It appears that the IROC concept series is continuing. After a good run at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion last month, the next race will be at the new Ten Tenths Motor Club, which is just west of Charlotte Motor Speedway. I think we camped in our motorhome on that spot about 35 years ago. Ray Evernham has announced the first three drivers for next April’s race, and they are Ken Schrader, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.
Back in 1994 I had four tickets for the IROC press conference (courtesy of good friend Clare Dear) at the Indigo Resort across from Daytona Speedway. As our daughter was coming down to join us, she brought Deanna Kennington, D.J.’s sister, with her. Going down the buffet line, the guy across from ‘DeeDee’ asked her to scoop him some of the salad on her side. She did, they looked up, and realized it was Dale Earnhardt, Sr. He then walked by and asked her if the pie she had was any good. She was speechless.
But wait, there’s more. We all went down to the new Harley-Davidson store, and a clerk came over and asked Deanna if she would do a favour. “There’s a guy in the other room buying his wife a leather coat, and he thinks you’re the same size as his wife. Would you model it for him?” We went over and it was Rusty Wallace. I asked him what he had screwed up and he laughed, saying it was for her birthday. That was the same IROC event where Benny Parsons rolled up in a Viper with Ernie Irvan in the passenger seat (I was out front smoking a cigar!!). I asked him why he didn’t let Ernie drive. He very animatedly said he had let Ernie drive from the hotel to the track, and he had been going 80 mph coming through the tunnel. So no way he was driving over here!! Fun times!!
DELAWARE SPEEDWAY: Friday, September 19 is Championship Night at Delaware Speedway! The Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo presented by eBay Motors is the sponsor of the night. Be sure to visit the Motorama Truck on the hill. Click HERE for tickets and info about this event.
While at the NASCAR Canada Series races at Delaware Speedway on Saturday, NASCAR Canada Managing Director Doug Gonder told me that it took him two hours to clear customs at Port Huron earlier. Even after showing all his credentials and opening his laptop, they were still ‘skeptical’ that he was actually a NASCAR employee… but eventually allowed him to proceed. Here is a Canadian resident, the employee of a highly recognizable American corporation, getting a hard time. What is the world coming to?
And even more from the weekend. Despite the speculation about its demise, is it possible that Sunset Speedway may indeed run again next year? Hall of Fame racer Mark Dilley’s name popped up from a couple of sources. Hope springs eternal!!
CANADIAN AUTOMOBILE SPORT CLUBS: This weekend, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park hosts the next-to-last event of the CASC-OR road racing season, the 2025 BEMC Late Summer Trophy Races. Click HERE for more info.
NASCAR Cup – AJ Allmendinger (Chev) was the surprise winner of the pole for Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway over Ryan Blaney and Austin Cindric (both in Fords). Thirty-nine cars: 16 Chevs, 13 Fords and 10 Toyotas.
On lap 75 Josh Berry’s car caught fire and hit pit road. Lots of smoke and fire. Yellow for pit road cleanup. At lap 100 Alex Bowman spun down off track after contact with Riley Herbst. Yellow. Blaney won Stage 1.
On lap 147 Ricky Stenhouse, Michael McDowell and Erik Jones spun after Stenhouse got tagged by Herbst (strike two??—nah, we don’t do black flags!! LOL). Yellow. On lap 237 Shane van Gisbergen spun in 3 for another yellow. Ty Gibbs won Stage 2.
On lap 269 Ty Dillon spun SVG for yet another yellow. On lap 281 another yellow after Ty Dillon spun Cole Custer. On lap 294 Todd Gilliland got together with Noah Gragson, who spun. Yellow. On lap 311 John Hunter Nemechek nailed Chase Elliott, sending him into the wall hard. Caution.
On lap 354 Bubba Wallace took out Stenhouse in 1. Yellow. On lap 364 Kyle Larson reportedly broke a toe link after contact with Daniel Suárez and hit the inside wall exiting 2. On lap 383 Allmendinger and Denny Hamlin got together in 3, both cars hit the wall and Hamlin lost his right front wheel. He was penalized two laps for losing the wheel. I haven’t seen that penalty before.
With just 13 laps to go, Custer slowed on track and got hit by Keselowski. This pushed Custer up into Bubba Wallace, who hit the wall. I counted 12 cautions!!!
At the flag it was Christopher Bell ahead of Keselowski and Zane Smith. Hamlin still leads the points, but by only two over both William Byron and Kyle Larson after the reset to the round of twelve.
Next race – Loudon, Sunday at 2 p.m. on TSN 5.
NASCAR Xfinity Series – In qualifying for Friday’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, it was Justin Allgaier (Chev) on the pole over Sam Mayer (Ford) and Aric Almirola (Toyota).
The first caution came out on lap 11 when Leland Honeyman, Kyle Sieg and Ryan Ellis got together on corner 4 exit. The second yellow came out on lap 77 when Corey Day got loose on corner exit and got hit by Stefan Parsons. Allgaier won Stage 1. Corey Heim won the caution-free second stage.
On lap 211 Daniel Dye had a solo spin in corner 2. Yellow. On lap 262 Carson Ware had a solo spin in 1. Caution. With 25 to go several cars got together on the front stretch including Taylor Gray, who spun, with Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton and Sheldon Creed caught up in the mess. Yellow.
At the flag it was Aric Almirola over Creed and Mayer. Connor Zilisch, who finished 5th, continues to lead the points by 32 over Allgaier and by 50 over Mayer.
Next race – Kansas, Saturday, September 27.
BONFIELD EVENT PARK: This weekend at the Bonfield Event Park, the venue plays host to the Fall Classic Drag Car Event (Sept. 19 – 21) has a purse of over $15,000 on the line! On Friday night, the Jesse Thomas Band will take to the stage. And on Saturday at 8 p.m. the band Full Tilt Nova will perform. Click HERE for more info.
NASCAR Craftsman Trucks – Jake Garcia (Ford) qualified on the pole with points leader Corey Heim (Toyota) second and Tyler Ankrum (Chev) third. Kaden Honeycutt, filling in for the injured Canadian Stewart Friesen, started fourth. Canadians Cole Butcher and Treyten Lapcevich started 21st and 28th. Thirty-six trucks: 18 Chevs, 9 Fords, 9 Toyotas, and no Rams for Thursday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
On the end of the first lap, Layne Riggs tried to get under Corey Day and spun down off track. Yellow. Garcia won Stage 1. On lap 91 Tyler Ankrum got spun by Honeycutt and went smoking up and almost into the wall. Yellow. Points leader Heim won Stage 2.
Stage 3 went caution-free, with “spin and win” Riggs getting the victory over Ben Rhodes and Heim. Honeycutt finished 12th, Butcher 23rd and Lapcevich 32nd. Heim leads Riggs by 61 and Daniel Hemric by 82.
Next race – Loudon, Saturday at noon on CTV Speed.
Formula One – Next race – Baku, Sunday at 6:55 a.m. on TSN 5.
IMSA – Next race – Indianapolis, Sunday at 3 on NBC and REV TV. Pick NBC, as their announcers do NOT require Closed Captioning!!!!
BROCKVILLE ONTARIO SPEEDWAY: The BOS hosts its year-ending Fall Nationals on October 17 & 18. Super DIRTcar Big Blocks, 358 Modifieds, Sportsman, Crate Sprints, Mini Stocks, Street Stocks and Vintage classes will be in action. Click HERE for tickets and info.
NHRA – The circuit stopped at the legendary track at Maple Grove on the weekend.
Top Fuel – Clay Millican topped the 15 cars with a 3.704 at 336.32. Canadian Dan Mercier qualified 9th. In the second round Doug Kalitta won, then crossed the line and hit Tony Stewart. Both drivers are okay. It looked to me like the left front wheel broke on Doug’s car. In a really ‘feel good’ final, it was Shawn Reed over Doug Kalitta running a 3.844 at 326.63. Four ‘upsets’ (lower qualified car wins) and six ‘smokers’ (one or both cars lose traction).
Funny Car – Canadian superstar Spencer Hyde topped the 18 entries with a 3.868 at 330.07. It was really good to see Cruz Pedregon back in the winner’s circle, beating Blake Alexander with a 3.969 at 330.63. Six upsets and ten smokers.
Pro Stock – Dallas Glenn ran 6.502 at 210.50 to lead the 17 entries. Canadians Eric Latino and Matt Latino qualified 10th and 12th. Glenn beat Cody Coughlin in the final with a 6.557 at 209.23. Three upsets and three smokers.
Pro Stock Bike – In no surprise, Gaige Herrera set fast time with a 6.745 at 200.20. John Hall won the final over Matt Smith with a 6.802 at 199.70. Three upsets.
Factory Stock – Taylor Dietsch put down a 7.673 at 179.06 to top the 17 entries. Dietsch won the final over Scott Libersher with a 7.727 at 178.35. Four upsets and one smoker.
Factory X – Conner Statler ran 6.885 at 200.00 to lead the five entries. Lenny Lottig took the win over Jesse Alexandra with a 6.963 at 196.47. Two upsets.
Mountain Motor – Brian Waddle topped the eight entries with a 6.248 at 225.60. In the final Johnny Pluchino ran a 6.331 at 221.89 to beat Waddle. Two upsets.
Next race – Charlotte, this weekend – on Fox Sports Racing, Sunday at 8:30 p.m.
NASCAR Canada Series – Just 14 cars showed up to run the twin 125 lappers, but they put on a great show for the fans at Delaware Speedway in London.
D.J. Kennington topped qualifying with an 18.971. Donald Theetge ran an 18.995 for second, the only two cars in the 18s.
In the first race, on lap 4 Theetge hit Kennington and spun out, going to the back. On lap 19 Larry Jackson’s car started smoking and he retired for the night. At the halfway mark it was Kennington over Kevin Lacroix and Marc-Antoine Camirand. On lap 110 Theetge, coming all the way from the back, passed Kennington and got the win. Lacroix was third.
The second 125 was lined up based on quickest lap in the first race. On the very first lap teammates tangled as Andrew Ranger took out Camirand. And the crowd went wild!! On lap 4 L.P. Dumoulin pitted with a flat right front tire. He pitted again on lap 10 with the same problem. At the halfway mark it was Theetge over Kennington and Lacroix.
At the flag it was Theetge for the sweep over Kennington and Lacroix. Among those smiling in Victory Lane with Theetge was five-time CASCAR Super Series National champion Don Thomson! Two local drivers made appearances. Connor Pritiko finished a stout fifth in the first race and sixth in the second. Johnny Aarts finished 13th in the first race and 10th in the second. Both the weather and the racing were perfect.
Next race – Montmagny, Sunday at 6 p.m. on REV TV.
APC Series – Next race – Delaware, Saturday, September 27.
Ontario Sportsman Series – Next race – Sunset, Friday.
Delaware Speedway – On Friday night the Bone Stocks qualified via time trials for their 40-lap feature. Brad Marchand was tops in Q1, Sterling Roberts was quickest in Q2, Kassy Howard topped Q3, David Rockwood in Q4 and Donavin Clark was quickest in Q5 and fastest overall.
Jordan Morris won the first B-Main, while Nathan Rhea won the second B-Main. In the main, Michael Verberne took the win over Charlie Verhoeven and Matt Langford.
Dale Reinhart won the Mod heat, then came back and won the main over Marshall Schrenk and Bryan Batty.
In the Super Stocks, Lane Zardo won heat one and Carson Nagy took the heat two win. In the main Pete Vanderwyst, Jr. got the win ahead of Ethan Orr and Darrell Lake.
On Saturday the NASCAR Canada Series (covered above) was joined by the V8 Stocks, who ran a 35-lapper. Kaden Patrick took the win after the last-lap leader broke out (21.10 index), while Jeremy Taggart was second and Doug Stewart third.
Next race – Friday – Championship Night – Late Models, Super Stocks and Delaware Modifieds.
Ohsweken Speedway – Next event – Champions Banquet.
Flamboro Speedway – Next race – Championship Night – Pro Lates, Saturday.
Buxton Speedway – Next race – Championship Night, Saturday.
Sunset Speedway – Next race – OSS, Saturday.
Grand Bend Speedway – Next race – Corn Cob Classic, Friday and Saturday.
Grand Bend Dragway – Next race – 660 Sportsman Nationals, October 3–5.
St. Thomas Dragway – Next race – Mud Bog, this weekend.
Toronto Motorsports Park – Next race – Take it to the Track, this weekend.
660 Sportsman Nationals – Race date – Grand Bend, October 5.
John Scotti NHRA Canadian Championship Series – Next race, Luskville, this weekend.
Shannonville Drags – Next race – Season Wrap-up, September 20–21.
Any comments can be sent to Dave Mathers via email at motionman@rogers.com or by Facebook Messenger.
