ANTIGONISH, NS (August 7, 2019) – Donald Chisholm will run a special tribute-themed race car in this Saturday’s Toromont Cat 250 for the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour (PST) at Scotia Speedworld. Chisholm will swap his familiar No. 89 Keltic Ford Fusion for a No. 88 race car lettered to replicate a 1970 Holman & Moody prepared Nova Construction-sponsored Ford Mustang Boss 302 which was raced by Donald’s father, the late John Chisholm, in the early 70s.
John Chisholm was a leader in Maritime stock car racing, starting in the late 60s. Besides building and operating Riverside International Speedway in 1969, he a was a racer and as a racer raised the bar for competition in this region by introducing it to purpose-built race cars, the first of which was his Holman & Moody Mustang Boss 302. Until then, race cars in this region were built on street car chassis and modified for competition depending on the rules for the division they were to race in.
Purpose-built cars are built from the ground up as race cars with parts and pieces specifically manufactured for competition. Charlotte, North Carolina-based Holman & Moody was a top supplier to NASCAR teams in the early 70s. John Chisholm bought the 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 from Holman & Moody in 1971 and raced it locally at Riverside and in the Halifax-area at Atlantic Speedway in Hammonds Plains.
In 1972, John Chisholm took the car to Daytona International Speedway to enter in the Citrus 250 NASCAR Grand American Series road race. Chisholm hired a road race ace from North Carolina, Wayne Andrews, to drive the car for him. They had two engines with them, blowing one in practice and after qualifying sixth for the race, blew the second engine in final practice. Ironically, that race was won by a sister car to Chisholm’s Holman & Moody Mustang driven by future NASCAR star, Bobby Allison.
Once John Chisholm introduced purpose-built cars to local racers, they soon saw the benefits and moved in that direction so that, before long, all of the cars raced in the top levels of stock car racing were (and still are) purpose-built.
Donald Chisholm debuted his tribute car out of the Nova Racing shop at last month’s IWK 250 presented by Steve Lewis at Riverside to honor his father and as part of the facilities 50th-anniversary celebrations. He will race it this weekend for the same reasons.
2019 has seen a part-time racing schedule for Donald Chisholm, the 2015 PST champion, 2016 IWK 250 champion, and 2014 NASCAR Pinty’s Series Bumper to Bumper 300 winner. He has stepped back from his own racing to help his daughter, Emily, who races in the Bandolero division weekly at Scotia Speedworld – with two feature wins already this year.
The Toromont Cat 250 is one of three “Triple Crown” 250-lap stock car races in the Maritimes and the only one in the Halifax market. It is a championship-points event for the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour and round nine of 12 en route to the 2012 title.
The weekend kicks off Thursday at Scotia Speedworld with a Food Truck Rally/Show & Shine which also features a Meet & Greet with stars of the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour. On Friday fans will see CARSTAR Weekly Racing Series action with a Sportsman 100, plus Strictly Hydraulics Legends Cars, Toursec Thunder Cars, and Hydraulics Plus Bandoleros. On Saturday, it’s the 20th running of the Toromont Cat 250 along with the Maritime League of Legends Tour and the Passione Flooring East Coast Mini Stock Tour. Thursday’s activities start at 4 p.m., Friday racing starts at 7 p.m., and Saturday racing starts at 5 p.m. Tickets are available at the gate (cash only) all three days.
Scotia Speedworld is located at Exit 6 on Highway 102, across from the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. More information is available at www.ScotiaSpeedworld.ca.
About Nova Racing
Nova Racing is an Antigonish-based race shop fielding cars in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour and the Bandolero division for drivers Donald Chisholm, Emily Chisholm, George Koszkulics and numerous NASCAR celebrity drivers who have visited Riverside International Speedway. Nova Racing has wins in all three divisions in which they field cars and a championship title in the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour.
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