In this week’s Motion Motorsport Report for InsideTrackNews.com, Dave Mathers reports from the busy Great Canadian Race Weekend at Delaware Speedway. He also wraps up and comments on the major local and international racing events from the weekend, including NASCAR, the NHRA and more.
After Denny Hamlin punted teammate Ty Gibbs out of the way at Loudon, team owner Joe Gibbs stated that “Those guys are the ones driving the cars, so … those guys will get together on their own and figure it out.” Very wise advice.
Is NASCAR considering ending their playoff program? Apparently, there is a ‘little’ dissension in the ranks. I personally like the system as it takes the excitement to the very last race to establish a champion. Stay tuned!
Ford Authority is reporting that Ford is going to operate their Hypercar program in-house. The car(s) are scheduled to join the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2027, where the Mustang GT3s are already running. I’ll bet the ‘bean counters’ will be going apoplectic when the bills start rolling in!
DELAWARE SPEEDWAY: On Saturday, October 4, Delaware Speedway wraps up its 2025 oval racing season with the 13th Annual Pumpkin Smasher! The event features
Spectator gates open at 1 p.m. with the Autograph Session / Trick or Treating session starting at 2 p.m. The 10-lap heat races take the green flag at 2:40 and will be followed by a 15-lap B Main for the Liftow / Toyota Material Handling Bone Stocks, if needed.
Following a brief intermission, the Bone Stock Championship Race (35 laps) will take place. It will be followed by the 35-lap Pumpkin Smasher!
Click HERE for additional Pumpkin Smasher info.
I had an interesting conversation with the always-smiling Jim Nagy before the races Friday night at Delaware. I asked him if there had been any conflict between his two boys racing together in the Super Stock class. He laughed and said not yet, but he had experienced conflict with his brother Alex. Jim had ‘moved’ Alex to win a $5,000-to-win Legends race, and Alex didn’t talk to him for five years. Funny.
While following Delaware on Race Monitor Saturday night, I clicked on Martinsville Speedway only to see that they were race delayed for SNOW!!
Once again, the DaSilva Shootout at St. Thomas Dragway was a huge success on the weekend. Tons of bad, fast cars, wheelstanders, a jet truck, the ONDR Nostalgia cars and lots of bracket cars contributed to a full house with fans lining the fences and filling the stands.
Here are some images from the event, by Dwayne Young of CMSports. Click on one to view them as a slideshow.
CASC-OR: The final CASC-OR race of the year – The Celebration of Motorsport – takes place October 4-5 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Click HERE for a full event schedule for the event and HERE to visit the CASC-OR Road Racing page.
NASCAR Cup Series – Chase Briscoe won the pole at Kansas Speedway Sunday ahead of Denny Hamlin (both in Toyotas) and Kyle Larson (Chev). Thirty-seven cars: 16 Chevs, 12 Fords and 9 Toyotas.
The first caution came out on lap 56 when (once again?) Cody Ware spanked the wall. Hamlin won Stage 1. The next race yellow came out on lap 91 when John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Preece got together and slid down and off onto the grass. Hamlin also won Stage 2. On lap 211 J.J. Yeley came down in front of Carson Hocevar on corner 4 exit and spun down and across the infield grass but kept going, not stopping. Yellow.
Of course, the old adage that ‘cautions breed cautions’ came true on the restart. About ten cars mid-pack got together and the ‘big one’ was on. The fifth race yellow flew on lap 254 for debris on the track, a full tire tread off the right rear of Kyle Busch’s car. On the restart, Carson Hocevar got bumped by Chris Buescher and spun down off track. Yellow. On the restart, Zane Smith got on his side then upside down twice after contact with Nemechek drove him up on the wall. Josh Berry and Ty Gibbs got caught up in the action. Red flag. NASCAR overtime. At the flag it was Chase Elliott over Hamlin and Christopher Bell.
In the points, Larson leads Hamlin by 6 and Bell by 10.
Next race – Charlotte Roval, Sunday at 3 p.m. on TSN 5.
FLAMBORO SPEEDWAY: This weekend (Saturday, October 4 and Sunday, October 5) is Flamboro Speedway’s Annual Frostoberfest presented by London Recreational Racing and Grisdale Racing Products. Super Late Models, OSCAAR Hot Rods and Modifieds, Legends, Outlaw Midgets, Mini Trucks, Pro Late Models (finale of the Grisdale Triple Crown!), Mini Stocks, Pure Stocks and Super Stocks will all be in action during this busy fall special!
More than $70,000 in cash prize money is on the line, as well as the coveted hand-carved igloo trophies known as the “coolest trophies in racing” for the Pure Stocks, Mini Stocks and Legends!
Visit the Flamboro Speedway website for updates and additional information about this great event! And click HERE for a Frostoberfest poster.
NASCAR Xfinity Series – In qualifying for Saturday’s race at Kansas Speedway, Brandon Jones took the pole over Taylor Gray (both in Toyotas) and Sam Mayer (Ford). Thirty-nine entries with 38 starters: 26 Chevs, 6 Fords and 6 Toyotas. Justin Allgaier won the caution-free Stage 1. On lap 59 Jeb Burton did a slow solo spin in 4 for the first race yellow. Allgaier also won Stage 2. On lap 155 Justin Bonsignore got hit by Nick Sanchez and Justin hit the inside wall in 4 hard. Yellow. At the flag, it was pole sitter Jones with the win over Connor Zilisch and Austin Hill. Seventeen cars finished on the lead lap.
In the points, Zilisch continues to lead by 37 over Allgaier and by 62 on Mayer.
Next race – Charlotte Roval, Saturday at 4 p.m. on USA and CW.
BROCKVILLE ONTARIO SPEEDWAY: Friday, October 17th the Super DIRTcar Big Block Modified main event winner will take home a $ 10,000 payday. Saturday, October 18th DIRTcar Small Block Modified teams will fight for a winner’s cheque worth $ 10,000 in the 100-lap feature tilt.
Some big money is on the line during this year’s edition of the Dirt Outlaw Apparel Fall Nationals at Brockville Ontario Speedway. The sport’s biggest names and brightest stars will be on hand at the popular oval on Temperance Lake Road for the annual season ending spectacular. Click HERE for a full event preview.
NASCAR Craftsman Trucks – Next race – Charlotte Roval, Friday at 3:30 p.m. on CTVSpeed.
Formula One – Next race – Singapore, Sunday at 7:55 a.m. on TSN 5.
IMSA – Next race – Road Atlanta, Sunday, October 11.
NHRA – The series stopped at Madison, Illinois on the weekend.
Top Fuel – Doug Kalitta once again topped the 16 entries in qualifying, running a 3.675 at 335.73. Kalitta topped Ida Zetterstrom in the final with a 3.796 at 327.98. Seven upsets (lower-qualified car wins) and six smokers (one or both cars with traction issues).
Funny Car – Austin Prock was quickest of the 16 floppers, putting down a 3.845 at 337.16. Canadian Spencer Hyde was 8th. Matt Hagan beat Jack Beckman in the final with a 3.979 at 329.34. Four upsets and ten smokers.
Pro Mod – Stevie ‘Fast’ Jackson was quickest of the 21 cars with a 5.708 at 251.86. B.C.’s Justin Bond timed in at 8th. Derek Menholt beat Mike Castellana with a 6.468 at 137.01 as both cars had problems. Six upsets and four smokers.
Pro Stock – Canadian Eric Latino was number one of the 20 entries with a 6.515 at 209.75, and his son Matt qualified 11th. Greg Anderson got back into the winner’s circle, taking out Matt Hartford in the final with a 6.531 at 209.33. Six upsets and three smokers.
Pro Stock Bike – Gaige Herrara topped the 15 entries with a 6.741 at 200.41. Herrara took out Brayden Davis in the final with a 6.791 at 199.61. Three upsets.
Mountain Motor – John DeFlorian, Jr. led the six entries with a 6.269 at 223.65. DeFlorian beat Vincent Nobile in the final with a 6.342 at 221.85. One upset.
Factory Stock – Mark ‘the Cowboy’ Pawuk topped the 19 entries with 7.702 at 179.30. Pawuk lost in the second round by a margin of 0.001 seconds! Ricky Hord, the driver who beat Pawuk, won the final with a 7.767 at 178.17, beating Scott Libersher. Seven upsets and two smokers.
Factory X – Lenny Lottig was quickest of the four entries, running a 6.925 at 196.10. Long-time Mustang stand-out Chris Holbrook ran a 6.946 at 199.26 to top Jesse Alexandra in the final. Two upsets.
Next race – Texas, October 12.
APC Series – The season finals for all four series classes were put on over the weekend. Friday the 29 Super Stocks did group qualifying with Daniel Hawn quickest in Q1, Justin Collison tops in Q2, Shawn Chenoweth fastest in Q3, Ray Morneau quickest in Q4, Lane Zardo tops in Q5 and Connor Pritiko tops in Q6.
The 50-lapper started right off with a yellow on lap 1 when Michael Hyrniuk, Jr. appeared to break a hub in corner 2. At the halfway mark it was Zardo over Dale Shaw and Carson Nagy. After seven cautions Pritiko got the win over Hudson Nagy and Pete Vanderwyst, Jr. However, Pritiko was disqualified in the ‘room of gloom’ for illegal wheels, thus giving the win to Nagy. Zardo was the season champion. Time of the race was 58:04.
On Saturday 27 Late Models also did group qualifying. Chenoweth was tops in Q1, Josh Stade topped Q2, Jo Lawrence in Q3, Jake Sheridan in Q4, D.J. Kennington (driving a car that hadn’t raced since last year’s event) topped Q5, and Kyle Steckly was the best of Q6. The race did not start well for Pritiko, as he had to pit on lap 18 to reattach his window net. The red flag came out early when Carson Nagy’s car had a parts failure on the front stretch right in front of the leaders. Sheridan got his rear end banged up, Kennington and Steckly got really torn up and several others had damage. Red flag.
The ensuing caution had much head-scratching as they initially did not count the caution laps after the red, then started counting them! On lap 88 Junior Farrelly and Lloyd Rawlings spun at start/finish. Starting at lap 112 Steckly began putting on a sparks show from the right front corner that lasted for several laps. I’m not sure what kind of material was getting ground, but it had to be really strong! At halfway it was Shae Gemmell over J.R. Fitzpatrick (both in cars with the number 3) and Sheridan. On lap 189 Brady Smith seemed to have a parts failure and he nailed the corner three wall very hard. On lap 210 Jesse Kennedy got together with Gemmell and spun down into the backstretch wall. Gemmell got penalized???
This truly motivated Gemmell, and he came through the pack like a man possessed. On lap 294 he passed Sheridan cleanly underneath for the win. Fitzpatrick was third ahead of Stade and Dale Shaw, who had the best post-race comment to the announcer – “we shouldn’t have to run 300 laps!” The huge response from the audience seemed to support his point. Time of race – 3 hours and one minute. Really.
Stade is the 2025 APC Late Model Champion.
The Hot Rod class, a real crowd-pleaser, saw Steve Book, in the Bookmobile, win Heat 1, Dalen Martin win Heat 2, as well as the main over Thomas Wunsch and Luke Gignac. 8:26 to run 25 laps. Good job.
The Modifieds had Bryan Batty winning Heat 1, Dale Reinhart winning Heat 2 and the feature over Steve Trendell and Batty. 26:03 to run 30 laps.
Delaware Speedway – Two regular classes, the Bone Stocks and the V/8 Stocks, supported the APC Super Stock show Friday night.
The Bone Stock feature, a 25 lapper, was won by Paul Fothergill over Sterling Roberts and Matt Langford.
The V/8 Stocks had Cody Coburn win Heat 1, Barry Watson win Heat 2 and Doug Stewart in Heat 3. Watson won the feature ahead of Devon Bloemendal and Kaden Patrick. Jordan Morris was the season champion.
King of the Hill was won by Jordan Duvan of Toronto in a Caddy ATS.
Next race – Pumpkin Smasher Bone Stock Championship, Saturday.
Ohsweken Speedway – Next event – November 21, Champions Banquet.
Flamboro Speedway – Next race – Frostoberfest, Saturday and Sunday.
Buxton Speedway – Next race – Hot Dog Night, Sportsman Mods and CDN vs UMP Mods, Saturday.
Grand Bend Motorplex – Next race – 660 Sportsman Nationals, this weekend.
St. Thomas Dragway – Next race – Turkey Nationals, next weekend.
Toronto Motorsports Park – Next race – Take it to the Track, this weekend.
660 Sportsman Nationals – Race date – Grand Bend, this weekend.
Peterborough Speedway – Next race – Autumn Colours Classic – October 9-12.
Any comments can be sent to Dave Mathers via email at motionman@rogers.com or by Facebook Messenger.
