"I Come Bearing Gifts"
We’ll start with the most recent news. It’s now official; Indoor Racing will take place at the London Gardens this winter. The first event will be on the weekend of January 14 & 15, 2005. Tentative dates to complete the 5 race Indoor Championship Racing Series are scheduled for February 18 & 19, March 4 & 5, March 25 & 26, and April 15 & 16. The marquee class will be the TQ Midgets, with many drivers from the Ontario-based Can Am Midget club taking part, as well as possibly other TQ racers from the surrounding US states like New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and even New Jersey. As many as 40 TQ’s could be in attendance at the first event, and, pending a rules decision, 600cc Microsprints could also run in the TQ class, as is the case at the annual Atlantic City Indoor events. Supporting classes such as the Outlaw and Senior Micro Sprint divisions which run at the Ohsweken and Wonderland Speedways, to name two, will also be taking part in the events and are expected to have full fields. The purses have not been finalized yet, but will pay in Canadian funds, and are expected to be similar to those of the series which took place at the Niagara Falls Convention Centre in years past. Spectator admission prices have not yet been announced, but are expected to be quite affordable. Keep an eye on the London Free Press for further details.
Just as exciting as the announcement of the Indoor Series is the news that the Canadian Sprint Car Championship event at Ohsweken Speedway has taken on added significance. Instead of being under the Southern Ontario Sprints sanction and using SOS rules as in years past, the event will now be an unsanctioned 360 sprint car race, with open rules (wing sliders will be allowed and there is no spec tire), and the purse will be significantly increased - $16,500 USD total. Mercer Raceway in Pennsylvania will not be holding the “Great Race” event next season, so there will be no conflict between this race and Mercer, as was the case over the past two seasons. This fact, coupled with the increased purse and open rules, could lead to a huge (by our standards) car count – a conservative prediction suggests there could be between 40-60 potential entrants from Ontario and the surrounding US states in attendance come next September.
Instead of the now traditional Canadian Championships being the SOS season finale, a new season championship race will be run under the SOS sanction and rules and run a bit earlier in September. This change makes a lot of sense in my opinion as we now will get the best of both worlds: A big championship race for the SOS to decide it’s season champion without possible interference from cherry-picking non-tour regulars, and subsequently a big race featuring all the best local racers against the best of the Northeast US touring racers. Over the last couple of years, it was always a fear of mine that some racers who didn’t normally race with the SOS could come in and have an impact on who wins the SOS championship. On the flip side, I believe that the rules regarding the SOS spec tires and disallowed use of hydraulic wing sliders has probably discouraged some non-SOS tour regulars from participating in the Canadian Championship in years past, so I think this new arrangement works out the best for all involved.
Along with the Canadian Championships announcement, I-96 Speedway at Ionia, Michigan recently announced another, even bigger 360 sprint car race that will take place in August at that facility. It will pay a total purse well in excess of 30 grand - $17,050 USD to the top ten finishers alone, including $5,000 to the winner! The Southern Ontario Sprints and Sprints on Dirt organizations have always worked closely together on rules and event scheduling, and this race will be no different - the SOS will not schedule anything in conflict with this event, which will use slightly modified SOD rules, so that many of our top local racers can head down there to run for some big bucks. Before reverting back to its old name this season, I-96 has been known as Ionia Raceway Park during the last few years, and is pretty much the closest World of Outlaws venue to Southern Ontario. Some of you may recall that 2004 Southern Ontario Sprints champ Cody Geldart made his World of Outlaws debut at I-96 in late September.
Last but not least in our pile of presents comes the confirmation of the rumour I printed last month that the ISMA Supermodifieds will be back at Cayuga Speedway next season, however there is one slight difference – we may in fact be seeing not just one, but two ISMA races at Cayuga next season. The tentative schedule lists a two-day, Friday-Saturday event on July 15 and 16, with 50 lap features slated for each night. Kawartha Speedway near Peterborough is still negotiating to hold the Friday event instead, but either way the All-Canadian ISMA weekend is a go. A two day show at Cayuga would probably be the better of the two options as the big, fast 5/8’s mile really lends itself quite well to good racing for the world’s fastest short track racing cars, the camping facilities at the track are quite good, and it would keep both competitors and fans from having to travel through heavy Friday afternoon traffic in the Toronto area. However, Kawartha has been a loyal ISMA track for a few years now and therefore deserves its due.
“Odds n’ Ends”
….The accolades continue to pile up for 16-year-old Mossley, Ontario sprint car racer Cody Geldart. After taking home the 2004 Southern Ontario Sprints championship, being featured in a Toronto Star article, announcing next year’s assault on the full All Star Circuit of Champions schedule and rookie of the year title (and a limited World of Outlaws schedule), and the addition of crew chief Steve Moulton to the team, it was announced on Thursday at the North American Sprint Car Poll awards reception in Indianapolis that Geldart has been voted winner of the National Sprint Car Poll 360 Rookie of the Year Award…..
…..Legendary 1960’s Ontario Supermodified racer “Smiling” Jack Greedy will be inducted into the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame during the annual Induction Gala coming up January 29, 2005, at the Mississauga Convention Centre. Greedy was one of the most well known Ontario race drivers in the 1960’s, and his battles with rival, and fellow Hall of Fame inductee, “The London Leadfoot” Harvey Lennox are legendary. Greedy raced with great success at places like Nilestown, Deleware, and Flamboro, and in fact won all three track championships in the same year once. He also raced at New York State’s legendary Oswego Speedway before retiring as a driver in 1969, when he bought controlling interest in Deleware Speedway. He rebuilt the track from a ¼ mile to its present day ½ mile configuration, and also became race director. In 1975, after spending 6 years commuting from Toronto to London most nights, he got out of racing and opted to concentrate on his very successful Toronto-area construction business called Jack Greedy Limited. In 1988, just shy of his 60th birthday, Mr. Greedy passed away shortly after a heart attack, but the business that bears his name has lived on to this day…..
…...Lyons, Ontario’s Ryan Litt has confirmed that he will run all of the USAC National Sprint Car series races on pavement next season in the family owned #07. Look for Ryan’s name and a picture or two in upcoming editions of the London Free Press as they will be publishing a story in conjunction with the upcoming London Gardens indoor racing events about which avenues for advancement are available to racers who compete in TQ Midgets, Micro Sprints, Mini Sprints, and other similar classes. Ryan will also be competing at the end of the month in the “Rumble in Fort Wayne” indoor USAC midget races at Fort Wayne, Indiana….
….Last week Erin Crocker signed a contract with NASCAR powerhouse Evernham Motorsports to run a limited schedule for the team next season, with starts in the NASCAR Busch Series, ARCA, and USAC Silver Crown series on tap. The Silver Crown ride will be provided by Evernham’s NASCAR Nextel Cup superstar driver Kasey Kahne’s team, which will also be fielding a full time Silver Crown entry for Kraig Kinser, son of legendary Steve, next season. Around here we sort of consider Erin to be a hometown racer of sorts as she holds the track speed record at Ohsweken Speedway – she was clocked at 138mph going into turn 3 on the Brantford-area 3/8’s mile dirt oval – , won an SOS feature race in September of 2002 also at Ohsweken, and has competed in a couple of Canadian Sprint Car Championship events. Fans in this area have followed her career from humble beginnings running with the Empire Super Sprints and Southern Ontario Sprints, to the Knoxville Nationals (where she carried an Ohsweken Speedway sticker on the wing in her rookie year) and World of Outlaws series where she became the only female feature winner in WoO history, and now to the elite world of NASCAR. Erin has probably the best opportunity that any female has ever had in NASCAR and arguably any other elite racing division for that matter, and one day when she wins a Nextel Cup race, we’ll all look back and say to each other “We saw her racing sprint cars at Ohsweken Speedway…..”
Well that’s it for now. Here’s wishing you and yours a Happy Holiday season. As always I can be reached via my website – www.TheRaceChasers.com . I guess we’ll all be smelling exhaust fumes and burnt rubber a lot sooner than we thought! See you at the Gardens in January!