In this edition of the Motion Motorsport Report for InsideTrackNews.com, Dave Mathers talks about how handy the Race Monitor app is, track curfews and a large number of racing events around the region and racing world.
NHRA drag racer Alex Laughlin has his eyes set on racing a Pro Stock Motorcycle. He wants to become the first driver in NHRA history to hold licences and compete in all four NHRA Pro Categories (NHRA still doesn’t consider Pro Mod a Pro class!). Several have raced in three divisions, but none in four. Cool.
It seems that one of the scribes for the Ontario Sportsman Series has posted on their Facebook page about a “controversial decision by the race track” regarding their 100-lap race being stopped with three laps to go. How many tracks have been shut down for violating curfew rules? Not surprisingly, there are residents near race tracks who are not race fans, and they will do anything to shut down the track. It cost me $850,000 in legal fees to keep the locals from shutting down St. Thomas Dragway 25 years ago! A 97-lap race is perfectly okay.
IndyCar has announced its 2026 schedule, and the rumoured race in Mexico City is not on it. As well, the series is not returning to Iowa Speedway next year. A little too hard on equipment, maybe?
NASCAR and other series should strongly consider taking advantage of the very popular Race Monitor app. The handy tool lets race fans follow several races at the same time without having to exit and open another site. Race Monitor gives practice, qualifying, and race times. It’s great! Live Timing, yes, for the race, but one has to go to Jayski to get the “other stuff” — meaning another log in, log out, repeat. The new fans of our sport have been raised with computers, and they look to their phones, tablets, etc., for their news. Give it to them!
Watching the Cup and Truck races from Loudon, New Hampshire brought back memories from the track’s predecessor, Bryar Motorsports Park, a 5/8-mile paved oval. The American-Canadian Tour ran there in the late ’80s, and we were at the track a couple of times. Local legend had it that “bikers” camped on the hill outside the back straight and they had lots of “parties” that included the burning of cars, trucks, and even motorhomes. The track was closed at the end of the 1989 season and replaced with the current almost-flat one-mile track. My favourite class that ran there? The NASCAR Modifieds. They put on an awesome show—better, in my opinion, than any of the three top NASCAR classes.
DELAWARE SPEEDWAY: This weekend (Sept. 26-27) Delaware Speedway plays host to its annual Great Canadian Race Weekend. On Friday, it’s the Doxtator Property Maintenance V8 Stocks Championship Race, Bone Stock Shootout, King of the Hill Spectator Races and the Dayco Super Stock Series Championship Race. Up Saturday is the OSCAAR Hot Rods Championship Race, Overkill Enterprises Modifieds Championship Race, and the APC Pro Late Model Series Championship Race. Advance tickets are available for a discounted price online HERE.
NASCAR Cup – Local (sort of) racer Joey Logano won the pole for Sunday’s Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., over his teammate Ryan Blaney, with Josh Berry third (all in Fords). Thirty-six cars entered: 15 Chevs, 12 Fords, and 9 Toyotas.
AI Timeline Guy went to sleep at lap 37! The children played nicely until lap 62 when Cody Ware spun after a tap from Austin Dillon right in front of the leaders. Caution. Blaney won Stage 1. On lap 82 Shane Van Gisbergen tapped the left rear of Josh Berry, spinning him out. Yellow. On lap 111 Denny Hamlin showed how truly brain-dead he can be sometimes by dumping Ty Gibbs—the grandson of his car owner—as a form of retaliation. Caution.
I would love to be a fly on the wall at Monday’s team meeting at JGR. And, of course, there was no action taken by NASCAR in spite of the spin being very clearly deliberate. “We don’t throw no stinkin’ black flags! That would be so ’90s!” But wait, there’s more! NASCAR’s AI-generated Timeline made no mention whatsoever of the incident. Huh?
On the ensuing restart, SVG got spun by Brad Keselowski, who bounced off the inside wall on corner exit after they went five-wide. They also collected Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, and Justin Haley. Yellow. On lap 148 John Hunter Nemechek had a solo spin in Turn 3 for a yellow. Logano won Stage 2. On lap 251 Ware tried to bump Dillon but failed and spun out on his own, hitting the wall. A “back-marker battle”? At the flag it was Blaney over Berry and William Byron.
In the points, Blaney leads Byron by 2 and Kyle Larson by 8.
Next race: Kansas, Sunday at 3 p.m. on TSN 5.
CASC-OR: The final CASC-OR race of the year – The Celebration of Motorsports – takes place October 4-5 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Click HERE for a full event schedule for the event.
NASCAR Xfinity Series – Next race: Kansas, Saturday at 4 p.m. on USA and CW.
NASCAR Craftsman Trucks – It was good to see injured Canadian driver Stewart Friesen return to the track at Loudon as a spectator. He hopes to be back racing next year at Daytona. Also, it was good to hear, once again, the playing of the Canadian national anthem along with the US anthem considering the inter-country tensions created by the current US administration.
In qualifying, points leader Corey Heim (Toyota) grabbed the pole over Chandler Smith and Ty Majeski (both Fords). Kaden Honeycutt qualified Friesen’s truck 15th. B.C. racer Derek White qualified 35th. Thirty-six trucks entered: 18 Chevs, 10 Fords, and 8 Toyotas—but no Rams (yet).
Oh baby, that was a brutal start. Smith slid up, tapping Heim, but the action was right behind them as Tanner Gray got loose, resulting in Connor Mosack, Ben Rhodes, and Brent Crews joining Gray in the spin cycle. How bad was that first-lap wreck, you ask? NASCAR’s Live Timing AI Timeline feature went into shock and didn’t come back to work for about 45 laps! LOL.
On lap 33 Daniel Hemric, lapping Caleb Costner and Jayson Alexander (no, not the Seinfeld one), went three-wide with all three spinning. Yellow. On the subsequent restart Connor Jones tangled with Christian Eckes, both wrecking. Yellow. On lap 50 Derek White appeared to blow up and had a solo spin, bringing out the fourth caution of the first stage. Heim won Stage 1. On lap 101 Patrick Emerling spun with what appeared to be a flat left-front tire. Yellow. Unsurprisingly, Heim won Stage 2. On lap 127 Tyler Tomassi shortened his truck, backing into the wall in Turn 2. Caution No. 6. On lap 133 Toni Breidinger slid up and collected Matt Crafton and Ben Rhodes in Turn 3. Yellow.
The kids played nicely for the rest of the race, and Heim got the win over Smith and Layne Riggs. Advancing to the next round (the Round of Eight) are Heim, Riggs, Hemric, Majeski, Grant Enfinger, Tyler Ankrum, Honeycutt, and Rajah Caruth.
In the points, Heim now leads Riggs by 81 and Majeski by 108.
Next race: Charlotte, Friday, October 3.
Formula One – I have to admit that Baku is a beautiful city, but it has a terrible F1 race course — much worse than Monaco. The carnage on the weekend was unacceptable. Lando Norris (McLaren) topped P1, Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) was quickest in P2, Norris again in P3, while Max Verstappen (Red Bull) nabbed the pole ahead of Carlos Sainz (Williams—yes, Williams) and Liam Lawson (RB).
More on the carnage: Alexander Albon (Williams) was the first to spank the wall in Q1, followed by Nico Hulkenberg (Stake) and Franco Colapinto (Alpine). In Q2 Oliver Bearman (Haas) hit the wall, and in Q3 both Charles Leclerc and points leader Oscar Piastri (McLaren) nailed the tire barriers. Even Norris scrubbed the wall but kept going. A very expensive qualifying session filled with red and yellow flags. One of the red flags in Q3 was for rain.
Piastri had a disastrous start and stuffed it into the tire wall, dropping out and finishing 20th. On lap 17 Albon bumped the Alpine of Colapinto, bringing out the yellow. At halfway it was Verstappen over Sainz and George Russell (Mercedes). At the flag it was Verstappen over Russell and Sainz.
I can’t tell you how much nicer and calmer the broadcast was without David Croft. His nitrous-oxide-fueled method was not missed.
In the Drivers’ Championship Piastri still leads by 25 over Norris and by 69 over Verstappen.
In the Constructors’ Championship McLaren leads Mercedes by 33 and Ferrari by 337.
Next race: Singapore, Sunday, October 5.
IMSA – They ran the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis this past weekend.
GTP – Thirteen cars entered. Felipe Nasr put his Penske Porsche on the pole with a lap of 1:13.698. Sebastien Bourdais had a very scary spin after a tyre went flat on his Cadillac; thankfully no injury. The race went to the Cadillac of Renger van der Zande and Bourdais, followed by the Acura of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor, and the Cadillac of Jack Aitken and Pipo Derani. There was some contact during the race between Bourdais and Taylor. With this win the Cadillac team of Derani and Aitken takes over the championship lead.
LMP2 – Twelve cars entered. Ben Keating took the pole with a lap of 1:17.261 in the United Autosports ORECA. The win went to Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel, with Ben Hanley and Louis Deletraz second, and Mikkel Jensen and Steven Thomas third.
GTD Pro – Twelve cars entered. The pole went to Jack Hawksworth with a lap of 1:23.688 in the Vasser Sullivan Lexus. The race was won by the AO Racing Porsche of Laurin Heinrich and Sebastian Priaulx. Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat were second, with Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon third in the Winward Mercedes.
GTD – Twenty-two cars entered. Jaden Conwright put the NTE Sport Lamborghini on the pole with a 1:24.489. The win went to Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher in a Turner BMW, with Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow second in a Paul Miller BMW, and Mikael Grenier and Russell Ward third in a Winward Mercedes.
Next race: Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, October 11th.
NHRA – The series dropped into the beautiful track at Charlotte for the 4-Wide Carolina Nationals. I’m still on the fence about the five Pro classes running four-wide. All the sportsman and index classes, sure, but the Pro classes? Not so much.
Top Fuel – Brittany Force, racing in her last season, laid down a 3.698 at 338.85 to lead the 14 entries. Quebec racer Dan Mercier qualified 11th. Justin Ashley won the final with a 3.784 at 329.83. There were four upsets (lower-qualified car wins) and two smokers (traction issues).
Funny Car – Matt Hagan put down a 3.891 at 329.67 to top the 16 entries. Canadian Spencer Hyde qualified 12th. Austin Prock won the final with a 3.912 at 332.43. Six upsets and two smokers.
Pro Mod – Canadian Justin Bond topped the 22 entries with a 5.713 at 248.11. Billy Banaka won the bizarre final with a 6.551 at 140.63 after Mike Castellana and Sidnei Frigo left before the green and Mason Wright rolled the beams. Six upsets and four smokers.
Pro Stock – Dallas Glenn once again was quickest with a 6.535 at 209.69. Nineteen entries. Canadian Eric Latino qualified a very impressive third. Glenn won the final with a 6.554 at 209.95. Four upsets and three smokers.
Pro Stock Bike – Gaige Herrera topped qualifying with a 6.757 at 201.22 among 17 entries. Richard Gadson took the final with a 6.803 at 199.55. Three upsets.
Mountain Motor Pro Stock – John DeFlorian Jr. nabbed top spot in qualifying with a 6.310 at 222.73 among seven entries. In the final Vincent Nobile ran a 6.306 at 221.38 to beat Mike Coughlin. Four upsets.
Next race: Gateway, this weekend on Fox Sports Racing, Sunday at 8:30 p.m.
NASCAR Canada Series – Occasional Xfinity racer Alex Labbe picked up the pole at the 3/8-mile Autodrome Montmagny over points leader Marc-Antoine Camirand and last week’s double winner Donald Theetge. Twenty-one cars started. At the flag it was Camirand over Will Larue and Labbe. In the final points, Camirand won by 23 over D.J. Kennington and by 29 over Andrew Ranger to earn his second consecutive NASCAR Canada Series championship.
APC Series – Next race: Delaware, Friday and Saturday.
Ontario Sportsman Series – In qualifying for the 100-lapper at Sunset Speedway, Connor James won the pole over Kevin Trevellin and Shawn McGlynn. At the flag it was James over McGlynn and Todd Sheppard.
Delaware Speedway – In the Delaware Modifieds, Marshall Schrenk won the heat and the feature ahead of Steve McCaw and Bryan Batty. Schrenk is the season champion in the class. In Super Stocks, Nic Ramsay won Heat 1, Darrell Lake won Heat 2, and Hudson Nagy won the feature over Lake and Carson Nagy. Trevor Collver is the season champion in Super Stock. In Late Models, Schrenk won Heat 1, Kyle Steckly took Heat 2, and Ray Morneau won the feature ahead of Schrenk and Jesse Kennedy. Jake Sheridan is the season champion in Late Models.
Next race: APC, Friday and Saturday.
Flamboro Speedway – Next up for Flamboro Speedway (Saturday, September 27) is Championship Night featuring the Canadian Vintage Modifieds, Mini Stocks, Pure Stocks & SOMA Pro 4 Modifieds. The Spectator Drags are also on tap. Pits open at 4:00 p.m., the fan entrance opens at 5:00 p.m. and racing begins at 6:30 p.m. Click HERE for more info.
Sunset Speedway – The Innisfil, Ontario oval held what may turn out to be its last-ever event this past weekend. Dubbed The Last Dance, the three-day show attracted full fields of cars and packed grandstands full of fans. Click HERE for a post about the event, including three photo galleries.
Targa Newfoundland – The annual Targa Newfoundland tarmac rally took place last week, around Newfoundland. Click HERE for results.
Ohsweken Speedway – Next event: November 21, Champions Banquet.
Buxton Speedway – Next race: Regular racing, Saturday.
Grand Bend Dragway – Next race: 660 Sportsman Nationals, October 3–5.
St. Thomas Dragway – Next race – DaSilva Shootout plus ONDR, this weekend.
Toronto Motorsports Park – Next race: Take it to the Track, this weekend.
660 Sportsman Nationals – Race date: Grand Bend, October 5.
Any comments can be sent to Dave Mathers via email at motionman@rogers.com or by Facebook Messenger.
