Visiting American tours and late-season NASCAR and FEL Motorsports races headline a busy weekend at CTMP, the CSBK Superbike champions will be crowned, the Ontario short track schedule includes a pair of doubleheaders, and Treyten Lapcevich looks to continue momentum in CARS; here’s what you need to know for this weekend in racing.
CTMP Labour Day Weekend Sprints
The Labour Day Weekend Sprints at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) will include the return of an American road racing series, a late-season race for Canada’s top stock car series and champions crowned in a Canadian sports car tour.
The NASCAR Canada Series will make its second stop of the season at CTMP, where Marc-Antoine Camirand enters the third-to-last race of the year with a 23-point lead over Andrew Ranger. Camirand has three wins and seven podiums in the last eight CTMP races, including a victory in the 2024 opener, while Ranger has just one top-seven finish in the last eight CTMP events. Ranger is a past winner at the track and will look to make up important ground in the championship chase. Kevin Lacroix has seven wins at CTMP and enters 33 points behind Camirand. The WeatherTech 200 is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
Trans Am presented by Pirelli will return to CTMP for the first time since 2014, when track co-owner and Canadian Motorsport Hall of Famer Ron Fellows recorded the victory. The American road racing series features 26 cars on the entry list, across four classes, including notable names like NASCAR Cup Series race winner Paul Menard and NASCAR driver Hailie Deegan. Canadians Leroy Micallef and Aaron Pettipas, who have competed in CASC-OR events, are also entered. The Trans Am race is scheduled for Saturday at 2:15 p.m.
The FEL Sports Car Championship Canada presented by Michelin will see its champions crowned, with the final two races of the season this weekend. In GT4, Jack Polito enters having already clinched his second straight title, but looks to continue a streak of 10 straight class wins at CTMP. In TCR, Richard Boake leads by 24 points over Anthony Martella; Eric Kunz enters with a commanding lead in the TCA standings. New for this year is a CTMP Cup, which will see drivers with the most points in the four CTMP races crowned as champions.
The FEL Emzone Radical Cup Canada presented by Michelin will also contest two races at CTMP; while there’s still another event on the 2024 schedule, the series will see CTMP Cup champs crowned as well. Kenny Riedmann swept a trio of races on the streets of Toronto to overcome his early season deficit and take a seven-point lead in the standings over Owen Clarke.
FR Americas will visit CTMP for the first time this weekend, with three races on the schedule. Two Canadians who won open-wheel championships in 2023 will race cars in their home country for the first time. Patrick Woods-Toth is no stranger to the facility’s kart circuit and will have a chance to clinch the FR Americas championship on home soil. Nicole Havrda has three podiums so far this season and enters seventh in the standings. Canadian James Lawley is also entered in the races.
The F4 U.S. Championship and Nissan Sentra Cup will round out the CTMP schedule this weekend, with three F4 races and two Sentra Cup events on the agenda.
Canadian Series News & Notes
There will be no shortage of Canadian series to watch for this weekend:
- The Ontario Outlaw Super Late Models will race at Sunset Speedway on Saturday night. American driver Kyle Crump stole the show in a one-off appearance, winning the Gold Rush 124 at Flamboro Speedway earlier this month, followed by Blake Childers and series regular J.R. Fitzpatrick. The series’ most recent event, at Delaware Speedway, was rained out. Fitzpatrick and Shawn Chenoweth lead the series with two wins each, through five races.
- The Ontario Sportsman Series will visit Sauble Speedway on Saturday night. The series fell victim to some rogue weather last weekend, with their race at Flamboro Speedway rained out; the track was the only place in southern Ontario that didn’t see a touring series rained out the previous weekend and was able to complete part of their program last Saturday. Defending champion Cory McAllister and substitute driver Connor James combined to win four of seven races so far this season in the No. 71; McAllister enters the penultimate race with an 89-point lead over Brendan Patrick.
TJ Marshall recorded his fourth win of the CVM season on the most recent race day. CREDIT: Peter Anderson - The Canadian Vintage Modifieds will compete at Flamboro Speedway on Saturday night. TJ Marshall and Rodney Rutherford recorded victories in the most recent event, two weeks ago. Ricky Willigar leads the standings by 15 points over Rutherford and 18 points over Marshall.
- The Great Lakes Legends Series will contest two features at Full Throttle Motor Speedway, with one race each on Saturday and Sunday. Jordan Latimer won the most recent event, two weeks ago at Flamboro Speedway. Austin Arnel leads the standings over Zach Hatch and Lonnie Scott.
- The Ontario Modifieds Racing Series will race at Peterborough Speedway on Saturday night. Rick Warnes scored the victory in the most recent race, making it two wins in the last three events. Defending champion John Baker Jr. leads the standings by 23 points over Tyler Bouillon and 45 markers over Rob Warnes.
Rick Warnes continued his recent hot streak with an OMRS win at Peterborough. CREDIT: Melissa Smits/OneNine Marketing - The Outlaw Midgets will visit Sauble Speedway, with one race each on Saturday and Sunday. Mike Homewood claimed the victory last weekend at Peterborough Speedway. Jason Metcalfe leads the standings by 83 points over Russ Couture and 91 markers over Kevin Spiesz.
- The Canadian Superbike Championship will conclude its season this weekend at Shannonville Motorsport Park. Two-time defending champion Ben Young enters with a 50-point lead over Samuel Guérin in the Pro Superbike standings. Sebastien Tremblay (Pro Sport Bike), Goran Radisic (Amateur Superbike), Serge Boyer (Amateur Sport Bike), Dallas Reynolds (Pro-Am Twins Pro), Vincent Wilson (Pro-Am Twins Amateur), Mack Weil (Ninja ZX-4RR Cup Pro), Jean-Pascal Schroeder (Ninja ZX-4RR Cup Amateur), Gary McKinnon (Pro-Am Lightweight Pro), and Ryan Beattie (Pro-Am Lightweight Amateur) also hold points leads entering the finale.
- The Hot Rod Classics will compete at Speedway 660 on Sunday. Stacey Clements visited victory lane last week at River Glade Speedway, during the historic track’s revival weekend. Clements became the first repeat winner of the season through six events.
- The Maritime League of Legends will visit Speedway 660, with one race each on Saturday and Sunday. Ayden Christensen took the win in the most recent event, two weeks ago at Riverside International Speedway.
- In Canadian racing news, the countdown to Targa Newfoundland continues. The renowned tarmac rally will run from September 12-19. For more information about the event, click here.
International Series News & Notes
There will also be some international series to watch this weekend:
- The NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series will race at Darlington Raceway, with Xfinity on Saturday afternoon and Cup on Sunday night. Following Harrison Burton’s surprise win at Daytona, there are three spots remaining in the 16-driver playoffs. Martin Truex Jr. enters the regular season finale with a comfortable 58-point margin above the cutline; Ty Gibbs (+39) and Chris Buescher (+21) are also in playoff positions. Bubba Wallace (-21) and Ross Chastain (-27) enter just below the cutline, while several other drivers hope to win their way in.
- The IndyCar Series will compete at Milwaukee Mile, with one race each on Saturday and Sunday. Will Power recorded the win at Portland last weekend to keep his championship hopes alive entering the third- and second-to-last races of the season. Defending champion Alex Palou leads the standings by 54 points over Power, with Colton Herta an additional 13 points behind.
Will Power enters IndyCar’s Milwaukee doubleheader second in points. CREDIT: Penske Entertainment/Joe Skibinski - Formula One will be in action for the second week in a row, visiting Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Sunday. Lando Norris claimed the victory in Netherlands last weekend to cut into the points lead of three-time defending champion Max Verstappen; Verstappen holds a 70-point advantage over Norris. Canadian Lance Stroll sits tenth in the standings; he has one podium and four top-ten finishes in seven prior races at Monza.
- The CARS Super Late Model Tour will race at Florence Motor Speedway, in Timmonsville, SC, on Friday night. Canadian Treyten Lapcevich finished runner-up last weekend at Wake County Speedway. Lapcevich currently sits sixth in the standings, despite a penalty that stripped away points from his win at North Wilkesboro, and has a series-leading 11 top-ten finishes.
- The Super DIRTcar Series will visit two tracks in the coming week, competing at Lebanon Valley Speedway on Saturday and Brockville Ontario Speedway next Thursday, which will be the start of three consecutive nights of racing. Canadian Mat Williamson scored the victory in the last event, at Ransomville Speedway, but was slightly out-pointed by runner-up finisher Matt Sheppard. Sheppard leads the standings by 34 points over Williamson.
