Norris McDonald's Auto Racing Blog

Canadian Motorsports Expo on this weekend

Carl Edwards, Robert Yates, Randy Lajoie, James Hinchcliffe and Ron Fellows are just some of the many racing greats who will be in attendance at this weekend’s sixth annual Canadian Motorsports Expo at the International Centre in Mississauga.

Adjacent to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, the Expo, now presented by Inside Track Motorsport News, will kick off Friday at 1 p.m. and continue through until Sunday afternoon at 5 p.m.

Doors open Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m.

The action will be just about non-stop throughout the weekend.

The Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship is planning a major announcement shortly after the show opens Friday. And the Honda Indy Toronto display — and it’s nice to see that event involved with the Expo — will unveil one of the new-for-2012 Dallara DW12 Indy cars that will be in action at the CNE in July.

Friday evening, the Inside Track Readers’ Choice Awards will be presented, as well as Spencer Lewis’ Ontario Asphalt Power Rankings Top 10 Awards. Special guest will be former NASCAR racer Lajoie.

Saturday at noon, sharp, NASCAR superstar Carl Edwards will take Centre Stage for a question-and-answer period followed by an autograph session. But listen up: if you want an autograph, you will have to get to the Expo early in order to get one of the 150 autograph “badges” that will be handed out. The rules are too complicated to go into completely here, but don’t say you weren’t warned. For complete details of the Edwards appearance, which is being timed to the minute, go to the show’s website.

After the Edwards riot — I mean, appearance — the annual media panel discussion will take place. This is when Toronto's racing reporters try not to insult each other too much. In my case, I really try to look as if I know what I’m talking about, which - as anybody who knows me knows - can sometimes be difficult. Thank goodness F1 expert Gerald Donaldson, Toronto Sun reporter Dean McNulty and Jeff Pappone of the Globe and Mail will be there to add some dignity (and legitimacy) to the proceedings.

At some point on Saturday afternoon, Fellows — one of three people who purchased Mosport International Raceway last summer — will discuss plans that he and his partners have for the legendary circuit north of Bowmanville. There has been all sorts of speculation as to what’s going to happen there, so just about everybody will be keen to hear what he has to say.

Sunday, IndyCar rookie of the year Hinchcliffe, of Oakville, will be the special guest. As well, a reunion of CASCAR officials, racers, crew and fans is planned for 3 p.m. following a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Q & A and autograph session. CASCAR founder Tony Novotny, five-time national champion Don Thomson Jr., Dan Shirtliff, Alex Nagy and Kelly Williams are among the former racers who’ve confirmed their attendance.

Also on tap:

— Legendary NASCAR engine builder Robert Yates will be at the Canadian Tire booth and on the Mazda Stage Saturday.

— Seminars, from “how to get involved in karting” to expert technical seminars featuring guys like Darrick Dong, Performance Friction Brakes’ Director of Motorsports, will be held.

—   Sunday morning, a technical forum will be held on stage with Grand Am racing star Scott Maxwell and several other experts discussing what it takes to do a fast lap around Mosport, considering the balance you need to strike between the tires, chassis, suspensions, brakes, driver feedback, etc. Steve Scala will moderate, and participants will include Dong, Larry Holt of Multimatic Motorsports, Ian Willis of AIM Autosport and others.

- Mazda Canada will unveil details of a Canadian grassroots contingency program for Canadian road racers. They’re also putting on a sponsorship and marketing seminar.

- And a little bird told me that up-and-coming Canadian Formula One driver Robert Wickens might drop in on Saturday.

Wow. See you there!

No snow prompted Quebec racers to build Le Circuit

We are now into February, which is the heart of the winter, and there is no snow in Toronto – or any throughout the GTA, for that matter.

Yes, somewhere in the land there is snow, but not around here.

Although people are scratching their heads and the usual climate change/global warming theories are springing forth, this sort of thing is not that unusual.

In fact, the construction in 1964 of the famous Quebec sports car racing circuit, Le Circuit-Mont Tremblant, came about precisely because, for two consecutive winters, there was so little snow in the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal that it just about killed the tourist industry.

Here’s what happened (some of which has been related in two books on Canadian racing, Challenge by the late Len Coates and The Chequered Past by New Brunswick university professor David A. Charters).

First, Quebec is a place where la neige is the culture. The words to Mon Pays, the anthem of 1960s Quebec nationalists, talk about la neige (snow), la glace (ice) et du froid (the cold). It's what makes Quebec, well, Quebec.

Mont Tremblant was discovered and initially opened up in the early 1930s by a Norwegian named Herman "Jackrabbit" Smith-Johannsen. Shortly after World War II broke out, Joseph Ryan, a Philadelphia millionaire and father of the ill-fated Canadian racer Peter Ryan, partnered with Smith-Johannsen to build the famous Mont Tremblant resort and to open up the area for other skiing and skiing-related businesses.

It goes without saying that the owners of hotels, lodges, guest houses and restaurants in the nearby village of St. Jovitte made money like bandits. They worked non-stop from mid-October to late April but then closed up shop for the summer and went to Europe on vacation. Life was good.

(We interrupt this narrative to direct your attention to the image at right of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso at the unveiling in Maranello, Italy, last Friday of the 2012 Ferrari. As you can see, all the snow that isn't in Toronto is in Italy. We now return you to our regularly scheduled column.)

 

But then came the winter of 1961-62 and there was no snow in the Laurentian Mountains. It was cold, and there was a dusting on occasion, but nothing substantial to attract skiers (it would be another decade before snowmaking came into vogue).

It was during the spring of ‘62 that a local innkeeper, Leo Samson, who – like all the other business people in the area – had lost a lot of money because there had been no winter, started to talk about building something that would attract people to the area in the summertime. If winter was really over, Samson figured, then money had to be made in the summer or else they should all pack up and pack it in.

He got the idea of a race course after going to the circuit at Watkins Glen, N.Y., with Peter Ryan in 1961 for the U.S. Grand Prix. He'd come away impressed.

When the winter of ‘62-63 was not much better than the year previous, Samson appealed to the other locals about the importance of building a racing-car circuit. Although there was enthusiasm, few were sufficiently convinced that they actually offered up money, so Samson went it alone.

He bought land and then approached Quebec racer Jacques Duval who, in turn, took the idea to the Montreal MG Car Club (Ross de St. Croix, president), which had already been talking about building a track in Quebec to rival Ontario’s Mosport, and the rest is history.

With the participation, guidance and drive of individuals like Duval, de St. Croix, John Ross and Norm Namerow, among many others, Le Circuit-Mont Tremblant opened for business in August, 1964.

Le Circuit has since had a rocky existence. Home to Can-Am, Indy and Formula One races from the mid-1960s until 1970, it fell on hard times and has opened and closed sporadically pretty much ever since.

Incidentally, I consider Mont Tremblant - now owned by moneyed Montreal interests and in business once again - to be the most glorious natural setting for a car-racing circuit in the world, particularly in the autumn. 

With the sky a deep blue, and the riotous fall colours everywhere on the surrounding mountains, it is breathtaking being there.

That was then and this is now, though, and - unlike those two years in the early Sixties - they actually did have snow in Quebec last weekend.

Antoine L'Estage of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., and co-driver Nathalie Richard of Halifax opened the 2012 Canadian Rally Championship season by winning the Rallye Perce-Neige in Maniwaki, Que., in a Mitsubishi Lancer Évo.10.

(Those two always win, by the way.)

Second place overall went to Leo (Crazy Leo) Urlichich of Toronto and co-driver Carl Williamson of Swansea, England, in a Subaru Impreza WRX, followed by Sylvain and Simon Vincent of Terrebonne, Que., who finished third overall, also in a Subaru Impreza.

The Canadian Rally Championship is made up of six events held nationwide in a season that extends from February to November. The series is presented by Subaru Canada, supported by Yokohama Tire Canada and features contingency programs from Subaru Canada and Mitsubishi Canada.

Next up is the Rocky Mountain Rally in May.

The Canadian Association of Rallysport (CARS) is the official sanctioning body for rallying in Canada.

Fewer Canadians enter Rolex 24 at Daytona

The 50^th anniversary Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race will kick off the 2012 auto racing season this weekend and, as usual, Canada has supplied a number of competitors for the headline event at Daytona International Raceway.

Although there is an exciting new team in the mix, the AIM Autosport of Woodbridge partnership with Ferrari (and more about that later), there are not as many Canadian drivers entered this year as there were a year ago and you wonder why, considering that the Canadian economy is doing much better than that of the U.S.

In 2011, four Canadians (f you count Darren Law, who was born in Toronto) were entered in the Daytona Prototype class, compared with just one this year, and 10 Canucks did battle in the GT class compared with nine this year. In all, it’s a significant drop – from a total of 14 in 2011 to 10 in 2012.

(There are more Canadian drivers and teams entered in the supporting Continental Tire race that goes to the post on Friday, but we’re talking the main event here, the Rolex 24, a race in which Canadians have not only contested but won.)

There’s a suggestion that because it’s the 50^th anniversary event, organizers have worked to put former champions and well-known competitors in cars, thus cutting down on the number of seats available. On the other hand, maybe it’s just one of those things — but it’s worth noting.

The lone Canadian entered in the glamour-puss class, the Daytona Prototype division, is Paul Tracy of Scarborough, who’s still out there fighting to find a full-time ride in the IZOD IndyCar Series but also laying the groundwork for another of his ambitions, to close out his glorious career with some success in long-distance races like the Rolex, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Tracy has signed to drive Doran Racing's No. 77 Combos/Circle-K Ford-Dallara with brothers Brian and Burt Frisselle and Dr. Jim Lowe.

In a release, Tracy said he was exciting about the opportunity to take another crack at Daytona with a team he drove for in the race back in 2005.

"I'm very excited to make my return to Daytona for the 50th Anniversary of the Rolex 24, and especially with Doran Racing," Tracy said. "I drove my first Rolex 24 in a Doran JE4 design back in 2005 and it was a great experience. I'm grateful that (the team has) put his trust in me as a driver and paired me with the Frisselle brothers and Jim Lowe."

As well as the 2005 race, in which the team failed to finish, Tracy also raced at Daytona with Michael Shank Racing in 2006 and 2007. He’s no stranger to the Frisselle family, either.

"One of my first big race wins as a driver (at Mosport in 1986, in a car owned by Horst Kroll, when Tracy was only 17) came in a Frisbee Can-Am car that Brian and Burt’s father (Brad Frisselle) built, so I’m thrilled to now be able to race with the next generations of Frisselles," Tracy said.

In addition to Tracy in Daytona Protytpe, other Canadians lined up for the Rolex 24 in the GT class include:

— Toronto drivers Scott Maxwell, driving a Mazda RX-8 for Dempsey Racing, Mark Wilkins aboard a Paul Miller Racing Porsche GT3 and Paul Dalla Lana driving for Turner Motorsports in a BMW M3;

— Oakville IndyCar star James Hinchcliffe racing a Speed Source Mazda RX-8;

— Vancouver drivers Chris Cumming (Porsche GT3), Darryl O’Young (Porsche GT3), Brett Van Blankers (Porsche GT3) and Taylor Hacquard (Mazda RX-8).

Meantime, AIM Autosport, which for years was an entrant in the Rolex Daytona Prototype division (a Riley-Ford, with primary driver Mark Wilkins of Toronto), has announced a full-year program in GT with 2010 GT champions Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal in a new, factory-built, Ferrari 458 Italia GT Grand Am and will kick off the program at the Rolex 24.

Assentato, of Locust Valley, N.Y. and Segal of Miami will co-drive the new Ferrari in their fifth full season as teammates. They will be joined at Daytona by Anthony Lazzaro of Canton, Ga., and Nick Longhi, of Nyack, N.Y.

Title sponsor is FXDD, an online currency trading service that is also a partner of the F1 Red Bull Racing team.

"FXDD is excited to announce our title sponsorship of AIM Autosport Team FXDD and our commitment to the Ferrari 458 Italia GT Grand Am racing program in the Rolex Sports Car Series," said John Corbett, FXDD director of marketing, when the new team was formed in late 2011. "We are very proud to partner with a team that exemplifies the precision and dedication we provide to our clients every day."

The AIM team began as a partnership between Andrew Bordin, Ian Willis and Keith Willis and made headlines in the 2008 Rolex season when drivers Brian Frisselle and Wilkins scored back-to-back Daytona Prototype race wins at Watkins Glen and Montreal. The Canadian victory remains the closest finish in Daytona Prototype history.

"I'm invigorated by this program," said Bordin, AIM Autosport Sporting Director and Team Principal. "I have been a Ferrari fan since I was little and it's tremendously exciting to now be involved with a Ferrari racing program."

Said AIM Autosport race engineer and Team Principal Ian Willis: "I have been involved in racing all my life and one name personifies racing cars like none other: Ferrari. As a boy growing up, I watched Ferrari Formula One, Can-Am and sports cars at Mosport, so to be campaigning a Ferrari in the 50th anniversary of the Rolex 24, and chasing the 2012 Rolex Series GT championship, is like a dream come true."

It is kind of exciting, isn’t it?

Will resignation impact TV coverage of F1?

A couple of weeks ago, shortly after Mark Webber won the Brazilian GP and Britain’s Sky TV announced plans for an HD channel dedicated solely to Formula One starting in 2012, I contacted TSN about their plans for next year.

TSN has been showing F1 races and qualifying rounds for years, most recently by picking up the feed from the BBC. But the Beeb will only televise 10 of next year’s 20 scheduled races live while Sky will have them all (plus all practice sessions, etc.) and, in fact, has hired Martin Brundle to head up its broadcasting crew.

Now, I haven’t heard back from TSN. I suspect there are any number of reasons for this, all of them legitimate. When they have something to say, I’m sure they’ll call. The season doesn’t start till mid-March, so there’s plenty of time.

But I was discussing the situation with a friend of mine yesterday afternoon and, at the end of the chat, he said this: "Maybe TSN won’t have any F1 next year. Maybe we’ll get to watch it on Speed TV."

I agreed with him (although I stressed that I thought it highly unlikely). But then I got an email later in the day that contained some unsettling news.

Hunter Nickell, president of Speed since 2005, has resigned and will leave at the end of the year.

Now, I don’t know Hunter Nickell from Adam, but I do know that in recent years the Speed weekend racing coverage during the season has gone from a one-hour Sunday night wrapup program to pretty much wall-to-wall coverage of the sport during the weekend, starting Friday.

Host Adam Alexander would pop up before the first race of the weekend, usually the Friday night NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, with an update on that weekend’s racing calendar (sports cars, motocross, Moto GP, Formula One and IndyCar races, as well as NASCAR) and then would update with other pre-race reports and results through Saturday and on into Sunday evening.

Kind of a mini-CNN on wheels.

As well as his work strengthening motorsport news coverage in general, Nickell also beefed up coverage of, and solidified relationships with, F1, Supercross and Grand Am in particular.

Now, on the surface, his resignation might not seem like that big a deal. But every time there’s a change at the top of just about anything, the new guy (or woman) moves to put his or her stamp on things.

For instance (and I bet you didn’t know this), the minute the president of a major film studio is replaced, every movie in production at that time goes straight to digital. They are not released in theatres. Why? Because the new head honcho doesn’t want to have to take the blame for any turkeys in the bunch and he/she sure doesn’t want to have to pass on any praise to the guy who was fired.

It’s the same with TV.

It’s highly unlikely that the new president of Speed is going to leave everything as it is. Maybe he/she won’t be that big a racing fan. So maybe the weekend racing coverage, or some of it, gets whacked.

Maybe the new person loves NASCAR and isn’t much of an F1 fan. Uh-oh, I can hear you say. But it’s possible this change could have an effect on Speed's F1 coverage.

Or maybe not. (It really doesn’t matter to us in Canada now, because Speed’s F1 race coverage has been blacked out in recent years. But if TSN or Sportsnet passes on F1 in 2012, and Speed’s coverage is altered, we could be in a fix . . .)

What I am saying is that Speed TV under the leadership of Hunter Nickell has been a good friend of all motorsports and fingers should be crossed that this across-the-board approach continues.

Now, speaking of Formula One, it’s really interesting to watch how Lotus-Renault CEO Dany Bahar is now speaking out of both sides of his mouth so far as the return of driver Kimi Raikkonen is concerned.

Bahar had some of the world’s motoring press over for lunch in London on Monday and said that he fully expects Raikkonen to have some difficulty adjusting to F1 after being away from the sport for two years (ya think?) but that the team is quite prepared to give him all the time he needs.

Said M. Bahar: "You cannot expect from a driver that was absent for two years to come back and adapt to the new tyres and new regulations from day one, so he needs his time. But whether this time is three days, six races or 20 races, we will see. What is important is to see how his tendency goes towards the performance. If it is always improving, then of course we will give him the time."

All very well and good. But then, he said this:

"He knows he has to deliver. . . He is not the same kid as he was at Sauber and at McLaren. These are different times, he has to deliver and he realises that."

Well, which is it? Is it, "We will give him the time?" or is it, "He knows he has to deliver?"

This guy Bahar won’t last long if Raikkonen doesn’t live up to what’s expected of him. And on top of that, he’s about to record an even bigger loss in the arena of public opinion.

The contract Renault has with Robert Kubica, the popular Polish driver who was nearly killed in a rally accident at the beginning of the year and was unable to return to F1 racing as hoped, is about to expire and Bahar seems content to let him go.

As a good friend of mine noted a few weeks ago, when that happens, Kubica will become a test driver with Ferrari and if he can recapture his old speed, will be a very good bet to replace Felipe Massa in 2013.

And if that happens, Dany Bahar’s career in F1 could come to screeching halt.

Look what's going on out at Mosport

Here is a ton of auto racing news to chew on:

First, the subject that’s been on everybody’s mind going back to early in the summer. Exactly what do Mosport’s new owners plan to do with the facility?

There have been all sorts of rumours – that it would become a country club with multimillion-dollar houses owned by people who would drive their Ferraris around the place after work, and so-on – but, as new owner (one of three) Ron Fellows said: "Mosport is an auto racing facility and will always be an auto racing facility. It is in the big-event racing business and it is open for business.”

One of the problems Mosport has faced, however, is that the place is pretty much the same as it’s been since 1962 when the Control Tower was built. Yes, Andy Evans (who owned the place for a few years in the late-1990s) removed the “hump” at the end of the back straightaway that caused cars to “take off,” and Don Panoz, who most recently owned the park, widened the track itself, but other than that, Mosport has been the same place it’s been for years and years.

In order to attract the top series (NASCAR, anyone? IndyCar, perhaps?), improvements to bring the place up to top-professional series standards were sorely needed. So renovations have commenced:

Below are photos taken in recent days of the new tunnel under the track, between corners 9 and 10, that is replacing the single-lane tunnel that was put in when the place was built in 1960 (it opened for racing in 1961).

The new tunnel will allow transport-trailers to enter the infield and leave the infield while racing is taking place. Previously, competitors had to wait until end of day before leaving the facility by driving across the race track.

In addition to the two lanes reserved for modern-day race-car haulers, there will also be a pedestrian walkway. Until now, as everybody knows, people walking through that tunnel had to wait for a break in the traffic and then run through the tunnel for fear of being caught in there when a car or truck approached.

Here are three photos to illustrate what’s happening out there. I am told, by the way, that this will be the major change for the 2012 season. Additional improvements are planned (a new corporate centre, a new media centre, etc.) but those will happen in due course.

Okay, moving right along:

- A brand new Canadian Monster Truck will make its world-wide debut a week from Wednesday (Nov. 30) at 11 a.m. at the Rogers Centre. Details to follow. That’s what the press release says and who am I to argue?

-- Pirelli says that following an extensive investigation of the circumstances that led to Sebastian Vettel’s right-rear tire suddenly deflating on the opening lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend, a structural failure of the tire has been ruled out as the cause. The tire company added that track debris or other outside circumstances cannot be excluded as a possible cause.

“Other outside circumstances?”

What’s that? Sabotage?

My guess: the tire was under-inflated to start with and the bead broke when Vettel turned left and the weight of the car shifted to the right rear.

- Keith Wiggins’ HVM Racing team (Simona de Silvestro, up) and Bryan Herta Autosport will be formally announced as Lotus engine runners in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series during a press conference Thursday  at the Los Angeles auto show.

The two teams are the first official Lotus-powered participants. Chevrolet and Honda are the two other engine manufacturers involved in the series.

 “I know a lot of people are skeptical but I’ve spent a lot of time with those people and I’m very optimistic it will be the better engine,” said Wiggins, whose Indy-based operation will be renamed Lotus/HVM and get support from the livery made famous by the late Colin Chapman.

 “We were interested in being with Lotus from the beginning and we came to a partnership agreement two months ago,” Wiggins said.

- Meantime, Panther Racing has confirmed that it has exercised its two-year option on J.R. Hildebrand’s contract, ensuring that the 23-year-old Californian will pilot the team’s No. 4 U.S. National Guard entry for the 2012 and 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series seasons.

Hildebrand, the reining Indianapolis 500 runner-up and top race rookie, just completed his first full IndyCar Series season for Panther and led three races while collecting two top five and five top ten  finishes during the year.

Hildebrand finished second in the IndyCar series’ Rookie of the Year race to Canadian James Hinchcliffe, of Oakville.

- Note to IndyCar: Three offshore powerboat racers were killed in racing action this week at the Key West (Fla.) World Championships. The racing continued, despite the fatalities.

- Toronto-born Darren Law will race a new Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype in the 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, it was announced this week.

Law will return to Action Express Racing, driving the No. 5 Corvette DP. The Phoenix driver was in Daytona Beach for the introduction this week of the car, the first built to third-generation Daytona Prototype specifications.

Speaking of that car, if you look at it one way, it looks like a Corvette. If you look at it another way, it looks like a Daytona Prototype. I like the look of Corvettes; I don’t like the look of the DPs. So I’m conflicted.      

- Ace track PR man Tommy Goudge reports that the 2011 Ohsweken Speedway season was capped off in fine fashion last Saturday night with the annual awards banquet at the Marritt Hall in Ancaster. Jim Huppunen was honoured as the fourth champion of the Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Car division, while Mike Thorne was crowned Lighthouse Tattoos Thunder Stock champion. Karl Sault received HRW Automotive Mini Stock accolades while Rodney Rutherford was awarded his trophy as champion of the Pierced Parts Bomber division.

- Mike Vincec of Stouffville (below) is set to return to the 15th running of the SuperKarts! USA SuperNationals, which start Friday. Taking on the headline KZ2 class against some of the top shifter kart pilots from around the world, Vincec will look to cap off his 2011 season with a strong result at the Las Vegas event.

Good luck, Mike!

- And finally, rally ace Andrew Comrie-Picard of Toronto (known to his friends as "ACP") will host the pilot episode tonight of Battle Cross, a new action television show premiering on Speed TV at 10 p.m. Eastern. The high-energy, action-packed show will feature two pro drivers battling for best time and style on a stunt course laid out by ACP and tested in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X rallycross car.

I’ll be watching. Will you?

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.

Tagliani kicked out of Indy ride; bonus Wheels racing stories

Much to cover today. A Canadian racing story of note and Wheels 25 offerings that didn't make it into the finals. I'll explain more about that in a moment.

First, in a shocking development, Indy car star Alex Tagliani of Montreal has been dropped by Sam Schmidt Motorsport for this weekend's IZOD IndyCar Series race at Kentucky Speedway in favour of Dan Wheldon so that Indy 500 winner Wheldon can have a warmup race in advance of the season finale at Las Vegas Speedway in mid-October when he'll be racing for a special $5-million payoff.

There are several things wrong with this scenario.

No. 1, Tagliani has done so much for that team this year - he won two poles, including the pole for the Indianapolis 500, finished in the top five three times and in the top ten six times and brought his car to the checkers in 13 of this season's 16 races to date - that to be shuffled aside like so much hired help has got to be terribly insulting. You don't treat a veteran that way.

No. 2, besides being embarrassing, this will cost him money and prestige in the points championship (he's currently 11th in the standings). So there's a financial penalty in play here.

No. 3, this is against the rules that IndyCar has trumpeted for this race since the $5-million challenge was announced (in which IndyCar dared anybody not a regular in the series to "come beat our drivers and, if you do, we'll pay you a $5 million bonus")

That idea fell apart when nobody applied (although, according to IndyCar, Kasey Kahne and others were interested but only if the cars were prepared and entered by Roger Penske or Chip Ganassi and neither owner was interested).

So IndyCar changed the promotion: the Indy 500 winner, Wheldon (who didn't have a ride in the series other than at Indy and who's spent much of the summer doing TV work) will be provided with a car and is to start last at Vegas and if he wins the race he will win the $5M but he'll have to split it with some lucky fan.

However, so far as I know, they didn't change the original rule which was that whoever accepted the challenge would not be allowed to compete for the $5M if they had driven in two or more IndyCar races prior to Vegas. That's why guys like Paul Tracy, Buddy Rice and Townsend Bell aren't eligible.

But if Wheldon drove at Indy and will now drive at Kentucky, is that not two races?

And also, this was supposed to be a one-shot deal. Now the guy gets a warmup race. What next? (As in, maybe we should give him a break and let him qualify in Vegas so he doesn't have to start last . . .)

IndyCar seems to be making things up as it goes along these days. As a friend of mine said last weekend, "I used to feel sorry for them, but not any more."

"Tag", meantime, will drive for Brian Herta Autosport at Las Vegas (the team, in partnership with Schmidt, that Wheldon drove for at Indianapolis and I say why the switch?) and in a release sent out Monday by IndyCar, he said he fully supports what the series is doing.

"I'm obviously not happy about sitting out Kentucky, but this is a very exciting opportunity," Tagliani is quoted as saying. "Dan and I are good friends, and I'm very jealous that he gets to run for the $5 million. But I fully support what IndyCar has done to generate fan interest and will do everything I can to help the SSM team run Dan in Kentucky and prepare for the (Las Vegas race)."

Alex Tagliani has always been the good soldier and is showing his true colours again. But inside, he must be very upset.

Today is the 25th anniversary of Toronto Star Wheels. There is a special edition of Wheels in today's (Tuesday's) Toronto Star and the section is online at wheels.ca

As part of the celebration, editor Mark Richardson invited readers to submit, in 400 words or less, their greatest motoring memory. More than 200 were received, Richardson pared those down to about 100 and then wheels.ca editor Paul Choi and I got involved and the end result was 25 selected to be published in the special section.

Among the entries that didn't make the cut were some auto racing-oriented stories. I liked them - a lot. So I'm publishing them here today. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

This first one was submitted by Colin Wright (who won the 1982 Ontario Formula Vee Championship).

In the summer of 1976, I worked weekends for a small race tire company while trying to figure out how to finance a race car of my own. Occasionally, I’d help out Ecurie Canada, tire supplier for the Canadian Formula Atlantic series and the team of rising star Gilles Villeneuve.

In August, a friend and I worked the Halifax round of the Atlantic series, ferrying a team vehicle, a Plymouth Volaré wagon, to the track at Shubenacadie.

Back then, I drove everywhere in a hurry. Past Montreal, I wound the Volaré up, cruising steadily at 100 mph. Strangely, some Quebecers we’d pass would suddenly recall they had to be somewhere - right now - and blow back by us!

After midnight I woke to find my friend, Rich, a normally more sedate driver, maintaining our manic pace, slashing through the darkness up and down the roller coaster hills of the Trans-Canada in New Brunswick.

We arrived Saturday morning in time to work the practice and qualifying sessions. On Sunday afternoon, Villeneuve won - pure car control magic.

We headed out on our slightly less frantic return journey. Over about 3,400 kilometres of high-speed motoring, we almost escaped detection, our record spoiled by a ticket in Ontario when nearly home.

This next entry comes from Michael McGuire of Richmond Hill (who headed his memory, 'Driving as an act of civil disobedience')

Jacques Villeneuve had just competed in his final Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, crashing late in the race, on a hot June day in 2006. As I made my way to the Metro station with thousands of other dejected Canadian racing fans, my car sat miles away, parked next to the Orange Julep.

Usually the drive from Montreal to Toronto was five hours of mind numbing boredom, but not this day. As I cleared the Quebec border, a caravan of exotic cars passed me, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and the odd M5, all on their way home from their F1 pilgrimage.

They all took turns leading the chain of cars as they coasted well above the speed limit back to Southern Ontario. I slipped in among them and found myself in an autobahn-like dream world. Suddenly, I gave myself over to a higher mechanical force. Mile after mile swept by.

Then as we drove toward the web of lanes that marked the edge of the GTA, as quickly as it began, the train of cars vanished. I returned to mundane speeds and found myself back at home, ready to re-join the world of the law-abiding.

This next entry comes from Laura Hare, of Belleville.

Was it claustrophobia, heat or nerves that created the nausea I felt as I found myself strapped into a 5-point harness at the wheel of a 1992 BMW 325, dressed in full racing gear, about to compete with 20 other $500 wonders in a Chumpcar race (low cost endurance racing)?

I am proud of forty years of good driving - smooth acceleration, gentle braking and cornering - intent on conserving gas and respecting both car and passengers. It was now time to take those driving habits and toss them out the window.

If my foot wasn’t to the floor on the accelerator, or on the brakes hard enough to bring my body pressing to the 5-point harness, I was wasting my time and that of my team.

After an hour of shifting, braking, accelerating, passing, being passed, it was time for a driver change. My sweat-drenched driver’s suit and 15 minutes of deep breathing revealed the extent of the workout.

Besides the exhilaration of driving as fast as possible, the next most fun I have is surprising my peers with this story. There are very few grey-haired, middle-aged women racing, but when I see the glint of envy in their eyes, I know there are many who would join our ranks!

This next entry comes from J.E.H. Porter of Scarborough (who titled his effort, 'Howard Cazalay, Uncrowned King of Circuit Racing'):

Howie was by all accounts a nice young man who loved chocolate but could not properly digest milk chocolate. He had an energy level rarely seen in my family. He hated the Gulf orange colour with a passion.

We met through a friend of a friend. I cannot recall if it was Brian Stewart of BSR (Paul Tracy) or Onorio Rocca of Formula C fame (RMS Instruments). But I needed a co driver for the upcoming BFG Sundown Endurance Race at Mosport. I had numerous volunteers, but I needed one who had the time to work on the old Healey during the week.

Howie was my only real choice. Not only did he have a space to work in but he had skill with every shop discipline needed to fabricate and race a car successfully. We were both broke, and knew this old equipment would be not much more than a back marker.

Little did we know that particular race would be won by a Hunter Dune Buggy; all of the Lolas, Porches and Camaros would fail, probably because of the sprint pace set on the opening lap.

Howie raced in the Formula B series of races that would become the Formula Atlantic Players Series the following year. Howie welded the chassis of the Healy to give the chassis more spring.

As mentioned, he hated the Gulf orange colour and painted the whole car with14 cans of spray paint with only one run! I seriously questioned the midnight blue colour, after all the faster cars should have the advantage of being able to see us to make passing less traumatic for both drivers. Naturally he set faster laps than I or our third driver Brian Stewart of BSR.

Brian did the Le Mans start and got about ten laps in when an axle shaft broke and the Healy limped into the pit. Howie and I removed the fragments of the shaft and took it into a welder in Oshawa to salvage. Howie just kept on going. The weld was successful, we refitted the shaft and Howie did the last three laps.

The carnage that night was so high, we were able to get a cheque for 17th place and probably set a record for longest pit stop in the box of 4 and 3/4 hours.

The only photo of that event was of Howie coming through turn one at Mosport. I would subsequently crew for him in his FB races at both Mosport and Trois-Rivieres.

That last race was the scariest racing event I have ever witnessed. Howie came off a turn at the back of the fairground circuit, was touched and went straight into the Armco. There was a hush, we all ran only to see the guard rail where his head should have been. Thankfully, his six point harness failed and he was able to submarine into the cockpit, thus avoiding certain decapitation.

Howie knew that he needed better equipment to show his very real skill. He got an offer to make some money in the “oil patch," so he took it. Sadly, he was returning to work and the plane he was in inexplicably “flew into the ice.” All perished. (CF PAB Oct. 30, ’74).

He raced with ”Le Petit Gilles” and shadowed him everywhere on the track. He was an extraordinary driver and a great person that should have more recognition than he got.

(Norris note: Although that tale was touching, it was disqualified for being way too long, 400 words being the maximum.)

This next entry comes from Donna (Bull) George, of Whitby, who titled it, 'Mosport, 1961'

As the youngest female National Racing License holder, I was under pressure to perform well and had completed several laps but on exiting turn four on the next time around I saw smoke coming from under the hood and pulled over just after rounding turn five, Moss’s Corner, where I jumped out of the car and ran up the bank.

The marshalls quickly determined that it was not smoke but steam caused by a blown radiator hose and not a serious hazard and that the car could remain where it was until the race had ended.

Because of the delay, my pit crew were worried when I didn't come around on time and anxiously awaited a call from the marshall. Initially, however, they couldn't understand the marshall who was having trouble getting the words out between gales of laughter.

Eventually he calmed down sufficiently to explain that I was perfectly safe but that it was the first time he had seen a racing driver leap out of an apparently burning car, run up the bank, then run back down to the car to get her purse!

Incidentally, I still have the purse.

Our last entry is from John Dowsett, of Everett, Ont.

The mad barking GT cars were on the grid. The sheer violence of noise silenced my own car.

Coming to the end of the back straight, we were bunched as close as cars in a parking lot.

JOHN DOWSETT, AT SPEED.

The anticipation of my first race start was beyond imagination. The flag dropped. I planted my right foot. In an instant we all rocketed forward. Any daylight available my car managed to find, and now I was diving into corner one three abreast but now a bit further up the field. A sane person would let up.

The rhythm of driving heightened my senses. It became easier to look ahead as far as I could see. Keeping my peripheral vision alert, never looking at gauges or mirrors until the backstraight. This is were I watched my heroes race. Mclaren, Stewart, Hill, and Hunt to mention but a few. I was realizing my childhood dream.

Third in class. That twenty minute race around Mosport was the first of many. Great moments in life can never be recaptured, no matter how hard you try, but my first race shone so bright it will be with me for the rest of my life.

Thank you to all who participated.

Big racing movie night planned

If you are a member in any way of the Toronto-area motorsport community — competitor, fan, whatever — you’re going to want to be at the Regent Theatre on Mount Pleasant Rd. next Thursday night, the 29th.

Mosport and Scott Maxwell’s Mini Grid books and motorsport hobby shop have teamed up once again to present an evening at the theatre and this year they plan to show The Speed Merchants, a film by Michael Keyser narrated by Mario Andretti and Vic Elford.

This is the second such event and last year was a huge success so don’t miss out on going to this one.

The Regent is at 551 Mount Pleasant Rd. between Eglinton and St. Clair. Green P parking is available. Doors will open at 6:30 with the show starting at 7. Keyser will be there, by the way, to speak afterwards and to answer questions.

And you can bet there will be a whole lot of bench racing going on also.

Tickets - $10 in advance or $15 at the box office (tax included) - are now available at Mini Grid at 608 Mount Pleasant: 416-488-7663 or info@minigrid.com

And what's the film about?

The Speed Merchants is the story of the 1972 racing season as told by five of the day’s biggest stars: Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx, Brian Redman, Vic Elford and Helmut Marko.

The film takes you behind the scenes as the World Sportscar Championship travels to Daytona, Sebring, the Targa Florio, Nurburgring, Le Mans, and Watkins Glen as well as the Monaco GP.

Unlike today’s protected and sanitised sport, this era was faced with high risk and danger; the film takes you directly into the dramatic reality these men faced every weekend, and how they coped with the inevitable tragedy.

You also visit with the drivers at their homes in France, Belgium, Austria and England where they relax with their families between races.

Woven into the film is rare footage of both the Ferrari and Alfa Romeo factories where the cars are prepared before each race.

Backed by an original musical score, The Speed Merchants gives an unforgettable look at a year in the life of the international racing circuit and the lives of the drivers.