days, it costs as much or more to build a platform for racing.

Here are the nominees for the Mario Andretti Trophy as the SPEED performer of the year:

2010 SPEED Performer of the Year Sebastian Vettel (F1), Fernando Alonso (F1), Brad Keselowski (NASCAR), Jorge Lorenzo (MotoGP), Casey Stoner (MotoGP), Ryan Hunter-Reay (IndyCar), Antron Brown (NHRA), Kyle Larson (USAC), Sammy Swindell (WoO), Sebastien Loeb (World Rally), Andre Lotterer (WEC), Max Biaggi (World Superbike), Scott Pruett (Grand-Am), Donny Schatz (WoO), Josh Hayes (AMA Pro Superbike) and Ryan Villopoto (Supercross).

Andretti will present the trophy, a 100-pound sculpture created by bronze artist Elie Hazak, as part of a SPEED Center special on Jan. 27.

Any guesses who'll win?

Old Mosport gets NASCAR truck race

Canada is getting a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in 2013.

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park co-owner Ron Fellows announced today that the circuit had been given the green light by NASCAR to plan a truck race for next Labour Day weekend.

"You could say that I am extremely pleased," said Fellows about the Sun., Sept. 1, 2013 date.

The event will be the first  Canadian stop for the truck series and will mark the first time in 13 years that a Camping World Truck Series race will take place on a road course.

The announcement had been expected for several months, and suggestions of a NASCAR race at Old Mosport had accelerated following the announcement that the NASCAR Nationwide Series would not return to Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal next year.

There had been speculation that the Nationwide race would be moved to the Canadian Tire circuit but that race went, instead, to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course that happens to be owned by Kim Green and Kevin Savoree, who also own the Honda Indy Toronto race that is run through the streets of the CNE every July.

There continues to be optimism that following a successful promotion of the Camping World Truck Series next Labour Day that a Nationwide Series race at CTMP could follow.

But first.

“We're thrilled to be able to bring the Camping World Truck Series to Canadian motorsport fans,” said Myles Brandt, President and General Manager of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. “We’re looking forward to creating an unforgettable experience for both fans and drivers alike."

“With a thriving community of world class drivers and incredible fans, the arrival of the Camping World Truck Series in Canada is a testament to the growth of motorsport over the years,” said Allan MacDonald, Senior Vice President, Automotive at Canadian Tire, in a release.

“Between the truck series race and the return of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, 2013 is set to be a landmark year for motorsports in Canada.”

Fellows told the Star that although it's too early to announce other races for the Labour Day weekend, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series stock cars would appear to be a fit.

“We’re excited to announce the addition of a world-class facility like Canadian Tire Motorsport Park to our NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule for 2013,” said Steve O’Donnell, Senior Vice President of Racing Operations for NASCAR.

"We’re looking forward to working with Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as we introduce the truck series to our great fans in Canada. Their enthusiastic response to our sport has helped grow its popularity in Canada significantly throughout the years.”

Tickets for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Weekend are already on sale  at

www.canadiantiremotorsportpark.com

 

 

U.S. F1 race on CTV2; much NASCAR ado about nothing

There are so many things to say about the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Phoenix Sunday, in which there was a 27-point swing in the Chase for the Championship standings and Brad Keselowski is leading with one race go, that I won’t.

Instead, I have information about the televising of the U.S. Grand Prix next Sunday.

Many people have written me in the last few days to complain that TSN doesn’t have the F1 race from the brand new Circuit of the Americas circuit outside Austin, Tex., next Sunday on its schedule. Qualifying is scheduled for TSN2 on Saturday at 1 p.m. but there is no listing for the actual race the next day.

Relax, I say. You will be able to see it and, actually, a whole bunch more people will be able to watch it (if they want to) than would be able to if it was on TSN2.

And that’s because it will be live and in colour on Barrie TV station CTV2 (Rogers channel 20). CTV2 is owned by Bell Media, which also owns TSN and TSN2.

Next Sunday, when the F1 race is on in Texas, TSN will be carrying the Argos-Alouettes CFL Eastern Final football game and TSN2 will be televising the final NASCAR race of the season from Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

CTV2 started life in the 1950s as Barrie CBC affiliate CKVR. I worked at the Orillia Packet and Times in the early 1960s and it used to delight us how the news people at the TV station would just cut stories out of the Packet and read them over the air. If there was something really big happening in Orillia, like the Mariposa Folk Festival, CKVR might send a camera crew up Highway 11 to cover it. Otherwise, they’d just "clip and read" out of the paper.

In any event, it went on to become the "New VR" when Moses Znaimer bought it, and then it became "A Channel" after another ownership change and now it’s CTV2.

Most cable subscribers – in fact, maybe even all of them – get CTV2 Barrie as part of their basic cable package. Not everybody gets TSN2 as it’s only available as part of a premium package.

Now, why did TSN (presumably it’s TSN) go to the trouble of asking parent company Bell Media to find another outlet for the F1 race? It’s got the race scheduled to be shown on tape delay later Sunday on TSN2 so why the rush to get it on live?

Because TSN pays good money to buy the Canadian rights to F1, SPEED channel blacks out its signal into Canada as a courtesy when races are run. It also blacks out its signal when qualifying is held because TSN also broadcasts qualifying sessions live.

But SPEED (Rogers cable 409, by the way) shows practice sessions in Canada because TSN doesn’t. (You see where I’m going here, don’t you . . .) You can bet your last dollar that SPEED would see no reason to black out its signal if the U.S. Grand Prix from Austin wasn’t on live television somewhere in Canada next Sunday afternoon.

So TSN, to force SPEED to honour its agreement (it’s a gentleman’s agreement, by the way; there’s no formal contractual agreement forcing SPEED to black out its signal), manoeuvred to get the race slotted into CTV2's schedule in order to protect its Canadian rights and to satisfy its Canadian sponsors.

It will be interesting to see if they promote this.

Check George's TV Listings for Race Fans later this week for SPEED's coverage of practice sessions, F1 Debrief and so-on. And the time that CTV2 will show the Grand Prix on Sunday.

Okay, back to NASCAR and Phoenix, Ariz.

Brad Keselowski went into the race seven points behind Jimmie Johnson and emerged 20 points ahead. That is not a lot; Johnson trailed Denny Hamlin by 15 points in 2010 and still beat him at Homestead to win his fifth straight championship.

But Keselowski has the momentum now to win his first Sprint Cup title and to give Roger Penske his first NASCAR Cup championship. And how did this come to pass?

Because Johnson had a tire go down and hit the wall, doing enough damage to his car that he had to drop out of the race and go to the garage for repairs. That killed him for this race and might have done him in so far as a sixth championship is concerned.

(An aside: Jimmie "Five Time" Johnson sounds swell, doesn't it? Jimmie "Six Time" Johnson not so much. So if Johnson wins, we’ll likely have to dream up another nickname for him. But I digress . . .)

In the end, Keselowki finished sixth at Phoenix – Kevin Harvick was the winner – and Johnson got back on track in time to officially finish 32^nd. If he hadn’t been out there when the checkers waved, the gap would have been wider (more detals, official order of finish).

Now, toward the end of the race all hell broke loose – and, frankly, the way I saw it was that everybody’s frustrations just bubbled to the surface. Nobody really had any reason to be as angry as they seemed to be when fighting broke out.

I suggest NASCAR, in the end, might let everybody off the hook on this one.

It all started when Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer banged fenders. Bowyer’s right rear and Gordon’s left front touched and Gordon banged the wall. Bowyer kept going and Gordon took his time going around to the pits.

Everybody said – and this included Bowyer’s pit crew, who told him over the radio – that Gordon was "waiting" for Bowyer to come around again. As a result, with Gordon low on the speedway mid-way through turn four, Bowyer came up on him and went to pass him on the inside. Gordon turned into him and everybody crashed.

When Gordon went to the pits, Bowyer’s crew went after him and Gordon’s crew defended him. As NASCAR Canada announcer Adam Ross would say, a "brouhaha" ensued.

Several of Gordon’s crew kept him out of the fight and hustled him into his trailer. Bowyer, meantime, jumped out of his car in pit lane and ran into the garage area to get at Gordon, but was seemingly restrained from entering Gordon’s trailer.

Everybody was called onto the carpet in the NASCAR trailer. Competition director Robin Pemberton seemed to suggest later, though, that it was one of those things and there’s only one race left in the season and let’s all let bygones be bygones.

NASCAR traditionally hands out penalties on Tuesdays, so we’ll find out for sure then.

I have questions, however:

– Why was Gordon upset when, it seemed to me, he was as much at fault for the first collision as Bowyer?

– Why did Bowyer go low on the track to pass Gordon on the inside when everybody said Gordon was waiting for him? Why didn’t he go high on the speedway and pass Gordon up there? If he did that, nothing would have happened.

– Why did Bowyer then make an incredible show out of running from pit lane to the garage area at about a million miles an hour, only to stop dead when someone stepped in front of him as he ran up the ramp leading to Gordon’s trailer?

– As a result of the Gordon-Bowyer shenanigans, the race was red-flagged. During the intermission, car owner Richard Childress said on live television that his driver,  Harvick, who was in the lead, was short on fuel. The implication was that if the race went beyond a green-white-checkers finish that Harvick would run out.

– Why did NASCAR, which will throw the yellow for all sorts of invisible reasons, let the race continue when, first, debris clearly came off of Gordon’s car when he first tangled with Bowyer and then, second, during the green-white-checkers, Jeff Burton drove right into Danica Patrick, forcing her to hit the wall and dump oil all over the backstretch going into the third turn? (She still finished 17^th, for her first top 20 in Cup competition. She was 13th when Burton rammed her.)

In Patrick'a case, there definitely should have been a yellow. But then, maybe Harvick would have run out of fuel . . .

So many questions and so few answers.

As I said, I bet NASCAR doesn’t do anything. Oh, they might fine the crews for fighting but Gordon and Bowyer will likely escape sanctions.

And when everything's all said and done, it’s going to be a dandy finale at Homestead-Miami next Sunday.

On NASCAR, pit crews and the Petit Le Mans

The Delta Wing finished sixth at Road Atlanta

News and musings following a big weekend of auto racing:

Bruno Spengler, a French-born Canadian citizen from Saint-Hippolyte, Que., won the German Touring Car (DTM) Championship Sunday for BMW.

He won the title in grand style by racing to victory in the last DTM race of the season at the Hockenheimring.

It was Spengler’s first championship. He was the good soldier for Mercedes for years and years but was never able to close the deal. He moved to BMW this season when the marque returned to the DTM after a 20-year absence and stepped right up.

The other Canadian in the field, Robert Wickens of Guelph and Toronto, retired after 20 laps. His rookie reason in touring cars was not the success that he, and his fans, had hoped for.

For complete details, click here

NASCAR Canada held a reception on Saturday at the Hyatt-Regency Hotel on King St. W. to honour the 2012 Canadian Tire Series champion, D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas, the other drivers in the series, and the many officials and sponsors that make the National Championship the success that it is.

Dana Gladstone of major sponsor Canadian Tire said a few words, as did series director Brad Moran. The drinks were free and the hors d’ouvres were hot. It was very nice.

However (there’s always one or two of those, aren’t there?), when NASCAR purchased CASCAR from founder Tony Navotny in 2006, it was a big deal. Following the 2007 season, its first under the NASCAR banner, the Canadian Tire Series participants were treated to a lovely banquet at an east Toronto hotel. TSN’s Vic Rauter was the MC and all the drivers, wives, crew members and sponsors turned out for what was a really swell time.

Since then, everybody’s had to make do with an annual two-hour reception and, frankly, it’s not enough for a National Championship.

This should be a Big Deal – and it’s not.

One other thing. If I went to Florida as a representative of the media of Canada and mispronounced the names of – say – some of NASCAR’s favourite sons ("I’d like to say thanks to Bill FRANK and the FRANK family . . .") I think I’d be run out of town on a rail.

This is the fourth or fifth year that I’ve had to listen to some NASCAR executive fly up to Toronto and mangle the name of the patron saint of Canadian motorsport, Gilles Villeneuve, while mispronouncing the name of the race track in Montreal that’s named after him.

Memo to NASCAR: It’s Sir-quee Jeel Veel-noov, NOT sir-cut gil vilnuff.

You would think someone would have had the good manners to ask how to say it corrrectly by now, wouldn’t you?

Okay, enough of that.

Jim and Joel Robinson, who produce the Canadian Tire racing TV programs for TSN, were singled out for praise and they do a great job. Here’s a link to a video that’s representative of their work.

Now, the reception was rife with rumour that NASCAR is on the verge of making an announcement about either a truck series race or a Nationwide Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park next season.

One fellow "in the know" said it was a lock that the Camping World Series trucks would be the headliner at the track next May 24 long weekend.

But with the Nationwide cars out of Montreal for 2013, I still say the possibility of that race being moved to Old Mosport is very real. And the fact that a Nationwide car was practising out there in the last two weeks just adds to the intrigue.

We should know in the next week or two at the most whether one or more of NASCAR’s touring series will be at CTMP next year. Cross fingers.

Just before I wrap up the "Canadiana" portion of this column, I must say that poor James Hinchcliffe must rue the day he agreed to travel to Australia to participate in a V8 Supercar race on the Gold Coast Down Under.

They ran two races at the weekend and he didn’t finish either one of them.

Click here for a link to a video showing how his first race went. And the second one wasn't much better.

Okay, moving right along, the Daytona Beach city council has approved an application filed by International Speedway Corp. to develop some land it owns adjacent to the storied speedway as well as an application from the Daytona Speedway itself for redevelopment.

Want to take a guess what that all means?

Hint: look all around downtown Toronto and what do you see?

Condominiums.

Actually, I’m surprised they’ve waited this long. And I’m puzzled why they haven’t started down that road at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, too.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship ran its sixth Chase for the Championship race at Kansas Speedway Sunday and it was won by Matt Kenseth. For complete details, click here.

Question: Kenseth has won two of the six races in the Chase to date. Why is he in NINTH place in the standings.

Why don’t the drivers who make it into the Chase start off even, as is the case in most other sports when the playoffs start?

Why aren’t the Chase drivers scored differently in the playoffs, with winning being the only thing?

It is wrong that Brad Keselowski and Kenseth have each won two races in the six that have been run since the Chase started (Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin won the others) and yet Keselowski is in first place in the standings and Kenseth is in ninth.

Nuts.

The North American sports car season is finito. Saturday at Road Atlanta, the American Le Mans Series ran its Petit Le Mans 10-hour race and the winners were (this can get complicated):

- Neel Jani, Nicolas Prost and Andrea Belicchi finished first overall and first in Prototype 1 driving a Lola-Toyota.

- Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Luis Diaz were second overall and first in P2 in an HPD ARX-Honda.

- Alex Popow, Ryan Dalziel and Toronto’s Mark Wilkins won the Prototyep Challenge class in an Oreca-Chevrolet. They were seventh overall.

-Scott Sharp, Toni Vilander and Johannes van Overbeek were first in GT in a Ferrari Italia.

- Henrique Cisneros, Mario Farnbacher and Jakub Giermaziak won the GT Challenge class in a Porsche 911 GT3.

Muscle Milk Picket Racing won the team and drivers’ championship in the glamour-puss P1 class. Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf fought back from early-race adversity to wrap up both titles.

Now, an incident at Kansas Speedway and another at Road Atlanta illustrated perfectly this weekend why auto racing is the most complex and exciting team sport there is.

At Kansas, Jimmy Johnson’s pit crew kept him on the lead lap while doing repairs to his car after he backed it into the outside wall early in the race. He recovered to finish ninth and to score enough points to stay just seven behind Chase leader Keselowski, who finished eighth.

It took the Muscle Milk crew a little longer – an hour, actually – to repair the damage after Luhr tangled with a GT Challenge car early in the Petit Le Mans. But their expertise and effort was unparalleled on this day and they got the car back on track for the drivers to score sufficient points to wrap up the championship.

Great stuff !

And one last thing: Don Panoz’s pet, the Delta Wing project powered by Nissan, finished sixth overall in the Petit Le Mans, driven by Gunnar Jeannette and Lucas Ordonez.

You will recall that Jeanette was knocked for a loop late in the week during practice and the race car emerged a mess. Once again, it was the crew that saved the day.

They repaired and reworked the car in time for Saturday’s race – an amazing achievement.

Panoz, in an interview, said he still thinks there is an open-wheel future for the car. 

Take it to Indy next May, I say. If Andy Granatelli could get his turbine to work there in 1967, Dr. Don should be able to find a way to get the DW into the 2013 classic's qualifying line, don’tcha think?

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.

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.

Toronto to get two Indy car races in 2013

Here are some Good Monday Morning thoughts on some hot auto racing topics – in the following order:

1. Toronto to get two races next July instead of just one.

2. Half-empty Dover Raceway another reason why the Chase needs road races.

3. Ontario Formula Ford Championship finale as exciting as anything in racing.

4. Final farewell for a champion journalist.

1. IndyCar 2013 schedule

The IZOD IndyCar Series announced its 2013 schedule on the Speed TV show Wind Tunnel Sunday night and the big news for fans of the Honda Indy Toronto is that there will be two races in 2013 instead of one.

And instead of TSN, Rogers Sportsnet will be broadcasting IndyCar races in Canada from 2013 on - although that announcement has not officially been made.

IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard had suggested in recent months that he wanted to increase the number of races in the series to at least 19 in 2013 and in order to reach that total he wanted to see double-headers – two races, instead of just one – promoted at some venues.

It turns out that Toronto is one of three locations selected for these double-headers – Detroit and Houston being the others. For details, click here.

Now, it’s not unusual for the Indy cars to race twice on the same card. Throughout the sport’s history, and most recently at Texas Motor Speedway, there have been "twin" races promoted with one race run to its conclusion and then a second one flagged off an hour or so later.

But what will happen in Toronto next July 13 and 14 (and at Detroit and Houston) is that the IndyCar series will be the headliner on Saturday afternoon and then again on Sunday.

Whether this will goose the gate, which is the prime reason for the move in Toronto, which has not exactly been setting the world on fire attendance-wise the last few years, is debatable.

Ever since its beginning in 1986 as the Molson Indy, the Indy cars have been the headline event on Sunday afternoon of what has been a three-day weekend of racing featuring touring cars, stock cars and other formula-car series in support of the big show.

For many years, it was almost a tradition that Canada’s premier stock car racing series, first known as CASCAR and now as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, would be the feature event on the Saturday.

But this year, the Honda Indy felt it could do without the Canadian Tire Series, as well as the Canadian Touring Car Series, and it went with an almost complete open wheel program made up of "Road to Indy" championships like the Indy Lights and Star Mazda series.

This did not produce the boffo result the promoters expected either, and so to solve the Saturday dilemma in Toronto the Green-Savoree company that owns the Toronto race is banking on the Indy cars attracting as many people on Saturday as they have been on Sunday the last couple of years and increase the overall weekend attendance total as a result.

A lot will depend on how the Honda Indy Toronto weekend is promoted and priced.

If it was up to me (which it’s not, of course), I would charge premium prices for the seats immediately behind the pits as well as for the suites. Everybody else (kids under 12 would be free) would get in for next to nothing – ten bucks, say – in order to do one thing and one thing only: pack the place.

For that pittance of an admission, I’d also give everybody a hot dog, or a slice of pizza, and a drink. I’d have a big act rock or country concert on stage at noon each day, with the IndyCar race to start immediately after the concert.

I’d bank on a Rogers Centre-size crowd of at least 55,000 each day and at the end I’d be able to say the weekend was a huge success and that Indy car racing as a spectacle in Toronto was back.

I would suggest at this point that it would not be all that hard to sell sponsorship and advertising for the 2014 races and to start making serious money again.

We’ll see, though. All I can say at this point is that it’s going to be interesting.

The Honda Indy issued a release at 10 p.m. Sunday night. Here is what it said:

"The Honda Indy Toronto will feature an important addition in 2013: a doubleheader weekend of IZOD IndyCar Series races. The addition of back-to-back races in Toronto is a first in the history of the event, which will run July 12-14 at Exhibition Place.

"Since we acquired the race in 2008, our mandate has been to create entertainment and excitement for fans, customers, sponsors, tourism and the local community," said Charlie Johnstone, Vice President and General Manager of Green Savoree Toronto.

"A doubleheader allows us to go further, faster in the delivery of our mission and offers numerous benefits. We’re extremely excited to make it happen."

"The Honda Indy Toronto brings a shot of adrenaline to the city every summer," said David Whitaker, President and CEO of Tourism Toronto.

"With the event expanded to two marquee races Saturday and Sunday, visitors have even more reason to plan a weekend stay, while Toronto also benefits from the expanded broadcast and international exposure."

"The Honda Indy Toronto is in the final stages of confirming its support series schedule for race weekend. Fans can expect the full race lineup, along with ticket renewals and sales for 2013 to be announced in the coming weeks."

2. NASCAR needs a road race

The Chase for the Championship of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is a terrific idea. Playoffs in any sport are always more exciting than the regular season.

Or they’re supposed to be, that is.

You’d never know it by the attendance at the third race of the 10-race Chase Sunday at Dover Downs Speedway, which was half empty if not more.

Entire sections of grandstand were covered off; the rest of the place had every second seat empty.

I used to think it was the economy. Now I’m not so sure. I’m starting to think that after more than 50 years of watching stock cars go around in circles – endlessly, it seems – even hard-core fans of the sport are tired of it all.

Which brings me back to my soap-box position that NASCAR needs more road races during the regular season (Road America, Montreal, Road Atlanta) and at least one during the 10-race Chase (how about Canadian Tire Motorsport Park?)

NASCAR stock car racing on road courses is way more exciting than it is on most oval speedways (there are exceptions, of course: Daytona, Talladega) because most NASCAR drivers are more versatile than they used to be and are able to race hard and with finesse while turning right as well as left and shifting gears.

But it probably is not going to happen in the short term, which is a pity. We're all going to have to live through seven more oval races before they crown the 2012 national champion.

Brad Keselowski won his second Chase race at Dover yesterday by managing his fuel better than his opponents. Click here for full story and results.

3. Ontario Formula Fords

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: some of the most exciting racing week in and week out in these parts is the Ontario Formula Ford Challenge and this weekend was no exception.

The championship was in the balance this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where the Formula Ford title battle was part of the Celebration of Motorsport weekend of races that traditionally ends racing for the season at the legendary road course north of Bowmanville.

Two drivers were fighting for the championship – Michael Adams of Courtice and Caitlin Johnston of Orangeville. Johnston won Saturday’s first race of the weekend after the engine in Adams’s car gave out. He’d been running a strong second to her before being forced off track.

They went into Sunday’s race tied in points. I was unable to attend, so my good friend and ace racing reporter J. Wally Nesbitt of Inside Track magazine emailed me this report Sunday night.

"Adams got a ride in Bill Clubine's No. 64 for Sunday’s race.

"Jesse Lazare qualified on the pole, with Adams second, Sergio Pasian third and Johnston fourth.

"Johnston got the lead by the end of Lap 1, swapped it back and forth with Lazare on each of the next three laps, then took the lead from Lap 5 on.

"On the final lap, Johnston had built up a small advantage but had to slow for a spinning backmarker between Turns 4 and 5A, which allowed the pack to catch up.

"Lazare got past, leaving Johnston in control of second, with Adams third.

"Entering Turn 10, Adams made a bonzai move on the inside and forced Johnston into the tire wall. She was classified a DNF.

"The finishing order was Lazare, Jack Kitchell Jr., Pasian and Adams.

"Johnston lodged a protest but it was not upheld. She has 24 hours to file an appeal (with video proof).

"This process did not affect the race result but the championship remains in doubt."

Thank you, Wally, for that report.

I know both those drivers, I like both those drivers and I cheer for both those drivers.

This is a shame.

4. So long to Chris Economaki

Although he died at age 91 last Friday, it was over for me when his column disappeared from Page 4 of National Speed Sport News in January 2010, several months before the newspaper he owned and wrote in for more than 50 years ceased publication.

Although I thought about him after that, and talked about him with friends, I never again read an original word he wrote so his passing, for me, was somewhat muted.

Economaki was the editor and publisher of  Speed Sport, as it was known, for most of its history. It was a weekly publication that covered everything from local dirt tracks to Formula One. It was the Bible of the sport of auto racing.

Economaki – the press theatre at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is named after him – wrote what was termed the most important column in auto racing. It was the Good Stuff.

And in 1960, after ABC started televising NASCAR racing and messing it up, Bill France insisted that the network use Economaki to improve its product.

Over time, as well as doing NASCAR races, Economaki was the colour commentator and pit reporter for USAC champ car racing, Indy car racing and Formula One.

He knew everybody in the sport and knew just about everything about racing. Two things:

He said on several occasions later in his life that racing was getting too safe."You have to be able to sell the danger or people will stop watching," he said.

If he’d still been in the saddle, I wonder how he would have reacted to IndyCar’s decision to stop the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after Dan Wheldon was killed.

And then there was the fabulous story he told at the very first Canadian Motorsports Expo in 2007.

He set the scene by explaining that ABC’s Wide World of Sports had a rookie director in charge of the live telecast of a USAC dirt champ car race at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield.

The director had noticed that every morning, A.J. Foyt would go out for a walk around the mile-long dirt oval and wanted Economaki to interview Foyt about this particular habit.

As they prepared to go on the air that Saturday afternoon, the young director went up to Economaki and reminded him one last time to talk to Foyt about his morning walk.

So they went on the air and Economaki did as he was told. He caught up to A.J. Foyt standing beside his car before the start of the 100-mile race.

I’ll let Economaki take over the telling of this story.

"So I looked at Foyt and I put the microphone up to his mouth and I said: "A.J., we’ve noticed that every morning, you take a walk around this big dirt speedway here in Springfield. Are you studying the track? Trying to find the soft spots, the places were you can take your car that might give you an advantage during the race today?

"And A.J. Foyt looked at me and said on live television on the ABC network:

'Actually, Chris, if I don’t go for a long walk first thing in the morning, I just can’t have a good sh-t."

And that was just one story. As someone who had the pleasure of being around him on a number of occasions over the years, I know he had a million of them.

As he himself was wont to write in his Speed Sport column: RIP, Chris.

On Michael Schumacher and NASCAR Canada fisticuffs

Yesterday, I suggested it was time that Michael Schumacher retire for good from Formula One racing because I don’t think his mental ability to process information quickly and to react physically is as razor sharp as it once was.

In other words, like the aging heavyweight who’s been on the receiving end of a left hook or right cross from a much-younger opponent and unable to do anything about it, it’s time for Schumacher to call it a day – I think.

Seems I’m not alone.

The picture above was posted on a Facebook page yesterday populated by fans of world championship leader Fernando Alonso. Click here for a link to that site.

Now, just because I think Schumacher should call it a day in F1 doesn’t mean he can’t keep racing and winning, although I would hope he doesn’t follow the lead of Rubens Barrichello and take a crack at Indy cars because that series is not the walk in the park a lot of people think it is.

But Le Mans and other European-style sports car races would be right up  Schumacher’s alley.

Meantime, last Saturday night at Kawartha Speedway, NASCAR’s "have at it, boys" dictum was taken literally by some of the Canadian Tire Series combatants.

In short, there was a fight at the finish of the last race of the season.

What got some folks riled up were the shenanigans during the green-white-checkers finish.

At the green, eventual winner (and 2012 Canadian Tire champeen) D.J. Kennington (about to win his seventh of 12 races) led Scott Steckly, Andrew Ranger, Pete Shepherd III and J. R. Fitzpatrick across the line. At some point in the next two laps – and cars were sometimes three wide at this point – Fitzpatrick got under Steckly and pushed him out of the groove and up into the marbles.

By the time Steckly regained control, most of the the front-runners had passed him by.

At the checkers, the order was Kennington, Ranger, Fitzpatrick, Shepherd, Rookie-of-the-Year Martin Roy and then Steckly, who - as you can imagine - was steaming.

On the cooldown lap, Steckly – a two-time Canadian Tire champion – and Fitzpatrick - who finished second to Kennington in points this season - played bumper cars on the backstretch.

At that point, NASCAR Canada announcer Adam Ross stopped talking about the wonderful performance of D.J. Kennington and drew everybody’s attention to the developing feud.

"J.R. Fitzpatrick has stopped his car at Scott Steckly’s pit," yelled Ross, approximately, over the track's PA system.

"He’s exchanging words with some of Steckly’s crew," he continued (these quotes are paraphrased, by the way).

"J.R. Fitzpatrick is getting out of his car and it looks like a brouhaha is developing. He’s taking quite a chance. His pit crew is all the way down at the first turn. They’re starting to run to his assistance but in the meantime J.R. Fitzpatrick is surrounded by Scott Steckly’s crew. NASCAR officials are getting involved over there. J.R. Fitzpatrick’s crew, the cavalry, are starting to arrive but they’re all out of breath . . ."

And then it was over and the Victory Lane celebrations to crown Kennington King of NASCAR Canada were held.

I had watched the race from the "press box" in the Kawartha clubhouse, so I went to the infield to track down the 24-year-old Fitzpatrick to find out what had transpired.

I found him over at the post-race tech inspection area, laughing it up and thoroughly enjoying himself.

One thing: he hook hands with his left hand and kept his right hand stuffed deep down in the pocket of his jacket. It seems it was just a tad tender.

NM: What happened, J.R.?

JRF: "Well, I got my car started (after the contact with Steckly’s) and I drove around and Scott’s crew was leaning over the wall all yellin’ at me so I stopped to have a discussion.

"One guy was gettin' really lippy so I took off my helmet and got out of the car and went over and I said, ‘Who wants to go?’ And this guy says, ‘Me,’ so I grabbed him and I got two really good shots in, wham! wham! – and that’s how I hurt my hand – and then by that time they were all over me and they got some good ones in on me too and then the officials arrived and broke it up."

NM: So you got hit?

JRF: "Yeah, I got hit on the side of the head and I got one on my ear but I don’t think anybody hit me as hard as I hit that first guy."

NM: So do you think they’re going to fine you, or anything? I mean, you have a habit of getting into scraps at this track (several years ago, he was involved in a ‘brouhaha’ with Kerry Micks and his crew)."

JRF: "Listen, I’m the only driver who brings any excitement to this series. Without me, it would be boring. Without me, all you’d have is D.J. Kennington winning seven races - and how exciting is that?"

And the whole time, he had the biggest grin on his face you’ve ever seen.

Kennington wins Pinty's 250, Canadian Tire title

D.J. Kennington won his seventh race of the 12-race 2012 season and his second championship in three years as he took the Pinty's 250 presented by Dodge in grand style Saturday night at Kawartha Speedway.

Scott Steckly was pushed wide in the fourth turn and finished sixth. Andrew Ranger was second, J.R. Fitzpatrick third, Pete Shepherd III was fourth and Martin Roy was fifth.

On the cooldown lap, Steckly and Fitzpatrick tangled on the backstretch and fisticuffs followed.

Nobody was hurt, but egos were bruised.

It was a wonderful end to a wonderful season for Kennington. An incredible performance.

SATURDAY LIVE BLOG

There will be a green-white-checkers finish as a caution was thrown on the last of the 250 laps because of a spin in turn four.

Earlier

At the restart, Fitzpatrick appeared to bog down, allowing Steckly and Ranger to pass him. Shepherd also got by, so Fitzpatrick is now in fifth behind Kennington, Steckly, Ranger and Shepherd.

Hold on!

Earlier

Jason Hathaway spins in turn one and the yellow is out, setting up a frantic restart with just a handful of laps to go.

Kennington is still first, Fitzpatrick is second, Steckly is third, Ranger is fourth and Shepherd is fifth.

Earlier

Kennington takes the lead!

Earlier

With 30 laps to go, Kennington makes a move into second. Fitzpatrick, Kennington, Steckly, Ranger, Shepherd.

Will Kennington win his seventh race of 2012?

Earlier

Strategy might have saved Pete Shepherd. In NASCAR Canada racing, a driver has to pit multiple times to change all four tires and top up with fuel.

For instance, one stop for left-side tires, one stop for right side and one stop for fuel. Fitzpatrick, who still leads, and Steckly, in second, stopped three times. Although Shepherd was lapped because of the schmozzle in turn one, he got that lap back by only pitting twice, for fuel and left-side tires.

So the running after 175 of the 250 laps is Fitzpatrick, Steckly, Shepherd, Roy and Kennington.

Earlier

Poor Pete Shepherd, who won this race two years ago and was looking good in the early going, moving up from fifth to third in some pretty tough company, was just caught up in a first turn scramble as the leading pack was lapping backmarkers.

All the others got through but Shepherd is now so far back it is unlikely he will be a factor later in the race.

The leaders went to the pits for tires.

Earlier

After 100 laps, Fitpatrick is first, Steckly is second, Shepherd is third, Kennington is fourth and 50-year-old Quebec driver, Martin Roy, who started 12th is running fifth.

Roy is the 2012 Rookie of the Year as a result of his steady performances this year.

Earlier

Fitzpatrick still leads after 50 laps, with Ranger second, Steckly third, Kennington fourth and Pete Shepherd III fifth. Watch Shepherd. There have been several yellows but nothing of great consequence.

Earlier

Fitzpatrick leads the first laps. Andrew Ranger is up to second. Clean racing so far.

Earlier

With one lap to go before the start, Papis is in the pits. Perhaps it's a loose wheel, the track announcer says.

Earlier

They just gave the command to start engines at 5:30, 30 minutes after the scheduled 5 p.m. start time with the words, "Drivers and chicken wing lovers everywhere, start your engines!"

Pinty's is a pub frozen food company, hence the chicken wings reference.

Earlier

The show is a half hour late because it rained here at Kawartha Speedway, near Peterborough, earlier today and the track had to be dried.

Earlier

J.R. Fitzpatrick is on the pole and defending champion Scott Steckly is beside him on the front row as the field of 28 awaits the command to start engines.

D.J. Kennington will go off fourth. The winner of six races so far this season, he will likely win his second championship in three years today.

International road racer Max Papis - yes, the Max Papis of CART, NASCAR, sports cars and just about any kind of race car anywhere - will go off 16th in one of Steckly's spare cars.