On Sunday, Linda (my wife) and I went to the Dragstrip Memories show at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on the grounds of Hamilton’s airport. As always, it was a great show.
See further down in this post for a photo gallery from the event.
I attended the gathering for the awarding of the John Massingberd Memorial Award and this year’s winner was a very fitting Erik Tomas. Well deserved! John and ‘ET’ worked together on the Raceline TV and Radio shows for many years.
Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for Michael Andretti’s attempt to get a team in Formula One? Rumours have it that Red Bull may be ready to divest itself of its ‘number two’ team named “RB” (this year) and formerly known as Alpha Tauri. Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has dropped a couple of hints about the possibility. Stay tuned!
And there’s more Andretti news as they have just opened a trick new 48,000 square foot Formula One facility at the Silverstone complex in England. Hmm.
The National Hot Rod Association is considering switching to two-day weekends instead of the current and long running three-day events. Cost savings appear to be the main driver. I agree with it.
Photo courtesy NHRA Media
Formula One has released its 2025 schedule and they have returned the opening race to Australia, instead of Bahrain. The Canadian GP is June 15 (2025), Miami May 4, COTA October 19 and Las Vegas November 22.
NASCAR Cup Series: Kyle Larson (Chev) picked up his third straight pole for the Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway ahead of Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell (both in Toyotas).
Kyle Busch had to go to a backup car and start from the rear after spanking the wall hard in that dreaded Corner 2. On lap 50 Jimmie Johnson spun coming out of Corner 4 for the first caution. Larson won Stage 1.
On lap 101 Christopher Bell spun exiting Corner 4, collecting Alex Bowman, Joey Logano and John Hunter Nemechek. On lap 114 Carson Hocevar spun for a yellow. On the ensuing yellow laps Larson lost a right rear wheel at slow speed.
On lap 121 Josh Berry spun and tapped the wall after getting chopped by Ricky Stenhouse for a yellow. On lap 137 Berry again spun this time hitting the wall much harder for another yellow. On lap 143 Michael McDowell hit the wall hard in the same spot as most of the others. A bump in the track? Ross Chastain won Stage 2.
On lap 181 Ryan Blaney got into the wall for a caution. On lap 228 John Hunter Nemechek spun and hit the wall hard for a yellow. On lap 253 Ricky Stenhouse got up in the marbles, spun and backed up the track. On the restart the cars went four-wide and Larson got tagged and spun out. His lost wheel early in the race came back to haunt him.
With two laps to go, on the restart, Denny Hamlin running outside leader Chase Elliott spun by himself for a caution. NASCAR Overtime!! Re-rack ‘em and try again!! On the restart Harrison Burton hit the wall after contact from Kaz Grala for another yellow.
Coming to the flag, Byron hit a slowing Chastain spinning him. Keselowski finished second with Byron third. Not sure what happened but it was announced that Byron was second with Keselowski third even though Live Timing showed ‘Special K’ in second.
Larson, in spite of his bad day at the office, leads the points by 18 over Martin Truex and by 29 over Hamlin.
Their next race is Talladega, Sunday at 3 P.M. on TSN 5 and Fox.
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Jesse Love (Chev) nabbed the pole for the Xfinity race at Texas Motor Speedway ahead of Cole Custer (Ford) and Taylor Gray (Toyota). On lap 2 Gray slid up the track but kept it off the wall and fell back still in the top ten.
On lap 12 Daniel Dye got loose after a ‘reverse aero push’ from teammate Josh Williams (translation – Williams took air OFF the back of Dye’s car). Justin Allgaier won Stage 1.
On lap 80 Corner 2 struck again with Leland Honeyman spinning to bring out a caution. On lap 86 Ryan Truex hit the wall hard on corner exit but kept going with no caution.
Allgaier also won Stage 2. On lap 102 Jeb Burton spun out of corner 4 for a yellow. On lap 172 leader Allgaier slid up the track into lapped car Honeyman forcing him into the wall for a caution. Lap 183 Haillie Deegan and Kyle Weatherman got together on the front stretch for a caution.
At the flag it was Sam Mayer just inching out Ryan Sieg by 0.002 seconds with Allgaier 3rd. What a finish!!! In the points Chandler Smith leads Cole Custer by 19 and Austin Hill by 33.
Their next race is Talladega, Saturday at 4 P.M. on TSN 2.
NASCAR Craftsman Trucks: Nick Sanchez won the pole for the truck race at Texas Motor Speedway ahead of Christian Eckes (both in Chevs) and Canadian Stewart Friesen (Toyota).
Wow, I had forgotten how fast that track is. Two laps in and Thad Moffitt came down on Tyler Ankrum collecting two other trucks for the first yellow. Moffitt’s back end was badly damaged.
On lap 12 Rajah Caruth spun in 2 for the second caution. He was collateral damage in the first yellow as well so not a good start for him. Kyle Busch, playing with the kids again, won Stage 1. Stage 2 went caution free and Busch won it as well.
On lap 131 of 167 Layne Riggs spun up into the wall in corner two for a caution. On lap 146 Kris Wright slid up into Friesen and both trucks spun for a yellow. With just 16 laps to go Dean Thompson got loose and then tagged Grant Enfinger who got into the wall collecting a couple of more trucks in the process.
At the flag Busch made it three for three stages winning ahead of Corey Heim and Sanchez. Friesen finished 13th.
In the points Eckes has a 2-point lead on Heim and 12 on Ty Majeski.
Their next race is Kansas, Saturday, May 4.
Formula One their next race is China, Sunday at 9 A.M. on TSN 4.
IndyCar: Their next race is Long Beach, Sunday
IMSA: Their next race is Long Beach, Saturday
NHRA: Just one week after the Arizona Nationals the NHRA dropped into the beautiful facility at Las Vegas for the Four Wide Nationals.
Top Fuel – Doug Kalitta qualified number one with a 3.738. 15 entries. In the ‘race within a race’ #2Fast2Tasty Top Fuel Challenge Antron Brown beat Shawn Langdon, Tony Stewart and Doug Kalitta. Kalitta took out Justin Ashley and the two others to win with a 3.715. 8 upsets (lower qualified car wins) and 3 smokers (one of both cars smoked the tires). Ashley leads the points by 23 over Shawn Langdon and by 51 over Steve Torrence.
Funny Car – Austin Prock got his third number one qualifying spot of the year with a 3.904. 20 entries. In the ‘race within a race’ #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge Austin Prock defeated Paul Lee, Blake Alexander and Dan Wilkerson. In the final Bob Tasca treed Prock for the win – 3.915 to a 3.904. 7 upsets and 5 smokers. Prock leads the points by 48 over J.R. Todd and by 90 over Tasca.
Pro Stock – OH CANADA!! Jerry Tucker grabbed the number one spot with a 6.612 BUT two Canadians qualified in the tough field. Eric Latino qualified a stout number 5 while Sebringville, ON teenager Sienna Wildgust grabbed the number 14 spot!!! 20 entries.
In the ‘race within a race’ #2Fast2Tasty Pro Stock Challenge Jeg Coughlin beat Troy Coughlin, Jr., Aaron Stanfield and Dallas Glenn. In the final Jeg Coughlin took out Jerry Tucker with a 6.616. 4 upsets and 1 smoker. Erica Enders leads the points by 18 over Dallas Glenn and by 38 over Greg Anderson.
Factory X – Aaron Stanfield topped the field with a 7.146. 8 entries. Greg Stanfield ran a 7.121 to top Alex Laughlin in the final. 2 upsets, 1 smoker.
Factory Stock Showdown – Ricky Hurd was number one with a 7.939. 11 entries. In the semis and finals from Pomona Stephen Bell defeated David Davies for the win. Number one qualifier Hurd won with a 7.890 over David Janac.
Their next race is Charlotte, Sunday, April 28 on Fox Sports Racing.
PHOTO GALLERY: DRAGSTRIP MEMORIES
Photos by Bob Sumak and Peter Anderson
NASCAR Canada Series: Their first race is at Mosport (CTMP), Sunday May 19.
APC Series: Their first race is at Sunset Speedway, Saturday, May 18.
Ontario Sportsman Series: Their first race is at Delaware, Friday, May 17.
Delaware Speedway: Their first race is Friday, May 10.
Ohsweken Speedway: Their first race is Friday, May 17.
Flamboro Speedway: Their first race is Saturday, May 4.
Southern Ontario Motor Speedway (Buxton): Their first race is Saturday, May 25.
Full Throttle Motor Speedway: Their first race is Saturday, May 4.
Grand Bend Speedway: Their first race is Saturday, June 1.
Grand Bend Motorplex: Their first race is the weekend of May 19.
St. Thomas Dragway: Their first race is the weekend of May 19.
Toronto Motorsports Park: Their first race is this weekend.
Shannonville Drags: Their first race is the weekend of May 5.
Any comments can be sent to Dave Mathers via email at motionman@rogers.com or by Facebook Messenger.
