Ontario short track series look to get back on track after a weekend plagued by rain, NASCAR Canada and SPC compete in the suburbs of Montreal, a historic Maritimes track re-opens in time for its 60th anniversary, and Formula One returns from its summer break; here’s what you need to know for this weekend in racing.
Road Racing
Following a rain postponement of last weekend’s race at Delaware Speedway, the NASCAR Canada Series now has three straight road/street events, with the series visiting Circuit ICAR for the middle round on Saturday. The late afternoon/early evening race could see a battle amongst the top-three in the standings. Marc-Antoine Camirand enters with a 29-point lead over Andrew Ranger and a 36-point advantage over Kevin Lacroix, with four races to go.
Lacroix and Ranger have dominated at Circuit ICAR over the years, combining evenly to win eight of 10 races. Lacroix has five podiums in six ICAR starts, while Ranger has seven podiums in ten starts. Lacroix had a DNF at ICAR last season, while Ranger finished outside the Top-5; the win went to Camirand, who finished runner-up the year prior. Green flag is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET.
The Super Production Challenge will also compete at Circuit ICAR on Saturday. The Super Production (SP) class will race in a separate grid from the Production (P) and Compact (C) classes, with both grids qualifying on Friday and contesting two races on Saturday. Guillaume Labbé leads the SP standings by 12 points over Kurt Wittmer; Sylvain Laporte leads the P standings by 32 points over Vincent Desautels; and Frédéric Bernier holds an 87-point advantage over Eric Coulombe in the C standings, entering ICAR.
In other road racing news, the countdown to Targa Newfoundland continues. The renowned tarmac rally will run from September 12-19. For more information about the event, click here.
United Racing Series
Three of four United Racing Series tours will be in action this weekend. The APC United Late Model Series will race at Sauble Speedway on Saturday night. Josh Stade became the fifth different winner in seven races this season, recording his first victory since 2022 a couple of weeks ago at Sunset Speedway. The only repeat winner so far this year is defending champion Kyle Steckly, who leads the standings by 20 points over Blair Wickett and 25 points ahead of Jo Lawrence, with two races to go.
The Just Foam It OSCAAR Modifieds and JRS Auctions OSCAAR Hot Rods will look to get their schedules back on track, visiting Sunset Speedway on Saturday night. Both OSCAAR divisions were scheduled to compete at Sauble last weekend, but joined a long list of Ontario races that were rained out instead.
The Mods enter Sunset with a streak of nine different winners in the last nine points-paying races; TJ Edwards leads the standings by four points over Jason Keen and 12 markers over Steve Trendell. Tyler Hawn leads the Hot Rods standings by 12 points over Rob Bromley; Kenny McNicol Jr. (-20) and Steve Book (-21) are also in the mix.
Atlantic Canada
A milestone weekend is on tap for a historic Atlantic Canada track. The 60th anniversary weekend at River Glade Speedway, in River Glade, NB, will feature the first event at the facility in nearly two decades. The Maritime All Star Series will headline the schedule with the season finale for its Sportsman division, round two for its Street Stock tour, and the second half of the ‘Rumble of the Rivers’ Mini Stock Showdown.
Danny Chisholm and Dylan Dowe recorded Sportsman feature victories last weekend at Riverside International Speedway. Dowe leads the standings by 89 points over Dennis Nickerson and Harry Ross White. The finale is scheduled for Saturday.
Kody Quinn won both Mini Stock features last weekend at Riverside, leading the two-event standings by five points over Mike Weagle; Patricia Weagle (-12), Chris Drover (-17) and Matt Palmer (-20) round out the top-five. The finale is scheduled for Friday (domestic mini stocks) and Saturday (Honda mini stocks).
Michael Cormier won the Street Stock opener last month at Petty International Raceway; that feature is scheduled for Friday night at River Glade.
The Hot Rod Classics will also race at River Glade, with a feature on Saturday. Peter Lawrence won the most recent event, earlier this month at Scotia Speedworld.
Ontario
There will be a handful of other Ontario series, in addition to URS, in action this weekend:
- The Ontario Legend Car Series will run a pair of features at Sunset Speedway on Saturday, including the original season opener, which was postponed back in May. Mitch Wright recorded his fifth victory of the season in the last outing, at Peterborough Speedway, while Matt Haufe won a previously postponed feature earlier in the night. Wright leads the standings by 51 points over Dawson Drimmie.
- The Ontario Sportsman Series will visit Flamboro Speedway on Saturday night. Connor James claimed his second straight victory in the last event, at Full Throttle, in his second straight substitute opportunity behind-the-wheel of Cory McAllister’s No. 71 machine. With points counting towards McAllister’s efforts, the team’s fourth win in seven races this season has given him an 87-point lead in the standings over Brendan Patrick.
Tim Norris (No. 88) has recorded a feature win in all five Ontario Pro Challenge weekends so far this season. CREDIT: Peter Anderson The Ontario Pro Challenge will compete at Flamboro Speedway on Saturday night. Tim Norris and son Mike split feature wins the last time out; defending champion Tim leads the standings by 23 points over Bryan Stevanus, with Mike Norris an additional two points back.
- The Can-Am TQ Midgets will race at Flamboro Speedway on Saturday night. Falling victim to the wet weather that moved across Southern Ontario last weekend, last Saturday’s event at Sunset Speedway was rained out. Defending champion Daniel Hawn leads the standings by 37 points over Jeff Blackburn and Darren McLennan, with two events remaining.
- The Outlaw Midgets will visit Peterborough Speedway on Saturday night. Jason Metcalfe recorded his fourth win in seven races this season in the last outing, two weeks ago at Full Throttle Motor Speedway. Metcalfe leads the standings by 75 points over Russ Couture.
International Series
There will also be some international series to watch this weekend:
- The NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will race on the high banks of Daytona International Speedway on Friday (Xfinity) and Saturday (Cup) nights. The playoff bubble watch in the Cup Series has Ty Gibbs (+39), Chris Buescher (+16) and Ross Chastain (+1) above the cutline, with Bubba Wallace (-1) just below, with two races remaining in the regular season.
- The NASCAR Truck Series will visit Milwaukee Mile on Sunday afternoon for their playoff opener. The Round of 10 features three races, with two drivers eliminated before the Round of 8; three races then decide which four drivers will compete for the championship in the finale. Canadian Stewart Friesen missed the postseason, currently sitting 12th in the standings.
- The IndyCar Series will compete at Portland International Raceway on Sunday afternoon. Alex Palou leads the standings by 59 points over Colton Herta; Herta, Scott Dixon, Will Power and Scott McLaughlin are separated by just 14 points in the battle for second. There are four races remaining this season.
- Formula One returns from its summer break, with the Dutch Grand Prix taking place Sunday at Netherlands’ Circuit Zandvoort. Dutch driver Max Verstappen leads the standings by 78 points over Lando Norris; Canadian Lance Stroll is currently 10th. Stroll has a best finish of 10th in three races at Zandvoort.
- The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be in action at Virginia International Raceway on Sunday, with a 2h 40m race. There will be no LMP2 or GTP class at VIR; the following Canadian drivers are entered, all in GTD: Parker Thompson, Orey Fidani, Roman De Angelis and Zacharie Robichon (co-drivers), Mikael Grenier, Kyle Marcelli, and Misha Goikhberg.
- The Michelin Pilot Challenge will compete at Virginia International Raceway on Saturday, with a two-hour race. There will be 10 Canadian drivers to watch: Jesse Webb (GS class), Thomas Collingwood (GS), Daniel Morad (GS), Jesse Lazare (GS), Robert Wickens (TCR), Dean and Sam Baker (co-drivers, TCR), Denis Dupont (TCR), Karl Wittmer (TCR), and Mark Wilkins (TCR).
Mac Clark returns to the track, with the USF Pro 2000 finale taking place this weekend. CREDIT: Neena Channan The USF Pro 2000 season will conclude this weekend, with a pair of races at Portland International Raceway. Canadian Mac Clark is currently ninth in the standings in his rookie season; he finished sixth and fourth in the series’ most recent races, his home event on the streets of Toronto.
- The CARS Late Model Tour will visit Wake County Speedway, in Raleigh, NC, on Saturday. Canadian Treyten Lapcevich finished ninth last weekend at Ace Speedway; he’s currently sixth in the standings, 57 points back, with five races remaining. Lapcevich received some good news this week, with the CARS Tour Appeals Panel amending the penalty that disqualified his team at North Wilkesboro; Lapcevich will now be credited as the winner, though he won’t receive any points or race winnings.
- The ASA STARS National Tour will compete at Owosso Speedway, in Owosso, MI, on Sunday, an event that was originally scheduled for last weekend but was postponed due to the threat of rain. Canadian Kyle Steckly claimed his first series win in the last race, the Redbud 400 at Anderson Speedway; he’s currently seventh in the standings. Canadian Cole Butcher is second in the title chase, a mere two points back of leader Casey Roderick.
