Stock Cars - pump up the jam

There is not a lot of frills on a NASCAR Canadian Tire Series stock car. Squeeze into the drivers seat, feel the burn and keep the brakes from going up in flames. There is some beauty in the parts and the colours and the racing is pretty cool as well. Here are more pictures from MOPAR Day at Kawartha Speedway.

See more pictures after the jump.

MOPAR at Kawartha Speedway

NASCAR Canadian Tires Series (NCTS) crews running Dodge vehicles gathered at Kawartha Speedway to get their cars ready for the race season under the sponsorship of MOPAR (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram car parts and accessories).

There was 7 teams on hand including the 2010 Champion DJ Kennington of the #17 car. The drivers as shown above are  Noel Dowler Jr #5, Jeff Lapcevich #23, Jason Hathaway #3, Ron Beauchamp Jr #60, Pete Shepherd III #7, Jason White #21 and DJ Kennington #17

See lots more pictures after the jump (click on Read More >>, below).

Jason Hathaway #3

Jeff Lapcevich #23

DJ Kennington #17 (above and below)

Ron Beauchamp Jr #60

Pete Shepherd III #7

Jason White #21

Paul Tracy & Honda Canada to race again

As I noted in early April Toronto driver Paul Tracy will race a partial 2011 season with Jay Penske’s Dragon racing team, which includes five races with two of those races being the Edmonton and Toronto IndyCar events. It was just announced that Honda Canada Inc. has jumped back on board to sponsor Paul for the 3^rd year in the both Honda Indy Toronto and Edmonton races. They will also continue their support of the Make-A-Wish Canada Foundation.

The Scarborough driver, who continues to fight for his rides, will race in the car known simply as the #8 make-A-Wish Canada/Dragon Racing/Honda/Dallara/Firestone car! And I will know it as #8, or in a hurry, 8. By the way, can you imagine what one of these cars cost to fill up at the pumps?

The Make-A-Wish Canada Foundation raises money to help children with life-threatening medical conditions receive a magical wish. Last year fans and Honda Canada, with matching dollar-for-dollar donations, raised over $100,000 and hopes to do much better this year.

NASCAR NCTS ready to race

The 2011 racing season is getting ready to roll and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (NCTS) will start at Mosport Speedway on May 28 with the Dickies 200.

You can meet and greet your favourite stock car racers, get autographs and see the thunder and smell of fast paced racing around the large street course. Several of the drivers have moved into the American head office NASCAR teams, like J.R. Fitzpatrick and Quebec superstar Andrew Ranger, pictured above.

And the crown jewel of racing in Ontario remains the Honda Indy Toronto taking over the Exhibition grounds starting on July 8, 2011 where the NCTS drivers will be out on the track during the full weekend of events.

See more pictures of Canadian stock car racing after the jump (click read more >>, below).

JR Fitzpatrick

2010 Champion DJ Kennington

Honda Indy Toronto - roundup going into 2011

Paul Tracy's latest ups and downs has seen him leave his KV Racing Technology team (Tony Kanaan takes over) and hired by Dreyer and Reinbold Racing with a run in the Indy 500 and some believe that he may race in the Toronto and Edmonton Indys.

The downs for Paul (pictured at top: Paul on the right, with Helio Castroneves on the left) included the difficulty in finding the large bucks sponsorship needed for the price of admission into the very expensive race series. I want to see the bad boy running the track and also raising everyone's temperatures off the track (like Ontario/Tracy vs Quebec/Tagliani  - I just hope he doesn't end up trashing his car.

Another driver I am looking forward to seeing out on the track is of course the famous and beautiful Danica Patrick shown above at the 2010 Toronto Street Party signing autographs. I think it is great that several ladies are part of the IndyCar Series and doing so well in it - here is Simona de Silvestro entering the pits at the 2010 Honda Indy Toronto.

The Honda Indy Toronto owners - Green Savoree Racing Promotions, have also purchased the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and School. This increases their holdings with along with the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg. It's always good when the promoters are growing. They say “Properties like Mid-Ohio don’t come on the market every day,” said Green Savoree Co-Owner, President and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Savoree. “It was a great opportunity to invest in a property with a great history and tradition that, like us, has deep roots in sports car and Indy car racing. It was also a chance to extend our relationship with Honda, which is a longtime partner of Mid-Ohio and our other properties.”

It will be interesting to see if the September 17 Indy Japan 300 ends up being run with the extreme damage and hardship the people of Japan have had to endure with the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant problems        - especially since IndyCar intends to drop the Japanese race after the 2011 season. Japan was where Danica won the 2008 race.


IndyCar Lights driver James Hinchcliffe from Toronto (and Canadian Driver of the Year) has started the transition to IndyCar and hopefully the Canadian will run and place near the top of the series in his first season.

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Canadian Tour Car Championship racing will be back and those large NASCAR stock cars fill up the track pretty fast. And Ferrari Challenge anyone?

After a rocky period several years ago when the ownership of the Grand Prix and later the Indy seemed to burn and churn, the last several years has seen a steady improvement each year. Free Fridays is a fantastic way to get people in to see the excitement of the high performance race cars. It will soon be time to sit in the warm sun, watch the cars burn around the track and enjoy some cold barley pops.

Toronto Honda Indy start/finish line.

Miramar Speed Circuit, cart racing 5 minutes of exhilaration for 25 bucks, and worth it. Trouble is, you'll want to do it again.

The above shows a guy spun around, and the guy standig is trying to get everyone sorted out without any one crashing into each otherhttp://www.miramarspeedcircuit.com/ for all the info, but important to know is that it's one block North of Miramar Rd, closer to interstate 15 than the 805, East of the pyramid and West of Camino Ruiz. Take Cabot from Miramar Rd or Miralani from Camino Ruiz

Is it time for the Honda Indy Toronto yet?

I can feel it, so close, CNE and race cars. Be there this July 8-10 for the 2011 Honda Indy Toronto (Dario Franchitti above, Alex Tagliani in the gif below). For your winter car fix you should head to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to see the Canadian International AutoShow starting this Friday from the 18th - 27th of February.

GIF animations generator gifup.com

Milka Duno #18