World of Outlaws Sprint Cars Invade Ohsweken Speedway This Tuesday and Wednesday!
by Tommy Goudge (July 21, 2008) –
Race fans all over Ontario and the Northeast have been looking forward to this week for quite some time, and at long last the World of Outlaws Sprint Car series returns to Ontario for two big nights of racing this Tuesday, July 22, and Wednesday, July 23! Last year’s inaugural “Six Nations Showdown” at the Speedway, located in the village of Ohsweken near Brantford, produced the largest crowd in the history of the Speedway and garnered World of Outlaws series Promoter of the Year honours for Ohsweken co-owner Glenn Styres and his staff. With two nights of racing on tap this year and the cameras from Speed Channel on hand to record every lap, the second annual edition of the Six Nations Showdown promises to be even bigger than last season.
Tennessee’s Jason Sides took his #7s to victory in last season’s event, with 2006 and 2007 WoO champ Donny Schatz of North Dakota coming home 2nd. Schatz and Texas driver Sam Hafertepe, Jr. set the crowd abuzz earlier in the evening as they dueled for the win in the qualifying dash race in spectacular fashion. In time trials that evening, Missouri’s Danny Lasoski set a new all time track record at Ohsweken with a lap of 12.944 seconds (167.811 kph or 104.295 mph). This past Friday night, Glenn Styres tested his new 410 cubic inch engine which he will use to compete against the traveling Outlaws this week, and ran laps in the 13.0 - 13.1 second range, unofficially. Ohsweken’s surface has been fast all season, and many of the World of Outlaws teams and drivers now have experience at the track after competing in last year’s event, so there is a good chance that the track record will fall again this week.
Besides Styres, another name familiar to Ohsweken fans has thrown his hat into the ring this week, as Steve Poirier of Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloiel, Quebec is expected to be on hand with a 410 engine of his own. Poirier has won the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals at Ohsweken in each of the past 2 seasons and currently leads the Empire Super Sprints points standings again this year after taking the ESS championship last season. Poirier has 5 feature wins total already this season, including 1 at Ohsweken when the ESS tour visited on June 20.
The Ohsweken events are a homecoming of sorts for some crew members on World of Outlaws teams. Before he became one of the best crew chiefs on the World of Outlaws tour, New York’s Mike Woodring was a champion 360 sprint car driver who dominated the Empire Super Sprints and Southern Ontario Sprints tours. Among his many accomplishments, Woodring won 3 successive SOS Canadian Sprint Car Championship events at Ohsweken in 2000, 2001, and 2002. A Woodring-owned car also holds the 360 sprint car track record at Ohsweken as Kenny Jacobs drove Woodring’s #19 around the Speedway in 13.377 seconds during time trials for the 2005 Canadian Sprint Car Nationals, while Jacobs also visited victory lane that night as the inaugural winner of the Nationals. Jacobs broke the record held by Erin Crocker, who was also driving a Woodring-prepared car when she set the record 3 years prior. Woodring is now crew chief of the #2 driven by Craig Dollansky. The team is currently 3rd in World of Outlaws points and has won 6 races to date in 2008.
Another World of Outlaws crew member making a homecoming is Kevin Loveys of nearby Hamilton, who is presently working on the Roth Motorsports #83 driven by Oklahoma’s Shane Stewart. Loveys formerly worked on the Styres racing crew and even competed in a handful of races at Ohsweken as a driver in a Styres backup car before moving to become crew chief of Jessica Zemken’s sprint car team and then on to the WoO tour with Michigan driver Jeremy Campbell. The Roth #83 has been fast all season, in contention in every WoO event, and sits 9th in series points with 1 feature win to its credit so far in 2008, which came at the famed Knoxville Raceway in Iowa. Stewart did not race full time with the WoO tour last season and will be making his first ever visit to Ohsweken this week.
Last year Steve Moulton was also out on tour with the World of Outlaws when the series came to town, traveling with the Randy Hannagan #1x. This year Moulton has returned home and is working with the Styres racing team on Glenn’s #0, Keith Dempster’s #5, and Ryan Hunsinger’s #77x, and will help to defend home turf against the traveling World of Outlaws teams this week.
After attending her first sprint car race in Canada last year at Ohsweken, Marie Lapointe will also be returning to her home country again this season. Lapointe works for the Carnahan Motorsports r19 team on the World of Outlaws circuit, this year with Jac Haudenschild behind the wheel. A native of Ottawa, Marie is the only female crew member on a World of Outlaws team. The team is currently 6th in points, and will be looking for their first feature win of the season this week. Haudenschild finished 3rd in last year’s inaugural “6 Nations Showdown” at Ohsweken while driving for the Wright #35 team.
Many of the teams and drivers are arriving a day early for the event, and several opportunities are available for fans to meet the Outlaws stars. On Monday night, July 21, a party will be held in the parking lot at the corner of Townline Road and Lundy’s Lane in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Jac “The Wild Child” Haudenschild, Australian driver Kerry Madsen, Shane Stewart, “The Crowd Pleaser” Craig Dollansky, Jason Meyers and many more World of Outlaws drivers will be attending, along with many local racing teams. The party starts at 7:00p.m.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday July 22 from 11am-3pm, Donny Schatz and his Tony Stewart Racing team will be at Dynamic Fluid Products, Inc. in Tillsonburg, Ontario for an open house, BBQ, and raffle to support the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Dynamic Fluid Products is located at 40 Cedar Street in Tillsonburg.
www.DynamicFluid.comNew for 2008 at Ohsweken is the addition of 360 sprint car racing to the weekly Friday Night Thunder program. Corr/Pak Merchandising is the title sponsor for the division, and is offering up a bonus for each 360 sprint car that signs in to compete against the 410 sprints of the World of Outlaws in the two events at Ohsweken. Every 360 team that attempts to qualify will receive $100, with that amount increasing to $250 for any 360 team that qualifies for the A-Main on either night, and it is expected that many local teams will be on hand to make qualifying attempts, creating an interesting “race within a race”.
On Tuesday night, Ohsweken’s ESSO Thunder Stock division will support the event, while the ESSO Mini Stocks will do the same on Wednesday night. A large field of Thunder Stocks signed in on Friday night at Ohsweken to warm up for their big event this week, racing in front of the expected large crowd, but at the end of the night it was a familiar face in victory lane as Cody McPherson took home his 6th Ohsweken Thunder Stock feature win of the season, extending his points lead in the process. In Mini Stock action on Friday, Abel Castelein took his 2nd win in a row and 3rd overall this season, and also extended his points lead as well.
Advanced reserved seat ticket sales have been strong for the events, but good seats do still remain available in the Speedway’s newly expanded grandstands for both nights, while a limited quantity of general admission tickets will also be available. Tickets are available at the track on both Tuesday, July 22 and Wednesday, July 23. Tuesday night reserved seats are $35 for adults and $20 for kids age 12 and under, while Wednesday night reserved seats are $40 for adults and $25 for kids age 12 and under. General admission tickets are $20, or $15 for kids age 12 and under. Plenty of free primitive camping area is available on the Speedway grounds for both nights. Spectator gates open at 4:00p.m. each night, with hot laps slated for 5:30p.m. followed by time trials, and racing at 7:45p.m.!
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Tommy Goudge
Ohsweken Speedway Media
media@ohswekenspeedway.com
Linkback: https://www.canadianracingonline.com/smf/index.php?topic=7933.msg47983#msg47983
