UNITED RACING SERIES SPREADS REACH

Story by Bryce Turner

The United Racing Series (URS) will bring a new look to the track this season, as the sanctioning body wraps up a busy winter that saw them double the number of series under their umbrella.

The big news came early in the off-season, when the URS and OSCAAR announced their merger at the beginning of November. The marriage means that the APC Series and Qwick Wick Super Stock Series will now be part of the same family as the OSCAAR Modifieds and Hot Rods, with all four series competing under the URS banner.

“The desire with the URS sanctioning body has always been to expand in time,” said URS director of motorsports Alex Nagy, citing the addition of the super stocks in 2020, after the late models launched in 2015. “It’s perfect timing for URS and perfect timing for OSCAAR in that I think OSCAAR was looking to go to that next step and the URS was looking to expand.”

The new-look URS had its combined presence in full force at the Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo, where six cars from the four series were on display in the Racers’ Corral, while both Nagy and OSCAAR president Dave Gainforth were in the URS booth.

“We have four very strong series under one canopy,” said Gainforth. “It’s beneficial for OSCAAR; it gives us the stability that we need going forward. I have access to the best people in short track racing to help me on the inside of the sport and it’s going to trickle down to the drivers and onto the fans, putting on the best show in Ontario.”

Nagy’s new role with the URS will focus on the motorsports side of the business, including hospitality, activations and how motorsports ties into the automotive parts business. He emphasized the marketing aspect of the merger.

“I think together, our whole URS program will be a lot stronger with that growth,” said Nagy. “It will give our partners more opportunities as well, to tie into another 60 or so cars that we didn’t have before…I know it’s going to help competitors and the OSCAAR brand to grow, so it’s just a win-win; I think the ceiling is very high and we’re looking to see where we can take it.”

The URS made its name by providing drivers with the opportunity to compete at various Ontario short tracks, under a unified rule book. That focus will remain in place with the merger.

“With OSCAAR under our wing, I know that’s very exciting, it’s a new challenge,” said Nagy. “We’re going to use a lot of the same officials from OSCAAR, we will introduce some new officials, we may have some overlap from series to series. Our first priority is to get a good group of officials in all divisions.”

Another change from this off-season can be found in the 2023 APC Series schedule.

Following requests from fans and competitors, the length of three races will be extended beyond the traditional 100 laps.

The season opener, on May 20 at Sunset Speedway, and round six, on August 5 at Sauble Speedway, will feature 150-lap events. Adding to the drama of championship Saturday is the other race to be extended, on September 23 at Delaware Speedway, where the finale will be 200 laps.

Overall, the APC Series will feature nine races at five tracks – Sunset, Flamboro, Peterborough, Delaware and Sauble speedways. The Qwick Wick Super Stocks will contest five races at four tracks, with Delaware hosting two races and a single event each at Peterborough, Flamboro and Sunset.

The OSCAAR Modifieds and Hot Rods will run nearly identical schedules, sharing dates and tracks for 10 events between Flamboro, Sauble, Delaware, Peterborough and Full Throttle Motor Speedway. The Hot Rods will also race on the dirt at Brighton Speedway, on August 12. All four series will share the track for two race weekends – June 30 to July 1 and September 22 to 23, both at Delaware. J.R. Fitzpatrick (APC), Pete Vanderwyst (QW) and Steve Book (Hot Rods) plan to defend their titles this season.

More information on the URS can be found on their new website, UnitedRacingSeries.com. The site includes a variety of statistics, along with driver rosters, schedules and results. IT