Norris McDonald is the Editor of Toronto Star Wheels. His columns, blogs and feature stories, particularly about motorsport, are industry-leading. He has received awards and citations for his newspaper work and frequently appears on radio and television. In 2014, he became the first journalist to be inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame.

wh-TonyTracy-Main-Nov12

Canadian champion racing driver Paul Tracy likes to say that his father, Tony, a Scarborough house painter who died on Sunday, Oct. 23, at age 92, raised some of the money to send Paul racing in the early days by painting the CN Tower.

This may very well be true. But there is also another story about how Tony came up with the dough – about $3.5 million, in total, before Paul signed his first pro contract, with Penske Racing.

I was there when much of this happened and it is, indeed, a fascinating tale.

The story involves, primarily, a gentleman named R. Howard Webster who, at the time, owned the Globe and Mail, which was located on the corner of King at York streets in downtown Toronto.

Now, anything you read about Webster makes reference to the fact that he enjoyed the odd social drink. This also may very well be true, but he sure  enjoyed those drinks frequently when he was in Toronto staying at a hotel across the street from the Globe and Mail called the Lord Simcoe Hotel, which he also owned.

Webster had a friend (some of us called him Howard’s minder) named Ernie Ireland, whose job when Webster was in residence at the Simcoe was to keep an eye on him.

Tony Tracy, meantime, periodically would pop into the hotel’s Sentry Box Lounge to enjoy lunch with a pal of his, a guy named John Judson. Tracy had given up the grog years previously but enjoyed the pub food and atmosphere, plus his buddy Judson was a regular at the Sentry Box.

If not for that friendship, none of what follows would have happened.

On this particular day, Tracy was tucking into fish and chips with Judson and others who habituated a large round table just inside the Sentry Box Lounge entrance doors. And they were talking about car and motorcycle racing and aircraft restoration when Webster felt the call of nature and headed on out the door, escaping the watchful eye of Ireland.

There used to be a men’s room off the main hotel lobby between the Sentry Box Lounge and another licenced establishment called the Beau Nash Room, where lounge singers like Billy Reuben would hold court.

Webster found the door to that men’s room, pushed it open and walked into complete darkness. Someone previous to his arrival had turned off the light and you couldn’t see a thing.

In those days, men’s rooms frequently had a dispenser of cologne, prophylactics and so on hanging from a wall. For some reason, and this has since been fixed, you would drop your quarter into a slot and push on a handle about six inches long to get whatever it was you were purchasing.

Those six-inch-long handles could be lethal.

Remember: it is pitch black. Webster is feeling around for the light switch when one of these six-inch-long dispenser rods snags him right at the corner of his right eye. The pain is excruciating. Within seconds, Webster is in a state. He is injured, he can’t see a thing , he has fallen to his knees and he’s calling out for Ireland.

And who should come walking into that washroom at that very moment but Tracy.

<img class="aligncenter wp-image-172970 size-full" src="https://wordpress.wheels.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/wh-TonyTracy-Tower-Nov12.jpg" alt="Tony Tracy" width="2000" height="1544" />

Tracy is one of the few people in the place who is stone cold sober and perfect to handle an emergency such as this. He quickly evaluates the situation and realizes that Webster requires hospital help. Being a Scarborough house painter, he is wearing a white T-shirt which he takes off  and rips into a rudimentary bandage. Once attached, he starts to guide Webster toward the front door of the hotel.

Tracy and a bloodied Webster exit the Simcoe and Tracy asks the doorman to summon a taxicab. “Take us to the Toronto General Hospital emergency department,” Tracy instructs the driver, “and  don’t waste any time.” The cabbie  does as he is told and whips up University Avenue in a flash.

It does not take long for the Toronto General emergency department staff  to leap into action once they see a well-dressed man with a bloodied bandage around his head being accompanied by a swarthy once-upon-a-time redhead who doesn’t have anything on from the waist up.

Before you know it, Webster is patched up and he and Tracy are in a cab back to the Lord Simcoe Hotel. And, as you can imagine, by this time, Webster is in love with Tracy.

Upon arrival, Webster tells Tracy to come with him into the offices of hotel general manager Peter Hill. Webster tells Hill what has happened and says he wants to reward Tracy.

Hill knows that Tracy is a Scarborough-based house painter so suggests that he contract with him to paint a couple of hotel rooms that need sprucing up. Webster thinks about this for a moment, shakes his head, and says: “This man deserves more than that. I want him to renovate the entire hotel.”

Which was, in the end, a reward worth several millions of dollars.

Tracy didn’t like to talk about deals such as this one (only one other reporter knows what I know) because there were many. Tracy was a player, which you have to be when you are raising millions of dollars to turn your son into a world-class racing driver.

But it was all legal (most of it, anyway). And even if the CN Tower played a role in there somewhere, Paul Tracy owes as much, or more, to a gentleman who owned a newspaper and the hotel next door, and who was found in the men’s washroom injured and without a friend in the world.

Norris McDonald is the former editor of Wheels. He is semi-retired.

Canadian champion race car driver Paul Tracy’s father was in right place at right time

scott dixon winner credit stephanie wallcrat

You often see more at a car race than a car race. Take everything that happened this weekend around the Honda Indy Toronto:

The Star’s Mark Zwolinsky did a fabulous reporting job this weekend, so no reason to duplicate anything. . . .

There were shenanigans surrounding the Chip Ganassi racing team, champion Alex Palou and F1/Indycar owner Zak Brown. I know Ganassi. Regardless of who says what and when, Ganassi will wait, and when the time is right, he’ll run off with the money.

And sign Scott Dixon to a new contract. . . . . Kevin Lacroix won the NASCAR Pinty’s race Saturday. . . . Philippe and Eric Dube won the Eastern Canadian Rally Championship . . . . Sprint car star Brent Marks won $175,000 at Eldora Speedway in Ohio . . . . Tony Stewart held off Marco Andretti Saturday to win Saturday’s Camping World SRX race in Missouri. . . . Justin Allgaier won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire . . . . Winning the GT4 and overall Sports Car Championship Canada presented by Michelin series of round 5 was Gavin Sanders. Zachary Vanier finished second and Charles  Robin was third. . . . Louis Foster swept two Road to Indy races Sunday. He’ll go to Indy Lights next year.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-169968" src="https://wordpress.wheels.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Midget-flip.jpg" alt="midget flip" width="1000" height="666" />
<h3>Here are some results from this weekend: </h3>
 OHSWEKEN Friday July 15 

360 Sprints - Josh Hansen

Crate Sprints - Lucas Smith

Thunder Stocks - Ryan Beagle

Mini Stocks -  Tyler Lafantaisie

Flamboro Speedway Saturday July 16 

APC Pro Late Model 100 laps - Kyle Steckly

Can-Am Midgets - Cory Whittam

Mini Stock - Shawn Taylor

Merrittville Speedway Saturday July 16 

Action Sprint Tour - Mike Bowman

Sportsman - Cody McPherson

Hoosier Stocks - Rob Murray

4-Cylinder - Jay Moulton

Nick Cassidy won the first Formula E victory in New York at the weekend. Antonio Felix da Costa won the second. . . . Louis Foster won two Indy 2000 races at Exhibition Place. . . . . 3-time U.S. Auto Club midget champion Bobby East was stabbed dead in Los Angeles Wednesday . . . .

Racing Roundup: Dixon wins Honda Indy, sprint car star wins $175,000

Spa-francorchamps,,Belgium.,27-29,August,2021.,F1,Rolex,Belgian,Grand,Prix

Max Verstappen won the pole for the Austrian GP Friday, won the sprint Saturday and then lost the race Sunday to Ferraris Charles Leclerc. Max finished second in a Red Bull while Sir Lewis Hamilton was third in a Mercedes.

George Russell in the second Mercedes finished fourth while Esteban Ocon was fifth in an alpine. Max is leading the driver standings while Leclerc
is second.

Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel both condemned reports of sexist and racist behaviour on the part of F1 fans at the red bowl ring in Austria. F1 issued a statement saying this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.

Nicolas Latifi of Toronto did not finish. “we sustained floor damage from running over some debris at the start of the race and over one curb,” he said. “Toward the end of that first stint, I felt a lack of downforce and pace, so the decision was made to retire that car and then be ready for France.”

Lance Stroll did not do well either. “My start was decent and I could hold the possessions and battle with the McLarens early on.” “However, it was tricky to keep the faster cars behind. We just have to be ready for France.”

Results:

Bobby Labonte led  all 75 laps Saturday on the way to winning the superstar racing experience at Nashville speedway Saturday night. Labonte beat Marco Andretti and Matt Kenseth. Paul Tracy was fourth and Helio Castroneves, fifth.

In NASCAR, Austin Hill won the Xfinity series race,  Parker Kligerman took the truck series win at mid Ohio and Chase Elliott won the cup race at Atlanta Sunday.

RACE RESULTS

HUMBERSTONE SPEEDWAY Thursday June 30

Knights of Thunder 360 Sprints - Mitch Brown

Action Sprint Tour Crate Sprints - Mike Bowman

Modifieds - Chad Chevalier

Mod-Lite  - Brent Begolo

Street Stocks - Dave Bailey

OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY Friday July 1 - 16th Canadian Nationals

Knights of Thunder 360 Sprints - Ryan Turner

Action Sprint Tour Crate Sprints - Jacob Dykstra

Modifieds - Gary Lindberg

FLAMBORO SPEEDWAY Saturday July 2

Ontario Modifieds - feature 1 Chad Strawn,  feature 2 Tyler Bouillon

Canadian Vintage Modifieds - feature 1 Ricky Willigar, feature 2 Quinton Murdoch

Mini Stock - feature 1 Mike Gilmour, feature 2 Shawn Taylor

Pure Stock - feature 1 Gary Slama, feature 2 Gary Slama

MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY Saturday July 2

Modifieds - Gary Lindberg

Sportsman - Darrell Farraway

Hoosier Stock - Rob Murray

4 Cylinder - Kyle Rothwell

Mod Lite - Brent Begolo

HUMBERSTONE SPEEDWAY Sunday July 3

DIRTcar Sportsman - Brad Rous

Late Models - Rob Ledingham

Street Stocks - Dave Bailey

Mini Stocks - Kyle Rothwell

OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY Friday July 8

Sprint - Mikey Kruchka

Crate Sprint - Lucas Smith

Thunder Stock - Dave Bailey

Mini Stock - Tyler Lafantaisie

FLAMBORO SPEEDWAY Saturday July 9 (twin features)

Pro Late Model features - Shawn Chenoweth and Chris Howse

Super Stock features - Lane Zardo and Chase Pinsonneault

Pro Challenge features - Tim Norris and Mike Norris

Mini Stock features - Shawn Taylor (both features)

F4 Modifieds - Dan Pettit (both features)

Pure Stocks - Cameron Thomson and Nicole Givens

MERRITTVILLE SPEEDWAY Saturday July 9

Modifieds - Mat Williamson

Sportsman - Cody Mcpherson

Hoosier Stocks - Dave Bailey

4-Cylinder - Tyler Lafantaisie

Mod Lites - Josh Sliter

Racing Roundup: Max wins-two races, loses two others

Devlin

Robert Wickens of Guelph won his first race since being handicapped by that accident at Pocono. Pa., when he and co-driver Mark Wilkins of Toronto won the Tioga Downs Casino 120, round five of the 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Racing at “The Glen” for the first time in his storied career, it was Wickens’ fifth race using hand controls, and his first victory since returning to competition after his IndyCar accident on August 19, 2018.

The accident claimed Wickens’ ability to use his legs, but his talent, focus and determination to return to victory circle remain stronger than ever, “Any time I compete, I compete with the intent to win. Mark and I and the team have been working diligently to get the most out of the car and to execute clean races every weekend. To get this win is very satisfying." said Wickens.

Wickens started the two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race from the second row, in the third position, Brian Harta PR reported. He took the lead on lap 18 and charged to a 10-second lead over the field when he came in for his second pit stop and turned the cockpit over to Wilkins for the final 55-minute push to the checkers.

Despite several late race restarts and a charge from the No. 5 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce, Wilkins held on for the historic victory.

The Bryan Herta Autosport team featuring Robert Wickens will be back in action next weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park outside of Toronto.

Now, there are all sorts of stories and results on tap this weekend, so let’s get going: Bruton Smith, who was a rival of both “Big Bill” and his son Bill France Jr. (and never gave an inch to either) died this week at age 94. Darrell Waltrip asked the crowd at Nashville Speedway Sunday for 10 seconds of silence. . . . . Martin Truex Jr. plans to take a year off and then to return to the NASCAR Cup series in ’24 . . . . .Sheldon Haudenschield won $100,000 for a sprint-car car Saturday night. His father, Jack, was known as “the Wild Child.” . . . . .

Last weekend, Helio Castroneves won the Camping World SRX Racing event at South Boston Speedway in Virginia. This week, Tony Stewart won. It was a night full of flaming temperatures. Marlo Andretti and Paul Tracy were just two of the racers to hit the wall. . . . . . Justin Algaier led a season-high 134 laps of 188 and swept every stage for a completely dominant win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Nashville Saturday. . . . . . Ryan Preece won the trucks race . . . . .  The Oro Station Motor Site has received site plan approval from the Oro-Medonte Township. Now what the SPA has been concluded, the approval has been registered on title giving the green light to build the circuit . . . . . Vince Lalande completed another weekend sweep on Canadian MiniSBK at Lombardy. . . . .  IndyCar star Devlin DeFrancesco of Toronto and family are matching funds raised through Racing for the Tiniest Babies – Sunnybrook Foundation. VIP photos to the Honda Indy are available. Photographer John Larsen provided the photo of a young Devlin. . . . .

I’m disappointed with Sebastian Vettel, whose oil sands criticism was written by Deborah Jaremko, director of content for the Canadian Energy Centre, an Alberta government corporation funded in part by taxes paid by industry on carbon emissions. She wrote:

Car racing, and the world, relies on oil and gas. Canada should be the supplier of choice, rather than nations like Saudi Arabia.

German Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel sat on a podium in Montreal last week in gear emblazoned with his sponsor logos – including Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil giant Saudi Aramco, owned by the tyranny state of Saudi Arabia – and told reporters that Alberta’s oil sands is “criminal.”

He had arrived earlier to participate in the Montreal Grand Prix in a T-shirt calling the oil sands a “climate crime.”

The hypocrisy in these actions is staggering. Here’s why:

Formula One racing relies on fossil fuels 

From the racing helmets and protective gear to the enormous logistical undertaking of moving teams and equipment around the world, the massive event location operations and, of course, the high-performance race cars and gasoline they run on, F1 would not be possible without fossil fuels.

Approximately 256,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions are generated for a single F1 season, the organization says.

The organization has set a goal to reach net-zero emissions. So have the largest companies in Canada’s oil sands, and they’re on a solid foundation of successful improvements in environmental performance.

Canadian oil leads the world in environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics 

Among the world’s top 10 oil reserve holders, Canada ranks number one across the board in environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics like environmental protection, social progress, and the absence of violence and terrorism.

That’s according to rankings derived from Yale University’s Environmental Performance Index, the Social Progress Imperative Index, and the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators.

While Canada is number one in all categories, Saudi Arabia ranks number eight in environmental performance, seventh in social progress, fifth in political stability and the absence of violence/terrorism, and ninth for freedom of expression.

Human Rights Watch <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001KfI_pLrNKUWK59HFilzBmNjdNxeSL9MSRtq2cTCd_qHu-wbDmyTuygf8e3banHaRfbTLzni_akkzV7gI_q8oROdP1NZ4GaSmFZymKnUUpqJHHy_lo0sgDms5yWFD31aY-bOJd9clv3ZETNaCPRi5E2hp8wTcfegeNSYnwFQWXSANfkREPrByStsAnOI4eamHztTjJY4uiETunLT0nMTbSV6k1jo4ni8rVNxUxwG93COjLsv7byGrC0c9aUPuERC7CYQJ5qVhkLiLFILRVz8-uKI4p8rxx0zKqLKiiILjB_oyh2xq7x5obeZoPKYWPJf_1mM7Yxgz6laehzi7FuTkLsZx6fSOW-JA6ch-bkzhvpsjaaYrM0MkiA==&amp;c=eFXzZz0QhdZtYDcsA-PUXaNzuB24XFOvRe9FZku3cpnAPZS_xHsLUg==&amp;ch=c1FFIx8AX5y3tomuph7e27Bh8HMROYGgO5kXRF3SKWUQi9tU9ZS0BA==__;!!AlmGDlt8!zhqFnFBCkwrEksfBo8hCgJCSGewUxCsRZxxkfGHrp-fwI0Jj_42-UAJkv9yvHNM5-4DcX_zg9nesmMyNmlANyso$" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="0">says</a> that in Saudi Arabia there is “near-total repression of independent civil society and critical voices” and “ongoing repression and contempt for basic rights.”

Meanwhile, Canada is a stable democracy with a focus on labour rights, civil rights, environmental protection and Indigenous opportunity.

Vettel’s choice to fly the flag for Saudi Arabia while decrying Canada’s oil sands industry as “criminal” is disgraceful.

Canada’s oil sands is on the path to net-zero emissions 

Canada’s oil sands industry is doing more to reduce emissions than other major producing jurisdictions, according to BMO Capital Markets.

Oil sands companies have successfully reduced emissions per barrel, or emissions intensity, by 20 per cent since 2009, according to IHS Markit. The consultancy <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001KfI_pLrNKUWK59HFilzBmNjdNxeSL9MSRtq2cTCd_qHu-wbDmyTuyowazRzfe0DmHx-otKQVM3keFHkAOsFGqx8G_UD3n1-NqjpdnuFa89xZXqPTTRWRpC1VTJfwZllz0S36oxIUED5wdoijgbsAo4gW-xxxHgNQoWb4molziQhlwLCXMp6ZbiWZkY93lN6y1Wq2NQfkXMpYt4BtGAkxxEZrswO4PNF7USFKB6Y19rR6RvuF2cApBAoC4fpMYcupyrmlEN6wPWBL-1HarlJl3uAbzWZayZrFxr9OXIKTjNvzFLSg7JhrCQvLkl_yK9lstpL2APYgRJ_m0-yY1tdaw-90zpqdEJ79cGf6WNNUdJCvlrwhqPMIsUemDLSUDVE-FrnKkJzqgro=&amp;c=eFXzZz0QhdZtYDcsA-PUXaNzuB24XFOvRe9FZku3cpnAPZS_xHsLUg==&amp;ch=c1FFIx8AX5y3tomuph7e27Bh8HMROYGgO5kXRF3SKWUQi9tU9ZS0BA==__;!!AlmGDlt8!zhqFnFBCkwrEksfBo8hCgJCSGewUxCsRZxxkfGHrp-fwI0Jj_42-UAJkv9yvHNM5-4DcX_zg9nesmMyNCfvb_KQ$" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="1">expects</a> total oil sands emissions – not just emissions per barrel – to start going down within the next five years.

And the six largest oil sands companies, representing more than 95 per cent of production, have <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001KfI_pLrNKUWK59HFilzBmNjdNxeSL9MSRtq2cTCd_qHu-wbDmyTuygf8e3banHaRsdeOssewnnV4StJuVrYq6BkJ4CyVniHm5ACdNmEdOX07qVDUTU4GBkBtZV32ztZBHsSqEuO7e9qtQFc2pQ7rB5_BebK-G0sYNc34fHZOSvA=&amp;c=eFXzZz0QhdZtYDcsA-PUXaNzuB24XFOvRe9FZku3cpnAPZS_xHsLUg==&amp;ch=c1FFIx8AX5y3tomuph7e27Bh8HMROYGgO5kXRF3SKWUQi9tU9ZS0BA==__;!!AlmGDlt8!zhqFnFBCkwrEksfBo8hCgJCSGewUxCsRZxxkfGHrp-fwI0Jj_42-UAJkv9yvHNM5-4DcX_zg9nesmMyNnt9y6bs$" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="2">jointly committed</a> to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

The world will require oil and gas for decades to come 

Oil and gas are expected to be required to supply the largest share of world energy through 2050, even as more renewable energy comes online, <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001KfI_pLrNKUWK59HFilzBmNjdNxeSL9MSRtq2cTCd_qHu-wbDmyTuyvUmlUkNczFPxcqN0lSqLc1tT3ZttJKWRSG0AtSh9ivIkLnClqkBzwACr5K5MpjYZk8AA_Ms1FfDp1uxvI5jb8f4JVS7HwLWIbHtbX2PHuEKNTZxHrscILYqCSfXIlzc7BB94O6gpZmv&amp;c=eFXzZz0QhdZtYDcsA-PUXaNzuB24XFOvRe9FZku3cpnAPZS_xHsLUg==&amp;ch=c1FFIx8AX5y3tomuph7e27Bh8HMROYGgO5kXRF3SKWUQi9tU9ZS0BA==__;!!AlmGDlt8!zhqFnFBCkwrEksfBo8hCgJCSGewUxCsRZxxkfGHrp-fwI0Jj_42-UAJkv9yvHNM5-4DcX_zg9nesmMyNWH60V4k$" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="3">according to</a> the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The IEA projects that renewable energy will rise to supply 26 per cent of world needs in 2050, up from 12 per cent in 2020. At the same time, the share of oil and gas is expected to stay about the same – at 50 per cent in 2050 compared to 53 per cent in 2020.

IEA executive director Fatih Birol <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001KfI_pLrNKUWK59HFilzBmNjdNxeSL9MSRtq2cTCd_qHu-wbDmyTuyowazRzfe0DmbODAS-3Jk70G7eLrdsObl0LayE66__JzRzr4lSKV6x14sgtlcQcsWqI-hDx0TnveKr1AfFJhPpZ6n941y683PanshURxkjVeziZ-WRaY0GE5s_cL4MIeuxrrsuUbzW58&amp;c=eFXzZz0QhdZtYDcsA-PUXaNzuB24XFOvRe9FZku3cpnAPZS_xHsLUg==&amp;ch=c1FFIx8AX5y3tomuph7e27Bh8HMROYGgO5kXRF3SKWUQi9tU9ZS0BA==__;!!AlmGDlt8!zhqFnFBCkwrEksfBo8hCgJCSGewUxCsRZxxkfGHrp-fwI0Jj_42-UAJkv9yvHNM5-4DcX_zg9nesmMyNKlzsyDs$" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-auth="NotApplicable" data-linkindex="4">would prefer</a> the oil and gas supply to come from “good partners” like Canada.

“Canada has been a cornerstone of global energy markets, a reliable partner, for years,” Birol said in January. “We will still need oil and gas for years to come. … I prefer that oil is produced by countries … like Canada (which) want to reduce the emissions of oil and gas.”

Vettel should recognize that his sport, and the world, are dependent on oil and gas. And that Canada should be the preferred supplier as a proven leader in social and environmental progress – not inaccurately thrown under the bus as a safe target for dissent. " - Deborah Jaremko (Canadian Energy Centre)

<a href="https://wordpress.wheels.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/wreck.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-169365" src="https://wordpress.wheels.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/wreck.jpg" alt="sunset speedway" width="1000" height="666" /></a>

RACE RESULTS

OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY FRIDAY JUNE 24 

Liam Martin won his first 360 Sprint feature, followed by Nick Sheridan and Ryan Turner.

Dave Bailey won the 50 lap Thunder stock feature, with Christopher Hale in 2nd and Ron Loggie in 3rd.

Eric Gledhill won the Crate Sprint feature, followed by Mike Bowman and Ron Loggie.

Fabio Olivieri won the Mini Stock feature, followed by Tyler Lafantaisie and Wayde Thorne.

FLAMBORO SPEEDWAY SATURDAY JUNE 25 

Kevin Albers and Chris Howse won Pro Late Model features.

TJ Marshall and Rodney Rutherford won Canadian Vintage Modified features.

Lane Zardo won both Super Stock features.

Bobby Mercer and Shawn Taylor won Mini Stock features.

Camerson Thomson and Kris Lawrence won Pure Stock features.

SUNSET SPEEDWAY SATURDAY JUNE 25 

Andy Kamrath won the OSCAAR Modifieds feature.

John Gaunt won the OSCAAR Hot Rods feature.

Parker Traves won the Legends feature.

The Cup race at Nashville was rained out. Somebody won the Pinty’s race in Newfoundland but nobody told me . . .

&nbsp;

Racing Roundup: Wickens wins first, Smith dies

ferrari

So, this is what happened Sunday.

Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix for Red Bull, Carlos Sainz was second for Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton was third for Mercedes. George Russell was fourth for Mercedes and Charles Leclerk was fifth for Ferrari.

Canadian Lance Stroll of Montreal finished tenth while Nicholas Latifi of Toronto was 16th.

Verstappen held off Sainz in a late safety car. He moved 46 points clear in the driver’s championship.

Sainz said he was flat-out, pushing to the limit. “I know I could make a mistake; the pressure was always on.”

Said Hamilton (talking about Sainz and Ferrari): “They are a little too good for us. I was giving everything but we’re getting closer. We’re got to keep pushing. Hopefully we’ll be is a fight with these guys, one of these days.”

SOUNDBITES

Lance Stroll
We had a great strategy for this race, and I am super-pleased to have been able to score a point. We did a great job deciding to go long on the first set of tyres to make a one-stop race work, managing to keep a string of cars behind me. The overtake on Daniel [Ricciardo] was a nice bonus – we were on fresher tires, so it was a pretty easy move. Things are certainly a lot more challenging this year, but I am pleased to have had a successful race today. Finally, a big thank you to all the fans for giving me such a fantastic reception all weekend – it has been incredible to race at home after such a long time away.

Sebastian Vettel
It just was not our day. We made an early stop to find some clear air, but then the Virtual Safety Cars came along at the wrong time. That really compromised my race. At the end, I was on very old rubber and I tried to hang on, but it did not work out. Lance was on fresher tires, and the team asked me to let him past to attack Daniel, which I was happy to do. The result was frustrating – we had shown good pace this weekend and could have had a better result, but sometimes things do not go your way. Today felt like one of those days. Well done to the team for all their hard work and to Lance for scoring a point today.

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: Williams: It was always going to be difficult to hang on to what we learned yesterday, and we didn’t have the pace to hold off the quicker cars that started behind us. However, we did have a good race with Gasly and Norris and we were close to Vettel and Ricciardo at the end too. Like last weekend, the timing of the virtual safety car was not good for Alex, but he kept his head down and made the best of it.Similar to Alex, Nicholas struggled to find pace during the race despite his best efforts. As a team it was great to be a part of Nicholas’ first home race and experience the support from the fans. We needed a little more basic car pace to be able to really race for points and everyone in Grove is working very hard to deliver that to the track as soon as possible.

Alex Albon: Going into this weekend, we knew this track was going to be difficult and despite our good qualifying, in the first 3-4 laps I could tell it was going to be a struggle. I think P13 was all we could have achieved today so at face value; I am quite happy with it. Going into the next stint of races, hopefully we can make these upgrades and continue to improve on this.

Nicholas Latifi: The overall experience of the weekend has been pretty special. It’s great to finally have my first home race and the support I felt from my family, friends and all the fans in the grandstands was amazing. In terms of on track, we were lacking a lot of pace and we need to try to understand why in both high and low fuel. We have two weeks now to try and do a bit of analysis before heading to Silverstone. Regardless of the result, this weekend has been one to remember.

DRIVE TO SURVIVE 

With the runaway success of Drive To Survive re Formula 1, one wonders if it might have a similar transcending effect on the blue-collar, greasy fingernail, do-it-yourself set in stock car racing.

Having been a fan two weeks ago at Flamboro Speedway in Hamilton and noting a 3,000-seat grandstand with perhaps 100 spectators, might Tik Tok have the similar (magical) effect on oval track racing that F1 has enjoyed?

And yes, there are young, good-looking, articulate drivers with considerable talent and courage, having to race homebuilt "late model" autos in extremely narrow, challenging confines - unlike the roomy tracks enjoyed by the sports elite in F1.

What is missing, of course, is money, these folks doing it all themselves, holding down day jobs and working on race cars until 2 a.m. (the night before) for paltry purses of a few hundred dollars.

An article by CBC spreading to Tik Tok and other social media might lead the way in Roundy-Round's Drive to Survive!

BOB WINEGAR, Orangeville

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OTHER RACING  

Helio Castroneves won the 5 flags Exhibition race last night. Bubba Pollard was second with Ryan Newman third. . . . In a one-off visit to the NASCAR Camping Truck Series, Todd Gilliland won Saturday’s Saturday visit to the raceway in Iowa. . . . . Ohsweken Speedway Friday June 17

Corey Turner won the Sprint feature, followed by Mikey Kruchka and Ryan Turner.

Darren Dryden won the Crate Sprint feature.

Kyle Wert won the Thunder Stock feature.

Tyler Lafantaisie won the Mini Stock feature.

Peterborough Speedway Saturday June 18

J R Fitzpatrick won the APC 100 lap Pro Late Model feature followed by Andrew Gresel and Jake Sheridan.

Jason Parker won the Qwick Wick Super Stock Series feature.

Flamboro Speedway Saturday June 18

Glenn Watson won the Outlaw Super Late Model feature followed by John Cadman and Dario Capirchio.

Mike Podd and TJ Marshall won Canadian Vintage Modified features.

Shawn Taylor and Karl Sault won Mini Stock features.

Alex Stewart and Cameron Thomson won Pure Stock features.

Racing Roundup: Verstappen defeats Sainz

schrader

Well, we’re right back to where we were a year ago. The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were out of and the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez were in. George Russell made up the podium. One thing: Lewis Hamilton was coming on strong and he will start to win soon. Pierre Gasly finished fifth and that was all she wrote.

It was somewhat of a dull race. The track at Azerbaijang is too long.

Newgarden Wins at Road America,Claims $1 Million PeopleReady Bonus

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (Sunday, June 12, 2022) – It’s safe to say Josef Newgarden feels like a million bucks after winning the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR on Sunday.

Newgarden drove to his third victory of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet and earned the $1 million PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge bonus. The Challenge rewards the first driver to win on all three types of circuits – road courses, street circuits and oval tracks – in 2022.

The $1 million is shared, with $500,000 going to Team Penske and Nashville-area native Newgarden and $500,000 donated to Newgarden’s chosen charities. Newgarden, who previously won this season on the Texas Motor Speedway oval and the Long Beach street circuit, selected two charities to split the $500,000 portion – SeriousFun Children’s Network and Wags and Walks Nashville.

“To finally get it done and most importantly to give that money to charity, half of that money is going to charity with SeriousFun Network and Wags and Walks Nashville,” Newgarden said. “I hope they’re happy about it. That’s a lot of money coming their way.

“You’ve got to be on your toes at all times (in this series). You can go in with a plan, but you probably have to change your plan 90 per cent of the time once the race starts to unfold. To be able to hit all these disciplines with this team, for me it’s the best series in the world.”

2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson finished second in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, 3.3710 seconds behind Newgarden. It was Ericsson’s fourth consecutive top-seven finish, and he regained the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship lead by 27 points over previous leader Will Power, who finished 19th in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

NTT P1 Award winner Alexander Rossi finished third in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda. A second consecutive podium result this month continued a strong surge for Rossi, who has three straight top-five finishes this season.

Romain Grosjean finished fourth in the No. 28 DHL Honda, with teammate Colton Herta rounding out the top five in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda after starting 11th. Andretti Autosport placed three cars in the top five – Rossi, Grosjean and Herta.

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Newgarden, who started second, prevailed despite two cautions in the last 10 laps of the race that evaporated his 2.8-second lead over Rossi.

The first restart, on Lap 50, lasted less than half a lap because four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves spun in his No. 06 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda exiting the final turn on the uphill climb to the green flag. That bunched the field again on the 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course for a restart on Lap 52, with Newgarden leading Rossi, Ericsson, Herta and Grosjean.

Two-time series champion Newgarden rocketed away from the field on the second restart, just as he did the first. Those rapid restarts built too big of a gap for any challenges, helping Newgarden avoid a repeat of his heartache in last year’s race at Road America, when he lost the lead to Alex Palou due to a mechanical problem on a restart with two laps to go.

Newgarden led a race-high 26 of 55 laps, taking the top spot for good during rivals’ pit stops on Lap 43.

“I was just trying to stay focused on what I had to do,” Newgarden said. “Just an unbelievable job by everybody at Team Penske.”

Daniel Suarez won the NASCAR race in California.

WIGHT MORSPORTS WINS AT CHAUDIÈRE 

- First victory of the year for Ranger 

The Wight Motorsports Inc (WMI) prepared #27 driven by Roxton Pond, Quebec’s Andrew Ranger scored the race win at round number four of the NASCAR Pinty’s Series this past Saturday at the Autodrome Chaudière near Valley Jonction, Quebec. It was the second win at the quarter-mile track for Ranger and the first win as a Crew Chief for Cayden Lapcevich with the team.   After starting the 250-lap race in eighth position Ranger had made his way to second position by the scheduled midway break. However, a pit stop penalty sent Ranger to the back of the field for the restart. When the race resumed Ranger was able to run both high and low effectively on the track and once again charged to the front taking over top spot and holding on for the 31st win of his career.     It was a strong showing for several WMI cars with Rookie of the Year contender Brandon Watson climbing up to fifth spot before a spin set him back. Watson still managed a ninth-place result. A late race tangle also prevented Mark Dilley from picking up a top-ten finish.   QUOTES: “What a great drive by Andrew to pick up the victory. The team did a great job to adjust the car during practice, good call by Cayden during the pit stop not to make big changes and let the race play out. Happy for both to pick up their first win together”. “Really nice drive by Brandon too. He’s never been here before and started mid-pack but drove a smart race to get up to fifth. It’s disappointing he got turned around by another car, but he still managed a top-ten finish”. “Disappointed for Mark too, he also got tangled up with another driver. After getting hit in a big collision near the end of the race we’re glad TJ is okay. And Glenn had a mechanical issue putting him out early. We’ve got a bit of work to do before the next race in Newfoundland”. -David Wight, WMI Principal   WMI TEAM RESULTS:                  Ranger 1st, Watson 9th, Dilley 12th, Rinomato 20th, Styres 23rd     TV &amp; LIVE STREAMING The race from the Autodrome Chaudière will be broadcast on TSN Saturday June 18th at 3PM Eastern. It will also air on RDS2 at a date and time to be determined.   All races are streamed live on TSN.ca and the TSN app in Canada and through FloRacing in the United States.   NEXT EVENT: Round four of the 2022 season will take the WMI teams to Newfoundland and the Pinty’s Series first ever visit to Eastbound International Speedway for 225 laps of action on Saturday June 25th.   The 2022 NASCAR Pinty’s Series will consist of 13 total races in five provinces with a mixture of oval tracks, road and street courses.   Race fans can get the latest information regarding WMI and the drivers on these social media channels:   Wight Motorsports Inc Twitter @Wightmotorsport Instagram @wightmotorsport       Brandon Watson: Instagram @brandonwatson_9   Mark Dilley: Twitter @MarkDilley9 Instagram @markdilley   TJ Rinomato: Twitter TJ_Rinomato  Instagram @tjrinomato   Andrew Ranger: Twitter @AndrewRanger51 Instagram @andrew_ranger27   Glenn Styres: Twitter @GlennStyres Instagram @glennstyres   Here are the results from Osweken Speedway Friday:

Ken Schrader congratulating UMP Mod winner Justin Mills.

Ohsweken Speedway 358 Mods, UMP Mods, featuring Ken Schrader

358 Mods 

1 Mat Williamson

2 Tyler Willard

3 Mike Bowman

UMP Mods 

1 Justin Mills

2 Ken Schrader

3 Drew Smith

Thunder Stocks 

1 Dave Bailey

2 Christopher Hale

3 Trevor DeBoer

Mini Stocks 

1 Tyler Lafantaisie

2 Braden Keus

3 Matt Nuell

Flamboro Speedway, Saturday June 11 

Grisdale Pro Late Model 100 lap feature 

1 JR Fitzpatrick (in a borrowed car of 55 Chris Howse)

2 Billy Schwartzenburg

3 Shane Maginnis

4 Rick Burbridge

5 Mark Burbridge

Canadian Vintage Modifieds 

1st feature Ricky Willigar

2nd feature TJ Marshall

Ontario Pro Challenge 

1st feature Mike Norris

2nd feature Tim Norris

Mini Stock 

1st feature Mike Gilmour

2nd feature Cole Quinton

Pure Stock 

1st feature Gillian Hils

2nd feature Cameron Thomson

Pro 4 Modifieds 

1st feature Nick Abballe

2nd feature Mark Lucas

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Motorcycle Racing 

 The 2022 Canadian Superbike Championship will kick off with a surprising name at the front, as rookie star Trevor Dion smashed his way to pole position for the Pro Superbike feature doubleheader at Grand Bend Motorplex this weekend.

Dion already gained plenty of attention on Thursday by topping the official test day at his home circuit, but the LDS Consulting BMW rider created even more buzz early in Friday’s qualifying session as he continued to lead the timesheets.

His time of 1:03.040 appeared to put him right in contention for a historic pole position, but a rear brake issue left him vulnerable as the session flipped to the top-ten Superpole. After fixing the issue just prior to the final shootout, the Strathroy, Ont., native quickly erased any concerns as he obliterated the lap record with a time of 1:02.371 in the final top-ten Superpole session to capture the BS Battery Pole Position Award.

His dominant performance lands him in exclusive company in CSBK history, as Dion will head into the weekend as the only rider ever to secure pole position in his Superbike debut and only the third-youngest pole-sitter ever at 20 years old.

“It’s a dream come true, even just to be up here battling against these guys and racing with them, it’s a really awesome feeling,” Dion said. “Now with the doubleheader we have two chances to pick up some big points this weekend, but also a couple more opportunities to gain some confidence here on the Superbike.”

Ben Young won the Pro Supebike Race; Dion won the Pro Sportbike Race.

Racing Roundup: Max wins as does Newgarden

power wins

Alexander Rossi won the last Belle Isle Detroit Grand Prix Sunday over Will Power and Scott Dixon.
CORRECTION!!!

Power won, with Rossi second. The reason I made that mistake initially is because the NBC announcing and camera crews couldn’t stop talking, it seemed, about Rossi from the start of the race to the finish.

It was monotonous. As if there was nobody else in the race.

Power, though, drove a great race, starting from midpack, fighting his way to the front and then pulling away. He slowed down in the waning laps to save fuel and tires - although the announcing crew made it seem as if Rossi was catching him.

For his part, Powers simply said that it had been a fun race. I mean, he said more than that but that was the gist. Rossisaid that once again he’d gone to Detroit hoping to win but had come up short. Third-place Dixon, who had the car of the race at Indianapolis a week ago, only to lose the race by speeding in Pit Road and being penalized, was very pleased to be back on the podium.

I have suggested previously that if he won the 500, Dixon would retire but I have the feeling now that he’ll stick around for at least another year.

This was the last IndyCar race on Belle Isle. From now on, the Detroit Grand Prix from will take place in downtown Detroit. Over the years. the Penske Corp. spent $30 million on improvements to Belle Isle. The bicycle riders of Detroit are the reason the car races won’t take place on the island any longer. It makes you wonder how long the locals will let the cars race through the streets of the city.

One thing: there was a lot of people at this race. It was a big crowd. The start was terrible, with fully half the field still trying to line up. The flag man should not have started the race. IndyCar/CART has not had a decent starter since Nick Fornoro was at the helm.

Graham Rahal clipped a wall on the second or third lap and was the first car out of the race. I swear that Graham would only be a professional driver because his father owns the team that employs him. Helio Castroneves also went out early. He won his first race, an Indy Lights feature, at Belle Isle 30 years ago.

The two Canadians in the race, Devlin DeFrancisco and Dalton Kellett, finished 18th and 20th, respectively.

The Indy cars will be racing next at Road America next Sunday. And remember: the Honda Indy will be held through the streets of Toronto’s Exhibition Place in July.

&nbsp;

NASCAR
Joey Logana won the NASCAR Cup race at Gateway Motorsport Park. The Busch brothers were second and third, with Ryan Blaney fourth and Aric Almirola fifth . . . . AJ Allmendinger won the Xfinity race at Portland and Corey Heim won the trucks.

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OTHER RACING
Sebastian Bourdais and Renger van der Zande won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship race in Detroit. IndyCar racer Dalton Kellett Of Stouffville will tie the knot on New Year’s eve. . . . . . Mitch Evans won the Jakarta E-Prix weekend . . . . BS Battery &amp; ITL to sponsor the Pro Superbike Pole Award for CSBK in 2022. . . .. Lea Pruett and Matt Hagan won the Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel and Funny Car championships in the NHRA New England Nationals at Epping, N.H., this weekend.

LOCAL RACING 

Ohsweken Speedway June 4 

APC London Recreational Racing Pro Late Model 100

1 JR Fitzpatrick

2 Kyle Steckly

3 Andrew Gresel

Qwick Wick Super Stock 50 (note spelling)

1 Lane Zardo

2 Gerrit Tiemersma

3 Roy Wilkie

Can-Am Midgets 25

1 Cory Wittam

2 Daniel Hawn

3 David Miller

June 3 

Friday night at Ohsweken (first night of racing in almost 1,000 days)

360 sprints Dylan Westbrook

crate sprints Darren Dryden

thunder stocks Dave Bailey

mini stocks Tyler Lafantaisie

Racing Roundup: Power wins IndyCar race in Detroit 

Screen Shot 2022-05-30 at 10.36.02 AM

Sergio Pérez won the Grand Prix of Monaco, Marcus Ericsson won the Indianapolis 500 and Denny Hamlin was the NASCAR Cup champion. Here are some observations about what went on in every race.

I am not going to take any time to report on the Coca-Cola 600, won by Denny Hamlin with Kurt Bush second and Kevin Harvick. There were nearly 20 pileups and one car was upside down. It took six hours to run. It was a crashing bore.

There.

For just about forever, if there was an accident near the end of an auto race it ended under yellow.

In 2014, Townsend Bell (he’s on TV now) crashed and instead of ending the race under yellow, the decision was made to throw the red.

Many people complained about that decision but ex-F1 driver Marcus Ericsson of Sweden benefitted Sunday when the 106th Indianapolis 500 was red-flagged after Jimmy Johnson crashed with six laps to go. Ericsson, who was leading, zigged and zagged to break the tow for the final three green-flag laps and when the race was over Ericsson had become the second Swede (Kenny Brack was the first) to win the world’s most important and famous race.

Pato O’Ward  chased the winner to the checkers with Tony Kanaan third.

The other major story line was the mistake make by pole-sitter Dixon, who was well on his way to winning his second classic. Dixon. who led more than half of Sunday’s race, was given a drive-though penalty for speeding in the pits and it was enough to lose him the race. He called it heartbreaking but you really had to wonder what happened because it was obvious as he peeled off to make a pit stop that he was going much too fast.  He would not be able to slow down enough in time to be legal.

Two observations about the Grand Prix. One, once upon a time, even if there was a monsoon raging through southern France and there was a race scheduled in Monte Carlo, the drivers raced. Some of you may be old enough to remember the first Grand Prix of Canada Formula One race in 1967 that started in a downpour, dried up, and then started raining again. A little rain didn’t stop gladiators like Clark, Hill, et al, from firing up and going at it.

So the fact that it was raining a little in Monaco Sunday, and they didn’t start, shows how the racing world has changed.

The fact that the race, which was won in his Red Bull by Checo Perez, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz with Max Verstappen third in his Red Bull, was held up by “rain,” was just one of many instances that will have F1 talking about this few weeks. Or until the next race, in any event.

A pretty spectacular accident involving Mick Schumacher resulted in another red flag and the two Ferrari drivers, now officially (again) driving for the worst managed team in F1, had a mixup so far as tire changes were concerned and pole-sitter Charles Leclerc wound up right off the podium. He was angry.

Our two Canadians did not do well. Lance Stroll and Nicholas Latifi both clipped the wall and were not competitive. Stroll was 14th, Latifi 15th. Latifi qualified 19th and was not happy.

“I was never comfortable with the car balance and only by qualifying did I get what I needed,” he said. “That meant that I went into qualifying with a different car from FP1, FP2 and FP3, and it was a case of starting again to find the limits of a car. I was discovering a car that I felt had much more potential and a lot more lap time but at the end, we had the red flag (four cars piled up). It’s frustrating."

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 RACING ODDS AND ENDS 

The Indianapolis motor Speedway said it didn’t ’t expect the race would sell out but boy oh boy they had a ton of people in that facility, many in the infield. NASCAR, on the other hand, said that the Coca-Cola 600 would sell out. They were right.

They was a great documentary called On the Pole: the Story of Eddie Sachs that was on CBS Sports Spectacular in 1961. A great scene shows Sachs and his wife eating breakfast with Jim Rathman the morning of the 500; both were starting on the front row and Sachs said to Rathman: “I’m on the pole so I should get to lead the first lap, right?” Rathman laughed. “Yea, right,” he said. So Dixon and Pato O’Ward were talking Sunday morning and Dixon said he should lead and O’Ward said nothing. They were so much more fun in the old days.

I would like to know where Zac Brown, owner of the McLaren formula one team and the McLaren IndyCar team gets his money. Six months ago he was financially up the creek. Just about everything was mortgaged to the hilt; the team was doing so badly he rehired Ron Dennis. But now everything is off the market and he’s announced the construction of a brand smacking new factory in an Indianapolis suburb and that doesn’t come cheap. Good for him but it’s a mystery.

What is with NASCAR and the WWE. While the singer Blake Shelton was the grand marshal of the Indy 500 the women’s WWE champion was the grand marshal of the Coca-Cola 600. Most of the racing did away with the Trophy Girl years ago. Are they making a comeback.?

The Canadian motorsport Hall of Fame held their annual induction ceremony Saturday at the CBC’s Glenn Gould studio. Because of Covid, the previous induction was put over until last night which meant that upwards of 30 people were welcomed to the hall. Todd Lewis, the voice of Canadian motor racing on radio and television was the MC and he and hall chairman Dr. Hugh Scully ran the show. The international inductee was Bernie Ecclestone, but he was unable to attend for two reasons. One, he had gone to Switzerland to sell coffee he and his wife produce on their plantation in Brazil. And two, he was embarrassed because he was arrested for taking a gun onto a private plane with him. It was unloaded and packed in a bag but even Brazil and frankly the rest of the world is taking gun safety seriously.

&nbsp;

Racing Roundup: Ericsson, Perez, Hamlin big winners 

kellett crash

Some people think Christmas is the greatest day of the year. Or it’s their birthday or the first day of their Florida vacation, pre-COVID, during spring break.

But as far as I’m concerned, the greatest day of the year is coming up next Sunday when three of the biggest, most glamorous and most difficult races of the year take place – all on the same day.

Wow: how can you beat that?

Don’t stay up too late next Saturday night because if you want to catch the Grand Prix of Monaco, the most glamorous of Formula One races, then you will have to set the alarm for 6 or 7 a.m. because that’s when things start to rock ‘n’ roll. (check wheels.ca Race Fans TV Guide, prepared by my good friend George Webster, for exact start times).

I do know that at 11 a.m., the Indianapolis 500 pre-race ceremonies will start with the classic going to the post sometime between noon and 1 p.m. It should be over by 4 or so at the latest, just in time for everybody to go out for a walk before settling down over dinner to watch the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup race. If there are not too many crashes, that should be over by 9:30 or 10 p.m., just about in time for you to fall into bed and collapse.

I suggest Max Verstappen or - surprise - Lewis Hamilton will win in Monte Carlo with Colton Herta standing the best chance to win at Indianapolis (although a good friend of mine maintains it will be Jimmie Johnson and he pontificates on his belief at the tail end of this column). Although I don’t agree with him – my sentimental favourite is Marco Andretti - Johnson could win, mainly because the 500 is a crapshoot and three or four people stand a good chance of winning.

For instance, a-then-unknown Alexander Rossi came out of nowhere in 2016 to win the 100th edition of the world’s most famous and important race while last year Hélio Castroneves got to climb the fence as only he and his crew can after he won the 500, which was a total surprise. Usually the Dario Franchittis, Juan Pablo Montoyas, Takuma Satos and Ryan Hunter-Reays (two of them aren’t even in the race this year) are front and centre when the checkers come out, but I don’t think that will happen this year. And Kurt Busch seems to have discovered his second childhood and so I am putting my money on either him, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano or Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to win the 600. But, again, like Indianapolis, it will be a crapshoot and the odds-makers (yup, if you’re at the Speedway in Indianapolis, you can wager on the winner) will have a tough time selecting favourites.

So that’s next Sunday. Here is a look at what happened this weekend.

Scott Dixon is close to crazy, I think. He won the pole at Indy Sunday with a timed speed of 234.046 miles an hour, which is motoring. The speed is the fastest four-lap qualifying average for an Indy 500 pole. (Arie Luyendyk actually went faster but his car flunked the weight test.) Dixon also won the pole at Indy four other times and this was his second in a row. He won the big race once. I suggest that win, lose or draw, New Zealander Dixon will retire at the end of this season. Compared to the young guys on Chip Ganassi’s team, he’s an old boy and except for time spent on the race track, his experience in the U.S. has not been pleasant. He was robbed at gunpoint in a fast-food drive-through near the Speedway and his children (he and wife Emma are a very close family) have been going to school in England. Rinus VeeKay, Alex Palou, Marcus Ericsson, Ed Carpenter and Tony Kanaan made up the rest of what Indy calls the Fast Six. Oh – and Kanaan is another sleeper to keep an eye on.

The NASCAR Cup All-Star Race., held Saturday night in Texas, ended in bizarre circumstances. As the winner, Ryan Blaney, crossed the start/finish line, NASCAR threw a yellow for a minor brush against the backstretch wall by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Thinking the race was over – the yellow came out very late – Blaney unhooked his netting and started waving to the crowd. When he found out they had at least another lap to run, Blaney just about dislocated his shoulders trying to get the netting reattached. Although it was still semi-unhooked, NASCAR finally threw the green and Blaney was able to hold on for the overtime win, beating Denny Hamlin and Austin Cindric.

Tyler Redick won the Xfinity Series race at Texas Saturday and in the Camping Word Trucks Series Race at Texas Friday night, Stewart Friesen of Niagara-on-the-Lake scored his third career truck win and his first since late 2019.

There was a Grand Prix in Spain Sunday and the winner was – guess who? – Max Versteppen, with Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez second and George Russell third in a Mercedes. Pole-sitter Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was in control until his engine – oops, power unit – gave up the ghost.

Max had some bad luck (his DRS didn’t work), good luck (a gust of wind blew him off course, but he was able to drive back on) and twice the team ordered Perez to let him through.

F1 Notes:  

I think it’s hilarious that these Formula One cars cost millions of dollars and yet Max Verstappen‘s DRS wouldn’t work. Not that it hurt him all that much but a little wire pushing or pulling to open and close a metal flap shouldn’t be all that hard to make work, should it?

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Toronto’s Nicholas Latifi who had one of his better races to head teammate Alex Albon, who was 18th and last finisher. “We struggled on track today with overall pace, but it was also tough on tire degradation and physically due to the extreme heat,” the Canadian said. “That being said, I’m happy with the way that we managed the tires and it’s nice to have an aggressive strategy that allowed us to push and race a bit more. I enjoyed chasing down Kevin Magnussen at the end, especially as the Haas is a car that’s much faster than us on paper, and although we weren’t fighting for points, it’s still something to be pleased with.” Latifi finished 16th, one place behind Montreal’s Lance Stroll (15th) who was four places behind his Alfa Romeo teammate Sebastian Vettel (11th).

There was an absolute boatload of people at the Spanish Grand Prix, most probably suffering from sunstroke afterwards, undoubtedly, and although the race was somewhat interesting - particularly when Lewis Hamilton was showing signs of being his old self - it was pretty ordinary. Charles Leclerc once again showed all the promise in the world and lost out to bad luck while Carlos Sainz (who, I personally thought was in line for a possible world championship) is not living up to his reputation. Mercedes is coming on and will soon be giving Max and Pedro (Checo) a run for their money. Which means Ferrari will be back being No. 3, probably by Canada.

McLaren driver Lando Norris missed the drivers parade and the playing of the Spanish national anthem as he was hooked up to an IV to hydrate himself before finishing eighth in the race. The sky TV commentators felt that this was above and beyond.

The most important story locally was the storm that came out of nowhere Saturday and created havoc with some of the series racing at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Although the permanent buildings were largely unharmed – some water got into one or two places it shouldn’t have – the damage was restricted to tents at campsites and billboards scattered around the facility.

One of these days, those weather forecasts will be presented as they should be, as weather entertainment, rather than as weather forecasts for the simple reason that these so-called meteorologists are rarely right.

I have a friend who’s an Air Canada pilot who told me a couple years ago that two hours out is about as close as you can get to being accurate. A seven-day forecast is stupid and impossible and the storm on Saturday proved that point because Wham!!!

By the way, everybody else in Canada and much of the U.S. suffered through flooding and fires a year ago. I think it’s probably our turn here in the middle of the country and we will have more of these out-of-the-blue storms. I think I should be a meteorologist, don’t you?

In any event, the FEL Motorsports touring-car series was cancelled because their timing-and-scoring equipment was damaged. And the NASCAR Canada Pinty’s Series was unable to conduct time trials, so lined up the 25 entries on the basis of practice times recorded Saturday morning.

Here are the results of the racing that did take place at CTMP:

<a href="https://wordpress.wheels.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Lacroix-wins.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-168545" src="https://wordpress.wheels.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Lacroix-wins.jpg" alt="lacroix wins" width="1280" height="853" /></a>

RESULTS 

Alexandre Fortin, Justin Arsenault and Normand Boyer finished on the podium in the first race Saturday of the Nissan Sentra Cup Series. Simon Charbonneau, Arsenault and Fortin made up the podium for the second race.

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Olivier Bedard, Kurt Witmer and Charles-Andre Bilodeau made the podium in the Super Production Series.

The headline Pinty’s Series race Sunday came down, as do many of the feature races at CTMP, to the last corner. Kevin Lacroix, who is bound and determined to win this year’s championship, collided with Gary Klutt as the eBay Motors 200 wound down; Klutt went off the track but recovered to finish fourth. Lacroix maintained control to win, with Alex Tagliani second, Dexter Stacy third and rookie L.P. Montour fifth. It was a barn-burner of a race, from all reports.

OTHER NEWS 

There was one big crash at Indy during practice and our Dalton Kellett of Stouffville went into the wall. He wasn’t hurt but you can’t say that about his car. He was passing Romain Grosjean and was somewhat critical later of the French driver’s style. Graham Rahal has also been vocal. For his part, Grosjean said his door is always open if there is a disagreement.

The Voice of the NHRA for many years, Dave McClelland, has died.

Sprint car star Dylan Westbrook of Ohsweken, Ont., ran third at Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, N.Y., and was second at Limaland Speedway in Lima, Ohio, Friday night.

Michael Hryniuk Jr. won the Ontario Sportsman Series feature – before the rains came.

Now, to finish off, and as promised, here is a contribution from my good friend Jim Cooke, who is putting forth an argument that ex-NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson will win the Indianapolis 500. Jim is a retired racer who has spent many years working with teams at Indy, although he has had to skip this year for family reasons. I wrote about him last May when he was working as a spotter. Here is what he has to say:

‘Jimmie Johnson Can Win the Indy 500’

The Indy 500, IndyCar Racing’s biggest prize, is also the most difficult to win. The Andretti Family have collectively run up front in more than 70 Indy 500s, led hundreds of laps, yet only won it once.

The toll the 500 miles, seven or eight pit stops, three-plus hours of racing takes on the driver’s central nervous system, physical endurance, and emotional gas tank is enormous. This is the longest period of time that the drivers, pit crews and their machines are under pressure. It’s a once-a year battle for the biggest prize.

In 2014 Kurt Busch joined Team Andretti for the 500 without any IndyCar experience.  He ran all day in the front pack and finished 6th.  He earned the title Rookie of The Year. Thanks to his NASCAR background, Busch came into Indy well-conditioned to handle 500 miles of hard, close racing. Similarly, Jimmie Johnson’s main attribute is that he has more than 400 500-mile races under his belt. He’s very well-conditioned, stress-wise, to deal with the up-and-down nature of the Indy 500.

Last year the 500 immediately became a fuel mileage race where no one really wanted to lead. We saw this when Scott Dixon qualified on the Pole and led Lap 1 but immediately let Rinus VeeKay take the lead. Fuel mileage was so critical that the Ganassi Team ran Dixon out of fuel by trying to go one extra lap before a pit stop. VeeKay’s race was undermined when his team didn’t get a completely full fuel load on their first stop, causing him an extra stop and losing the opportunity to win.

This year Chip Ganassi Racing, the largest team in the 500, has all five cars in the front four rows. Historically, this is where the winner comes from, 80 per cent of the time. The cars can run together as a “squadron,” protect their track position and help each other get the best possible fuel mileage. By lap 175, they should be the power in the front pack, with the probability that one of the Ganassi cars will win.

The 500 stats say that the car that leads Lap 190 (out of 200) seldom wins the race. Ultimately, it really comes down to the last three laps. Johnson, with the experience &amp; conditioning of his 400-plus 500-mile races, can get to the last few laps with the will, energy &amp; passion to win.

Jimmie Johnson can win.  We will have to tune in on Sunday afternoon to find out if I’m right.

&nbsp;

Racing Roundup: Dixon on Indy pole, Max wins in Spain

pinty's

Every year around this time, to help me get into the mood, I watch a DVD documentary on the Indianapolis 500, from the beginning of the 1960s until 1970. Those were the 10 years of major change at the Speedway.

The documentary is narrated, for the most part, by the late great ABC sportscaster Jim McKay who starts it off by saying: “It’s the good, ol’ summertime and it’s this time of year when you hear these three distinct commands: “Play ball,” “They’re off, “ and “Gentlemen start your engines.” It is so true and you hear those words all the time in summer.

NBC, on Saturday before the first of the two big races at Indianapolis in May, the 500 being the biggie (Colton Herta won the first one Saturday)) had an hour-long discussion involving the four drivers who, they say, have won the 500 at least four times: AJ Foyt, Al Unser, Rick Mears and Helio Castroneves. It was a fabulous 60 minutes of reminiscing and if you can get it on repeat, I urge you to take a watch in case you missed it the first time around.

But between something that was said on the documentary and on the hour-long discussion resulted in advertent controversy. For example:

Foyt, when he won his first 500 in 1961, cheated. He had trouble hooking up his fuel rig and could only get some of his remaining fuel into his tank. Next stop, he borrowed someone else’s rig, which worked. Only after the race was what he did declared illegal. So Foyt really only won the race three times.

Helio, of course, made no reference to Paul Tracy, who beat him in 2004 (although disallowed), so his “fourth” victory scored in 2021 was really just his third.

Of the four men honoured, then, only two were legitimate – Al Unser and Rick Mears. Both those men earned their places.

Now, to the weekend’s results:

After stalking the leaders for 250 laps, Treyten Lapcevich took advantage of contact during NASCAR Overtime to win the NTN Ultimate Bearing Experience 250, his first career NASCAR Pinty’s Series victory.

Lapcevich was third on the final restart but shot to the lead when Marc-Antoine Camirand drove leader Raphael Lessard up the track in Turn 1.  Lapcevich held off Lessard for the win, much to the approval of his home track crowd.

“Those last two laps were wild,” Lapcevich said in Victory Lane. “Marc got into him in (Turns) 1 and 2, I just had to take advantage and then keep Raphael behind me. It feels great to finally put this RGC Sports / Qwick Wick / FBM No. 20 in Victory Lane. I came close so many times last year, but this one was just meant to be.”

In the Cup race at Kansas Sunday, Kurt Busch finished first, with his brother third and Kyle Larson second. Zane Smith won the trucks race.

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Ricky Taylor and Felipe Albuquerque, driving an Acura DPi, won the Mid-Ohio round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sunday. The IMSA cars will be running at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July.

Reigning Formula E champion Nyck de Vries won the two Berlin EPrix races this weekend, round 8 of the Formula E championship. McLaren F1, meantime, announced it would be participating in the Formula E championship going forward. I find that curious, because McLaren is mortgaged to its hilt and nothing spends money faster than Formula E, which has no home base. F1 and IndyCar have home bases; Formula E goes from place to place and the hotels are taken up by the crew and they live on the road all the time and if anybody wants to spend a fortune this would be the way to do it.

T.J. Buffenbarger, who runs the TJSlideways sprint car website, sent me a short yarn on Ohsweken Speedway’s Dylan Westbrook, who was racing in the States this weekend. He made it up as far as third before he ran out of laps.

Now, two things: I am missing Paul Tracy on the NBC telecasts. James Hinchcliffe is doing a fine job, but Tracy didn’t have a filter and it was always a surprise what came out of his mouth, which made for interesting listening.

The other interesting thing this weekend, which was a forerunner to the 500, is that for the first time in the history of that race legalized gambling will be allowed on the grounds. Now, of course, betting on auto racing has been forbidden because the drivers would get together and fix them. We all know that there have been Formula One and NASCAR races that have been questionable. The 500 will only be available through one sports book on the grounds of the Speedway. But it will still be interesting.  Will the winner, for example. bet serious money on himself and then have to question whether or not he or she might’ve been in cahoots with other drivers?

Bad news: 14-time Canadian Pro Superbike National Champion Jordan Szoke is recovering from serious injuries to both legs and an ankle suffered during a Media Day event at the Walton Raceway motorcross track near Stratford. He also injured his jaw and chin. “it’s going to be a long road to recovery but with the help of my family, friends and fans, I will be back,” he said.

See you next weekend, folks.

Norris McDonald

Articles by Norris McDonald