Cars of the past will race in the present at the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix, the United Racing Series will see all four series in action, following recent wins by the defending champions, and several Ontario touring series will join Maritime and Western Canada action at June’s midway point; that and more in this week’s preview.
VARAC Vintage Grand Prix
The 44th annual VARAC Vintage Grand Prix takes place this weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP). One of five major events on the CTMP calendar, the itinerary includes Vintage Historic, Classic/Modern Classic, and Formula Classic classes, along with the touring Formula Ford Challenge Series and Toyo Tires F1600 Championship. There will also be off-track festivities, including the Field of Dreams car show on Sunday.
Porsche will be honoured as the featured marque at this year’s Vintage GP, where a healthy assortment of Porsches are expected to take part. The vehicles will get to compete in a pair of special races, facing each other in the All Porsche Race, before challenging other manufacturers in the Rudy Bartling Nation’s Cup. A full preview of the Vintage GP can be found in the official program here.
F1600 will hold three races during the Vintage GP. Britain West Motorsport driver Connor Clubine enters on a six-race win streak to start the season.
United Racing Series
All four United Racing Series tours will see action on the same weekend for the first time in 2024. The APC United Late Model Series and Dayco Super Stock Series will visit Peterborough Speedway on Saturday. The 50-lap season opener for the newly-branded Dayco Super Stocks is up first, at 7:05 p.m. ET. Carson Nagy enters as the defending series champion and winner of last year’s Peterborough race. The Super Stocks will contest five races at four tracks, concluding September 6 at Delaware Speedway.
The 100-lap APC Series race will conclude the night’s schedule at Peterborough, with green flag scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Defending champion Kyle Steckly enters as the defending winner at the 1/3-mile track and the most recent APC Series winner, visiting victory lane last weekend at Flamboro Speedway.
Meanwhile, for OSCAAR, the JRS Auctions Hot Rods and Just Foam It Modifieds will race at Sauble Speedway on Saturday. Tyler Hawn (Hot Rods) and Jason Keen (Modifieds) won last time out, on June 1 at Flamboro.
Canadian Series News & Notes
There will be no shortage of Canadian series to watch for this weekend:
- The Ontario Sportsman Series will race at Sunset Speedway on Saturday. Defending champion Cory McAllister enters his home track event on a three-race win streak dating back to last season (five-race win streak if you include Rick Spencer-Walt subbing in for McAllister in the No. 71 at Sauble). Brendan Patrick and series sophomore Ollie Ferguson finished on the podium in the last race, at Full Throttle Motor Speedway.
- The Great Lakes Legends Series will be in action at Grand Bend Speedway on Saturday. Josh Indig won the season opener on June 1 at Michigan’s Flat Rock Speedway, where he was followed across the line by Austin Arnel and Lonnie Scott.
Dawson Drimmie swept a pair of Ontario Legend Car Series features at Peterborough. CREDIT: Jessica Blair/Follow Me Photography The Ontario Legend Car Series will visit Sunset Speedway on Saturday. Dawson Drimmie won both features at Peterborough last time out, after Mitch Wright won the season opener.
- The Canadian Vintage Modifieds continue their season on Saturday at Flamboro Speedway. Five drivers visited victory lane in the first six features of the year, with Rodney Rutherford being the only repeat winner. TJ Marshall leads the points standings.
- The Ontario Outlaw Super Late Models will race at Flamboro Speedway on Saturday. Shawn Chenoweth won the season opener at Sunset earlier this month, with Chase Wilson and defending champion Glenn Watson joining him on the podium. J.R. Fitzpatrick joins the series full-time this season; he led early in race one before overheating issues sent him to the pits.
- The Can-Am TQ Midgets will compete at Sunset Speedway on Saturday. Darren McLennan became the third different winner in the first three races, taking the victory last weekend at Flamboro; he joins Jeff Blackburn and Daniel Hawn in the win column.
- The Southern Ontario Sprints return from a long absence, with race two scheduled for Saturday at Southern Ontario Motor Speedway. Last year’s champion Dylan Westbrook won the season opener on April 20 at Merrittville Speedway. Fourteen races at five tracks make up the 2024 calendar, which concludes October 4-5 at Humberstone Speedway.
- The Maritime League of Legends Tour will be in action on Saturday at PEI’s Oyster Bed Speedway. Josh Langille won the season opener at Speedway 660 before last weekend’s race at Petty International Raceway was postponed due to rain.
- The Super Late Model Series will race at Oyster Bed Speedway on Saturday. Ashton Tucker is two-for-two to start the season, though he leads the standings by just seven points over Cory Hall, who finished runner-up in both races. The series features six races at three tracks, with two events each at Oyster Bed, Petty and Speedway 660.
- The Alberta Extreme Sprints will leave their home province for the only time this season, racing at Saskatchewan’s Swift Current Speedway on Friday and Saturday. Brody Anderson and Ross Matheson recorded victories in the most recent features, last weekend at Rad Torque Raceway.
International Series News & Notes
There will also be plenty of motorsports to follow at the international level this weekend:
- The NASCAR Cup Series will race for the first time at Iowa Raceway on Sunday night; the Xfinity Series will make their return to the track on Saturday afternoon.
- IndyCar is off this week but announced its 2025 schedule on Thursday. The Indy Toronto will take place on the same weekend as this year, scheduled for Sunday, July 20, 2025. FOX will take over the broadcast rights in the U.S. and air every race on network TV.
- USF Juniors will be in action this weekend at Virginia International Raceway. Canadian Anthony Martella sits 16th in points through five races (four starts for Martella).
- The CARS Late Model Tour will visit Dominion Raceway, in Thornburg, VA, on Saturday. Canadian Treyten Lapcevich is tied for fourth in points, with two Top-5s and six Top-10s through seven races.
- The ASA STARS National Tour will visit Madison International Speedway, in Oregon, WI, on Friday. Canadian Cole Butcher enters with the points lead, through three of 10 races, with fellow Canuck Kyle Steckly sitting tenth.
- The FR Americas Championship will race on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend. Canadian Patrick Woods-Toth is tied for the points lead, with fellow Canadian and Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport teammate Nicole Havrda sitting fifth, through six races/two weekends.
