In this edition of the Dave Mathers Motion Motorsports Report for InsideTrackNews.com, Dave covers all the action from the busy Great Canadian Race Weekend at Delaware Speedway and much more.
The NASCAR Cup playoffs are set with 5 Chevs, 6 Fords and 5 Toyotas. Hands up anybody who would like to see Martin Truex win the championship in his final full season?
In other Truex news, it has been reported that Denny Hamlin is supplying a car from his team for Martin to run in next year’s Daytona 500. And guess who will be his crew chief? TaDa… Canada’s own Cole Pearn!
Will he, or won’t he? Formula One guru Adrian Newey – who is leaving his job as Red Bull’s chief technical officer at year’s end – is reportedly moving to Aston Martin for (if rumours prove true) an eye-popping nine-figure price. Proof that you really do have to pay for quality.
Is there ‘Trouble in Paradise’? Reportedly, when Tyler Reddick won the trophy for the regular season championship at Darlington Raceway, a photo was setup with the race car, the trophy, the driver, co-owners Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin and Curtis Polk BUT no NASCAR executive to present the trophy. Hmm.
Could this have anything to do with the above referenced ‘trouble’ where the 23XI team has not signed the new franchise agreement? It seems there are ongoing discussions on the matter.
NASCAR Canada Series: Oh, what a difference a day makes for the series 200 lap race Delaware Speedway on Sunday! Clear skies and sun replaced the rain threat from both Friday and Saturday and the brutally cold temperatures.
The crowd experienced a good race with very few incidents and lots of side-by-side action. Sixteen cars took time trials with Kevin Lacroix topping the charts with an 18.905 (the only car in the 18s) followed by Cayden Lapcevich (19.034) and Steve Cote (19.086).
All the rest of the cars were in the 19s. Local racer Ryan Dyson making his series debut wisely dropped to the back from his 12th place spot on the initial green. On lap 19 Frederik Ladouceur and Brent Wheller put on a ‘synchronized spinning’ demonstration between 1 & 2 (but did not make contact) for the first yellow. And, BONUS, they were counting yellows!! Very smart.
On lap 26, Dyson spun in Turn 2 for another caution. On lap 37 Kyle Steckly, Jason Hathaway and Glenn Styres got together in 3. On lap 52 points leader Marc-Antoine Camirand had a solo spin in 2.
At the halfway mark, it was Lacroix, Andrew Ranger, Donald Theetge, D.J. Kennington and Lapcevich. On lap 142 Theetge, whose car had been clearly ‘off song’ for several laps, pitted and then came back out ten laps later. Whatever the problem was (spark plug wire?) and he was back up to running bad fast.
At the flag it was Lacroix, Ranger, Kennington, Steckly and L.P. Dumoulin. Lacroix led all but nine of the laps in his dominant win. Time of the race: 1 hour and twenty-five minutes. Kennington and Styres ran over 500 laps between Saturday and Sunday, as they ran both the United Racing Series APC Late Model Series race Saturday, and this race on Sunday.
In the points, Camirand still leads but Lacroix has cut the margin to just 20 points with Ranger 22 points out of the lead, Kennington 64 back and Dumoulin 85 back.
Their next race is the season finale at Quebec’s Autodrome Montmagny, Sunday, September 22.
United Racing Series – APC Late Model and Dayco Super Stock Series: The final races of the season for both the Super Stock Division and the APC Late Models were held on the weekend at Delaware Speedway as part of The Great Canadian Weekend.
Friday’s race, run under threatening skies, saw the Super Stocks qualify in groups. Daniel Hawn topped group 1 with a 20.149, Jacob Booth was fastest in Group 2 with a 20.275, Brody Rickwood was first in Group 3 with a 20.061 while Ryan Dyson was the man in Group 4 running one of only three 19s with a 19.903.
Rickwood started on the pole followed by Dyson, Shawn Chenoweth, Lane Zardo and Carson Nagy. With the exception of Austin Penney spinning on lap 15, the race ran caution free. At the flag it was Nagy followed by Pete Vanderwyst, Jr., Dyson, Zardo and Chenoweth. 16 cars. Time of the race – 20.56.
In the final points, Nagy won the Super Stock Championship by 8 over Zardo, by 15 on Chenoweth, by 25 on Dyson and 35 on Rickwood.
Cars were almost four hours late getting onto the track Saturday for the Late Models, Modifieds and Hot Rods as it rained most of the day. Just after 6 p.m., the track was dry enough for cars.
In group qualifying Jake Sheridan topped Group 1 with an 18.354, Ray Morneau was fastest in Group 2 with an 18.315, Blair Wickett was fast in Group 3 with an 18.227 and Josh Stade in Group 3 had an 18.294. Connor Pritiko started on the pole of the 300 lapper ahead of Stade, Morneau, Shae Gemmell and Wickett. With the exception of a couple of minor spins things went well stopping on lap 104 for the first competition caution for fuel.
At the halfway mark it was Cayden Lapcevich, Gemmell, Stade, J.R. Fitzpatrick and Jesse Kennedy. There were a few mor cautions before the second competition caution at lap 202.
On lap 224 Lapcevich dropped out apparently with engine issues. At the flag for ‘The Three and a Half Hours of Delaware’ it was Pritiko, Gemmell (they had half tracked the field), Stade, Morneau and D.J. Kennington. 28 cars. Time of Race: 3.31.
OSCAAR Modifieds and Hot Rods (By Ashley McCubbin): Starting on the front row, TJ Edwards paced all 25 laps en route to winning the OSCAAR Modified feature on Saturday at Delaware Speedway.
A single 10-minute practice session due to weather would also set the starting grid, with an invert based on points and attendance. Edwards timed in quickest, giving him the outside pole alongside fellow championship contender Jason Keen.
Immediately upon the drop of the green flag, TJ Edwards stretched out his advantage over the field to a straightaway en route to a dominant win.
Jamie Cox made his way up into second at the halfway mark but was unable to advance further. Dale Reinhart completed the podium finishers. Their next race is October 5 as part of Flamboro’s Frostoberfest weekend.
Starting on the pole, Steve McCaw led flag-to-flag en route to winning the OSCAAR Hot Rod feature on Saturday at Delaware. Like the Modifieds, a single 10-minute practice session set the starting order, with an inversion based on points and attendance. McCaw timed in quickest, earning him the pole and a relatively comfortable win.
Dalen Martin was ‘best of the rest,’ taking second ahead of Rick Spencer-Walt. Tyler Hawn’s fifth-place finish kept him atop the points heading to their next race, Sept. 21 on the dirt at Brighton Speedway.
Delaware Speedway: Mother Nature must have been having a bad weekend at least for the Friday and Saturday portion of The Great Canadian Weekend at Delaware Speedway. Friday’s card, run after rain threatened all day, included the Bone Stocks, the V/8 Stocks and the season finale and Championship race for the Super Stocks (covered above).
In the Bone Stocks (44 of them) Sterling Roberts won Heat 1, Craig Cole won Heat 2, Daniel Mailloux won Heat 3, Colin Willems won the B Main while the Main was won by Cole over Jeremiah Rabideau, Mailloux, Donavin Clark and Justin Colver. Rabideau leads the points by 7 over Matt Langford and by 35 over Clark.
In the V/8 Stocks Kevin Wheaton won Heat 1, Jeff Ferguson won Heat 2 (the Breakout Heaven heat as all but two broke out) and the Main was won by J.R. Fitzpatrick who pulled an old Late Model out of the museum and won even though it had a little smoke coming out of the right side for the last half of the race. I told him that was okay as the car was old enough to smoke. Barry Watson was 2nd, David Rockwood 3rd, Steve Book 4th and Ferguson 5th.
Sunday afternoon the class returned to run before the NASCAR Canada race and Ferguson was the winner over Lucas Orr, Book, Rockwood and Kaden Patrick.
In the points Ferguson leads Watson by 20 and Doug Stewart by 25.
Their next race is Bone Stock 50 lapper, Super Stocks and Kid’s Pedal Bike Races, Friday.
Flamboro Speedway: Their next race night features the Pro Late Models, Saturday.
Toronto Motorsports Park: The CSCS is in action at TMP this weekend.
Ontario Sportsman Series: Their next race is at Sunset, Friday, September 20.
Grand Bend Motorplex: This weekend, they host FallFast, featuring the ONDR series.
St. Thomas Dragway: They’re hosting a Test & Tune, Saturday.
Targa Newfoundland: In two days, the thrill of Targa Newfoundland takes over St. John’s! Competitors from across North America – from as far away as British Columbia and Florida – are gearing up for the ride of a lifetime. Come out and cheer them on as they tackle Newfoundland’s legendary roads.
CASC-OR: Coming up Sept. 21-24 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park will be the fifth regional road racing event of the season, the BEMC Late Summer Trophy Races. The following classes will be in action: PIRELLI Tire Super Touring, PIRELLI Tire Grand Touring, Toyo Tire F1600, VARAC Formula Classic / Formula Libre / F4, VARAC Classic/Modern Classic (CMC), VARAC Vintage Historic + Classic/Modern Classic (VMC) and the Challenge Cup Series + F1200.
NASCAR Cup Series: In qualifying for the Quaker State 400 on Sunday at Atlanta Speedway, Michael McDowell won the pole over Ryan Blaney and Todd Gilliland (all in Fords). Fords won 7 out of the top 10 with 3 Chevs. The top Toyota was Ty Gibbs in 20th!! 38 cars.
Things went clean and green until lap 56 when Kyle Larson spun by himself in Corner 2 and hit the wall hard. Blaney won Stage 1.
On lap 115 the yellow came out for debris on the front stretch of the track, debris that we didn’t see. Austin Cindric won Stage 2.
John Hunter Nemechek spun on the back stretch hitting the inside wall on lap 176 for a yellow. On lap 206 Chris Buescher got sideways loose and hit Blaney who then took out Martin Truex. On lap 256 the yellow came out thanks to Walmart!! A Walmart sign blew off the fence and onto the track.
On lap 260 Noah Gragson got together with Harrison Burton with Gragson sliding down into the inside wall. NASCAR Overtime. On the last lap Ross Chastain slid up and just touched the wall but kept going but ‘stuff’ was happening behind him with a bunch of cars, 9 at my count, getting involved. At the yellow/checker flags it was Joey Logano over Daniel Suarez, Blaney, Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman.
In the playoff points Blaney leads Bell by 5 and Tyler Reddick by 12.
Their next race is Watkins Glen, Sunday at 3 P.M. on TSN 5.
NASCAR Xfinity Series: During qualifying for the Focused Health 250 Saturday at Atlanta Speedway, Jesse Love (Chev) nabbed the pole with Taylor Gray (Toyota) 2nd and Cole Custer (Ford) 3rd. Chev/Toyota/Ford. 37 cars.
Things ran smoothly until lap 13 when Ryan Sieg rolled to a stop on the back straight. The stage ends with Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill crossing the line side by side. Timing gave Allgaier the win.
The race was uneventful, in the second stage, until the white flag lap. Taylor Gray bumped Sam Mayer into the wall and then Mayer’s car appeared to have issues ending with flames coming out the back of his car. A.J. Allmendinger won Stage 2.
On lap 99 Shane Van Gisbergen spanked the wall in 4 and then made a quick trun to geet down onto pit road for a yellow. He was able to continue. On lap 110 Jeb Burton lost a left rear tire for another yellow. On lap 146 Allgaier, running up front, slid up track collecting Custer, Gray, Sieg, Jesse Love and Riley Herbst. Red flag.
At the flag it was Austin Hill over Parker Kligerman, Dinger, Smith and Heim. Time of the race 2:07:05.
In the points Allgaier leads Custer by 34 and Chandler Smith by 67.
Their next race is Watkins Glen, Saturday at 3 P.M. on TSN 3.
NASCAR Craftsman Trucks: Their next race is Bristol, Sunday, September 19 at 8 P.M. on Fox Sports Racing.
Formula One: Their next race is Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday at 6.55 A.M. on TSN 1 & 5.
IndyCar: Their next race is the finale at Nashville Super Speedway, Sunday at 3.30 on TSN 3.
IMSA: Their next race is Indy, Sunday, September 22.
NHRA: Their next race is Maple Grove, September 15 at 2 P.M. on Fox Sports Racing.
Ohsweken Speedway: Their next race is the Thunder Stock Nationals Thursday, the Northern Crate Nationals Friday and the Northern Sprint Car Nationals Saturday.
Buxton Speedway: Their next race is the championship finale, Saturday.
Full Throttle Motor Speedway: Their next race is the Racers Memorial Night, Saturday.
Can-Am Stock/Super Stock Series: Their next races are September 28 & 29 at Empire Dragway.
PMRA: Their next event is this weekend with Quick 32 Sportsman Series plus Pro Bike & Sled Series, Empire Dragway.
Shannonville Drags: Their next race is September 21 & 22.
Any comments can be sent to Dave Mathers via email at motionman@rogers.com or by Facebook Messenger.
