A Look Back And A Look Forward

London, Ontario (November 1, 2008) -

Despite rain getting in the way of a lot of events this year, it was an interesting and fun season for open wheel fans in Ontario in 2008. The best month of the season for weather may have been October, when sunny days tormented race fans in the province as most tracks finished their seasons early in the month or had already closed at the end of September. The strange weather continues in the first week of November, as forecasted highs are reaching into the upper teens, even after we got our first snow of the winter last week. Flamboro Speedway's "Frost Fest" today and tomorrow suddenly isn't looking to be very "frosty".

Rick Wilson bookended the 2008 open wheel season in Ontario by taking the SOS opener at Brighton on May 10, and claiming victory in the inaugural SOS/ESS Can-Am Challenge on October 18. In between though, The Joyceville Jet didn't win another feature, finishing the year with his lowest single-season win total since his sophomore season in 2000, when he won just once. Still competitive wherever he goes though, the proprietor of the Riverside Bar and Grill in Gananoque recorded 11 "top 5's" and 15 "top 10's" in 19 starts this season. The 2 wins came in 2 different cars, as Wilson and Jared Fink were involved in a spectacular crash on the Friday of Canadian Sprint Car Nationals weekend, which prompted Wilson to purchase a former Jack Pillon chassis that evening. The team built basically a complete car overnight, making a successful return on Saturday night by making the A-Main and finishing 15th.

Steve Poirier narrowly missed taking over the top spot on my Ontario open wheel feature winner's list at Brockville by coming home 2nd to Wilson, and keeping him in a tie at the top of the heap with Glenn Styres. Both drivers claimed 5 feature wins in the province this year, but while Styres did not win any outside of the province, Poirier had 6 more for a total of 11 in what was a truly amazing season for the Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloiel, Quebec driver. Poirier competed in 29 events this season according to http://www.openwheeltimes.com/, winning 11, along with 21 "Top 5's" and 26 "Top 10's". Large paydays eluded the team this year, however as Poirier failed in his bid for a Three-Peat at the Canadian Nationals, and had trouble in the $3,000-to-win Sprint Car Challenge at the Rolling Wheels Raceway on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

Canadian teams and drivers were busy during their Thanksgiving weekend, as many were part of a great field of 76 cars at Rolling Wheels, while Adam West and Warren Mahoney went to Eldora for the first ever "Sprintacular" event presented by the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) featuring the NRA 360's, with the 305 sprints as a support class. Neither driver was successful in cracking the tough A-Main lineup, which included only 20 cars out of a field of 37, topped by feature winner Greg Wilson. The top 5, in fact, was swept by drivers who competed in mostly 410 events this season, as Brock Mayes, Mike Brecht, Butch Schroeder, and Mike Dussell rounded out those spots. At Rolling Wheels, the best finisher from Southern Ontario was Dave Dykstra in 18th. Dykstra, of Port Colborne, was impressive in his rookie season at the controls of a sprinter, and should knock on the door for feature wins in 2009.

For Ohsweken Speedway, the move to weekly sprint car racing was a successful one as the new Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprints division drew an average of 25.1 cars per race, with 5 different winners in the 7 features that weren't affected by weather. Major dates for the Speedway were announced on Thursday, which will include the World of Outlaws Late Models, World of Outlaws Sprints, 2nd Annual Summer Nationals changing to a one-day format next year, and 5th Annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals. The first Friday Night Thunder event of the season is slated for May 15, and will once again include the Corr/Pak Sprints, Thunder Stocks, Mini-Stocks, and Bombers (formerly Fun Stocks).

It remains to be seen who will be a regular at the Speedway in 2009 as a couple of weekly visitors in 2008 are rumoured to be moving on: Rob Pietz is likely returning to the 358 Modified class, while Brad Malloy may be retiring from racing, unfortuately. Malloy would like to continue, but needs additional funding to keep his program going properly. A departure by Malloy would be especially unfortunate because he was just starting to show what he and the #5m are capable of, including his first sprint car feature win on August 22, and a spectacular heat race victory on Saturday night of the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals.

A couple of new sprint car competitors from the Eastern side of the province made their debuts in the Brockville event on October 18, including Brockville modified regulars Paul Pekkonen and Tyler Rand, and another Quebec invader in the form of Sylvain Ericksen. Pekkonen recently purchased Brian Lee's #8, perhaps most well known for a scary trip into the creek at Brighton a few years ago, while Rand was in a former Kevin Job mount, and Ericksen was behind the wheel of the Normand Beaudreault #50. Rand had a shaky start, but is sure to improve, while Pekkonen and Ericksen both finished the feature and did not look out of place.

More Eastern competitors are sure to spring up as news leaked out this week that a new 305 Sprint Car club will be taking to the Speedways of Quebec and Eastern Ontario next season. An announcement is forthcoming on November 16, at which time a schedule of approximately 14 races, with another 4-5 possible, along with information about a title sponsor for the group. Jake Langlois is the man behind this idea, and he can be reached at 418-667-8621 or jake_langlois@hotmail.com if you are looking for more information.

Rumours had previously surfaced over the last year or two with regard to a possible 360 group starting up in the same area, but in my mind this 305 group is a better idea, as they will be using the "RaceSaver" rules originally created by Virginia's French Grimes, and should become a feeder group for what has already become a solid hotbed for sprint car racers over the past few years, without taking away from the Empire Super Sprints the way a full fledged 360 club would have. I'm not really up on my RaceSaver knowledge, but apparently a competitive engine can be had for under $6,000, and the rules are designed in such a way that those who want to spend cubic dollars don't seem to benefit much, if at all.

There is still a bit of short track racing left to watch on tv now that our local Speedways are all closed for the season, including one live event, as the World of Outlaws World Finals from the Dirt Track at Lowe's in Charlotte is live on Speed Channel for the second year in a row...Below is a list of short track races left to watch on tv this year. All of the broadcasts are on Speed Channel unless otherwise noted.

Super DIRT Week Rite Aid 200 Big Block Modifieds, Syracuse, NY - 4:00 p.m. Saturday, November 1

World of Outlaws, Hartford, OH - 6:00 p.m. Saturday, November 1

World of Outlaws, Rossburg, OH - 7:00 p.m. Saturday, November 1

World of Outlaws World Finals, Charlotte, NC - 8:00 p.m. Saturday, November 1

World of Outlaws World Finals (replay), Charlotte, NC - 1:00 a.m. Sunday, November 2

World of Outlaws Late Models World Finals (replay), Charlotte, NC - 9:00 p.m. Saturday, November 8

If you all are interested in NASCAR or Formula 1 stuff on tv, you can find that on your own, however I will make mention of the NHRA broadcasts coming up on TSN, November 7th @ 1:00p.m. and November 20th @ 12:30p.m.

Keep an eye out for a couple of familiar looking cars in the Sprint portion of the WoO broadcasts, as Glenn Styres and Wayne Johnson are on hand in Charlotte this weekend, with Styres sporting the colours of the Rochester Americans, a team now owned by Glenn's brother Curt, while Johnson is at the wheel of the Myles Hill #77x Iroquios Poker ride which was driven to 4 feature wins this season by Ryan Hunsinger with a 360 engine under the hood.

Styres is still adjusting to the increased power of the 410 and did not make it out of the C-Main last night, while Johnson was 6th fastest in Thursday's time trial round 1, but had trouble in his heat last night. Johnson, this year's Canadian Sprint Car Nationals winner in a Styres backup ride, rebounded to win the B-Main and claim a 10th place finish in last night's feature. Johnson will have a bit of work to do tonight after his time trial lap in the 2nd session on Thursday was only 21st quickest, but I'm looking for him to be in the top ten again by the time tonight's feature is over.

On a related note, Styres tested his 410 engine at Ohsweken last week (the conveniences of having a dirt track in your front yard), and ran an unofficial best lap of 12.560 seconds, almost .4 under the existing 410 track record run in 2007 by Danny Lasoski during the inaugural World of Outlaws visit to the Speedway. Styres lap is good for an average of over 107 mph on the 3/8's mile track, and makes me wonder what is truly possible at the Speedway - under the right circumstances, could we see 12.0 or 11.9?

Race season might be over around here, but I'll still be busy for the next few weeks with the Southern Ontario Sprints annual meeting and Awards Banquet on November 8th in Niagara Falls, and the Ohsweken Speedway awards banquet on November 15th in Ancaster, while a possible trip to Toledo on December 19th and 20th for the first Rumble in Toledo indoor USAC Midget event at the Seagate Center could be in the cards as well. As usual, you can drop me a line by sending a message to tommygoudge@hotmail.com. See you at the races...