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[/media-credit]The Canadian Motorsports Expo (CME) is back for another year as it will hit the International Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from February 10th to February 12th.
“Over the years, the CME has been successful because it’s the country’s only pure, homegrown celebration of Canadian motorsports,” Inside Track Magazine Editor Greg MacPherson said. “It’s where the racing industry comes together to kick off ‘our’ racing season. We’re all extremely excited about the new February date and the move to the bigger Hall 6. And we’re looking forward to working with the entire Canadian racing community to make the 2012 CME the best ever.”
As in previous five years, the CME will showcase the best products offered to the motorsports lover, along with showcasing some of the cars that will be hitting the tracks in 2012. It also marks the official spot where the 2012 track schedules are announced so fans can begin planning their summer.
Along with the exhibits and cars, there will be seminars hosted by industry experts to therefore help drivers and teams with being ready for the 2012 season to make the best of it.
The CME also tries to bring in special guests for autographs. Last year guests included Steve Arpin, Ron Fellows, Brad Keselowski and Max Papis. This year’s line-up has yet to be announced, however will be announced in the next couple of short weeks.
As with years past, on Friday, Spencer Lewis will officially announce the final Ontario Short Track Rankings, naming the 10 best drivers in Ontario for 2011. Throughout the year, Spencer has done it in quarters, naming the top 10 drivers in certain sections of the year based on their performance.
On Saturday night, the CME will once again play host to the official announcement of the Inside Track Readers’ Choice Awards, which celebrate the best accomplishments by Canadians in 2011 at a national and international level.
On Sunday, CME staff announced that they will be hosting a CASCAR Reunion. The Canadian Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (CASCAR) was founded in 1981 and ran under that banner till 2007 when it became the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.
“We are very excited to be hosting the CASCAR Reunion on Sunday, February 12 at the CME,” MacPherson said. “The series laid the groundwork for NASCAR coming to Canada, proving that the country and its racers would support a unified, professional stock car series. Tony Novotny and some of his early partners had a vision, and while it was never easy, he and the racers, their families, the sponsors and fans worked together to create something pretty special. We’re looking forward to having Tony joined on stage by some past CASCAR champions and other CASCAR personalities for a trip down memory lane.”
One of the people on-hand for the reunion will be Tony Novotny, who originally founded the CASCAR series.
“It’s going to be pretty neat to see a bunch of good friends and talk about the old days,” Novotny said. “There should be a lot of fun stories. It was a lot of work and we had our ups and downs. But looking back, we put on some good racing and ran into a lot of good people over the years. It’ll be nice to see everyone again.”
The event will be held at the International Centre which is located at 6900 Airport Road in Mississauga, Ontario.
Fans can find out more information about the event, including prices and the full schedule, via the event website, http://www.canadianmotorsportsexpo.com
