The Dean of Speed

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series goes big time

dean.mcnulty — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:44:09 +0000

BOWMANVILLE — The season-opening NASCAR Canadian Tire Series on Sunday is going big time.

For the first time in its history, Canada’s only national racing series will get live coast-to-coast coverage on the CTV network.

The Pinty’s Presents the Vortex Brake Pads 250 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park has been the jewel the past seven seasons for the Victoria Day Weekend Speedfest at Canada’s best known road course.

George Silbermann, NASCAR’s VP for touring and weekly series, said Thursday that now, with full network coverage, the race will likely become the most watched.

“Kicking off the season live on CTV is a huge opportunity to showcase the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and its competitive brand of racing to fans across Canada,” Silbermann said. “This is a tremendous opening to a television package that brings fans all the action and excitement of Canada’s top motorsports series.

“The historic broadcast coverage is a direct result of the dedication that our partners, Canadian Tire and TSN, have to motorsports in Canada.”

Qualifying for the race is Saturday and the start is at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Piquet will fight to stay in NASCAR

dean.mcnulty — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:41:51 +0000

Nelson Piquet Jr. is sorry about kicking Brian Scott in the groin after the NASCAR Nationwide Series Toyota Care 250 at Richmond International Raceway.
But he called what happened an hour or so later when two members of Scott’s crew allegedly attacked him and one of his team members “juvenile.”
Michael Searce, a mechanic for Scott’s No. 2 Richard Childress Racing team, was arrested on two charges of misdemeanour assault and Thomas Costello, an interior specialist for RCR, was arrested on one count of misdemeanor assault.
Piquet was not hurt in the second fight but a member of his No. 30 Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet team suffered a shoulder injury.
Piquet was testing on Monday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park ahead of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race scheduled for Sept. 1.
He said he was surprised that the two RCR crew members confronted him while he was walking back to his motorhome at RIR.
“It was really quite juvenile,” he said of the alleged attack. “I have never heard of that (a confrontation so long after the original incident) happening before. It was a first for me.”
He did not want to elaborate further because the case is now before the courts.
“I hope that is over because it was embarrassing for their team,” Piquet said.
As for the original fight on pit lane, Piquet said he was sorry his kick landed where it did, but he said he was only defending himself.
“When I had 20 guys running at me I thought ‘Holy s**t, what am I going to do?’ that’s when I kicked (Scott),” he said. “Unfortunately I hit him in the wrong place, but that certainly wasn’t the plan.
“I had just came out of the car and I see him coming with a bunch of guys, so what was I supposed to do — just stand there and put my face out there to be hit?
“I was just trying to get everybody away from me. I was just defending myself.”
Piquet said he didn’t understand why Scott was so angry at what happened in the race.
“I was passing him,” he said. “We were both fighting for 14th-15th position on old tires and I barely touched him.
“We both went sideways, there was no reason for him to get upset.
“If he was upset he should have just come and talked to me, not come and hit my car and destroy my car after the race when everything is done.
“You shouldn’t do things like that.”
Piquet, a former Formula 1 star, said he did learn that in NASCAR he can’t let other drivers push him around.
“I don’t want to be getting into fights all the time but I’ve learned one thing and that is you need to fight back,” he said. “You cannot keep letting people run over you.”
And Piquet said it wasn’t the first time Scott had run into him.
“(Scott) did the same thing last year in Trucks,” he said. “I just will not accept that any more.”
Piquet said he told Scott in the meeting with NASCAR officials after the incident that he didn’t have an ongoing problem with him.
“He thinks I have an issue with him … but I told him ‘look at all the races this year, you have been running so much more in front of me. How many times have you passed me this year and we haven’t had any issues.’
“If I had done something wrong I would have said it but I don’t think I did anything wrong.”

Dragon and TRUECar respond to Legge’s allegations

dean.mcnulty — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 23:03:37 +0000

Dragon Racing and TRUECar have responed to Katherine Legge’s accusations that they fired her without cause.
Here is their statements:
“Both Dragon Racing and TRUECar have tried to amicably resolve this matter with Legge and her representatives to no avail – and aside of acknowledging the existence of the dispute, due to the confidential nature of the dispute, neither of the parties will be making any further public statements regarding this matter, but both TrueCar and Dragon Racing have ample confidence that they will undoubtedly prevail,” the statement read.
“We have thoroughly enjoyed our association with Katherine, but after 12 months of collaboration, hard work, and TRUECar’s sincere efforts to resurrect Katherine’s open-wheel career, TRUECar has decided to pursue a different driver for 2013 IndyCar season,” said TRUECar CEO Scott Painter.
Team president Jay Penske added that he was confident in the revisions his team has made for the year ahead.
“We’ve had to make some difficult choices this offseason, based on the goal of winning races and doing what is best our partners, sponsors, and team,” Penske said. “And I adamantly believe with the experience of our crew, our engineers, drivers, and the tremendous support of our partners, we have a team in 2013 that can compete for the championship.”

Legge lashes out at Jay Penske

dean.mcnulty — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:18:29 +0000

Britain’s Katherine Legge has been fired from the No. 6 TrueCar Chevrolet and replaced at Dragon Racing’s IZOD IndyCar entry by 20-year-old Colombian Sebastian Saavedra, who last season drove in the Indy Lights series for Andretti Autosport.
Legge, 32, was once considered an open wheel rival to superstar Danica Patrick, but her career sputtered after the Champ Car World Series and IndyCar merged.
Last season she split the Dragon Racing ride with Sebastien Bourdais, who will be back for a full season starting March 24 at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in the No. 7 Chevrolet.
In a statement released Wednesday, Legge said her dismissal from the team came as a complete shock and that she is taking legal action to get her job back.
“I am extremely disappointed that Dragon Racing and sponsor TrueCar have announced a replacement IndyCar driver for the No. 6 car,” Legge said. “I signed a two-year deal for 2012-2013 with TrueCar as a sponsor, and then I took that sponsorship to Dragon Racing shortly thereafter.
“I firmly believe that Dragon Racing and TrueCar cannot proceed without me and I will be taking legal action to protect my rights.”
Legge has likely poisoned any hope of getting back on the team when she charged that allegations that team owner Jay Penske was involved in assaulting a woman last season at a posh Nantucket Yacht Club hurt her ability to find further sponsorship for the coming season.
“Jay Penske’s actions in Nantucket really hurt my ability to find additional and personal sponsors, and it was highly embarrassing, especially with the message that we were trying to portray regarding the empowerment of women in motorsport,” Legge said.
“I can tell you that I feel like I have been treated very unfairly in all of this and the last thing I feel at the moment is ‘empowered.’
“I have fought very hard, every step of my career, to get the opportunities that I have created for myself and I will continue to do so. I want to thank everybody for their support during all of this, it has been very tough for me to watch it unfold.”

Jesse Lazare to try NASCAR

dean.mcnulty — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:48:34 +0000

Three- time Canadian national karting champion Jesse Lazare is going stock car racing.
The 15-year-old phenom from Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., has just signed a contract with Micks Motorsports to race in three, possibly four, road course races in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series this season.
Lazare had been thought of as a successor to Jacques Villeneuve and Alex Tagliani as the next Quebecer to move up the open wheel ladder, but those plans are on hold while he attempts a stock car career.
Team owner Kerry Micks said Wednesday that Lazare will begin testing the heavier, higher horsepower stock cars as soon as possible.
“We will get him in a Late Model for some testing at Sunset Speedway,” Micks said. “And then we want to test at (Canadian Tire Motorsports Park).”
Lazare will be tutored by Micks, considered one of Canada’s top road course stock car drivers, having won at both the NAPA 100 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and at the Grand Prix of Trois Rivieres.
Micks, who will share racing duties with teammate Mark Dilley in the No. 02 Ford Fusion, will build a second team car for Lazare.
Sponsorship for Lazare will come from DoorDoctor.com.

Tagliani re-signs with Barracuda/Bryan Herta Racing

dean.mcnulty — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:14:19 +0000

This release came in this morning:
Barracuda Racing is proud to announce that Alex Tagliani will return to the team as driver of the No. 98 entry.

A veteran of the IZOD IndyCar Series, Tagliani has a proven track record of speed and focus. A pole position at Texas and leading laps in five of the fifteen scheduled races were highlights of Tagliani’s 2012 season. In addition, the French Canadian driver also qualified in the Firestone Fast Six in all but two races after the team’s engine manufacturer change at Indianapolis.

“The 2012 season was strong for us, despite the challenges we faced, and the results don’t reflect all our successes,” said Tagliani. “In our second season together at Barracuda Racing, we can only climb upward as a team.”

“I really think that with Todd engineering, and the experience that Bryan [Herta] and Steve [Newey] bring to the table, our car will be even more competitive. It will be great to show that we are a factor, that we are moving up in the field.”

The 2013 IndyCar season will feature plenty of opportunities for Barracuda Racing to achieve success in the team’s Honda-powered, Dallara DW12. Tagliani has already been mentioned as a favorite for the return of the Triple Crown trophy and oval championship. In addition, his sights will be set on a third consecutive pole at Texas Motor Speedway and his life-long goal of winning the Indianapolis 500.

Team owner Bryan Herta feels confident in the goals his team has set.

“The combination of Alex and all the BHA crew and engineering group really worked well last year, and we all agreed that having Alex return would give us our best chance to win races and compete on every type of track the Indycar schedule throws at us,” commented Herta. “The expectations are higher this year for Alex, our partners, and ourselves. It is great to see all the pieces coming together, everyone on the Barracuda Racing program are excited about this season.”

Not only is Tagliani returning with Barracuda Racing, the team takes pride in the return of their entire No. 98 crew for a second year. To lead engineer Todd Malloy, this component is an integral part of a smooth transition from last season.

“Chemistry is perhaps the most over-used and under-defined word in sport, but it is real, and Alex is at the center of the chemistry that makes this team work as well as it does,” said Malloy. “I’m thrilled that we have re-signed Alex for 2013.”

“Last year was truly a formative year for Barracuda Racing. It was our first full season in IndyCar and it really didn’t start in earnest until we re-joined the Honda family in time for the Indy 500. From that point forward, everyone could see Alex’s true talents. That’s the part of it seen by the general public. What they don’t see is everything off track, and in that regard Alex is as dedicated as they come. He really, truly is imbedded in this team. He spends a lot of time with all the crew at the shop and is very meticulous about all the details involved with getting the car and the team’s performance up to championship-winning caliber. So we can’t wait to start racing in 2013.”

With an exciting season ahead of him, Tagliani heads to Napa, California, today for some fun at the official Barracuda Worldwide Partner Kickoff. Then two months from today, on March 24, 2013, the IZOD IndyCar Series season kicks off on the streets of St. Petersburg, FL.

Politcs, Formula 1 style

dean.mcnulty — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:09:42 +0000

Fans and media complain ad nauseum about how Formula 1 is so riddled with politics that it has ruined the enjoyment of the sport.
But you have to admire that the biggest dog in F-1 — Ferrari — has no problem putting its brand of politicking right out there for everyone to see.
This week at Ferrari’s media event at Madonna di Campiglio, team boss Stefano Domenicali, blatantly called on Force India to hire Jules Bianchi for its second seat beside Paul di Resta for the upcoming world championship season.
You see Bianchi — a 23-year-old Frenchman — has been part of Ferrari’s driving academy for the past two seasons and was loaned to Force India last season as a test driver.
Now Domenicali would like to see how Bianchi has progressed, preferably in an F-1 team. Ferrari, however, already has got its team set with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa as well as test drivers Pedro de la Rosa, Davide Rigon and Marc Gené waiting in the wings.
So Domenicali thinks he can use Force India as a proving ground for Bianchi.
“Jules is part of our Driver Academy, and we are trying to find a solution for him,” the Ferrari boss said. “Last year he was the third driver of Force India, and we are trying to find a solution so he can grow and show his worth.”
An interesting aspect of all this is that Force India’s customer engine deal with Mercedes expires at the end of 2013 and guess who will be there to offer the outfit powerplants for 2014 — Ferrari of course.
Welcome to As The World Turns, F-1 version.

Canucks shut out of F-1 again

dean.mcnulty — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 13:28:06 +0000

A pair of Canadian youngsters have won major racing championships in Europe over the course of the past two seasons.

There was Quebec’s Bruno Spengler, who slayed the mighty Mercedes factory team this year in the DTM Touring Car championship in his first season with BMW.

And last season Ontario’s Robert Wickens won the Formula Renault 3.5 championship.

In both cases the achievements should have led to a Formula 1 job, or at the very least, a reserve driver role.

Certainly if Spengler, say, grew up in Milan instead of Saint-Hippolyte, just north of Montreal, or Wickens had be reared in Paris, instead of Guelph, both might be in F-1 this season.

So it was not much of shock to learn Friday that two drivers of lesser talent and accomplishments — Mexico’s Esteban Gutierrez and France’s Charles Pic — will be in F-1 next season with Sauber and Caterham respectively.

It will be a first season for Gutierrez and a second season for Pic.

What Pic and Gutierrez have that Spengler and Wickens don’t, however, are backers with very deep pockets.

Gutierrez has Carlos Slim, Mexico’s wealthiest man, writing cheques to Sauber and Pic has the international sports agency Lagardere Unlimited — which also represents golfer Phil Mickelson and NBA star Ricky Rubio — on his team.

Keselowski wins NASCAR Sprint Cup championship

dean.mcnulty — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 23:25:08 +0000

Brad Keselowski held on to win a first NASCAR Sprint Cup championship for legendary team owner Roger Penske Sunday at Homestead Miami Speedway.
And it came as a result of a series of disasters by Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team who missed a lug nut with less than 50 laps left in the Ford EcoBoost 400 and then he lost an engine with 35 laps left ending his hopes for a sixth championship.

NASCAR Trucks to race at CTMP (Mosport)

dean.mcnulty — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 20:01:17 +0000

HOMESTEAD, Fla. — The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will roar to life in Canada for the first time next season at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park — formerly Mosport.
The deal for the race, that will run Sept. 1, was finalized Friday morning and comes just a month after NASCAR pulled its Nationwide Series race out of Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve over contract squabbles with the race promoter.
Ron Fellows and his partner Carlo Fidani have been lobbying NASCAR for a year to get one of its top three — Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Trucks — racing series at their newly renovated 3.9 kms road course 80 kms east of Toronto.
“It is great news for everybody at CTMP,” Fellows said in a telephone interview just prior to the official announcement. “We have worked really hard to get this deal done.”
A big part of the success of those negotiations goes to Fellows who is among he most respected race car drivers in North America.
He has six NASCAR wins — four in Nationwide and two in Trucks — on his resume as well as a pair of Top 5 finishes in the Sprint Cup series
It doesn’t hurt that Fellows has extensive contacts among NASCAR’s power elite, including team owners Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush, both of whom were supportive of the bid to bring the Truck series to CTMP.
“We also could not have done it, as well, without the support of Canadian Tire,” Fellows said.
Canadian Tire, of course, is the title sponsor for NASCAR’s Canadian stock car racing championship.
Fellows also said that the year-long talks with NASCAR were “always positive” about sanctioning a race at CTMP, which has been the home of both Formula 1 and IndyCar racing is its glory years.
“I really want to thank Steve O’Donnell (senior vice president of racing operations for NASCAR) and Jim Cassidy who were so supportive and professional throughout the process,” he said.
Since Fellows and Fidani purchased the track from the Atlanta based Panoz Auto Development Co. in 2011 they have launched a major overhaul to upgrade to the facility situated on 750 acres of land in Bowmanville, Ont.
“Getting a major NASCAR series has been our goal from day one,” Fellows said. “And now we have one.”
He said that the Labour Day Weekend race proved a perfect book end of the 2103 CTMP season.
“We will start with the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Victoria Day weekend races, have the American Le Mans Series in the summer and now we will have this September truck race.”
CTMP president and general manager Myles Brandt said in a track release that the Truck race is “another milestone” in the track’s history.
“We’re looking forward to creating an unforgettable experience for both fans and drivers alike this Labour Day weekend,” Brandt said.
NASCAR’s O’Donnell was effusive in his praise for the CTMP facility.
“We’re excited to announce the addition of a world-class facility like Canadian Tire Motorsport Park to our NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule for 2013,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to working with Canadian Tire Motorsport Park as we introduce the truck series to our great fans in Canada. Their enthusiastic response to our sport has helped grow its popularity in Canada significantly throughout the years.”
It is expected that many of Canada’s top racing names — like Alex Tagliani, D.J. Kennington, Patrick Carpentier, J.R. Fitzpatrick, Andrew Ranger and maybe even Paul Tracy — would be interested in driving a Truck at the CTMP race.
Ranger, who will attempt to qualify the No. 27 GCMI Ford in Saturday’s Nationwide race at Homestead Miami Speedway, is excited that the Trucks will be in Canada next season.
“I have never driven a Camping World Truck but I am excited to try,” he said. “I hope this will lead to a Nationwide race at CTMP in 2014.”
As for CTMP hosting a Nationwide race sometime down the road, Ranger thinks it would be a near perfect venue.
“Oh yes, with those fast corners and the long (Andretti) straight, it would sure be fun racing those cars there,” he said.
It is expected that the Truck race will be accompanied at CTMP by a NASCAR Canadian Tires Series race and possibly other series, but no announcement on that has been made.
Tickets for the 2013 Truck race are already on sale at www.canadiantiremotorsportpark.com.
dean.mcnulty@sunmedia.ca