Canadian Tire Motorsports Park plans on thrilling fans with action packed schedule

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February 19, 2014

While most fans are thrilled by drivers going in circles, there are those that beat to a different drum. That drum is set to be answered by Canadian Tire Motorsports Park as they have announced a thrilling 2014 race schedule for their 3.957 km road course located in Bowmanville, Ontario.

The highlight of the season will be on August 31st as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will take to the track for their Chevrolet Silverado 250. Last year’s inaugural event saw the biggest attendance the facility has seen in years as fans flocked the grounds to get a glimpse of the NASCAR stars. The action on track also lived up to expectations with a thrilling finish between Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon.

Joining the trucks that weekend will be the the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin, the Canadian Touring Car Championship and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

For the Canadian Tire Series, the August date marks their second stop at CTMP for 2014. NCAT will kick off their season with a trip to CTMP on May 18th, as part of Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend. Fans will be able to attend the season opener and see if Scott Steckly will start his road to a second straight title with a win, or if he can beat by the likes of D.J. Kennington or Alex Tagliani.

The NCAT series will be joined that weekend by the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series, Pirelli World Challenge (Touring and B-Spec), the Canadian Touring Car Championship, the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge and the Formula 1600 Super Series. There will also be fireworks on Saturday evening for fans to enjoy.

For vintage race fans, a trip to CTMP is in order in June as June 13th to the 15th is the Canadian Historic Grand Prix. This event is organized by the Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada and will include restored cars from the past 50+ years of auto racing. The feature event for this year is the Triumph vs MG Canadian-American Showdown.

Sports cars fans will also be delighted as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship will once again bring the GT cars north of the border from July 10th to 13th with the Mobile 1 SportsCar Grand Prix. Though also included under the new TUDOR banner for 2014 is the prototype cars as well.

Also in action on this weekend is the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, Cooper Tires Prototype Lites, IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge, Lamborghini Super Tofeo North Carolina and the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy MX-5 Cup.

Lastly, two wheel fans are also in luck as CTMP announced that they will once again host a Superbike Doubleheader Weekend from August 15th to the 17th. Canada’s top motorcycle riders will compete in a double header points race for the National Mopar Canadian Superbike Championship.

With a schedule full of action each month at a top level, CTMP definitely looks to please fans once again in 2014.

Daniel Suarez scores K&N East UNOH Battle of the Beach for second straight win

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SM Staff

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February 18, 2014

danielsuarez_gettyimages — Photo Credit: Getty Images

Daniel Suarez would dominate his second straight NASCAR K&N East Series event, as he took the victory in the UNOH Battle of the Beach for the second straight win in a row. Suarez won the season opener at New Smyrna Speedway on Sunday.

“I can’t believe this,” Suarez commented. “I can’t thank everyone enough on the team. I have no explain what I feel right now.”

Suarez would take the lead on lap 32 and didn’t look back as he held off the challenges from Austin Hill and Brandon McReynolds.

Hill would finish second after a thrilling battle on the final laps with McReynolds. McReynolds finished third as he gets set to run the full NASCAR K&N West Series schedule for Bill McAnally Racing.

McReynolds’ teammate Nick Drake finished fourth with two-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Champion Lee Pulliam fifth. Pulliam came back for a top five after going for a spin on lap 64.

Kenzie Ruston finished sixth after going for a spin on lap 75, while Gray Gaulding finished seventh after serving a pass-thru penalty for being too aggressive on lap 64 after spinning David Garbo Jr. Patrick Staropoli finished eighth followed by Scott Heckert and Kaz Grala.

Brandon Gdovic finished 11th, followed by Jesse Little, who went around a couple of times throughout the course of the 150 laps. Sergio Pena finished 13th followed by last year’s winner Cameron Hayley. Hayley got spun early and worked his way back into the top five, before being spun with 13 laps to go by Gdovic. Pole sitter Ben Rhodes rounded out the top 15 after he sustained heavy front end damage to contact with Jerry Dawson when Dawson spun.

Jay Beasley finished 16th, followed by McKenna Bell, Brodie Kostecki, Eddie McDonald and Ryan Gifford.

Doug Coby wins the UNOH Battle of the Beach Modified Race

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SM Staff

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February 18, 2014

dougcoby_gettyimages — Photo Credit: Getty Images

He may have only led three laps – but he led the three laps that counted the most. Doug Coby made the pass on the final restart to take the win in the UNOH Battle of the Beach Modified race at Daytona International Speedway.

“It doesn’t matter what you race here, to be a winner at Daytona and bring it to a brand new team with my first time in this car – it’s really special,” Coby said. “I tried to keep putting myself in position. We got lucky that caution came out at the end. Ryan Preece had the best car but it’s the battle of the beach – anything can happen.”

Ryan Preece would start the 150 lap race on pole and pulled out to the early lead, holding off all challenges on the ensuing restarts.

After a late race restart with 14 laps to go in the 150 lap event, Preece once again jumped out ahead and began to close up on the back of the field. As he closed in on the No. 36 of David Sapienza, Sapienza went down towards the infield, and then kept the car pointed forward as he headed for turn one. Preece went into turn one at the same time, which caused the pair to make contact with Sapienza going around while Preece sustained heavy left rear damage.

Preece stayed on track with the left rear bent as the leader and went for the final restart with four to go. As the field went through turn one, Patrick Emerling would spin out of second while Coby would sneak underneath Preece for the lead. Coby then held on the rest of the way, holding off Jason Myers.

Myers finished second, followed by Luke Fleming and Preece.

“I don’t know what to say about it. All I can say is I can’t thank these guys enough,” Preece commented. “It’s unfortunate – I don’t know if he even turned there. This is horrible – Daytona. It would’ve meant a lot to me to win this race.”

Moving forward, Preece says he’s going to “keep it going for the rest of the year. There’s 14 races and I plan on winning most of them.”

Burt Myers rounded out the top five, followed by Thomas Barrett Jr., Cody Ware, Ron Silk, Eric Goodale and J R Bertuccio.

The race featured multiple cautions for single car spins throughout the course of 150 laps, though most drivers were able to continue. Two of the biggest disappointments were Cole Powell and Justin Bonsigmore, who both fell out of the event due to mechanical issues after running inside the top five.

“I think the motor is starting to break so instead of breaking it, we decided to come in with it being not for points,” Bonsigmore. “We’re trying out the NASCAR spec motor. It started to get hot and we couldn’t get it cooled down and watched it start to break up so we pulled in.”

The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour will kick off their season on March 9th at Caraway Speedway while the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour kicks off their season on April 6th at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.

Jason Hathaway to run Chevrolets in 2014

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SM Staff

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February 18, 2014

DSCF9798 — Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin

Ed Hakonson Racing announced earlier this month that they will switch from Dodge to Chevrolet with Jason Hathaway once again behind the wheel of the team’s No. 3 Snap-On Tools/Rockstar Energy Drink Chevrolet.

“We have been treated very well by Dodge & MOPAR family over the last 11 years, but our Team felt that it was time to make a change and support one of the other great North American manufacturers in the Series,” team owner Ed Hakonson commented. “We think this will offer General Motors and Chevrolet a great spring board to leverage motorsports in the Canadian marketplace.”

Jason Hathaway has been with the team since 2006, when he won the CASCAR Rookie of the Year Award.

Last year, Hathaway finished third in points with two wins.

LP Dumoulin and WeatherTech Canada Team With King Autosport for 2014 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Season

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SM Archive

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February 18, 2014

Despite What Has Gone On to Date, the Daytona 500 Is a Crap Shoot

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SM Staff

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February 18, 2014

crash_dis1_nns_seminara — Photo Credit: Ted Seminara

I’ve often wondered about the first race of the season. It’s called Speedweeks for a reason. Of course, it really lasts only 11 days. I guess they count the 24 Hours of Daytona in that, and that’s alright. Regardless, it usually begins on a Thursday. After that, we practice for the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race, practice for the Daytona 500 pole qualifying, run the exhibition race, and by Sunday, we establish the front row. Then it’s three days until the two qualifying races, now known as the Budweiser Duels. Once upon a time, they used to be called the “Twin 125’s,” but that was a long time ago. It makes the beginning of the season a big event.

The two qualifying races are unique to Daytona and I’m so happy they didn’t change that format when they changed the rest of the qualifying. It gives the underdog a chance to qualify for the season’s biggest race, for one thing. It also puts Daytona on the map as the World Center of Speed, which has been the track’s motto for years. I look forward to the two qualifying races each year.

From early indications, it’s apparent that Richard Childress engines seem to have the edge in power and durability this year. Dominating the practice sessions, the ECR engines have been strong and propelled Austin Dillon to the pole in the resurrection of the No. 3 by putting it on the pole for the big race. Alongside will be Martin Truex, Jr. in the Furniture Row car which also had an ECR engine under the hood. With Hendrick engines having three failures in practice, it appears that the hiring of more crackerjack engineers by Childress has paid off. More surprising was the performance of the Fords.

It’s been a long time since any of the Fords seemed even competitive. Yes, Matt Kenseth in a Roush Fenway Ford has won the Great American Race lately, and David Ragan won Talladega last year using a Roush-Yates engine, but the whole team has seemed overmatched by the Toyota, Hendrick and Childress contingent. That may be changing. In the Sprint Unlimited, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano from the Penske shops looked strong. In looking at qualifying speed, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and Keselowski were fast. It also appeared, even with Denny Hamlin’s victory in the Unlimited, that Toyota was a little behind, but the bigger story was that a rookie, with his car sporting a famous number, sits on the pole for the big race. It was more than NASCAR could have wanted. The No. 3 was on the pole, and that’s ratings magic.

Truth is, like Truex said after he nearly nipped Dillon for the pole, anyone can win this race. I’m sure the rookie will come out in Dillon, Hendrick will solve his engine problems, the Toyotas will prove that Denny Hamlin’s Unlimited was not a fluke, and Biffle and Edwards will somehow find a way to drop to the back of the pack, but calling a winner for this race is more than difficult. In fact, it’s impossible.

And yet, the multitudes will insist Junior Earnhardt will win and others will insist that Dillon has the inside track to victory lane. Truth is, they could be right in a race that lasts 500 miles. The likely winner will be someone you never thought of in this crap shoot. As one who hates plate racing, I wouldn’t dare pick a winner without first seeing the Duels. As for now, it looks to be ECR power vs., Toyota handling vs. Hendrick Engines getting things sorted out vs. the Fords getting in a big wreck that includes all their cars early on. In other words, it is a crap shoot. And that’s part of what keeps them coming back.

Ben Rhodes wins the pole for K&N East Battle of the Beach

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SM Staff

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February 18, 2014

benrhodes_gettyimages — Photo Credit: Getty Images

16-year-old Ben Rhodes earned his first 21 Means 21 presented by Coors Brewing Company Pole Award on Tuesday in UNOH Battle At The Beach qualifying on the short track at Daytona International Speedway. The Louisville, Kentucky native made his way around the .37-mile oval in 18.589 seconds.

He will be joined by fellow rookie Austin Hill, who posted a qualifying time of 18.719 seconds. Gray Gaulding qualified third followed by Ronnie Bassett Jr. and Brennan Newberry.

New Smryna winner Daniel Suárez qualifed sixth, followed by Brodie Kostecki, David Garbo Jr., Lee Pulliam and Kenzie Ruston. Last year’s UNOH Battle of the Beach winner Cameron Hayley qualified 13th.

The UNOH Battle at the Beach is set to get underway at 7 p.m. with NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and Whelen Southern Modified Tour race followed by the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East at approximately 8:45 p.m.

Live television coverage on FOX Sports 2 will begin at 7 p.m. while radio coverage on the Motor Racing Network with live streaming MRN.com and SiriusXM NASCAR Ch. 90 gets underway at 6:45 p.m.

Pos	No.	Name	Sponsor	Best Tm	Best Speed	In Lap	Laps	Diff
1	41	Ben Rhodes *	Alpha Energy Solutions Chevrolet	18.589	71.655	2	2
2	22	Austin Hill *	A&D Welding Ford	18.719	71.158	2	2	0.130
3	20	Gray Gaulding	Krispy Kreme Chevrolet	18.802	70.844	2	2	0.213
4	04	Ronnie Bassett	Butler Trailer Mfg. Toyota	18.806	70.828	2	2	0.217
5	24	Brennan Newberry	Qore24 Chevrolet	18.813	70.802	2	2	0.224
6	6	Daniel Suarez	Sunoco Race Fuels Toyota	18.818	70.783	2	2	0.229
7	43	Brodie Kostecki *	Arcoplate Toyota	18.847	70.674	2	2	0.258
8	1	David Garbo, Jr.	Garbo Lobster Toyota	18.857	70.637	2	2	0.268
9	11	Lee Pulliam *	Don Valley North Toyota Toyota	18.872	70.581	2	2	0.283
10	96	Kenzie Ruston	Ben Kennedy Racing Chevrolet	18.907	70.450	2	2	0.318
11	15	Nick Drake *	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota	18.932	70.357	2	2	0.343
12	34	Scott Heckert	Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet	18.942	70.320	2	2	0.353
13	98	Cameron Hayley	Cabinets by Hayley Chevrolet	18.953	70.279	2	2	0.364
14	42	Jay Beasley *	Toyota Racing Development Toyota	18.971	70.212	2	2	0.382
15	46	Brandon Gdovic	American Messaging/Windstax.com Toyota	18.972	70.209	2	2	0.383
16	2	Ryan Gifford	Toyota Racing Development Toyota	18.994	70.127	1	2	0.405
17	4	Sergio Pena	UTI/NASCAR Technical Institiue Toyota	19.035	69.976	2	2	0.446
18	99	Patrick Staropoli *	PEAK Toyota	19.040	69.958	2	2	0.451
19	16	Brandon McReynolds	NAPA Auto Parts Toyota	19.042	69.951	2	2	0.453
20	21	Mackena Bell	Special Smiles Toyota	19.099	69.742	1	1	0.510
21	31	Kaz Grala *	OzLINK Chevrolet	19.104	69.724	2	2	0.515
22	71	Eddie MacDonald	Grimm Contracting Chevrolet	19.107	69.713	2	2	0.518
23	97	Jesse Little	Vanacore Homes/NTI Chevrolet	19.116	69.680	2	2	0.527
24	07	Clint King *	Warehouse Design Chevrolet	19.156	69.534	2	2	0.567
25	89	Cory Joyce *	Kyros Ent	19.194	69.397	2	2	0.605
26	12	Beto Monteiro *	Lenovo/Champion Oil Dodge	19.295	69.033	1	2	0.706
27	75	Nathan Russell *	VSI Racing/Russell Stone Products Chevrolet	19.353	68.827	2	2	0.764
28	33	Brandon Jones	Wolfpack Energy Services Chevrolet	19.435	68.536	2	2	0.846
29	18	Sam Hunt	Paragon Energy Holdings Toyota	19.494	68.329	2	2	0.905
30	55	Jerry Dawson *	EXIT Realty Chevrolet	20.109	66.239	2	2	1.520

Give Austin Dillon a Chance

By

Michelle Lippold

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February 18, 2014

no3_dis_testing_yeazell — Photo Credit: David Yeazell

Sunday afternoon most of us waited for one thing and one thing only and it wasn’t about winning the pole for the Daytona 500. We waited with bated breath for the one thing fans have argued about for a while, the return of the No. 3. Many fans were happy to see it return to the track while just as many felt the hurt and sting as it took to the track.

For many fans, they never wanted to see it back. Actually remembering the promise made by Richard Childress that it would not come back. At the time not realizing there were loopholes with that statement that has brought us to where we are today, fans divided and the car carrying the No. 3 is back. Some fans watched with tears as it went around the track feeling betrayed by Richard Childress Racing, but it was back and fans had no say in it.

Now not only did the car come back but it is sitting on the pole for the biggest race of the year. Some fans are finding that a little hard to swallow, going as far as saying it was fixed by NASCAR for ratings. Which at this point does not even matter. It’s back and not going anywhere. Now it’s time to focus on the things fans can do, which is give Austin Dillon a chance.

Now many fans will not give Austin a chance but hopefully some will. If you think about it from his perspective, there is a lot on his shoulders. How would you like to be the driver and sit in that car knowing the legacy that goes with it? He will have to find a way to create his own legacy in a car that already has a legacy of its own. He needs to figure out how to forge his own path in the racing world and not be in the shadow of the man that made magic in that car, Dale Earnhardt Sr. He needs to prove to fans he deserves to sit behind the wheel of that car and that he will make everyone proud. That is a lot for a young driver to deal with.

My point is this; like it or not the No. 3 is here and Dillon is driving it. We need to think with our heads and not our hearts. Dillon may rise to the occasion and earn the respect of the fans or he may become his own worst enemy sitting in the biggest shoes in NASCAR to date. He won’t be able to do any of that if he isn’t given the chance by the fans.

Dale Earnhardt would want Dillon to be given the chance to prove what he’s got, but he would also expect Dillon to live up to his potential. The jury is out right now, so let’s do the right thing and give Dillon the chance to prove everyone wrong. Let Dillon prove that he deserves to be where he is today, carrying the famous number 3.