It has been a busy off season for the #86 Pro Late Model team and because of that hard work, the car is race ready and the driver and crew are now very anxious to get the car onto the track.
With two sets of body panels freshly painted the familiar green, a refreshed Ford motor installed and decals in place, the car was ready to go racing after attending the 4th Annual Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo at the International Centre in Mississauga from March 9th to 11th.
Originally scheduled to be grouped with other cars across from the APC United Late Model Series booth, the team was honoured to get a call from series officials asking if the #86 could be a part of the main booth for the weekend where the over 30,000 visitors got a front row view of the #86 with all of our sponsors proudly displayed on the car.
Billy Schwartzenburg also participated in an autograph session on the Sunday afternoon where he signed hero cards, as well as gave out pens from GUNK and an assortment of hats and team merchandise.
The team is scheduled to take pictures of the car on March 25th for new hero cards that will be handed out to fans at tracks across the province this summer.
The team’s schedule has also been finalized and posted on our website and Facebook that consists of the APC Series schedule as well as a partial schedule for the #86 at Flamboro Speedway
A special thank you goes out to Hy-Grade Steel Roofing System for their donation of a new tent that will keep the car and team dry during rain delays as well as protect them from the hot summer sun.
With Erik Dalla Riva joining the team this season in the #86 Mini Stock, the team will spend their off weekends at Flamboro Speedway helping Erik as he runs for the points championship in his first full season in the Mini Stock class.
Erik has put in a lot of hours at the shop over the winter and along with repainting the chassis last fall, has made all new body panels and fitted a new Mustang style nose along with a late model tail that will slightly change the look of the familiar green and orange #86.
The new body panels should be painted in the near future and then the car will be reassembled in plenty of time before the first practice session of the season at Flamboro Speedway on April 21st where Erik will join the #86 Pro Late Model as Billy and crew will also be in attendance.
Samantha took most of last season off from racing so the #81 has spent the majority of the winter under a car cover as it is ready to return to Sunset Speedway without the usual required winter rebuild.
Samantha will also be attending the six Great Lakes Concrete Series races that will consist of a home and home series between Sunset and Sauble Speedway with three events scheduled at each track.
The #72 mini stock of Billy’s older brother Rich has also spent the majority of the winter in the shop as it went through a major rebuild consisting of stripping the car, repainting the chassis grey with all new body panel made and painted in the reverse colours of the #86 with an all-orange body with green numbers instead of the familiar green with orange numbers.
Ricky will be joining Erik at Flamboro full-time as he tries to better his 4th place finish in the championship standings last season.
We would like to welcome back of all of our returning sponsors for the 2018 season including a special thank you to Hy-Grade Steel Roofing for stepping up their sponsorship and taking over a larger portion of the hood as the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market has left the team after the sale of the market to new ownership.
Joining Hy-Grade Steel Roofing this season are Spira Fire Protection, Apollo Valves, Cambridge Source for Sports, Dominion Sure Seal, Erb and Erb Insurance Brokers, Fleet Image, Guelph Wish Fund for Children, GUNK Company of Canada, Lucas Oil Products, National Fire Equipment, Northern Ice, NUCO, Plasti-Kote, Schwartzenburg Haulage, TSS Top Shops Auto Body Supplies, Victaulic Company of Canada, Vinnie’s Mr. Fix-It, Wix Filters, and Wolseley Canada.
The season is scheduled to kick off on Saturday April 28th as Billy, Erik and Ricky head to Flamboro Speedway for the season opener while Samantha heads north to take part in the season opener at Sunset Speedway.
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