NPS UNVEILS SCHEDULE

Twin races on the dirt of Ohsweken Speedway scheduled in August

Apc Calendar Announced

In early December, the United Racing Series (URS) released the 2023 schedule for its elite APC Late Model Series. The big news is that the tour, which has put on 100-lap feature races since its inception in 2015, will feature several longer races, this season.

The move, according to the press release published by URS, is in response to requests from the racers, teams and fans. While the bulk of the races will continue to be 100-lap events, three marquee features will see an increase. Sunset and Sauble will host 150-lap races, while the season-ending, championship-deciding race at Delaware will stretch out to 200 laps.

Story by Greg MacPherson

In mid-January, NASCAR unveiled its 2023 schedule for the NASCAR Pinty’s Series. The tour will consist of a record 14 races, at 11 facilities, in five Canadian provinces.

For the most part, the schedule looks very similar to last year, but a notable change is that Ohsweken Speedway – which hosted the tour’s first-ever dirt race, last summer – will have two races in 2023. They will take place on consecutive days (Monday, August 14 and Tuesday, August 15).

Last year’s dirt debut at Ohsweken –delayed two years by the pandemic – generated largely rave reviews from the racers and fans. Also returning to the schedule for a second year, is Eastbound International Speedway, in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In NASCAR’s press release about 2023, NASCAR Canada GM Tony Spiteri noted, “The NASCAR Pinty’s Series has delivered great racing and exciting events across Canada for 16 years and next season will be our best one yet.

“Last year was an overwhelming success for everybody associated with the Pinty’s Series with increased interest from fans, competitors and potential partners. The 2023 schedule will continue to deliver the thrilling side-by-side racing that defines NASCAR and the Pinty’s Series.”

Looking ahead, Spiteri told Inside Track, “Our real focus, now, is for our schedule to feature ‘events’ and not just races. On the technical, competition and marketing side, we’re looking at our schedule with a longterm vision, trying to figure out, ‘what are the key events that will become destinations for people?’

“Our commitment is to have the 2024 schedule available before this coming July. You’ll be hearing things about some different tracks we’re looking at, but our real focus is on ‘events.’”

Talking about the continued rebound in car counts, following COVID, Spiteri added, “Questions about car counts are a thing of the past. If you talk to the teams and builders, the consensus is that business is brisk. There are a lot of new cars being built and some new teams are set to come to the series. I believe the car count is going to be extremely strong this year, especially at our marquee events.”

The season opens at Sunset Speedway (May 13) for the fourth consecutive year and concludes at Delaware Speedway (September 24). The schedule will once again offer a diverse challenge, with seven short track oval races, five road course / street races and two dirt track races.

Other highlights of the 2023 schedule include:

• Street course events in Toronto and the 53rd annual Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières (GP3R).

• Two races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP), including the traditional Victoria Day weekend race on May 21, and the series’ penultimate race, on September 3.

• The mid-season ‘Western Swing’ will bring three races to Alberta and Saskatchewan, one at Edmonton International Raceway and twin features at Sutherland Automotive Speedway (Saskatoon).

All 2023 races will air on TSN and RDS. IT

Commenting on the change, URS President Luke Ramsay said, “Adding three extra-lap races – along with the six 100-lap events – will be exciting for our fans and competitors. We feel it’s a great time to continue to evolve as a series, as long as it makes sense for all involved. These events will add different strategies and will also give our fans a little variety. We can’t wait to get going.”

The series will kick-off on its familiar Victoria Day long weekend (May 20) at Sunset Speedway. This race will be 150 laps. From there, the APC series goes on a summer stretch of four, 100-lap events, beginning at Flamboro Speedway (June 10). A week later (June 17), the tour heads to Peterborough Speedway, followed by Delaware (July 1), before returning to Flamboro for its second and final APC date of the summer (July 15).

Next, the series heads north to ‘The Beach’ where Sauble Speedway will host its first of two races (August 5 and August 26), the first of which is 150laps, in length. Sandwiched between the Sauble dates is Sunset’s second APC race of 2023, on August 12.

The tour concludes on September 23 at Delaware Speedway, with the 200-lap race that will likely determine the championship.

In other news, the Qwick Wick Super Stock Series’ five-race schedule for 2023 was also recently released. It consists of races at Peterborough (June 17), Delaware (June 30/September 22), and Sunset (August 12). IT