NASCAR Canada begins its first ever Eastern swing, FEL returns to action at Calabogie, the ECI Pro Stock Tour heads to Scotia, the Can-Am TQ Midgets continue a busy stretch; that and more in this week’s preview.
NASCAR Canada Series
The NASCAR Canada Series (NCS) will return to Atlantic Canada for their first ever east coast swing starting this weekend. The series will race at Eastbound International Speedway, in Avondale, NL, on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. local time. They’ll then visit Riverside International Speedway, in Nova Scotia, for a double-header the following weekend; this will be the first time that the series holds more than one race in Atlantic Canada in the same season.
The Eastern races have provided a bit of an indication of who will win the NCS championship. The Riverside race winner went on to claim the series title in eight of 13 seasons, including four of the last five at the track, which most recently hosted the NCS in 2019. Eastbound has a smaller sample size but saw Marc-Antoine Camirand and Treyten Lapcevich win the track’s first two NCS races en route to series championships.
Camirand opened the season with a win at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), followed by a third-place finish at Autodrome Chaudière, where Andrew Ranger took the victory. Camirand is the only driver with a chance to record both his third straight podium of the season and third straight podium at Eastbound (Treyten Lapcevich has two podiums at Eastbound but now races in the U.S.).
FEL Motorsports – SCCC & Radicals
The FEL Sports Car Championship Canada presented by Michelin (SCCC) and FEL Emzone Radical Cup Canada presented by Michelin (RCC) will return to action with two races each at Calabogie Motorsports Park.
The SCCC last raced at Calabogie in 2022, while the RCC held three races there last season, which were swept by eventual champion Jake Cowden. The track, located about an hour’s drive west of Ottawa, will be home to round two of the 2024 season for both series.
Jack Polito won the opening two races at CTMP, in the GT4 class, with Cayden Goodridge finishing runner-up by just 0.534 seconds in the weekend finale. Richard Boake (TCR) and Eric Kunz (TCA) also swept the CTMP races, with a closer margin of victory in race two. In the RCC, Owen Clarke and Kenny Riedmann split opening round wins, while Tim Sanderson won both contests in the new Masters class.
Atlantic Canada – Pro Stock Tour & Maritime All Star
The East Coast International Pro Stock Tour will race at Scotia Speedworld on Saturday at 4 p.m. local time. Jarrett Butcher looks to continue his early hot streak, where he’s two-for-two to start the season. Mike Rodgers started the year with two top-fives and trails Butcher by 13 points in the standings. The last race, at Petty International Raceway, was postponed due to rain; the second postponement of 2024 will have a much longer wait time than the first, with the make-up scheduled for Saturday, October 5, making Petty the new season finale.
The Maritime All Star Series sportsman tour will also race at Scotia Speedworld on Saturday. Deven Smith won the most recent race, at Lake Doucette Motor Speedway, in his first start of the season. Dennis Nickerson finished third, following a season-opening win at Petty, giving him an early seven-point lead in the standings over Michael Cormier.
Canadian Series News & Notes
There will be several other Canadian touring series in action this weekend:
- The Can-Am TQ Midgets will continue their stretch of seven races in six weeks on Saturday at Peterborough Speedway. James Stanley visited victory lane in last weekend’s race, at Sunset Speedway, making it four different winners in the first four races of 2024. Jeff Blackburn and Paul Jorgensen rounded out the podium at Sunset.
- The Great Lakes Legends Series will race at Sauble Speedway on Saturday. Austin Arnel won the Canadian opener last weekend, at Grand Bend Speedway, following Josh Indig’s win in the season opener at Michigan’s Flat Rock Speedway. Andrew McFadden and Kevin D’Amore rounded out the podium at Grand Bend.
Tim Norris swept the opening Ontario Pro Challenge features. CREDIT: Peter Anderson The Ontario Pro Challenge will be in action at Flamboro Speedway on Saturday. Defending champion Tim Norris swept a pair of features on May 25, but it was Mother Nature with four early wins, as twin features on May 11 and June 8 were rained out. Bryan Stevanus recorded a runner-up and a third-place finish on May 25.
- The Southern Ontario Sprints will race at Merrittville Speedway on Saturday. Dylan Westbrook opened the season with a pair of A-Main victories, including a win last weekend at Southern Ontario Motor Speedway.
- The Super Production Challenge will be back in action, with a trio of races this weekend at Calabogie Motorsports Park. The Super Production class saw three different winners in the first three races, at CTMP, with Guillaume Labbé, Arek Wojciechowski, and Todd Chiappino claiming the top step of the podium. Vincent Desautels, Matt Briand, and Sylvain Laporte recorded victories in the Production class, while Eric Coulombe (two wins) and Trevor Hill were victorious in the Compact class.
- The Canadian Superbike Championship will hold round three this weekend at Edmonton’s Rad Torque Raceway, making its first stop at the track since 2015. Three-time champion Ben Young enters with an 11-point championship lead over Sam Guérin, who picked up a win in the last round at Grand Bend Motorplex. Another rider to watch is 2021 champion Alex Dumas, who will make his return to the series.
- The Alberta-based Can/Am Sprints Series will return to action on Friday at Belgrade, Montana’s Gallatin Speedway and on Saturday at Great Falls, Montana’s Electric City Speedway. Kory Wermling won the 2024 opener at Electric City, before Brody Anderson and Johnny Wiersma picked up wins in the most recent event, at Rad Torque Raceway.
International Series News & Notes
There will also be some international series to note this weekend:
- NASCAR’s Cup and Xfinity series will race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, with Xfinity on Saturday and Cup on Sunday at the Magic Mile.
- The IndyCar Series will be in action at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday evening.
- Formula One will compete at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, in Spain, on Sunday. Canadian Lance Stroll is currently 11th in the standings.
The VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3, driven by Frankie Montecalvo and Canadian Parker Thompson. CREDIT: LAT Images The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will contest a six-hour race on Sunday at Watkins Glen International. There are nine Canadians taking part: John Farano (LMP2), Parker Thompson (GTD), Orey Fidani (GTD), Roman De Angelis (GTD), Zacharie Robichon (GTD, same car as De Angelis), Mikael Grenier (GTD), Scott Hargrove (GTD), Kyle Marcelli (GTD), and Misha Goikhberg (GTD).
- The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge will race at Watkins Glen on Saturday. Nine Canadians will take part in the support series as well: Jesse Webb (GS), Thomas Collingwood (GS), Daniel Morad (GS), Jesse Lazare (GS), LP Montour (TCR), Robert Wickens (TCR), Denis Dupont (TCR), Karl Wittmer (TCR), and Mark Wilkins (TCR).
- The FR Americas Championship will be in action at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend. Canadian Patrick Woods-Toth won two of three races last weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while Canadian Nicole Havrda recorded a podium finish and was awarded the Omologato Perfectly-Timed Move of the Race.
- The Central and West regions for the DIRTcar Sportsman Series will both be on track at Land of Legends Raceway on Saturday. Canadian Cody McPherson won the first Central event of the season, at Weedsport Speedway, and was victorious in the first two West events. He’s currently tied with Brad Rouse for the most DIRTcar Sportsman Series wins, at 19, and will look to break that tie this weekend.
