FLORIDA!!!!!! Wow, two HUGE races on the same weekend. Snowball Derby, Pensacola. NASCAR Canada Series 2023 Champion Treyten Lapcevich built a Super Late Model for the race and he qualified 11th but got moved up to 10th when number 3 qualifier, Preston Peltier, was DQ’d in tech for body modifications to his trunk lid. Really? Nova Scotia’s Cole Butcher started 28th. There were 50 cars entered for the Derby.
Peltier started DFL in the Last Chance Qualifier and got to the flag first in the 50 lapper (he was, to put it mildly, motivated!!). He would start 31st of 36 in the Derby.
Ty Majeski won the Snowball Derby, ahead race ahead of Gio Ruggiero, Travis Braden, Canadian Cole Butcher and Matt Craig. Lapcevich was running well but finished 24th, one spot behind Noah Gragson, after being caught up in someone else’s crash. Peltier finished DFL.
Meanwhile, the Snowflake 100 was rained out Saturday and delayed until Monday. Two Canadians were in the entries with Kyle Steckly and Glenn Styres waving the Maple Leaf. There were 55 cars entered for the Snowflake. Hunter Robbins won the Snowflake, while Steckly came home a solid fifth.
SNOWBIRD OUTLAW NATIONALS, BRADENTON. Canada was well represented again at this Pro Mod race. Nearly 50 cars entered to get in the 32-car show. The big winner ($100,000) earlier this year at the track, Stratford’s Spence Hyde qualified number 2 with a 3.600, another Stratford native Scott Wildgust was fourth with a 3.608 (how close is that!!), Halton Hills’ Jay Santos was 5th with a 3.618. Three out of the top five were Canadians.
Eric Latino qualified 30th but Kenny Lang was first man out in 33rd. And Kenny ran a 3.696. Basically, a tenth off the top qualifier’s 3.581 for 32 cars!! Wow.
Sadly the race was rained out, probably by the same storm that hit Pensacola Saturday cancelling the Snowflake 100. The purses were split amongst the remaining cars and they will be run off at the U.S. Street Nationals, January 25 – 28/24.
I was going to make this my Christmas Wish List page (now next week) but rather I want to talk about all the many positive things coming at us in 2024 including schedule information where available.
Last week I commented on the Hot Rod Shop guys from Dorchester. This week I want to tell you about another group.
The ‘Bored Meeting’ meets every Thursday at 10 A.M. at McDonalds in St. Thomas although during the good weather we meet at beautiful Pinafore Park. And, of course, mouthy Mathers got elected ‘Chairman of the Bored’!! LOL
This group, average age of about 80, has been meeting for about fifteen years and is comprised of a bunch of guys who, for the most part, grew up together. John Stenabaugh from the Hot Rod Shop dropped in for this photo as he happened to be in St. Thomas.
NASCAR: NASCAR has released its schedules but sadly there are none of the rumoured Canadian races included. 2025 maybe? On the positive ledger it’s great to see that all the seats and camping spots have been sold for the Daytona 500 in February.
I remember taking our first motorhome to Daytona in 1972 and there were about thirty of us backed up against the ditch running beside Volusia Ave. in front of the speedway. Wow, has that number increased!!
Work has started on reducing California Speedway at Fontana down to a much smaller 1/2-mile facility. Linda, the dogs and I were on a three-month tour around the US in 1996 and stopped at Fontana.
We ran into the Coach, Les Richter, who let us drive in and take a tour of the under construction track. He told me we had fifteen minutes, and he was going to lock us in!! I was impressed with the concrete silo which became part of the new track if memory serves. Richter had allowed Linda and I to take a run around the closing Riverside Speedway in 1988 when we had been at the Superbowl in San Diego.
On that same trip in 1996 we drove onto the grounds of the under-construction Texas Motor Speedway at Fort Worth. There we learned that the State of Texas was building a new interchange, widening I-35W to three lanes both ways along with widening the Northwest Parkway Extension at the state’s expense to accommodate the new track.
Meanwhile Alex Pinsonneault had wanted to build a stock track near Comber to replace the shuttered Checker Flag Speedway in Windsor. The Province of Ontario, in their infinite wisdom, told Alex that he must, at his expense, rebuild the Highway 401/77 interchange to handle the ‘anticipated crowds’!! The cost, in the millions, was a deal breaker. Instead, Alex purchased the US 131 Motorsport Park in Martin, Michigan, a track that he still owns today.
There is more great news for NASCAR as they have signed a seven year, 7.5 BILLION dollar extension of their TV coverage with NBC and Fox and have added Amazon’s Prime Video as well as TNT Sports. The deal runs 2025 to 2031.
NASCAR could kill two birds with one stone if they were able to purchase the dormant Jukasa Motor Speedway, in Cayuga.. This gorgeous facility could bring a race (or RACES) to Canada and, as well, it would fit with their ‘shorter track’ vision. Very close to the American border. Hope springs eternal!!
NASCAR CUP: No real changes from 2023. Things start in LA on Sunday, February 4 for the ‘Clash at the Coliseum’ a cool ‘thinking outside the box’ race that offers money but no points. The series ends November 10 for Championship Weekend in the desert at Phoenix.
NASCAR XFINITY: The series opens at Daytona on Saturday, February 17 and ends at Phoenix on Saturday, November 9.
NASCAR TRUCKS: The trucks open at Daytona on Friday, February 16 and end at Phoenix on Friday, November 8.
FORMULA ONE: Their schedule shows thing starting out March 2 in Bahrain and ending December 8 at Abu Dhabi. They will return to China on April 21 after cancelling this year over COVID concerns. North American highlights include Miami May 5, Montreal June 9, COTA October 20, Mexico City October 27, and Las Vegas November 23.
INDYCAR has released its schedule, as well, although it doesn’t say 2024 on their website. The eye-opener there is the ‘made for TV’ One Million Dollar Challenge at The Thermal Club in California on March 24.
The series schedule starts March 10 in St. Petersburg, Florida and ends September 15 in Nashville, Tennessee. And there are two races on the legendary Milwaukee Mile on Labour Day weekend. I remember how that track was always the week after the Indy 500.
IMSA has also released their schedule although it is hard to find on their site. The really good news for the series is that they have 60, count ‘em, 60 entries for the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. There are 10 P cars, 12 P2 cars, 13 PRO cars and 25, yup 25, GTD entries. And a bunch of IndyCar, NASCAR and WEC drivers dropping in for a shot at getting a Rolex watch! Their season starts January 21 with the Roar before the 24 and ends at Road Atlanta on October 12.
NHRA: No real surprises with their schedule other than the previously announced dropping of the Denver race. June 30 at Norwalk should be another ‘barn-burner’ for local fans to attend!!
NASCAR CANADA SERIES: They had an early release of their schedule this year and there are a couple of surprises. They start May 19 at Mosport (CTMP) and finish, not at Delaware but at Montmagny, QC. When one considers the bad weather they have faced over the past few years for their Fall Brawl at Delaware the change does make some sense.
And the fact that the majority of the drivers come from La Belle Province it is somewhat understandable to finish there. The irony is that most of the car owners are in the London area. The series has picked up another sponsor, Evirum, a big player in environmental services, to join up with Pinty’s. GOOD news!
APC SERIES: They have not yet released their final schedule as they are still working with the tracks and traveling series.
ONTARIO SPORTSMAN SERIES: They have released their schedule and they are running ten events again this year starting at Delaware Speedway on May 17 and ending at Sunset Speedway on September 20. A good starter series for young drivers plus a place for older racers to continue having fun without the huge expenses of the two top series!! LOL
SUPERSTAR RACING EXPERIENCE (SRX): Well THIS is interesting!! Four races announced – Stafford Springs, Thunder Road, Slinger and Berlin, ALL asphalt, paved tracks. BUT two open dates, apparently for DIRT tracks? Could Ohsweken be one of them? After all Glenn Styres and Tony Stewart (and Ken Schrader!!) have a great history!! Here’s hoping. They couldn’t pick a finer facility.
DELAWARE SPEEDWAY have not yet released their final schedule yet due to APC scheduling.
FLAMBORO SPEEDWAY ‘2024 Schedule’ appears on their homepage but no link to open that I could find.
OHSWEKEN SPEEDWAY have not yet released their final schedule yet. SRX announcement to come??? Glenn Styres indicates that ‘Ya’ it’s done!! LOL
SOUTHERN ONTARIO MOTOR SPEEDWAY (Buxton) have not released their final schedule yet.
GRAND BEND SPEEDWAY have released their tentative 2024 schedule with things starting Saturday, June 1 and ending Saturday, August 31.
GRAND BEND DRAGWAY both Grand Bend and St. Thomas schedules issued on a side-by-side format. GREAT idea making it easier to decide which track to attend on a specific date.
ST. THOMAS DRAGWAY see GBM above.
TORONTO MOTORSPORT PARK have not yet released their final schedule yet.
SHANNONVILLE DRAGS they open May 4/5 weekend and run until the October 12/13 weekend. Six weekends currently scheduled.
The annual Performance Racing Industry tradeshow is currently underway in Indianapolis. Many members of the Canadian racing community are there.
Any comments can be sent to Dave Mathers via email at motionman@rogers.com or by Facebook Messenger.
