Ignition - 18.04 by PASMAG - Performance Auto & Sound

18.04 Cover.pdf 7/12/2006 1:35:37 PM

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BBDO Mopar 18.02.indd 1

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S: 6.875 in

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Yamaha March DPS

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Yamaha Chip Controlled “Fly-by-Wire” Throttle, “Straight Frame” chassis, secondary fuel injectors and titanium MotoGP – style exhaust. Do these sound like the typical traits associated with a production bike? They are now! The new R6 from Yamaha. Formula-One inspired aerodynamics and an all-new compact 599cc engine that revs to the moon. We didn’t stop with the R6. The 2006 R1 has received impressive changes. The R1-LE comes with Marchesini wheels, Öhlins suspension, Pirelli tires and slipper clutch. Not to mention the eye-catching 50th Anniversary yellow and black R1/R6 and legendary R6S. The 2006 Yamahas, the most advanced production sport line-up ever.

Yamaha March DPS

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yamaha-motor.ca WHAT KIND OF YAMAHA ARE YOU?

r1-le

r6s

For tickets and information 1-800-866-1072

www.mosport.com

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PRN.august.06 motorcycles

open wheel

event

COLUMN

United States Grand Prix

The 2005 event was a debacle, but the fans came back in 2006 and the Formula One stars put on a show for the Indianapolis faithful.

Dan Knutson spends breakfast with former World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart.

FIM MotoGP

CMRC Canadian Nationals

Nelson on the verge in MX2 West while Klatt looks to usurp the MX1 title from his teammate.

Photo by LAT Photographic

COLUMN

A change of scenery was just what the doctor ordered for AJ Allmendinger as he sits on a three-race winning streak since joining Forsythe Racing.

Jordan Szoke is threatening to run away with the championship after extending his winning streak to three races.

event

Hayden continues to lead the title chase but Rossi is making a move.

A new name didn’t change the on track excitement fans have come to expect in Toronto.

Caution Period

Canadian Superbike

Mark Hacking looks at the struggles three reigning champions are having trying to defend their respective crowns.

event

Molson Grand Prix of Toronto

event

column

Getting off the Marks

On the Throttle

Canadian Grand Prix

COLUMN

Trackside Access

David Hatter examines the two team battle for this year’s IRL crown.

road racing EVENT

Le Mans 24 Hours

Audi’s diesel power leads them to another win in the French endurance classic.

COLUMN

On the Road

EVENT

Atlantic Championship

Robbie Pecorari comes through for first Atlantic win at Toronto.

EVENT

Japan Super GT

Round 4 of the series was a hot affair in Malaysia.

Photo by Lorenzo Bellanca/LAT

David Hatter talks with Bruno Spengler about the young Canadian’s developing career racing in Europe.

EVENT

Canadian Rally Championship

Matt Iorio came through the tough conditions to win the Rally Baie-des-Chaleurs.

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

| Cover PHOTOS | LAT Photographic (Gordon), Anthony Kent/LAT (Allmendinger)

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PRN.august.06 20

Is Gordon complacent?

Jeff Gordon has been hit with this tag after missing the 2005 Chase and sitting on the bubble in 2006. Monte Dutton examines the question and finds out the truth.

column

Trading Paint

NASCAR has announced changes are coming for the Chase for the Cup in 2007, Monte Dutton looks at the possible adjustments.

column

View from the Tower

Photo by Jeremy Glover

event

stock cars

Pepsi 400

102

grass roots COLUMN

Castrol DriftMania

116

Photo by Jeremy Glover

George Webster looks at the areas NASCAR has improved on the safety side, but still sees room for improvement.

Mopar canadian nationals

Drifting Championship fans riveted by action during round 2 at Ste-Croix.

feature

Canadian Drag Racing Update

126

Bruce Biegler catches up with Canada’s quickest racing stars.

drag racing EVENT

Rocky Mountain Nationals

104

Edmonton fans come out again for big IHRA event in Western Canada.

EVENT

NHRA POWERade Series

108

Coverage from Bristol, Atlanta, Columbus, Topeka, Joliet, Englishtown and Madison.

wire-to-wire COLUMN

Neal Jones looks at the recent interest from open wheel stars to race in NASCAR.

extra

2006 Motorsports Calendar

An up-to-date event listing for the 2006 season.

130

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

Photo by LAT Photgraphic

From the Editor’s Desk

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2006 models are here!

Sometimes opportunity doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t knock. It roars.

Introducing the awesome CBR1000RR, Hondaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most advanced sportbike. This newly re-designed power machine features a significantly lighter frame and bigger, more powerful brakes. Get better acceleration from a standing start, thanks to the newly designed clutch. And get race-winning performance from the completely revised 998cc inline-four engine with aggressive cam timing, reshaped intake valves, stronger crankshaft and more. Need a powerful reason to visit your Honda Dealer? You're looking at it.

honda.ca

All NASCAR needs is pinstripes

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

By Neal Jones I Editor-In-Chief

This kind of talk has put NASCAR on top of the racing news across the globe and it can now be argued that the series is a legitimate threat to F1’s status as the pinnacle of racing. Sure the money isn’t quite as good as F1, but NASCAR is still growing and the emergence of more drivers looking to make the switch will no doubt help it expand its fan base. When it comes to NASCAR the future is even brighter than its glorious past. Montoya made the switch when it was obvious a top ride would not be available to him in F1

Photo by LAT Photographic

fter recent developments in NASCAR, the stock car series must be considered the New York Yankees of the racing world. It seems every racer wants to be a part of the organization, much like every big name free agent in baseball wishes to join the Yankees. Twenty years ago people would have laughed if you suggested two high profile drivers from Formula One would be eyeing the stock car series for possible rides. Today, open wheel stars who always dreamed of the Indianapolis 500 and Formula One are clamoring to be a part of the Nextel Cup Series. Tony Stewart was among the first to make the switch to stock cars and was followed by the likes of Scott Pruett and Christian Fittipaldi. Stewart has been a great success story while Pruett and Fittipaldi are rarely seen today. Paul Tracy has spent the past several years vying for a spot in NASCAR, resulting in a five-race Busch Series deal in 2006. However, he has also signed a five-year extension to remain in Champ Car this year so it appears the veteran will finish his career in open wheel cars. But now, the racing world has been shocked as Juan Montoya was announced as the driver of Chip Ganassi’s No. 42 Chevron Texaco Dodge starting in 2007. It will mark the first time a Formula One driver will leave the series to compete in NASCAR full-time. Several drivers have gone the other route, but Montoya is the first to do this switch. And rumours quickly circled in early July about media darling Danica Patrick, whose contract with Rahal-Letterman Racing in the IRL is up at the end of the year. Her father, TJ Patrick, was seen at NASCAR races walking up and down the paddock discussing a possible move to stock cars for the young sensation.

next year. Why would he race for a team with no chance for success when he could go to NASCAR and be in a car that will be competitive no matter what the team’s budget is? Sure, there’s a learning curve for Montoya, but racing in NASCAR gives as many as 20 drivers a legitimate shot at winning a race or championship. In F1 that number is two or three because of the vast differences in the cars and budgets. For Patrick, the choice was more financial than anything else. “I hope to be compensated for what I’m doing to help grow everything,” she said. “I want to help grow the sport. But you can’t drive for 30 years, and if I can’t get compensated (in IndyCars), I’ll look at options.” Patrick eventually decided to stay in the IRL as she has signed with AndrettiGreen Racing for 2007. Those are the high profile names of recent headlines, but what about Jacques Villeneuve? The 1997 World Champion has stated he would be happy to move across the pond to race in NASCAR and Patrick Carpentier has talked to many teams this year. Defending IRL Champion Dan Wheldon has admitted that NASCAR is a possibility. Drawing from a non-traditional well of drivers is exactly what NASCAR needs to continue its meteoric rise of the past 15 years. NASCAR is pulling drivers from new areas as it becomes more of an international endeavor. With over 40 seats available and very good money on the line, the lure of NASCAR will continue to grow. Throw in the longevity aspect, where stock car drivers routinely race into their 40s as compared to open wheel where drivers start to decline after 30, and it’s not hard to see why so many drivers see a bright future in the world of NASCAR. And don’t forget, NASCAR is headed by a strong one man show at the top, not unlike a certain team that wears pinstripes through the summer months. Don’t be surprised if a Broadway musical pops in the coming years called “That Damned NASCAR.” See you at the races!

Paul Tracy is one of several open wheel stars who now sees NASCAR as the place to be

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

(ISSN # 0834 - 809X) is published 8 times a year by 1009678 Ontario Inc., 593 Yonge Street., 3rd Flr., Toronto, Ont., Canada. M4Y 1Z4. For publishing schedule, send a S.A.S.E. Canadian Postmaster: Send address corrections to: PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS P.O. Box 275, Stn. F., Toronto, Ont., M4Y 2L7 Subscription Rates: (1 year - 8 issues): Canada $10 Cdn, U.S.A. $10 U.S. Performance Racing News 593 Yonge St., Toronto, Ont. M4Y 1Z4 PRINTED IN CANADA Publications Mail Registration# 8580 Canadian Publications Mail Products Sales Agreement# 40069655 Publishers: Perry & Blake Breslin Group Publisher/VP Operations: Frank Spezzano Editor-In-Chief: Neal Jones Director of Sales & Marketing: Charles Stancer National Account Executive: Erickson Obiacoro Contributing Editor: Mark Pereira Office/Systems Manager: Arnold Adolfo Senior Art Director: Brian Pirocchi Administrative Director: Michelle Forsyth Senior Account Representatives: Graham Wright, Shane Chattergoon Advertising Representatives: Nelson Cheung, Matthew Adolfo, Michael Semira, Jimmy Manuel, Scott Peachman Senior Editor: George Webster Drag Racing Editor: Bruce Biegler Road Racing Editor: David Hatter Quebec Editor: Eric Descarries Western Editor: Gerry Frechette MX Editor: Wil de Clercq Production Director: Richard Robles Production Coordinator: John Paul Ramos Graphic Design: Queue Gonzalez, Jeff Maguire, Edward Shintani, Patrick Beltijar, Patrick Dinglasan Digital Media Director: Drew Williams Subscription Manager: Carol Franceschinis 1.888.564.SUBS

Correspondents:

Formula One: Dan Knutson NASCAR: Monte Dutton Motorcycle: Mark Hacking CASCAR: Jamie Maudsley Senior Writers: Todd Lewis, Jimmy Johnston Writers: John Bone, Matt Polito, Tim Tuttle, Marc Travers, Mark Triller Senior Photographer: Ramesh Bayney Photographers: Alain Assad, Dan Boyd, Muriel Brousseau, Daniel S. Carter, Michael A. Coates, Dave DeAngelis, Yves Desjardins, Steve Embling, Bryan Epps, Carlos Hatfield, Bob Hesser, Jack Heringer, Kirk Horoky, Rick Kolaczynski, John Larsen, Mike Levitt/LAT, LAT Photographic, Bill Murenbeeld, Jim & Gerry Murray, Shawna Nelles, David Oliver, Chris Payne, Sue Phypers, Rob Potter, Len Silvester, Kevin Sproule, Paul Rachwal, Richard Shute Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened companies whose products and services might be of interest to our readers. If you prefer to have your name removed from this list, please write to us at the address above and include your mailing label.

PRN acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Magazine Fund toward our editorial costs.

Phone: (416) 922-7223 Fax: (416) 922-8001 Toll Free: 1-800-667-7223 Email: editor@prnmag.com Website: www.prnmag.com www.prnmag.com â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Performance Racing News

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LETTERS Schuey rules! Why is everyone always out to get Michael Schumacher? He’s the best driver in the world by a long shot, yet any time something unusual happens he gets hammered by the media (PRN July 2006). Sure, he’s pulled a stunt here or there, but that’s part of the gamesmanship of racing. Everyone seems to love Ayrton Senna and he did worse things than Michael. Lay off Schumacher, and give him the benefit of the doubt. Seven World Championships should be enough to quiet his critics. And number eight is on its way! Gilles Mercier Montreal, QC

It’s a woman’s sport I just like to thank you for featuring so many women drivers in your latest issue (July 2006). So many times women are treated like novelties in this testosterone filled sport and it’s nice to see someone show an appreciation for all these women have accomplished. Keep up the great work! Melissa Jennings Corpus Christie, TX

We want NASCAR I think it’s about time NASCAR decided to venture North of the Border for a race, even if it’s a Busch

Review some bikes I love reading the car reviews in each issue of PRN, but how about including some bike reviews as well? Maybe you can make the reviews revolving so us bike riders can get a preview of some of the new rides out there. You obviously have a big motorcycle fan base with all the coverage in each issue, don’t you think those fans might want to read about the street bikes too? Jim Simmons San Jose, CA

(Ed. Note: Good news Jim, get ready for a bike review in the next issue. This is a topic we have been discussing in the office and starting next month we are happy to add bike reviews to PRN. While not yet scheduled for each issue, we do plan to have several special bike reviews each year. Enjoy.)

IHRA at Grand Bend I just got back from the Mopar Canadian Nationals at Grand Bend all I can say is – what a great event! Every year the event gets better and better, props to the track and the IHRA for putting on such a great show. I couldn’t believe how many people were there and I hope the event at Toronto Motorsports Park is just as good. I also want to thank the IHRA for making such a commitment to Canada with three events. I think it’s made a huge difference in the drag racing up here and I hope everyone goes out an supports the series the way it has supported racing in Canada. Richard Wittmer Ingersoll,ON

Have you got something to say? Let us know what you think about the magazine or motorsports in general by emailing editor@prnmag.com. PRN reserves the right to edit letters for brevity.

“This one’s going to be tough to write-up. Both guys just took off after the accident, do we charge them both with hit-and-run?”

Photos by Steve Etherington/LAT

PIC OF THE MONTH

Series event. Canadian fans have been faithful NASCAR followers and it is the number one rated racing program in the country. If you’re a NASCAR fan make sure you go to Montreal next year so we can show the big wigs from Daytona how much Canadians love stock cars. If we do that, maybe they’ll be impressed enough to bring the Nextel Cup cars here down the road. Mitch Stevens London, ON

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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).3)$% 2!#).' Todd Lewis

Mid-season thoughts

Photo by Charles Coates/LAT

After yet another DNF in Montreal, Canada’s favourite son Jacques Villeneuve is talking NASCAR in 2007 – or is someone just trying to get people talking since he has no contract for ’07?

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

Photo by Mike Levitt/LAT

he annual Formula One visit to Montreal was as spectacular as ever. Enormous and enthusiastic crowds, an exciting race and the annual taste of heartbreak for Jacques Villeneuve were just the tip of the iceberg. I really sensed the disappointment and frustration in Villeneuve’s body language and voice after his seventh DNF in Canada. Oh, and what’s this about Jacques suggesting NASCAR is a viable option for 2007? Sounds like somebody who’s trying to focus some attention on his contract status. Villeneuve in NASCAR — not going to happen. See Paul Tracy. Yes, he is running select events, but if nobody was willing to give Tracy a chance then why will they be calling Jacques? Other notes from Montreal: as of this moment the deal to bring a NASCAR Busch series event to Ile Notre-Dame has not been signed as there are a few details to work out. It will be confirmed in the coming days, with an official announcement hopefully before the end of July. This will officially signal the end of Champ Cars at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Other locations are already being explored. The World Cup of soccer is just one of the reasons why the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto takes a bit of a nose dive this year. The final game overlapped this year’s race but that’s not the only problem. Where were the grandstands? Where was the advertising

The move to Forsythe has definitely worked well for AJ Allmendinger as the young American won his first three races with his new team

and promotion? There was absolutely no buzz in the city about this event. With Molson no longer willing to drop millions of dollars into the race, Champ Car purchased and took over the running of the race and the new management team really missed the mark. Wonder if they’re hoping to muddle along until the two open wheeled series merge together and figure things will work themselves out. I am happy that the Champ Car game of musical chairs has worked out for AJ Allmendinger. He put up three wins after the shift to Forsythe and once again there is at least a bit of a championship fight. When I think of the CASCAR Super Series I’m reminded of the Robert DeNiro commercial for American Express where he’s talking about New York City — “My joy, my heartbreak.” It’s been a pleasure for many years to be associated with the people who have given their heart and soul and sweat to the series for so long. I could talk for hours about wonderful personal memories. Like many though, I’m puzzled and have questions about the future and have tried to be patient awaiting answers. I’m not sure how many involved will be left when they do finally arrive. NASCAR has let it be known they will look to tweak the Chase for the Championship point structure for next season. Despite their claims, I guess they didn’t get it right when they came up with this idea a few seasons ago. As I see it the problem is still the same. One driver can still take a title by finishing consistently and not having won a significant number of races. The current points awarded already give due credit to those that perform consistently well throughout the season. Here’s the solution. Add a big bonus for the winner, problem solved. Eliminate the stupid chase. I know it doesn’t have a playoff the way traditional stick and ball sports do, but as we all know and love, it’s not a traditional sport. Why would you push it in that direction?

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Is Gordon complacent? Missing the Chase in 2005 and not winning the Championship since 2001 has caused Jeff Gordonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s detractors to claim he has grown complacent in his career. NASCAR Correspondent Monte Dutton debunks this theory as he examines the changes in the four-time Champ since his remarkable run in the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;90s.

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Photo by LAT Photographic Jeff Gordon 18.04.indd 3

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Is Gordon complacent?

eff Gordon won only two of the current season’s first 22 Nextel Cup races. He hasn’t won a championship since 2001. Some of his detractors – a group that has never been hard to find – have begun to hint rather broadly that the four-time NASCAR champion has grown a bit complacent at age 35. Gordon achieved more through the age of 30 than any stock car racer. Ever. His place among the sport’s all-time greats is secure. While he hasn’t been able to duplicate the astonishing success of the 1990s – he won 47 races and three championships in a five-year span – no one else has approached that incredible string, either. But it’s not like the 2000s have been so bad. Since the century turned, Gordon has won at least three races in every season and added another championship. In the years 2000-05, Gordon won 24 times. Over that period, Tony Stewart won 21 races, Jimmie Johnson 18, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 16, Kurt Busch 14, Ryan Newman 12 and Dale Jarrett 10. Johnson, Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, is the only driver to have won more races than Gordon since 2002. The only measure by which Gordon’s recent performance can be deemed disappointing is his own. Even in 2005, the most disappointing year of his career, Gordon won four races. Only Greg Biffle and Stewart won more. Gordon never gloated when his mastery was unchallenged, and he doesn’t complain now that

Photo by LAT Photographic

On a day-to-day-basis I’m not competitive. I’m not aggressive. Flip that switch and all of a sudden, you’re in a moment… there’s just a certain thing inside me where, boom, I become competitive.

others have joined him at the summit. “You’re always searching for more,” he says. “That’s what it is more than anything else. I think when you’re 17th — when you run 17th week in and week out, then your goal is to get to 16th. Then your goal is to get to 15th. It’s still very competitive, no matter what level you’re at in the ﬁeld. “For us, we’re constantly being challenged. You have new challenges or ones that have been there for a while. You always strive for more. It doesn’t matter if you win 10 races. You want to win 11. If you haven’t won any races, you want to win one.”

REGAINING THE EDGE

Gordon isn’t complacent. He’s at the peak of his skills as a racer. He’s just struggling to regain the edge. What separates him from teammate Johnson, Stewart, Kasey Kahne and perhaps a few others is just a little intangible something. He and crew chief Steve Letarte are well matched, but they haven’t yet managed to separate themselves from the pack yapping at the heels of the leaders. Letarte holds down a high-pressure job with grace and assurance. He and Gordon have been together since the early years of Gordon’s phenomenal career, though it was only last fall that he succeeded Robbie Loomis as crew chief. Letarte understands what goes with the legendary territory that Gordon inhabits. “You’re never better than your last race,” Letarte says. “This sport is becoming more and more like football. I use football as an example. You win the

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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Danica Patrick, IndyCar Driver

More than a watch Founded in 1853, Tissot is proud to display the Swiss flag at the heart of its logo. The Tissot , representing Tradition, Technology, and Trend, combines with the Swiss flag and its central sign to reflect the Tissot philosophy of giving its customers MORE: the best materials– 316L stainless steel, titanium or 18K gold, scratchproof sapphire crystal, Swiss ETA manufacture movement and minimum water resistance to 30m / 100ft - in a watch that offers careful attention to details and “Gold value at silver price”. Danica Patrick, IndyCar driver, wears the T-Touch with an exclusive tactile glass and functions – compass, altimeter, barometer, thermometer, alarm, or chrono. “As a driver in the IRL, keeping track of time is a big part of my life – it’s what I race against and race for. Even when I’m not on the track, I keep track of time, and the first high-quality watch I ever bought was a Tissot. My familiarity with the brand makes this partnership feel natural”. MORE THAN A WATCH, the T-Touch combines an innovative timepiece with a precision instrument.

Tissot, Innovators by Tradition. www.tissot.ch

Is Gordon complacent?

You’re never better than your last race. This sport is becoming more and more like football… You win the Super Bowl, and the coach is the smartest guy in the world, then the next year they miss the playoffs, and they ﬁre the coach. – Steve Letarte, Crew Chief

Photo by Robert LeSieur/LAT

Super Bowl, and the coach is the smartest guy in the world, then the next year they miss the playoffs, and they fire the coach. “Jeff and I have this conversation all the time. The beauty of Jeff and me being good friends is that we have can talk about this. The only real things we have to worry about are the things we can control. Jeff, Mr. (Rick) Hendrick (owner), our sponsors DuPont and Pepsi... if we keep those people happy, then we feel we’re doing our job. You never can be on top of the game all the time. It works in cycles. You’ve just got to stay the course. What makes Hendrick a great place is a leader like Mr. Hendrick. He doesn’t jump to conclusions. He knows when to make a change, and he also knows when something just needs to work itself out. That makes a big difference in this sport.” One of Gordon’s great virtues is his ability to learn from every mistake. He benefited from both his marriage to Brooke Sealy and the messy divorce that ended it. The former Miss Winston taught Gordon an appreciation for the finer things in life, and he subsequently learned harsher lessons from having his name splashed across tabloid headlines as the marriage imploded. The Gordon who emerged – the one who recently announced his engagement to Belgian model Ingrid Vandebosch – is far more self-reliant. When NASCAR was relatively new to him – growing up in California and Indiana, his career goal was to race at Indianapolis, not Daytona – he was painfully shy and sometimes agonizingly predictable in interviews and press conferences. That, he now realizes, was a mistake. “Most people, really, don’t recognize the responsibility that comes along if you succeed,” Gordon says. “They can’t relate to the work that comes in order to compete at this level. You have to have sponsors. The fans are a crucial part of it, which makes television an important part of it, and the list goes on and on. You’re just kind of overwhelmed with that, especially if you have success early on. “It wasn’t that I was programmed. It was just that I had been taught, hey, you’ve got to get your sponsors in, that’s extremely important and there’s a list of things you have to say and do. Sometimes I wasn’t comfortable enough to know how to blend myself into that, or, I didn’t really think about myself being a part

Photo by LAT Photographic

Where are the signs of Gordon’s decline? He’s won twice through 22 races this year and has the most wins of any driver since the 2000 season started

of it. These are the things that you do. Now I think I’m looser and more comfortable, so I’m able to allow myself to enjoy it more. It allows me to come out more and just recognize how awesome the moment is and how cool it is to be standing there… I guess I come across now as far less... computerized.”

BEING HIMSELF

The world became accustomed to the “computerized” Gordon of the 1990s. Many complained about it then, and now, inexplicably, they hint darkly that he has lost his edge, which brings us to yet another lesson.

Gordon has learned not to care what other people think. “This is who I am,” says Gordon. “Accept me, or don’t accept me. Earlier in my career, I was looking for acceptance, so much that, I agree, I wasn’t being as true to myself as I could’ve been. You’ll never really please everybody. There are very few people at a young age capable of realizing that. “I was young and had a lot to learn about life, but I think I was concerned. I wanted to be so, kind of, perfect that I was too perfect. I thought this is how I need to be to make as many people happy as I possibly can. Sponsors, car owner, fans... everybody. It

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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Photo by F. Peirce Williams/LAT

Is Gordon complacent?

This is who I am. Accept me, or don’t accept me. Earlier in my career, I was looking for acceptance, so much that, I agree, I wasn’t being as true to myself as I could’ve been. You’ll never really please everybody.

LIFE IN A VACUUM

As he grew older, Gordon experienced the trials and errors that come with adulthood. Adulthood comes to very few in the same form that it greeted Gordon, but celebrities don’t live completely in a vacuum. The lessons of his life parallel, in a sense, those that everyone learns. Gordon now carries a perspective and a certain wisdom that he lacked during the formative years of his career. “I’ve learned a lot from Jeff,” says Johnson. “Then as time’s gone by, I think our friendship has reached the point where we can share some of the experiences, some of the lessons. At some level, I think I’ve been able to give back some of what I learned from him. That’s where I think you go from having a mentor to having a friend. I think, in that giving-back thing, we respect each other, we respect each other’s team and abilities and that dynamic has taken its own from there. “We kind of look at things the same way and have 26

a similar style. It’s been easy for me to listen and take his suggestions and adapt his outlook to my deal. It’s just kind of worked well.” People get typecast sometimes by the earliest recollections of their careers. In Gordon’s case, so many perceived him as painstakingly polite, modest and calculating that they failed to notice as his personality changed and evolved. “On a day-to-day-basis,” he admits, “I’m not competitive. I’m not aggressive. Flip that switch and all of a sudden, you’re in a moment, whether it’s playing

a different sport or driving down the highway, whatever, there’s just a certain thing inside me where, boom, I become competitive.” Behind that little boy’s voice and the mild-mannered image lurks the heart of a lion. Like all the greats, Gordon has a knack for claiming the territory that is in dispute. Off the track, he is mild-mannered. On the track, Gordon is as aggressive as anyone. “There are times to be aggressive and times not to be,” he says. “The secret is determining the difference.”

We kind of look at things the same way and have a similar style. It’s been easy for me to listen and take his suggestions and adapt his outlook to my deal. It’s just kind of worked well. -Jimmie Johnson, Gordon’s teammate

Photo by LAT Photographic

wasn’t about not wanting to be myself. I was trying to stick to kind of a plan and not really give and divulge too much about myself because I thought, then, you open yourself up to more criticism. It was actually the opposite, in my opinion. I should have been more open, a little bit looser with that and not been so regimented in what I did.” Early in Gordon’s career, even before he left the short tracks of the Midwest, Gordon relied on the guidance of his stepfather, John Bickford, and the late broadcaster, Larry Nuber, for career guidance. “All I cared about was winning races,” Gordon says. “I just wanted to get out there and drive and win races. I don’t know where it happened, but I do know that when they said, ‘hey, we need to get on TV to get your name and face out there more and be able to get to that next level,’ I let them call the shots. “I left the decisions to them. I followed their lead in a lot of ways and tried to do my thing on the race track.”

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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Tweaking the chase

With changes coming to the Chase in 2007, current points leader Jimmie Johnson thinks the rules should benefit the leader; according to his plan last year the Chase would have had only 4 drivers instead of 10 – unfortunately for Johnson, NASCAR is looking to expand, not contract the potential Chase particpants

ore changes? Haven’t we had enough? Brian France, chairman of NASCAR, said on June 29 that it’s time to “tweak” the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He wants even more excitement in the 10 season-ending races that determine the champion. “What I’ve always said about the Chase was that we needed a few years under our belt to see how it evolved, to change the strategy, see how the actual formula that we have, see how it really works,” said France, “and now that we’re in our third year, starting to get that sense, and my view is, we will make some adjustments going into 2007.” It’s not enough that, at press time, Jimmie Johnson held an edge of 453 points over the 10th-place driver, and that such a huge advantage, whatever it is after the Sept. 9 race in Richmond, VA, would be reduced to 45 for NASCAR’s version of a postseason. Johnson, told France wanted to change the system, initially reacted hopefully. “The Chase has done great things for our sport,” said Johnson. “There is no doubt about it.” Johnson expressed the futile hope that fairness might be a factor in realignment. He should’ve known better. “If I am in the situation to have a nice point lead going into the Chase, I think that’s one part of the Chase that could be adjusted and made a little bit better,” said Johnson. “In my own mind, I also think that making it within 400 points of the leader, and not really worrying about 10 cars being in it, would be fairer to the teams that have had a great season for the first 26 races.” With nine races remaining in the regular season, Johnson’s proposal would’ve created a Chase with seven drivers, as that point, instead of 10. Undoubtedly, assuming leaders Johnson and Matt Kenseth continue to do well, that number will be smaller by the end of the Richmond race. Last year there would’ve been four at the end of the first 26 races.

56 28

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

What France has in mind is a larger Chase, not a smaller one. He wants a system that would lessen the possibility of glaring omissions, such as in 2005, when Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. failed to make the race-offs. The way France phrased it was, “Is 10 the number? Is 12 the number?… It would be nice to see... some wild-card teams jump in.” What’s more, NASCAR officials are likely going to come up with a new format to award points once the inflated Chase field is set. They’re likely going to separate the Chase competitors — however many dozens there are — into their own class and design it so that no one can lose as much ground. Maybe Johnson will win five times, and Denny Hamlin will finish last five times, and in the sixth race, they’ll be, oh, five points apart. The winner will get five points, and everyone else will get four. Think this is exaggerated? Sure it is. Not even France would concoct a system so preposterous. What’s more likely to happen is an awarding of points, for drivers in the Chase, based on their finishes in relation to one another. Let’s use last year’s results as an example. In the first Chase race of 2005 — Loudon, NH, on Sept. 18 — Ryan Newman won it and received 185 points. Kurt Busch finished 35th and received 58 points. If the basics of the present points system were maintained, but points were awarded on the basis of relative position, Busch would’ve received 139 points. As a result, he would’ve dropped 46 points to Newman instead of 127. If France can merely create a parody of the present system — heretofore a parody in itself — he and his new television partners will exchange knowing glances and try not to giggle.“What I’ve always said about the Chase was that we needed a few years under our belt to see how it evolved… and now that we’re in our third year, starting to get that sense, and my view is, we will make some adjustments going into 2007.”

What I’ve always said about the Chase was that we needed a few years under our belt to see how it evolved… and now that we’re in our third year, starting to get that sense, and my view is, we will make some adjustments going into 2007.

CRC - SensorKlean 18.04.indd 1

8/14/06 9:30:46 AM

6)%7 &2/- 4(% 4/7%2 with George Webster

While NASCAR has made some strong changes to improve safety, there are still areas of concern; Alex Zanardi’s life was saved because of the full-time safety crew in Champ Car, would the same have held true if it happened at a NASCAR event?

How is it that a car must meet stringent safety requirements to be allowed to start the race, yet is allowed to go back out after a crash has seriously compromised the car’s integrity? If a car suffers major damage it should be retired.

ASCAR has always claimed that safety is its first priority. But the reality is that, until recently, safety considerations were almost absent from the NASCAR culture. Drivers or other insiders who made appeals for new safety measures soon got the message that this was not the NASCAR way, “Maybe you don’t want to race in NASCAR...” In the wake of the Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin deaths in 2000 and the subsequent talk of the need to “do something”, Dale Earnhardt called an impromptu press conference and opined that these “candyassed” drivers should shut up and drive. I wrote a column that listed several examples of NASCAR practice that made a mockery of their claim that safety was its number one priority. No doubt, as NASCAR moved into the mainstream of popular consciousness, more attention to safety would have become part of their culture sooner or later, but Dale Earnhardt’s death at Daytona in February, 2001, got things rolling — slowly at first, but the momentum soon built up. Keep in mind that most of these safety measures adopted by NASCAR had been in place in most of the other major series for some time before NASCAR saw the light. Indeed, one cannot help thinking that it was a “not invented here” aversion to adopting others’ ideas that made NASCAR so slow to adopt some obvious safety measures. In addition, NASCAR fans have tended to condemn safety measures that they thought took away from the excitement of the racing competition — or the drivers’ rights to expose themselves to danger. In the main, fans do not support the use of restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega; would they prefer that the cars go 250 mph and fly into the stands creating carnage? Remember the opposition to the pit lane speed limits that were brought in after the fatality to one of Bill Elliot’s crewmen in Atlanta in November 1990? And, remember that NASCAR did not mandate the use of the HANS device after Earnhardt’s death un30

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

til long after yet another (ARCA) driver was killed in the spring of 2001. Even then they approved both the HANS device and the near-useless bunch-of-straps Hutchens device at first. NASCAR has introduced and encouraged the development of several effective safety measures since then. Some of the more important ones include: • Elimination of “racing back to the yellow” • Development of the SAFER barrier system, an effective soft wall system which greatly reduces the force of impact on a driver • Creation of a large research-and-development centre in Charlotte which, as part of its mandate, studies ways to improve safety. • Adoption of electronic “black boxes” to record crash impact data for future study and the development of better safety systems • Mandatory use of head-and-neck restraint devices such as the HANS device • Major improvements in the driver seats and the restraint system in the cockpit of the car • Carbon monoxide filters for drivers • Drivers now wear proper safety equipment including racing shoes and gloves • Pit crew members now wear clothing, gloves, shoes that provide protection – even from gasoline spills • The Car of Tomorrow which has, as part of its design objective, providing more crash protection for a driver. Getting rid of racing back to the yellow allows emergency crews to rollout much faster and get to the scene of the crash in seconds instead of minutes. It also resulted in some other changes. The “lucky dog” provision which lets the first driver a lap down get back on the lead lap and the adoption of the “greenwhite-checker” overtime race finish have their critics but both of these unexpected consequences have produced more interesting racing.

Photo by Michael Cooper/LAT

Photo by Robert LeSieur/LAT

Culture of Safety

The Car of Tomorrow, which debuts on a partschedule basis in 2007 may be an ugly ducking, it may not deliver the improvements in racing behaviour hoped for, and it may not produce the cost-savings claimed by NASCAR — but it does look like the extra size will give a bigger crush area to protect the driver in a crash. And that’s a good thing. So, am I happy yet? Well, there still some things on my must do list I think NASCAR should attend to. Like Champ Car or the IRL, NASCAR should have a dedicated team of safety/medical personnel and equipment that goes to every race and provides consistent, race experienced emergency trauma care. This is the system that saved Alex Zanardi’s life when he lost his legs at Lausitzring. Even under NASCAR’s current regime, he would have been dead before they got there — and it is unlikely that they would have had the specific expertise to deal with this extraordinary trauma even if they had gotten there instantly. How is it that a car must meet stringent safety requirements to be allowed to start the race, yet is allowed to go back out after a crash has seriously compromised the car’s integrity? If a car suffers major damage it should be retired. The points system should be changed to remove the incentive for a wrecked car to go back out and cruise around in search of championship points. There is an answer to restrictor plates. Other series have eliminated or reconfigured race tracks that became too fast for modern race cars. Instead of making the car owners spend millions on restrictor-plate engine development, the France family (owners of both NASCAR and the ISC) need to deal with the real problem — both Daytona and Talladega, in their current configurations, are too fast. Thankfully NASCAR has made safety an important part of its culture. And let’s hope that this newfound safety culture keeps them looking for ways to make the racing safer without making it boring.

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Stewart reigns over

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Stewart led the most laps in his Home Depot Chevrolet and was in control throughout and he continued his fence climbing routine once again. “This team needed this,” Stewart said. “We had two rough weeks the last couple weeks with Michigan and Sonoma. It’s nice to finish this one off here.” As dominant as Stewart was, he had to pull out the victory in the final laps, as an otherwise quiet race suddenly got wild at the end. Until the final 12 laps, the 43 drivers were restrained throughout the event, hoping to avoid the carnage that marred the Daytona 500 in February. But on Lap 148 of the 160lap race, Jimmie Johnson got loose in Turn 3, sliding into Bobby Labonte, knocking him into the wall and out of the race. The yellow provided the window for teams to put on fresh tires and fill up their fuel tanks for the final run. The only two not pit were Said and Casey Mears, who needed the track position after sitting back in the field. Said, now in the lead, had plenty of pursuers off the restart but two laps later Greg Biffle got loose and was collected by JJ Yeley. The incident also took out Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin. That set up another restart with just three laps to go. Said briefly sped away, but Stewart easily caught up and got past Said at the end of Lap 158.

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

Photos by LAT Photographic

Tony Stewart won the Pepsi 400 for the second straight year by holding off late charges from Kyle and Kurt Busch and, in one of the more surprising results in recent times, Boris Said.

Tony Stewart was climbing the fences in Daytona for the second straight year as he held off a charging Kyle Busch at the checkered flag for the Pepsi 400

STOCK cars Stewart reigns over Daytona Meanwhile, the Busch brothers began to mount a charge to gang up on Stewart on the final lap. “We just didn’t have a good enough run on him there,” Kyle said. “Kurt was pushing me from behind but just couldn’t ever get a strong enough run on him to complete the pass.” But the Busch brothers were thwarted by the lastlap caution flag. Shortly after Stewart took the white flag, a tire was spotted on the track and the field was frozen. Because Stewart had taken the white flag, there was no green-white-checker finish. Instead, he cruised to victory under yellow, ahead of Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Said and Matt Kenseth. “I don’t know why I do half of the stupid stuff I do after a race, to be honest,” Stewart laughed after nearly being swallowed up a grandstand of rabid fans after climbing the fence. “I really felt good after the race until I got stupid and went up the flag stand again. There was no way I was going to let those race fans down tonight. It started here… and I either was going to get all the way up and fall off and fall on my butt, but I wasn’t going to stop until I got all the way up or fell off, one or the other. I wasn’t going to let those race fans down. They expected it tonight.” Said gave it his best shot, but nevertheless was the story of the race. “I’m speechless,” Said enthused after his remarkable run. “It’s like a win. It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever accomplished in racing. I can’t believe it happened.”

Boris Said was the story of the race as the road racing ace took the pole for the Pepsi 400 and led late in the race, however he couldn’t hold off the late surge of Stewart and the Busch brothers and settled for fourth, his best oval finish in NASCAR

Mark Martin was resigned to a DNF after being collected in an incident during the crazy finish of the Pepsi 400

Using the Shamu paint scheme for inspiration, Jimmie Johnson was in contention until he was forced out of the race after being collected in an accident that happened right in front of him

Jeff Gordon ran in the top 10 all night at Daytona but he was an innocent victim late in the race and his Superman car was relegated to a 40thplace finish. www.prnmag.com – Performance Racing News

/. 4(% #(2/-% WITH JAMIE MAUDSLEY

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THE OTHER FITZPATRICK SHOE

J.R.’s boys with the air guns have also been pitching in, “We have a bunch of young guys and we practice a lot. It showed at Barrie when we came in fifth and came out second on our stop.” As for pressure, and the possible showdown between teacher and pupil as the season winds down, Fitzpatrick is trying to keep an even keel, “We’re just taking it one race at a time, and we’ll see if we can’t win another one this season.”

THE PASS IN THE GRASS

Kerry Micks explained his pass of Peter Gibbons at Mosport that allowed the Mt. Albert, ON driver to win his second consecutive road course event. “They gave us a note in the drivers meeting that there was a red line in Turn 10 where the restart would happen. I tried to find the line under yellow, but I couldn’t find it, so I just took off. I saw it later under yellow, and didn’t realize how far towards the start/finish line it was.” He then shrugged his shoulders and added with a grin, “I guess I got away with one.” The early season success has also made Micks re-

think his decision to race the entire schedule. “We’re much closer now, and we’re going west,” explained Micks. “Trailers by Jim Bray, Two-Tyme Recycling, and Canadian Detailing Services have all came on board this year to help us out, and we’ll see where we stand when we get back from the west.”

STE. EUSTACHE RAINOUT

The June 10 event at Autodrome Ste. Eustache was called early on account of rain. It has been rescheduled to Sept. 9.

MOLSON INDY MONTREAL WELCOMES CASCAR

The Super Series will stage round number nine in the championship on the famous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. It will be the second time during the year that a CASCAR race will be a support event for the Champ Car Series, as CASCAR will also support the Grand Prix of Edmonton. It will also be the first of two visits to the Montrealarea for the Series this season, as they will return to Ste. Eustache a few weeks later.

Photos by Ramesh Bayney

f someone claimed that a Fitzpatrick Motorsports driver would be leading the points following three events this season, no one would have been shocked. The fact that it’s not Don Thomson Jr., but rather J.R. Fitzpatrick is shocking. The 18-year-old driver, who secured backing from Milwaukee Electric Tools at the start of the year, began the season with a third-place finish in the opener, then followed that with a pole winning effort and a number of laps led at Mosport International Raceway. In event number three it all came together for the youngster as he notched his first career victory in the Series. “I would have told you that you were crazy,” J.R. said if someone had suggested he would be leading the points at this time of the year. “I was looking at the top-ten for sure.” As for his secrets for getting to the top of the championship ladder, Fitzpatrick credits patience, pit stop practice, and crew chief Ted McAllistor. “I have a lot patience this season. We were also able to run a Super Late Model this winter in Florida, and Ted and I communicate so much better now after that.”

Young JR Fitzpatrick hoped to be in the top 10 this year, but after three races he is surprising even himself as JR sits atop the points standings as the series heads West 34

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

On The Chrome Horn 18.04.indd 2

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A big win at Mosport has Kerry Micks re-thinking his race schedule for the 2006 season as new sponsorship has enabled him to travel West as he sits third in points

CAYUGA SPEEDWAY SOLD

For the past several years the ‘Crown Jewel of Canadian Motorsports’, the 5/8-mile Cayuga 2000 Speedway has been battling weather, local council, and a deteriorating facility. Recently, new life was injected into the track as a consortium of partners invested in the Hamilton area tracks’ future. The Golden Horseshoe group purchased the track and plan on running one event in 2006, a CASCAR Sportsman-Super Series doubleheader weekend on Labour Day. Following that event the track will be tore up, and replaced with a new state-of-the-art track, somewhere in the .75- to .9mile range. Baskervill Motorsports Design, one of North America’s premier track designers and builders will be working on the track, along with Cooper Construction of Oakville, ON, will start construction of this exciting project in September after the Labour Day event.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

ficials have already started to look at camping alternatives for 2007. I stayed across highway 11 at Oro Campground for $45, and only had to endure a very short commute to the track. Smallest car count at a CASCAR Sportsman event last season: 21… Car count at 2006 Mosport Sportsman event: 13… Car count at 2006 Barrie Sportsman event: 12… Reason most cited for 10 or so teams parking their cars – the money required to update all safety equipment in every car, on every driver, and on every crew member (despite the fact that no fueling needs to be done on pit stops), other than to meet NASCAR’s touring division safety regulations… Amount of drivers that either raced or could race in the Sportsman Series who will compete in a NASCAR touring race this season: 0… Bottom line, teams must meet NASCAR safety standards, though NASCAR doesn’t have a series in Canada, and it’s put a number of teams on the shelf when cars are needed.

One look at the points after three rounds has some surprises; while Kerry Micks (l.) is in the thick of the title chase as usual, DJ Kennington (mid.) and Don Thomson Jr. (r.) are out of the top 10

Drivers in the top-five after the first three races of the season are Scott Steckly, J.R. Fitzpatrick, and Doug Brown… Drivers out of the top-five after the first three races of the season are Peter Gibbons, D.J. Kennington, and Don Thomson Jr.… The Grand Prix of Montreal, Cayuga, Ste. Eustache, and Kawartha will test the teams, as they run four straight weekends to close the season and crown a champion… Four road course races this year seems like an awful lot… Note to J.R. Fitzpatrick’s crew – when your driver stage dives off his car, you have to catch him… Some trackside camping prices (two nights, two cars, four adults and tents – no hook-ups). Talladega (Nextel Cup) – free. Kawartha (CASCAR) – free. Mosport International Raceway - $30. Mosport oval – free. Toronto Motorsports Park (IHRA) - $60. Martinsville (Nextel Cup) - $80. Campground located next to Barrie Speedway - $120… Barrie Speedway of-

Cayuga International Speedway Vice-President Dean Rose (r.) shows off the layout for the new look of the Speedway with the designer Mark Lindsay (l.) of Baskervill Motorsports Design

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

On The Chrome Horn 18.04.indd 4

8/14/06 2:52:33 PM

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PRESENTS

THE 2006 CASCAR SUPER SERIES

Fitzpatrick takes

points lead

With a daring pass on a late restart Kerry Micks took a big win Mosport Photos by Ramesh Bayney

MOSPORT CASCAR Super Series veteran Kerry Micks won the Clarington 200 presented by Canadian Shield Anti Crime Response Corporation at Mosport International Raceway. The #02 Trailers by Jim Bray-sponsored Ford Taurus driver took the lead on lap 32 with a daring pass on leader Peter Gibbons as the field came up to speed for a re-start. Once out front, the Mt. Albert, ON resident ran with the lead all the way to the checkered flag. Second-place went to Jeff Lapcevich in the Tim Hortons/EMCEA Transport Chevy after a superb pass on Scott Steckly on the final lap. Steckly was third. Polesitter J.R. Fitzpatrick set the fastest lap for the second outing in a row. The Milwaukee Tools Chevy Monte Carlo driver led from laps 14 to 20, but fell to seventh at the end. Veteran racer Jim Lapcevich passed Dave Whitlock on the final lap to secure fourth.

David Whitlock gave himself a little 40th birthday present at Barrie as he took third on the podium

Jeff Lapcevich stalked Scott Steckly in the closing stages at Mosport and finally made his move on the final lap to steal third away from the winner of the season opener

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

JR Fitzpatrick patiently waited for the leaders to make a mistake and pounced in the closing stages to win his first CASCAR race at Barrie on Canada Day, while Ron Beauchamp Jr. had a little adventure on his way to the runner-up spot

BARRIE It was only a matter of time before J.R. Fitzpatrick would win his first CASCAR Super Series race and at Barrie Speedway, the talented youngster guided his #84 Milwaukee Tools Chevy to victory in the MOPAR Canada Day 300 presented by the Dodge Dealers of Ontario. The Ayr, ON resident lined up fourth on the grid and cruised comfortably for most of the race before being the beneficiary of some late-race chaos that eliminated the three drivers in front of him within the final five laps of 300-lap race. During a late-race restart, on lap 295, Fitzpatrick’s teammate Don Thomson Jr. was in the lead, in front of DJ Kennington and Mark Dilley. Moments after taking the green, Kennington got into the back of Thomson, sending him sideways and into the wall on the backstraight of the 1/3-mile tri-oval speedway. Thomson was done for the day. And so, it turned out,

was Kennington, who was black-flagged by CASCAR officials for causing the incident. That left Dilley in the lead, in front of Fitzpatrick and Ron Beauchamp Jr. Moments later, Dilley’s Dodge-sponsored Charger was pushed high into the second groove, opening the way for Fitzpatrick to jump into the lead with just two laps to go. From there, he maintained his position in front and came home less than one second in front of Beauchamp. Three-time Super Series champ Dave Whitlock celebrated his 40th birthday in style by finishing third. In addition to Thomson, who was scored in 10thplace in the final results, several other championship front-runners had difficulty at Barrie. Former points leader Kerry Micks had transmission woes and finished 20th. Peter Gibbons was involved in a crash that sidelined his Canadian Tire Chevy on lap 151; leaving him in 18th-place at the end.

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By DAN KNUTSON I F1 CORRESPONDENT Photos by GERRY FRECHETTE

Photo by Steven Tee/LAT

ernando Alonso won in Canada but Renault did not completely crush the opposition. Kimi Raikkonen showed a fast pace early in the race in his McLaren Mercedes, and Michael Schumacher ended up finishing second in his Ferrari. Ferrari came to Montreal with an updated chassis and engine that had been promising in testing, and the team genuinely believes that it can close the gap on Alonso. Raikkonen says his championship hopes are over, but Ferrari and Schumacher still think that they can have a second half of the season that matches the first half Alonso had. But that was not the case in Canada. “Today was about damage limitation,” Schumacher said. “Second place is the best we could do in a race that was already complicated by my grid position (fifth) and was made even harder by what was definitely a far from perfect start, which forced me to be stuck behind (Jarno) Trulli for many laps.” Pole sitter Alonso led all but a handful of laps during the two rounds of pit stops. But for one slide, he had no problems on his way to his sixth win of the season and his fourth victory in a row. McLaren continues to have assorted woes that compromise its chances of winning. Raikkonen was quick in the first stint of the race, but a clutch problem meant that both pit stops ran too long. At the first stop the mechanic could not get the safety clip inserted because the right rear wheel was spinning. And then Raikkonen stalled on the second stop. Finally, a mistake at the slippery hairpin cost Raikkonen second place with two laps to go. Raikkonen was not alone. Many a driver, including both Schumachers and Jacques Villeneuve (who

Michael Schumacher showed up with a new Ferrari in Montreal but a ﬁfth-place qualifying effort left him playing catch-up and the 7-time winner in Montreal settled for second

McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen appeared to have second wrapped up until a spin with two laps remaining relegated him to third

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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Jacques Villeneuve continued his struggles on the circuit named for his father as he hit the wall late in the race while running in the points

Felipe Massa is pushing to make an impression in what appears to be his only year at Ferrari and it paid off in Montreal with a ﬁfth-place ﬁnish

David Coulthard continues to take the Red Bull car up the grid as he took home points from his eighth-place ﬁnish

Jarno Trulli got off to a good start in Canada as he held off Michael Schumacher in the early stages, but the Toyota could not keep pace and he fell to sixth at the ﬁnish

crashed his BMW Sauber while heading for a finish in the points) fell victim to the slick conditions. “After about 30 laps, actually before that, the track fell apart,” Schumacher said. “The asphalt got loose and more and more dust, dirt, asphalt and tires came flying. I was behind Kimi and I had stones coming towards me. When you got offline it was like driving on ice. I had a lot of trouble, plus having the tires dirty and the (dirty) straights, meant that you could not clean them.” The opposition needs Renault to have problems rather than having the troubles themselves. How do you turn around the season against the near perfect combination of Alonso and Renault that are so faultless and reliable? “We have to hope that Alonso will not finish a few races,” Ferrari’s technical director Ross Brawn said, “so it is a very difficult challenge. I am not disguising that, but what to we do? We have to try.” Schumacher did not believe that two events in North America were ‘make or break races’ for his championship hopes. “If I would be leading with the points that Fernando is leading with, I would say until it’s mathematically finished, the championship is not finished,” he said. “And the other way around, where I am, I see it exactly the same way.” www.prnmag.com – Performance Racing News

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Michelin at

Montreal Story and photos by GERRY FRECHETTE I SENIOR WRITER

he Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal in June is one of the biggest motorsport “happenings” in North America, and it’s all because of the atmosphere in the city the whole week of the event. A big part of that are all the crowd-friendly events in the downtown core, and one of the must-see scenes is the Street Festival on Crescent Street. Already one of the prime “party streets” in town, when two blocks of it are closed to trafﬁc for F1 week the action goes all day (and night) long. Of course, where there are lots of people, there will be lots of companies showing off their products, and Crescent Street is no different, with several event sponsors on hand with promotions. One of them is Michelin, and the tire company had two large booths on the street that were jammed even on the Thursday of race week. Silvia Mammone was in charge of things for Michelin, and she took a few minutes to tell us what they had going on, as we stood beneath a giant, 20foot-tall tire from an earth-mover. “We’ve always had some sort of booth here on Crescent St., and this is the ﬁrst year that we have been actually able to display all our tires from every segment,” she explained, surrounded by all manner of circular rubber things. “It is an F1 environment, but we thought it would be a great opportunity to showcase all of the different tires that we manufacture, because the average consumer doesn’t know all the tires that we produce.

They just concentrate on the particular type of tire they use, typically a passenger car tire. We thought it was a great venue to show our innovative products.” One of them, of course, was the “Tweel” tire that is a total departure from any other tire design, in that it is not pneumatic technology. The heart of Tweel innovation is its deceptively simple-looking hub-andspoke design that replaces the need for air pressure while delivering performance previously only available from pneumatic tires. The flexible spokes are fused with a flexible wheel that deforms to absorb shock and rebound with unimaginable ease. Without the air needed by conventional tires, Tweel still delivers pneumatic-like performance in weight-carrying capacity, ride comfort, and the ability to “envelope” road hazards. A Formula One car was, of course, prominently displayed in the Michelin booth, and the crowds kept the staff hopping with questions. Just up the street was the Honda Michelin Pit Stop Challenge, and on that first day, both local sports and media personalities were trying it out, changing tires on an old Champ Car just like in pit lane at a race. With prizes to win and the competitive juices flowing, the race fans on Crescent Street were clamouring to sign up for the Challenge. As we left, the crowds were growing and Silvia and her crew looked set for a very busy weekend. With the kind of exposure the F1 weekend in Montreal provides, it had to have been worth the effort for Michelin.

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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puts on a show at Indy

Photo by Glenn Dunbar/LAT

Formula One was lambasted after the debacle that was the 2005 United States Grand Prix, but the fans returned and this year the stars shone in a very eventful race

Michael Schumacher won his fifth United States Grand Prix at this year’s event; becoming the first driver to ever win five races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

By Dan Knutson I F1 Correspondent

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Photo by Muriel Brousseau

ABOVE: The Renault team was dancing in the pits at Indianapolis; Giancarlo Fisichella used the energy to finish third while Fernando Alonso settled for fifth in the

BELOW: It was yet another short trip to North America for Jacques Villeneuve as he followed up his DNF in Montreal with a similar result at Indianapolis

Photo by Lorenzo Bellanca/LAT

hat a difference it was this year compared to last year’s event that left such a bitter taste in everybody’s mouth after the 14 cars on the unsafe Michelin tires pulled into the pits after the warm-up lap. The fact that only nine cars finished the 2006 United States Grand Prix is ironic when you consider that 22 started but so few made it to the checkered flag compared to last year when six cars started and six finished. It’s relevant but not the most important thing to come out of Indianapolis. The same goes for the fact that Michael Schumacher won the USGP for the fifth time. What was vital was: 1) there was a USGP at all this year following last year’s debacle; and 2) that F1 is going to return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2007. “We are pleased with the weekend’s events and today’s race,” Joie Chitwood, the president and chief operating officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway said after this year’s Grand Prix. “The size of the crowd today displays the great support F1 has here in the United States. We hope we can continue playing host to the fans and teams of the F1 community.” The seeds for Ferrari’s easy one-two sweep were sown in last year’s “race.” Michelin solved its tire problems and said it would take an aggressive approach to this year’s USGP. But there was simply no way that it could afford even the faintest hint of any sort of tire scandal. It had to take a slightly conservative approach. Ferrari and Bridgestone, meanwhile, had no such worries, plus they both had 73 laps of race data from last year’s Grand Prix that the Michelin teams did not. Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

8/14/06 4:50:08 PM

Photo by Muriel Brousseau/MRB Photo Photo by Muriel Brousseau Photo by Muriel Brousseau

ABOVE: Scott Speed was looking forward to racing in front of his home country fans as the first American to run F1 since 1993; unfortunately his day ended at the first corner as he got caught in the carnage

Photo by Muriel Brousseau

ABOVE: In what turned out to be his final F1 start, Juan Montoya was taken out in the first corner and then signed with Chip Ganassi to race NASCAR the following weekend

Felipe Massa helped Ferrari to a 1-2 finish as he chased his teammate home

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ABOVE: There were questions about how fans would react after the 2005 debacle, but aside from a few signs the spectators were on the edge of their seats all weekend long

Photo by Glenn Dunbar/LAT

Schumacher cruised to victory ahead of his teammate Felipe Massa. They led virtually all the way while Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella finished a distant third. “We definitely performed extremely well all weekend long,” Schumacher said. “We prepared ourselves very hard for these two overseas races. We knew we had a very good car in our hands. In Canada, for whatever reason, it just didn’t work out. Here, everything was just spot on, and to have Felipe alongside is just a dream result.” Ferrari has always done well at Indy with six wins in seven races. Renault never led a lap until this year, and that was only a single tour during the pit stops. Championship leader Fernando Alonso could only finish fifth in his Renault behind the Toyota of Jarno Trulli. A huge two-part accident just after the start wiped out the cars of Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen, Nick Heidfeld, Juan Montoya, Mark Webber, Scott Speed, Christian Klien and Franck Montagny. Jacques Villeneuve later retired from a top eight run with engine woes. After the race, the crowd cheered wildly instead of jeering like they did last year. “We have to be thankful to our fans coming here after… last year, still believing in us and supporting us the way they did this weekend,” Schumacher said.

Photo by Steven Tee/LAT

ABOVE: This Turn 1, Lap 1 pile-up took out a host of contenders

www.prnmag.com – Performance Racing News 101

8/14/06 4:51:33 PM

GETTING OFF THE

MARKS WITH DAN KNUTSON

Photo by LAT Photographic

Photo by Charles Coates/LAT

BREAKFAST WITH SIR JACKIE IN MONTREAL

An outspoken critic of Michael Schumacher’s tactics, Sir Jackie Stewart had lots to say in Montreal; of particular reference is how drivers go off the track nowadays where in his day that could have meant disaster to the car and driver

RN editor Neal Jones broke his wrist so that I could have breakfast with threetime World Champion Jackie Stewart. Talk about sacrifice! Actually, Neal did not do it on purpose, but he did injure his wrist prior to the Canadian Grand Prix where he and a small group of Canadian journalists had been invited to have breakfast with one of the greatest racing drivers of all time. As I work for PRN and come from south of the border, Jones asked if I could take his place. Stewart retired at the end of the 1973 season having won a then record 27 Grands Prix in 99 starts. He’s remained involved in racing ever since. After decades as a consultant to Ford, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is a sponsor of the Williams team, is one of his chief clients these days. I arrived at the Williams hospitality area set alongside the rowing canal behind the pits at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to find Jackie already tucking into his oatmeal topped with honey. The rest of us didn’t bother to eat as we were far too intrigued by what Jackie had to say. Stewart had been one of the outspoken critics of Michael Schumacher’s bonehead move in qualifying in Monaco when he blocked the track to try to protect his pole position. PRN covered the incident in the last

issue, but I was interested to hear more of Stewart’s view on the subject. What Schumacher did, I ventured, was not really dangerous in that particular slow corner, but it did call into question his integrity. “I don’t even think he thought of it as sporting,” Stewart said. “Everybody is out for the unfair advantage. Everybody. There is however an issue of integrity that you cannot step over. And Michael stepped over that. “Everybody knows that if you stop your car in the last three minutes and you are on the pole, you are going to disrupt the rest of qualifying. If he had just knocked off the front wing he would have got off with it. I didn’t mean to say that he would have been correct, but he would have got off with it.” Stewart said that despite his three world titles neither he nor any of his contemporaries took the win at all costs theme to the limits that Schumacher does. Ayrton Senna marked a pivotal point in the change of change of driver attitudes, and that was highlighted when he punted Alain Prost’s Ferrari off the track in the first turn in the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix and thus clinched the championship. “Where do you draw the line of all costs?” Stewart asked. “I have to say that Senna’s move on Prost in Japan was an example of just as serious as Michael’s

move on Damon.” He was referring to when Schumacher knocked Damon Hill out of the Australian Grand Prix to win the championship in 1994. He also mentioned Schumacher trying to take out Jacques Villeneuve in the 1997 European Grand Prix. “What Senna did in Japan was for me unacceptable,” Stewart recalled, “and I actually said it to him in an interview (at the following Grand Prix in) Australia. He blew his cork, and he swore that he would never talk to me in his life again because I did it on live TV. I said that I thought it looked treacherously close to being a deliberate incident. And he flatly denied it, but two years later he admitted that he had done it intentionally. “I could not ever have seen Graham Hill, Dan Gurney, Jim Clark, Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme or myself…I can’t think of another World Champion in my time that would have driven into a car in order to win the World Championship.” We all agreed that Schumacher is good enough to not have to resort to dirty tactics to win. “There is no question, he does not need to do that,” Stewart said. “And I would have thought by this time he knows he is good enough.” Stewart said that people could get away with more in his era because the TV and media coverage was so

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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GETTING OFF THE

MARKS

Photo by Muriel Brousseau

Photo by LAT Photographic

much less intense back then. But by the same token, drivers had to be so much more respectful of each other and the track because it was so much more dangerous than it is now. “People go off the road every weekend,” he said. “If you look at Michael Schumacher, the last year I think he went off the road, apart from Monaco, on every single weekend. Because there is space to go off the road. If you know you will not be hurt, you will try a wee bit harder, and by so doing to take the risk.” Stewart almost never went off the track. “Jim Clark hardly ever went off the road,” he said. “I bet I could count on one hand the number of times I went off the road in a F1 race in my entire career. Because if you went off the road you hit something. It was a grass bank that was more of a launching pad than a barrier. Or it was railway sleepers. Then it was Armco. There was not a huge runoff area.”

DISAGREEING WITH BERNIE

On a different subject, Bernie Ecclestone’s comments that the F1 did not need a Grand Prix in the U.S. were making the rounds in Montreal. “I disagree with that completely,” Stewart said. “There is not a single major car manufacturer — Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Honda, Toyota, take Renault out, but keep Ferrari — if they did not have the American market, they might be out of business. Not only that, but Philip Morris needs North America — Canada and the United States. So do Michelin, Bridgestone, Mobil, Shell, Vodafone, Lucky Strike, Johnny Walker, RBS, Citizen Bank.” Bernie was just being Bernie, of course, and trying to position himself for upcoming negotiations with Tony George on renewing Indianapolis’ contract for the USGP. Officials at Indy have said all along that they would only begin negotiating with Ecclestone after the 2006 race. They wanted to gauge the fans’ response to last

year’s mess. This year, from the moment the gates opened for the Thursday pit walkabout right through the end of the race, the fans showed that they were willing to forgive and forget. IMS does not release crowd figures, but ticket sales this year were on par with last year, which puts the race day attendance somewhere between 100,000 and 120,000. While many people in the US don’t have a clue what F1 is, those who attend the USGP (and this includes a large contingent from outside the country) are some of the most passionate and knowledgeable F1 fans in the world. There was a fear that they would not come back after last year, but that was not the case. “The people who may have been that disappointed (last year stayed) home,” Schumacher said. “The

people who come, they are still enthusiastic. They believe in what F1 can do. Last year was a single event and would be a shame if you measured (F1) to a single event.” Alonso agreed: “I think the fans are really enthusiastic about this year’s race.” The city of Indianapolis is certainly enthusiastic about the Grand Prix as it brings over US$100,000 million annually into the area. Stewart says that Indianapolis is the best home for the USGP. Everybody knows the word Indianapolis the whole world over,” he said. “You don’t have to sell it.” Breakfast with Stewart was indeed fascinating. Thanks, Neal!

Photo by LAT Photographic

Despite Bernie Ecclestone’s comments, Sir Jackie Stewart believes the US Grand Prix is important for F1; the backlash from 2005 was apparent in signage at Indianapolis (top), but the fans still bought tickets and filled the grandstands

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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BRINGS YOU

COVERAGE

OF THE 2006 F1 SEASON Montoya off to NASCAR, de la Rosa takes over

PRN: What was happened to Honda this season? Gil de Ferran: We have not progressed as well as the other teams, we have been falling behind. Early in the year, we were closer to the front. But the pace of progress in Formula One is incredible. There are new pieces after every race and we haven’t been keeping up. PRN: Speaking of early in the season – in Australia, Jenson Button’s engine blew just before the ﬁnish and the team told him to park the car rather than cross the ﬁnish line. That was, I assume, a split-second decision? GF: Yes, it was a split-second decision. We thought we would have a good chance to qualify near the front for the next race (at San Marino), so we wanted to avoid the penalty for changing the engine. We thought it would be a good track for the car and the chances for a good result would be high.

Photo by Gerry Frechette

PRN: Whose decision was that? GF: It was mine. It worked because Jenson qualiﬁed

second, but the race didn’t go well; he ﬁnished seventh. So, ultimately, it was a mistake. PRN: How are the drivers dealing with the disappointment of this season? GF: Both Jenson and Rubens (Barrichello) are working hard. Everyone is working hard to make the car more competitive. The good thing is we know the problem is not with the drivers. We have two top drivers who are very good at setting up the car and giving feedback. And we have (test driver) Anthony Davidson who is also very good. So the drivers are not the problem. PRN: Okay, a non-Honda question. Schumacher in qualifying at Monaco: your opinion? GF: (smiling) The person who knows most about what happened is Michael Schumacher. The people who know the most after him are the FIA. They made a decision based on the information they had. And I think they made the right decision. With the Honda F1 Racing Team having recently ousted Technical Director Geoff Willis, it seems that their fortunes won’t be taking a major upturn until 2007 at the earliest. Hopefully, they have the wisdom to keep de Ferran on side and motivated; he may be a nice guy, but his racing background suggests that he’s not too nice to succeed in the unforgiving world of Grand Prix racing.

Photo by LAT Photographic

The racing world was shocked recently when Chip Ganassi hosted a press conference at Chicagoland Speedway to announce the signing of Formula One star Juan Montoya to race in the Nextel Cup Series in 2007. The McLaren Mercedes driver had been looking for a contract in F1 next year, so the announcement came as quite a shock. Montoya and Ganassi teamed up for several years in Champ Car (including the 1999 Championship) before he switched over to Formula One. “Juan Pablo is one of the best race car drivers in the world,” Ganassi said. “He’s a former CART (now Champ Car) champion, Indy 500 winner and Formula 1 driver who will being a much-needed veteran presence to our team.” “I’ve known and worked with Chip for a number of years, and this situation could not be better for me,” Montoya said. “I know the transition will not be easy, but I can’t wait to get behind the wheel.” On the heels of the news, McLaren team boss Ron Dennis announced that as part of a mutual agreement, Montoya is leaving the team effective immediately. The result is that test driver Pedro de la Rosa will assume the controls of the No. 4 car for the remainder of the season, starting at the French Grand Prix on July 16. “Juan Pablo is an exciting driver and immensely likeable character who will undoubtedly make a successful transition to the NASCAR scene,” Dennis said. “We have agreed that with so many things happening in Juan Pablo’s life right now, he should take some time out of the car and prepare professionally and personally for the future.”

Juan Montoya shares a laugh with his former Champ Car team owner Chip Ganassi as the pair announced the Colombian’s signing to race in NASCAR Nextel Cup next year With the mutual end to Juan Montoya’s career at McLaren, Pedro de la Rosa has been promoted to the No. 4 car for the remainder of the season

Photo by LAT Photographic

By MARK HACKING n Formula One, there’s more spin off the track than on. Example: After again ﬁnishing with the slowest lap time in qualifying for the recent Canadian Grand Prix, a statement was issued by Franck Montagny, driver for the tail-end Super Aguri team: “We’re happy with today’s result.” As opposed to… what kind of result, exactly? That’s why Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director for the Honda Racing F1 Team, is such a refreshing character. He’s humble and forthright and truthful. His statements are not brash or overly-critical, just plain and straightforward. And he’s a company man, but not a ‘yes’ man. At Montreal, a small group of journalists had the distinct pleasure of breaking bread with de Ferran and talking racing. Well aware of their struggles this season, the initial questions danced around the elephant in room: namely, Honda’s inability to win a Grand Prix since their return to F1 in 2000. But the two-time Indy 500 winner’s honest responses paved the way for introducing more sensitive topics.

Photo by Steven Tee/LAT

De Ferran feels Honda’s pain

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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AJ completes

hat trick in Toronto

Photo by LAT Photographic

The new name didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t effect the excitement of the 21st running of the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto. AJ Allmendinger continued his hot streak since joining Forsythe Racing as he led teammate and hometown hero Paul Tracy across the line.

Performance Racing News â&#x20AC;&#x201C; www.prnmag.com

Photo by LAT Photographic

AJ completes hat trick in Toronto After being pushed aside by Tracy and then immediately passed by Alex Tagliani, Sebastien Bourdais buried the gas en route to making his way back to third at the checkers

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

f he new a change of scenery would mean this much you can bet AJ Allmendinger would have left RuSPORT Racing a long time ago. Since being dropped by the team, and then picked up by Forsythe Racing, the young American has not only won his first Champ Car race, he has now won his third straight race after the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto. While the event in Toronto went through some growing pains as the promotion went from Molstar Sports & Entertainment to Champ Car, the race itself provided its usual array of daring passes, foolish moves and all out speed that fans have come to expect when the series takes to the streets of Canada’s biggest city. The race was an edge-of-your-seat thriller at times as after a few early cautions the race stayed green for much of the 86 laps. Justin Wilson held the pole and last year’s Toronto winner had a firm grip on the lead through the early stages. Behind him, Allmendinger, Sebastien Bourdais and Paul Tracy filed into line after the early cautions and the fun began. Tracy and Bourdais were the focus as the “Thrill From West Hill” spent several laps looking to get past the Frenchman. Finally, Tracy took the outside line at Turn 3 and barged his way past Bourdais, who also lost a spot to Alex Tagliani. Up front, Allmendinger was on the gas and he moved into the lead by blowing past Wilson down the Lakeshore Blvd. straight and never looked back. That was just the beginning for Wilson as Tracy was soon on his rear bumper and he dove through the inside to move into second a few laps after taking

Thrill From West Hill had the fans jumping as Paul The

Tracy was on fire once he got rid of the red sticker Bridgestones and made a charge to finish second www.prnmag.com – Performance Racing News

Photo by Michael A. Coates

AJ completes hat trick in Toronto

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

Justin Wilson held the pole and last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Toronto winner had a firm grip on the lead through the early stages. Behind him, Allmendinger, Sebastien Bourdais and Paul Tracy filed into line after the early cautions and the fun began.

Enigmatic Nelson Philippe was wowing the crowd with his patience while leading the most race laps, but the teenager got too aggressive late in the race and simply ran into the back of Oriol Servia on the Lakeshore straight, ending what had been a great day for the Frenchman

Performance Racing News â&#x20AC;&#x201C; www.prnmag.com

Photo by Phil Abbott/LAT

Alex Tagliani gridded 10th and was up to third at one point, but the Canadian cycled back down the order to finish sixth at the checkered

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Katherine Legge was running well until the back end shot out exiting Turn 10 and she hit the front stretch wall, ending her day on lap 65

Sophomore Andrew Ranger has been a bit of a surprise thus far in 2006 and continued his string of top 10 finishes with a 10th-place result in front of his home country fans.

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

the measure of Bourdais. Wilson continued to fade down the stretch and Bourdais got by and started his pursuit of Tracy. The strangest sight was Nelson Philippe leading the mid-part of the race as he did not pit with the leaders on a lap 10 caution period. Philippe held station out front and was in sixth position as the top four worried about fuel strategy heading into the closing stages. However, as he chased Oriol Servia (the leader based on Philippe’s pit strategy windows), he inexplicably ran into the back of Servia on the Lakeshore straight, sending the two sideways into the run-off area at Turn 3. It had been a brilliant drive for the teenager to the point, but it was another head-scratching decision for driver many still aren’t convinced about. In the end, Allmendinger, Tracy, Bourdais and Wilson held station to the checkered. While there wasn’t a lot of movement after mid-race, the drivers were going flat out and every lap seemed to produce a challenge for position at Turn 3, with several cars bumping and pushing as they went through. The pace was so hectic that the race set a new time record, taking just 1:38:01 to complete. Fans leaving Exhibition Place were definitely entertained this year and if Champ Car gets its promotional engine running as smoothly as Molstar used to, the event should grow in the future. Until then, race fans will just have to be satisfied with a spectacular on track event.

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

AJ completes hat trick in Toronto

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CAUTION PERIOD WITH NEAL JONES

AJ STORMS BACK

For someone who is going from race to race with an uncertain future, Andrew Ranger is putting together a remarkably strong campaign in the Champ Car World Series. Midway through the season, the 19-year-old Quebecois is tied for fourth place in points — along with fellow Canadian Alex Tagliani — after finishing all of the first seven races, up to and including Toronto. He has had two sixth-place finishes, two sevenths, a ninth, a 10th and an 11th. “I’m happy to be fourth in the championship,” he said during a mid-July visit to Montreal to unveil new sponsorship from Wal-Mart for the race there at the end of August. And he is also happy just to be racing, given that at the start of the season he had the budget for only the Long Beach opener and the three Canadian events. “The Mijack/Conquest team and (its owner) Eric Bachelart have worked hard to give me an opportunity and I’ve done seven races until now. I hope I will be there to the end, especially if I am among the championship leaders.” Even now, he is not certain of that. He knows for sure only that he will be racing at Edmonton (July 60

Allmendinger’s dismissal. “Maybe he needs a less sympathetic environment.” The fiery American has been known to speak his mind a little too openly and is noted for some struggles to communicate within the team. All of those troubles finally resulted in Russo’s decision to go in another direction. And since the decision was made, Allmendinger seems to be the biggest beneficiary. He won from the pole at both Portland and Cleveland, and then drove a smart race from second on the grid to secure the win in Toronto. Stepping in at Forsythe has been a smooth transition. It was originally a two-race deal he signed with Forsythe, but after winning at Portland Jerry Forsythe quickly inked him to a deal through the remainder of the season. What a decision that has turned out to be as Allmendinger is now second in points and is just one win and a Sebastien Bourdais DNF away from sitting atop the points. No one would have expected this three races ago and Allmendinger has become the new poster boy for the series. As the only American in

the series there’s no doubt Champ Car not only needs him racing, they also need him to win. No matter what happened at RuSPORT, the decision was exactly what the doctor ordered for Allmendinger as he now has his first three victories in the series and is set to become the face of the series in the coming years as open wheel racing tries to restore its legacy in the United States. The American driver is also benefiting from his teammate Paul Tracy, who was his mentor early in his career when Allmendinger raced karts for Tracy’s team. Stepping into the a car using Tracy’s set-up helped the learning curve as they both have similar styles and an established relationship from which to build on. And the whole fired by Russo and winning three straight was not lost on his Canadian team leader. “… he got let go from Carl’s team because they felt they needed a guy who can challenge Sebastien,” Tracy said. “Now he’s going to need to find a guy to challenge the guy he fired. I think it’s pretty poetic justice, really. I get a laugh out of things like that.”

23) and Montreal (Aug. 27) with the aid of his longtime backer, Proctor and Gamble Canada, as well as Wal-Mart at the latter event. He has no idea if he will be driving at the intervening races in San Jose and Denver or at any events after Montreal. In his favour, his season so far has been incidentfree. Indeed, he has not had an accident since a practice crash on the eve of last year’s Montreal race which almost ended his 2005 season. It has since been reported that Champ Car series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven kicked in $100,000 for repairs to his car. “Conquest works hard and the ambiance is good, but the team is in a tough situation,” said Ranger. “Because of the lack of budget, it’s important to finish races. Just to finish in the top 10 is good. I knew before I started the season that I always had to finish in the top 10 and not break anything. I think I’ve learned a lot since last year. I’m a better driver and a more prudent driver.” He is also the first driver ever to snag sponsorship from Wal-Mart, which is selling tickets to the Champ Car Grand Prix of Montreal and donating one-third of proceeds — $27 from every $81 ticket — to the charity Operation Enfant Soleil, an affiliate of the Children’s Miracle Network. Twenty-seven is the number of Ranger’s car. The $81 ticket buys

a seat in the start/ﬁnish grandstand for all three days, plus paddock access. This year’s race will almost certainly be the last appearance by Champ Cars in Montreal for a while, as promoter Normand Legault has reached agreement with NASCAR to stage a Busch Series race instead in 2007. “It’s bad for Canadian drivers if we have only Toronto and Edmonton. Normand Legault wants to put Busch in Montreal, but I think Champ Car is better in speed, braking zones, everything,” said Ranger, even though he potentially sees NASCAR in his future. “My father raced stock cars and I grew up in that world. So if a door opens, I would like to try that.” -David Hatter

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

RANGER STILL UNSURE OF FUTURE

With the win at Toronto AJ Allmendinger remains undefeated at Forsythe Racing and his father got caught up in the excitement in the pits after his son completed the “natural hat trick”

Photos by Michael A. Coates

t was all so surreal. One week before the Champ Cars headed to Portland, OR, AJ Allmendinger was fired by RuSPORT. In the ensuing days, Forsythe Racing picked up the talented young American and put him in its second car for Portland. And then Allmendinger won the race. And he followed that with two more victories at Cleveland, OH and Toronto, ON. How does a driver deemed not good enough to compete with the likes of Sebastien Bourdais all of a sudden turn around and win three straight races with a brand new team? “It’s because of the team” Allmendinger said after winning in Toronto. “I wasn’t very happy at RuSPORT and we weren’t improving as a team. I wasn’t improving as a driver. When you are in such a tough series like Champ Car, you got such great drivers and teams, if you’re not always improving, you’re going to start to fall behind.” And that is what it has boiled down to for Allmendinger – a change of scenery. For whatever reason, and there are many rumours floating through the paddock, the relationship between driver and team at RuSPORT was not working. Owner Carl Russo has spent four years working with Allmendinger, but after four races in 2006 he knew something had to change. “By no means was this an easy decision and if anyone thinks this is a cavalier decision they’re dreaming,” said Russo. “This was about the growth rate of our team and how AJ fit into it and it was our decision he was not going to improve so it was time for both of us to try a new environment. “Aj has to mature as a man, not just as a driver, and maybe some tough love will put him on the right path,” Russo added at the time of

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TRACKSIDE ACCESS

BY DAVID HATTER

A TWO-TEAM RACE

Photo by Dan Streck/LAT

Sam Hornish Jr. is back on top of the IRL points as his three wins in 2006 have him just ahead of a trio of pursuers

Photo by Dan Streck/LAT

Helio Castroneves has as many wins as teammate Hornish but sits third in points as the top four drivers are separated by just 16 points after the Nashville race

he 2006 IRL IndyCar series may have 18 regular drivers, but 14 of them seem to be fighting for second place — at best. The powerhouse teams of Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi have a stranglehold on the championship, having won all nine events so far on the 14-race schedule. The current score is Team Penske six, Ganassi Racing three. Penske’s Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves have each won three times. Scott Dixon has scored twice for Ganassi, while defending IRL champion Dan Wheldon has been frustrated since his season opening victory at Homestead. In the latest race at Nashville Speedway, Dixon headed Wheldon in the first 1-2 finish for the Ganassi team since its arrival in the IRL in 2002. “It’s hard to have an outcome like that and it’s tremendous for the team,” said Dixon, enjoying his first oval win since June, 2003. Like Penske, the Ganassi

team was burdened on the ovals in 2004 and 2005 by an underpowered Toyota motor. This year, everyone has Honda power. “Going into every race, it (a 1-2) is the goal, but it’s not often you have that situation. There’s normally one car that’s just not quick enough,” added the 25year-old Kiwi. Both Ganassi drivers were plenty quick under the lights in music city, leading 184 of 200 laps between them to end a three-race win streak by their Penske rivals. After nine races, the four Penske and Ganassi drivers are separated by just 16 points atop the championship. Hornish leads with 316, followed by Dixon (311), Castroneves (310) and Wheldon (300). This quartet has led almost 95 per cent of all racing laps. Further underscoring their domination, Penske and Ganassi have also grabbed the runner-up spot six times. The only interlopers have been Vitor Meira, with two second-place finishes for Panther Racing

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(plus two thirds), and Marco Andretti, runner-up to Hornish at the Indy 500, for Andretti-Green Racing. Meira is fifth overall (262 points), despite the Panther team’s financial struggles since losing its Pennzoil backing. It recently got a welcome cash infusion from Revive energy drink. But once-mighty AGR — champions with Tony Kanaan in 2004 and Wheldon in 2005 — has fewer podiums this season that it had wins at this time last year. In 2005, the long-time Honda standard-bearer won six of the first nine races. So far in 2006, it has just five top-three finishes — Marco’s second at Indy and four thirds (two by Kanaan, one each by Dario Franchitti and team boss Michael Andretti at Indy). The only other podium finisher has been Ryan Briscoe, in his first drive for Dreyer-Reinbold Racing, at Watkins Glen. The road course specialist was third behind Dixon — taking his second straight win at the Glen — and Meira. Penske then won with Castroneves at Texas and with Hornish at Richmond and, on his 27th birthday, at Kansas. At that time, Hornish led by 20 points, but he squandered most of his advantage with a rare crash at Nashville, where the Ganassi duo was followed home by Meira, Danica Patrick — her best result this season — and Castroneves in fifth. Can the Penske/Ganassi domination be ended? Yes, by bringing in teams like Newman/Haas, Forsythe and RuSport from the rival Champ Car World Series. Open wheel reunification is more vital than ever, as both series continue to lose ground to NASCAR. Past Champ Car titlist and Indy 500 winner Juan Montoya is returning to North America from F1, but not to open wheel. He is NASCAR-bound. Dario Franchitti is reportedly eyeing NASCAR as well and Danica Patrick has suggested that stock cars may lie in her future. Her father, TJ Patrick, talked to several teams at NASCAR’s Chicagoland race.

A TWO-TEAM RACE Photo by Dan Streck/LAT

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A 1-2 finish at Nashville had Chip Ganassi’s squad smiling as the team hopes it’s a sign of things to come as they look to pass the Penske team at the top

It’s probably just posturing as her contract with Rahal-Letterman Racing expires soon, but the IRL can ill afford to lose its popular glamour girl. “It’s just exploring options. My goal is to win in IndyCars,” she said at Nashville. “But if a top-level team from NASCAR is really interested in me, I’d think about it. I can see myself doing it at some point.” IRL founder Tony George and Champ Car series coowner Kevin Kalkhoven have been meeting regularly to discuss reunification, but there are conflicting re-

ports on their progress. One suggestion has been to combine race weekends, so that the IRL would join Champ Car at Long Beach, for example, while Champ Car would join the IRL at St. Petersburg — but in separate races. That might be a useful first step, but fans do not want two races of 18 cars each. They deserve to see Wheldon vs. Bourdais, Dixon vs. Tracy, Hornish vs. Allmendinger and Castroneves vs. da Matta.

Photo by Paul Webb/LAT

AGR — champions with Tony Kanaan in 2004 and Wheldon in 2005 — has fewer podiums this season than it had wins at this time last year

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Audi Diesel prevails at LeMans

Photo by Bill Murenbeeld

By GEORGE WEBSTER

e Mans, France – This year was the centenary of the first ever French Grand Prix, a “closed course” multi-lap race created to replace the city-to-city races that had been such crash and injury-filled disasters. The Le Mans auto club, the Auto Club d’Ouest organized this first Grand Prix on a 103-kilometre circuit laid out on the roads to the east of the city of Le Mans. This race was the beginning of the concept of grand prix racing which eventually became the Formula One world championship and got the ACO into the racing business. The ACO organized the first 24-hour race — on a circuit which has evolved into 66

the one used today — in 1923, and the rest is history. Arguably, the Le Mans 24-hour race is the most important race in the world — at least from a European point of view. This year saw the advent of a serious effort using diesel power. Audi debuted its new R-10 diesel cars at the Sebring 12-hour race this spring and won their ﬁrst time out. At Le Mans they had two cars and qualiﬁed them one-two on the front row. In the race, Henri Pescarolo’s Judd-powered P1 cars were the only real challengers but they were clearly outpaced. Not surprisingly, Pescarolo complained that the ACO’s equivalency formula which allowed the diesels to run

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Photo by LAT Photographic Photo by Bill Murenbeeld

Audi once again prevailed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans as its diesel powered R10 took victory with Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner at the controls

greater displacement had favoured the Audis. After 24-hours, the Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro/ Marco Werner Audi, which had run ﬂawlessly for the 24-hours, came home ﬁrst, four laps ahead of the next car, the Sebastian Loeb Pescarolo. Tom Kristensen was going for a record eighth Le Mans win in the other Audi but he had to settle for third after various problems with the car. With the Audi diesel success and with Peugeot planning to enter a diesel-powered car here next year, there is renewed interest in diesel road cars. Already half the cars in Europe use diesel; perhaps this new technology diesel power will challenge the www.prnmag.com – Performance Racing News

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Photo by Bill Murenbeeld

ROAD RACING Audi Diesel prevails

World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb led teammates Montagny and Helary to second overall

Photo by Bill Murenbeeld

Tom Kristensen was looking for a record eighth Le Mans overall win, but mechanical woes left him and teammates Capello and McNish third overall at the ﬁnish

Photo by Bill Murenbeeld

It was yet another win for Corvette at Le Mans as the No. 64 (l.) of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen took GT1 honours and fourth overall

currently popular hybrid power as a more fuel-efficient way for North America? The GT1 battle was a contest between Corvette and Aston-Martin. The Pedro Lamy Aston had the lead over the Oliver Gavin/Olivier Beretta/Jan Magnussen Corvette C6 but a clutch problem in the final hours dropped it out of contention and the Corvette took the honours in class, finishing fourth overall. Neither of the two Canadian drivers at Le Mans fared so well. Ron Fellows was in the other factory C6 Corvette but damage from a spin early in the race and clutch problems on Sunday morning saw them finish sixth in class, 28 laps behind their sister car. 68

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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ROAD RACING Audi Diesel prevails Scott Maxwell was driving the Multimatic-prepared Panoz with which had won the GT2 class at Sebring. Unfortunately the car dropped out in the second hour when it ran out of fuel out on the course. The privately-entered Panoz, in the same configuration, outlasted the rest of the competition to win the class. The Le Mans 24-hour race continues to be immensely popular with the fans. This year this race-cum-circus attracted nearly a quarter-million people. Unfortunately the modifications to the track in the name of safety over the years have made it very difficult for spectators to see the racing action — but they still flock to the place. LMP2 belonged to the No. 25 of Erdos, Newton and Wallace as they finished eighth overall

Photo by LAT Photographic

The Aston Martins looked good again at Le Mans but they could not match the reliability of the Corvettes as clutch problems left Enge, Piccini and Turner second in class

If you’re an honest-to-goodness motorsport fan, you must have tipped your hat to Audi for its historic win at the 24 Heures du Mans the weekend of June 15-16. Overall victory for the German manufacturer is nothing new. From 2000 to 2005, they won Le Mans four times with the Audi R8, while the only other winner during that period, Bentley, was powered by an Audi engine. The venerable R8, introduced in 1999, is the undisputed all-time champion in the LMP1 class in both international and ALMS competition. For this season, though, Audi took a bold new step by introducing the R10 TDI prototype, a diesel-powered successor charged with the task of matching the standard set by the R8. In its debut race this season, the 12 Hours of Sebring, one of the Audi R10s won the race; the other was sidelined with mechanical failure. Even though the R10 had absorbed some 30,000 km of testing since Sebring, there were still some questions about its outright durability, particularly given the immense torque (811 lb.-ft.) produced by the V12 turbo-diesel engine. These doubts were brought into sharp focus when, in the Saturday morning warm-up prior to the start, the #7 Audi driven by Allan McNish completed just a single lap before something broke in the differential. In the Audi trackside lounge positioned right next to the Ford Chicane, the faithful were not overly concerned... but not overly conﬁdent either. The general consensus among veteran Le Mans watchers went something like this: “This is normal, it’s a long race.” Still, the Audi presence in 2006 was massive and everyone associated with the manufacturer was hoping that the investment would pay off with the ﬁrst ever Le Mans win for a diesel engine. This would set the stage for more sales of Audi road cars powered by TDI engines in Europe — and provide the basis for convincing North Americans that 21st century diesels are an environmentally 70

Photo by Bill Murenbeeld

Le Mans gamble pays off for Audi

friendly, fuel efficient and powerful way to travel. (And quiet if they’re anything like the whispering R10!) At the Audi Racing Hotel, two large convention centre-style buildings positioned about a kilometer from the main entrance to the circuit, no fewer than 1,200 guests enjoyed the collegial atmosphere created by the communal washrooms, branded bathrobes and rows of single-bed rooms constructed of soft, temporary walls. As the race neared its final minutes, many of the Audi guests convened in the press lounge overlooking the pits. The #8 car of Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner had a five-lap advantage over the leading Pescarolo entry. Although the sister R10 had, indeed, faltered and fallen 13 laps off the pace, the tension had dissipated: Victory was within their grasp. As the clock struck 5 pm on Sunday afternoon, the Audi tandem lined up for the traditional photo finish. Waitresses produced trays of champagne. Press liaisons passed around Audi flags. And more than a few eyes began to water with emotion. Then, the #8 crossed the line in first place: boldness had been rewarded and history had been made. Truly, a great moment for any motorsport fan. -Mark Hacking

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ROAD RACING

On the Road with David Hatter By DAVID HATTER I RALLY EDITOR

SPENGLER SHINES IN GERMANY

Mercedes are really tight,” he said. “I just want to do my best and show my team that they did the right choice. I feel good in this team. They are taking good care of me.” Spengler, who is now quite fluent in German, has forged a close bond with Hans-Jurgen Mattheis, manager of the Stuttgart-based team, and technical director Gerhard Ungar. Among his teammates, he is close to Hakkinen, whom he remembers watching and admiring on television in his mid-teens as the Finn was on his way to his two F1 titles. It is perhaps hard for North Americans to appreciate how big the DTM is in Germany and, to a slightly lesser extent, elsewhere in Europe, but it enjoys almost NASCAR-like popularity and draws crowds in excess of 100,000. Fans wait in hotel lobbies to get autographs. Spengler now even has his own unofficial fan club — a half-dozen spectators who adopted him last year and now come to the races bearing Canadian flags and signs reading, “Go, Bruno.” Spengler is contracted with Mercedes through to the end of 2007. Although he is a paid factory driver, he is not yet wealthy. He says, without bitterness, that a “high percentage” of his salary goes to his Austrian manager, Christian Wolff, in repayment for funding that he provided earlier in his career. While he enjoys his current job, Spengler still harbors F1 aspirations and hopes he may ultimately follow in the path of Paffett and another former DTM champion, Christijan Albers. “My long-time dream is to go into Formula 1, but to do that I have to concentrate on what I do now,” he said.

Photos by Miltenburg/LAT

runo Spengler has become the first Canadian driver to finish on the podium in the world’s most popular touring car series, the German-based DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisters). Now a full-fledged factory driver for Mercedes and teammate to former F1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen, Spengler finished second in round 3 of the series at Oschersleben, just three seconds behind the Audi of seven-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen. After four rounds (of 10), the 22-year-old Quebecois ranks fourth overall in the points standings, behind three-time DTM champion Bernd Schneider, Kristensen and Jamie Green. Schneider and Green, along with Hakkinen, are his teammates on the HWA Mercedes team. “It’s a great feeling to have a car to be in front and win. I’m happy to be back on the podium,” said Spengler, who last took part in post-race ceremonies at an F3 race at Magny-Cours, France, in 2004. That was before he joined the DTM with a Mercedesbacked private team, Persson Motorsport, driving a year-old (2004) car last season. “Last year, I had a good car, but it was a year old and I didn’t have the same chance to battle at the front as I have now,” he said during a rare visit home (his first in 12 months) to attend the F1 Grand Prix in Montreal. Still, he had two points-paying finishes, a sixth and an eighth, in 2005 — good enough to earn

a promotion to Mercedes’ works team, HWA (named after its founder, Hans Werner Aufrecht). “It looks like they saw that my performance of last year was worthy to put me in the new car. I was hoping so much to get this ride. This was my goal. From a 2004 chassis to a 2006 is quite a big step. Aerodynamics is the biggest area. It has better air flow and downforce.” Spengler, who hails from St-Hippolyte (just north of Montreal) but now lives in France, got a phone call just before Christmas to inform him that he had the HWA ride and celebrated with a rare glass of champagne. He has taken the seat of Gary Paffett, the 2005 DTM champion who was promoted to test driver for the McLaren Mercedes F1 team, and he carries the same Daimler/Chrysler Bank colours. From testing in January, he was on the pace. At the first race at Hockenheim, he qualified third and was on track for a podium finish until a tire exploded. He ended up ninth. In round 2 at Lausitz, he was caught out by changing weather in qualifying and gridded seventh, but climbed to fifth by the end. At both events, he set fastest race lap. Then came the podium at Oschersleben, where he ran second throughout, fending off a challenge from teammate Green. In the most recent race at Brands Hatch, England — one of four events outside of Germany — he was heading for a fifth-place finish until a coming-together with Audi driver Christian Abt dropped him to seventh. “My goal is to win a race before the end of the season. But it’s tough competition this year. Audi and

Spengler now even has his own unofficial fan club - a half-dozen spectators who adopted him last year and now come to the races bearing Canadian flags and signs reading, “Go, Bruno.”

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ROAD RACING Pecorari takes first win in Toronto

Photo by Maria Grady/LAT

t was the kind of opening lap that Robbie Pecorari was dreaming of and, to his credit, the young American took advantage of the opportunity that was presented to him to secure his first victory in the Yokohama Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda.

PECORARI TAKES FIRST WIN

Photo by Paul Kent/LAT

The first lap in Toronto had its share of carnage as points leader Andreas Wirth was taken out in the Turn 1 pile-up, while contenders Graham Rahal and Raphael Matos came together at Turn 3

Photo by Anthony Kent/LAT

IN TORONTO

As the Atlantic cars staged their third standing start of the season and the first at the Toronto street circuit since the 1998 campaign, a pair of openinglap incidents shuffled the field and made for a very interesting race. The 21-car field roared into the always-challenging Turn 1 with polesitter Graham Rahal leading the way. After pacing both rounds of qualifying in his first series visit to Toronto, Rahal was looking for his third straight win on Sunday. As several cars got together in the first turn of the race, it appeared Rahal and the frontrunners would make it through unscathed. But entering Turn 3 on the 10turn circuit, Sierra Sierra Enterprises rookie Raphael Matos made contact with Rahal’s car, spinning the 17-year-old. Matos would be penalized for avoidable contact in the incident as both he and Rahal dropped back in the field. While second-place starter Jonathan Bomarito also collected in the incident with Rahal and Matos, Pecorari was suddenly looking at daylight. After starting fifth in his Toronto debut, Pecorari was assured by his team that his car was pkay after all the bumping on the opening lap and he drove on in pursuit of his first victory. While Pecorari took advantage of the opening lap incidents to move to the front, British rookie Ryan Lewis used the melees to his advantage as well. Lewis began his day with a big accident in the morning practice that left his car with serious suspension damage. His Mi-Jack Conquest Racing team came through with some last-minute repairs as Lewis barely made the start of the race. He paid his crew back, however, at the start by getting a good jump and working his way forward from a 14th-place start. Lewis also made the most of the incident involving Rahal and Matos, shooting up to second place by the end of the opening lap. Although Bomarito found his car without power after trying to avoid the Turn 3 dustup, he quickly got started. The PR1 Motorsports racer found himself in fourth and he quickly set about getting his spot back among the top three. Bomarito quickly reclaimed third and then fought his way past Lewis for second. He didn’t quite have enough to catch Pecorari, however. Keeping the gap to second place between two and three seconds for most of the race, Pecorari took the checkered flag for his first Atlantic win, 2.566 seconds ahead of Bomarito. Jonathan Bomarito got caught out in the Turn 3 crash but came back to secure the runner-up spot in Toronto

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SEPANG HEAT FIRES UP

Photos by YASUSHI ISHIHARA/LAT

SUPER GT

ound 4 of the 2006 AUTOBACS Super GT series was held on June 25 at the Sepang International Circuit. Despite the thin cloud cover, the temperature rose to 33°C, with a track temperature of 44°C. During the race the clouds cleared and the temperature rose further, making for tough conditions on the track.

GT500

Ralph Firman and Daisuke Ito held off a determined group of challengers in the heat to win GT500 at Sepang

The start was made with no real trouble, but by the end of the first lap the No .1 Zent Cermo SC (Toranosuke Takagi ) had dropped from a third-place start to sixth. The polesitting No. 8 ARTA NSX (Ralph Firman) was running strongly and built a two-second lead over second-place No. 22 Motul Autech Z (Michael Krumm) by the end of lap five. That gap continued to widen to five seconds by the end of lap 10. Behind the No. 22, the No.12 Calsonic Impul Z (Benoit Treluyer) was moving up steadily. Around this time signs of concern could be seen in the No. 8 pit. A crew member wrote “Cool?” with tape on a signboard to show Firman as he went by. Not only had his cool-suit stopped functioning but they had lost radio contact with him as well. What’s more, Firman had not been feeling well during race weekend and the team was naturally worried how he was doing out there in the brutal heat. But, Firman continued to run steady lap times of about 2 min, 2 sec. and he was maintaining the gap with the second-place machine. Finally, at the end of the 20th lap he returned to the pit and gave the wheel to his teammate Daisuke Ito. The two rear tires were also changed. This seemed to start the other machines returning for their

routine pit stops as well. On lap 31 No. 12 changed drivers from Treluyer to Kazuki Hoshino and the No. 24 Woodone Advan Kondo Z that had been leading in the meantime made its pit stop and changed drivers (Erik Comas to Masataka Yanagida), at which time the No. 8 took over the lead again. At this point in the race, the No. 8, with Ito driving, had a 10-second lead over the No. 22 driven by Lyons. These two had battled for the lead in last year’s Malaysia round and, like last year, Ito’s cool-suit was not working again. The loss of strength Ito suffered because of that malfunction had caused him to lose the lead near the end of the race. By lap 36, Lyons had closed the gap to about eight seconds. By lap 37 it was down to seven, and by lap 41 it had narrowed to 6.5. One could sense the tension as the two teams watched each other’s lap times and the narrowing gap. With 10 laps remaining the gap was down to less than five seconds and there was now visual contact between the two machines. But, with five laps remaining, Lyons’ lap times were beginning to slow down, while Ito maintained his pace. Entering the last lap the margin had grown to six seconds again, and at the finish Ito still had a five second lead when he took the checkered. With this, Ito had made up for last year’s disappointing second while giving his team its first victory of the 2006 season. Finishing second was the No. 22 and in third came No. 12. Kazuki Hoshino, who had taken the wheel from Treluyer in the second half, was able to keep the machine on pace in the closing stages of the race despite the pressure from behind and get his first podium finish in the GT500 class. Meanwhile, the SC430 teams suffered from mechanical trouble and penalties. Eventually, the highest placing Toyota machine was No.25 Eclipse Advan Supra (Manabu Orido, Takeshi Tsuchiya) in 10th.

Joining Firman and Ito on the podium were second-place runners Krumm/Lyons and third-place finishers Treluyer/Hoshino

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ROAD RACING Sepang heat fires up Super GT

It was a wild affair in GT300 as Hiroyuki Iiri and Tetsuya Yamano took the class honours

GT300

Joining Iiri and Yamano were joined on the podium by were Taniguchi/Mitsuyama (2nd) and Wakisaka/Matsuda (3rd)

tarting from the pole position in the GT300 class was Kazuho Takahashi in No. 2 I.M Jihan CO. LTD-AppleShiden, but the early stages of the race saw him lose considerable ground. Taking the early lead was Masami Kageyama in the No.13 Endless Advan CCI Z. Behind him followed the No. 7 Amemiya AsparaDrink RX-7 driven by Tetsuya Yamano, who moved up to the No. 13â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tail by the seventh lap and finally passed it to take the lead on the last corner of that lap. Meanwhile, third place was changing hands time and again. In the early stages, Hideshi Matsuda in the No. 110 TotalBenefit Greentec Boxster held the spot until he fell back considerably after lap 10. The No.14 Hankook Endless Porsche driven by Mitsuhiro Kinoshita took over until he was passed by the No. 55 DHG Advan Ford GT (Daisuke Ikeda) on lap 14. After that, the No. 14 lost ground gradually to be replaced by the No. 27 direxiv Advan 320R (Nobuteru Taniguchi) and the No. 19 WedsSport Celica (Koji Matsuda). The leading No. 7 made its pit stop on lap 27. Hiroyuki Iiri took over the wheel and returned to the track after refueling and a tire change. In second place, the No. 13 also made its pit stop on the next lap, but it suffered a big time loss when the engine

failed to restart and lost the chance to finish among the leaders. This put No. 27 (Taniguchi, Syogo Mitsuyama) in second place and No. 19 (Matsuda, Shigekazu Wakisaka) in third. In the latter stages of the race the distances between the top three machines varied some but always maintained a buffer of a couple of seconds, so no tail-to-nose battles developed before the end of the race. They finished in that order with Iiri in the No. 7 taking the win. But as soon as Iiri crossed the finish line he stopped his car, almost ready to collapse with heat exhaustion due to the malfunction of his cool-suit. Mitsuyama, who had been chasing in second place in the No. 27 had the same trouble and was carried straight to the medical room after finishing. His condition was so bad that he was unable to take his position on the podium for the awards ceremony. This was the fourth win in five outings for the victorious No. 7 Amemiya AsparaDrink RX-7 team (three wins in the Super GT series). For Tetsuya Yamano, his first JGTC win ever was with the Amemiya RX-7 here at Sepang.

The Malaysian event was pretty hot for drivers and spectators and the on track action took the thermometer up a few notches in Sepang

Performance Racing News â&#x20AC;&#x201C; www.prnmag.com

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ROAD RACING

Iorio survives

Baie-des-Chaleurs By David Hatter I Rally Editor Photos by Vincent Fortin

American Matt Iorio took advantage of poor results from the points leaders to win at the Baie-des-Chaleurs and put himself in title contention

s the 2006 Canadian Rally Championship reaches its mid-point, challenger Sylvain Erickson has closed to within a single point of season-long leader Antoine L’Estage. Neither had a happy time on the recent Rallye Baie-des-Chaleurs on the Gaspe peninsula of Quebec, the third of six rounds. L’Estage, winner of the season’s first two events, had a mechanical failure after dominating early on, while Erickson managed only a sixth-place finish after a time-consuming offroad excursion. But that finish gave him 10 valuable points to bring his total to 44, vs. 45 for L’Estage. The event was won by Matt Iorio — the Massachusetts driver who contests virtually every event on both sides of the border — at the wheel of a brandnew “open” class Subaru Impreza WRX. It was his second straight victory as four weeks earlier he took his first US win on the Susquehannock Trails in Pennsylvania. And it also moved him into Canadian championship contention. He now has 36 points. Like the previous Canadian event, the Rocky Mountain in Alberta in May, the main requirement at the Baie was a sturdy pair of boots. Once again, there was mud everywhere beneath torrential rain at times and even hail. But that did not appear to slow L’Estage, at least not at first, as he set fastest time on the opening four stages on Friday evening to open a one-minute lead over Erickson. L’Estage was back at the wheel of a recently-repaired 2003 Hyundai Tiburon that he virtually destroyed at last year’s Rocky Mountain, having driven an older and somewhat slower 1997 model in the interim. But on stage 5, the suspension failed and his rally was over. Erickson then took the lead, but not for long as he made a mistake on stage 6. It was actually his second mistake at the exact same corner as this was the second passage through this particular stage. In past years, the route veered right at this point; this year, it veered left. His co-driver, 18-year-old daughter Chloe, called out the correct instruction, but he instinctively turned right. The first time, he clipped a beam with little damage, but the second time, he brushed some small trees, stalled the car and was stuck there for more than 14 minutes. Erickson may have been a little tired. He and his

daughter drove through the night to get to the Gaspe after her high school graduation ceremony in Gatineau, QC, the previous evening. As the Ericksons tumbled to 16th, Iorio inherited the lead, four minutes ahead of the 1986 Toyota MR2 of local hero Martin Gauvin, from New Richmond, the town that served as rally headquarters. But despite encouragement from the local fans, Gauvin slipped to third on Saturday morning — behind another American, Tim Penasak — and then had a huge crash in the afternoon.

Maxime Labrie, a rookie, was fifth overall and first in Group 2 for 2WD cars

Tim Penasak moved into second-place on Saturday and held the spot to the finish

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

The Toyota was destroyed. Co-driver Daniel Duchesneau was unhurt, but Gauvin complained of back pain. An ambulance was called, the “jaws of life” were used to extract him and a second passage through that particular stage was cancelled. Happily, the hospital visit revealed no serious injury and Gauvin was fit enough to attend the banquet that evening. Iorio and co-driver Ole Holter went on to finish almost nine minutes ahead of Penasuk, who was in a production Impreza. And although Antoine L’Estage

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failed to finish, his brother Mathieu and sister Lawrence-Fanny upheld family honour by claiming third place in another Impreza WRX. It was their first podium. Six-time Canadian champion Frank Sprongl was fourth in his factory Suzuki Swift and easily took top honours in the P2 class for smaller-engined production cars. He was partnered by Brian Maxwell, substituting for Frank’s brother, Dan Sprongl, still recuperating from a severe crash on the Susquehannock Trails. Maxime Labrie, a “novice” (or rookie) from Montreal, was fifth in a Honda Civic and won the Group 2 division for modified 2WD cars. Erickson, in sixth, finished just seven seconds behind Labrie. He was fastest on nine of Saturday’s 11 stages — Iorio took the other two — and would likely have climbed back onto the podium except for a flat tire early in the afternoon which cost him more than three minutes. One notable absentee at the Baie-des-Chaleurs was 2005 Canadian champion Peter Thomson, who was grieving the recent loss of his father, media mogul Kenneth Thomson. The 40-year-old from Toronto now has essentially no hope of defending his title. He has only two points so far.

Photos by Vincent Fortin

Road racing Iorio survives Baie-des-Chaleurs

Antione L’Estage won the first four stages and was poised to win until his suspension failed on stage 5, that left his brother and sister, driver Mathieu and co-driver Lawrence-Fanny to uphold family honour with a run to third-place

X-Games adds

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

McRae, Pastrana and Richard were the first drivers approached by the X-Games in early March as officials contemplated adding rallying to the sportsfest, which runs from Aug. 2-6. The X-Games event will begin with six stages, totaling about 125km, on mostly desert roads east of LA. Many of these roads have previously been used on the Rim of the World, a rally that Richard has won twice. It will end with a “super-special” finale in the Home Depot Center on Aug. 5. A sellout crowd of more than 40,000 is expected at the stadium and the hour-long event will be aired live on ABC. In Canada, the X-Games are usually shown on TSN and the Outdoor Life Network. To add drama to the stadium finale, which will include a lot of jumps, times set there will carry more weight than those from the earlier stages — by a factor of six. “I know a lot of guys who have been to the XGames and I think it’s the right crowd that will appreciate rallying,” said Richard, who comes from an extreme sports background as a former champion snowboarder. As for Nichols, a six-time Canadian 2WD champion, he and Americans Doug Shepherd and Kenny Bartram were late additions to the program as organizers decided in July to add the 2WD “demonstration” (the main group of 12 will all be in 4WD cars). The three 2WD cars are expected to run the full rally, including the stadium finale. “It’s a special event and I’m pretty excited,” said Nichols, who will be partnered by Carl Schenk. They have some support from Yokohama, but they too will be stretching a tight budget and may have to opt out of some future Canadian rallies to pay for their California adventure. -David Hatter

Former World Rally Champion Colin McRae is part of a star-studded field that includes Canadians Pat Richard and Jon Nichols Photo by Brian Porter/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Pat Richard and Jon Nichols will be Canada’s representatives as rallying makes its debut at the 12th annual X-Games in California in August. Multiple North American, Canadian and U.S. rally champion Richard, 32, of Vancouver, will be one of 12 invited drivers contending for a gold medal at the international extreme sport competition. Nichols, 43, of Montreal, is one of three drivers taking part in a “demonstration” by 2WD cars. For Richard, the X-Games may be his only rally of the season, as he lacks sponsorship despite winning the US championship each of the past two years. If he can find some funding, he would like to rent an “open” class car for the event, but will otherwise drive the Group N (limited-modification) Subaru Impreza WRX that brought him those two US titles. It is now four years old and has done more than 50 rallies. “The X-Games will further the sport and give it more exposure,” he said. “I’d like to show up with something a little more powerful and up-to-date than my humble Group N car that’s been battered around the woods a bit.” His competition includes 1995 world rally champion Colin McRae, of Scotland, who will be in an open-class Impreza prepared by Vermont Sports Car, and X-Games favourite Travis Pastrana, who won several gold medals in motocross before switching to rallying a couple of years ago. He now leads the factory Subaru Rally Team USA. “I hope we’re competitive and can vie for the gold medal,” said Richard, whose sister Nathalie will be his co-driver, as usual. “Aside from McRae, we’ve beaten every other driver in there. But I hear that Colin and Travis have some significant sponsorship behind them — $120,000 to $180,000 — for this event.”

Photo by McKlein/LAT

rally event

Former X Games Freestyle Gold Medalist Travis Pastrana was a key player in adding a rally event to the Summer X Games for the first time

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ON THE

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to se rui g at c in to in inn lad ter w .. M f t s. Ma n a s hi ted crow d it i c e A a exp AM ste ny nth ut in a M eve a, b a s yton Da

Photos by Carlos Hatfield

d pe jum h six s t ha wi ies ho ngs ictor w s di t v pie tan igh n S the s stra e B of te ma front m tea he .... to t

s the saying goes, it’s often easier to climb the mountain than it is to stay atop said mountain. In the adrenalin-filled, testosterone-fuelled world of motorcycle road racing, circa 2006, series champions seem to be having an even tougher time than usual. Prior to the start of the AMA Superbike Championship, the prospect of Mat Mladin earning the #1 plate seemed like another foregone conclusion. The season got off to a typical start for the Yoshimura Suzuki rider — he won at Daytona (again). But the rider who finished a close second to Mladin, teammate Ben Spies, had clearly been studying the six-time champion, learning from the Aussie’s ultra-professional approach to the sport. This became apparent when Spies managed to beat Mladin in direct competition an incredible six times in a row, taking three straight doubleheaders at Barber Motorsports Park, Fontana and Infineon Raceway. The young Texan has, as a result, become a major obstacle in his team leader’s path to an unprecedented seventh AMA Superbike title. Since that unbelievable winning streak by Spies, Mladin has bounced back. A little. The Aussie took both ends of the Road America doubleheader, but Spies finished second both times. Then, at Miller Mo88

Photos by Carlos Hatfield

CHAMPIONS STRUGGLING TO REPEAT

torsport Park in Salt Lake City, Spies won the opening race and Honda’s Jake Zemke, notching just the first non-Suzuki victory of 2006, won the second; Mladin was runner-up both times out. So with 10 races in the record books, the score reads: Spies, 7; Mladin, 3; everybody else, 1. In your typical championship, seven out of 10 wins would give you a very healthy lead. But in the AMA Superbike Championship, it gives you a slight lead; specifically, 388 (Spies) to 367 (Mladin) as the teams were headed towards the big MotoGP weekend at Laguna Seca. In years past, due to the points system, Mladin was the guy who had to keep pushing despite winning every race in sight. This year, for the first time ever, he’s the guy who benefits the most from collecting a bunch of runner-up positions while someone else wins the races. It should be a titanic struggle as the Yoshimura Suzuki teammates head towards the season finale: the undisputed king of AMA Superbike racing vs. the young gun who now knows he’s got the speed to beat his more experienced team leader. HE BATTLE OF THE TROYS Over in World Superbike competition, it’s a similar

story… with a few twists. Last season, Troy Corser pasted everyone en route to winning his second title for the Alstare Suzuki team. But that was while Troy Bayliss was still riding in MotoGP. For the 2006 season, Bayliss returned to the team with which he has enjoyed his greatest success: the factory Ducati Corse World Superbike squad. The Australian won the championship for the team back in 2001 and was narrowly edged to the crown by Colin Edwards in 2002. From there, he jumped to MotoGP, but was never able to repeat the success he enjoyed in World Superbike. The Aussie is back now, though — and he’s giving countryman Corser major headaches. From the 12 races run this season, Bayliss has won eight and finished second twice. In the meantime, Corser, who failed to make the podium just five times all of last season — he appeared in the top-three 18 times from 23 races — has already missed the podium six times this year. The reigning champion has just two wins from the opening dozen races (he won eight in ’05) and stood a whopping 105 points off the championship pace as the teams prepared for Brno; Bayliss had 254 markers, while Corser had just 149. The pressure that Bayliss is applying to Corser

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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Courtesy View Point - Photo by Alex Photo and Kel Edge

Troy Corser ruled the roost in World Superbike last year as he was on 18 of 23 podiums; but he is losing touch with Troy Bayliss at the front this year and has laready missed the podium six times in 2006

this season is plain to see. The normally unflappable Corser has thrown his Suzuki down the road more times this year than ever in the past; Misano just served to highlight this new trend, with the Australian crashing out of both races. It seems highly unlikely that anyone, Corser included, will be able to prevent Bayliss from winning his second world title this season. THE DOCTOR IS OUT Over in MotoGP racing, reigning champion Valentino Rossi is still struggling through his most difficult season since he entered the premier class back in 2000. Earlier in the season, the Doctor was hampered by some bad luck and a Yamaha M1 that struggled in the handling department. With Rossi and the team having worked diligently to correct the problem, things were looking up. And then: the practice crash at Assen. Rossi went down in a heap and emerged with a broken ankle and broken wrist, the most serious injuries of his entire career. The Italian qualified at the back of the grid for the Dutch TT and manfully rode to an eighth-place finish, despite clearly being unable to ride in his usually dominant style. For the British GP at Donington, Rossi had healed to some degree, but was still not at 100%. Again, he put forth an incredible display, passing Marco Melandri on the final lap to secure second place behind rookie Dani Pedrosa. Even better for Rossi: he managed to close the gap to championship leader Nicky Hayden to just 35 points. As the MotoGP campaign was headed towards the Sachsenring for the German Grand Prix, Rossi proclaimed himself completely fit and ready to take the fight to the trio of Honda youngsters: Hayden,

Pedrosa, Melandri et al. This is, of course, was bad news for Hayden, Pedrosa, Melandri et al. Most pundits agree that a healthy Rossi, now 100% focused on MotoGP — and further charged by the obstacles he has already overcome so far this season — will be a tough customer for the remainder of 2006. No one in Grand Prix racing history has come back to win the championship after being so far behind so early in the season. Then again, there are plenty of things that no one in Grand Prix racing history has done before Valentino Rossi came along. He may be the underdog this season, but the smart money may still be on Rossi.

Some early troubles with his Yamaha and then a broken wrist and ankle have kept Valentino Rossi playing catch-up in MotoGP; making up that deficit to the points leader would be another notch in Rossi’s impressive career resume and if anyone can do it, it’s the “Doctor”

www.prnmag.com – Performance Racing News

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Motorcycles

MotoGP

crown a tight battle at the top Catalunya

alentino Rossi survived a crash-filled Catalunya Grand Prix to win his third race of the season in Barcelona. Points leader Nicky Hayden finished second. Former World Champion Kenny Roberts Jr. completed the podium with a hard fought third place. Just 11 out of 19 starters finished the race. But the result was overshadowed by a scary, six-rider crash at Turn 1 that forced the race to be red-flagged on the opening lap. Sete Gibernau triggered the spectacular spill when he collided with teammate Loris Capirossi with Marco Melandri, John Hopkins, Dani Pedrosa and Randy de Puniet all innocent victims. Melandri and Capirossi were airlifted to hospital while Gibernau was transported by ambulance. Briefly unconscious, Melandri suffered a dislocated collarbone and cuts and abrasions to his neck and remembers little of the crash. It was feared that a battered and bruised Capirossi had aggravated previous internal injuries but scans cleared him of any complications. Gibernau suffered a concussion and will need an operation to fix the small fracture to his left collarbone. Australian Casey Stoner jumped to the front on the restart and led eight laps before Rossi took control. Rossi never lost the lead despite the constant presence of Hayden. Hayden’s second place was well-earned from seventh on the grid and gave him his 10th podium in the past 11 races. In just his seventh race on the Honda-powered KR211V, Roberts was back on the podium after a long absence. John Hopkins was a stirring fourth after switching to his spare bike, and racing with a bruised and cramping right hip after the first turn tangle.

Valentino Rossi grabbed the win at Catalunya but a fractured wrist suffered in practice in Assen forced him to race for points rather than the win; a second at Donington put him back into title contention

Assen

In a titanic all-American battle, Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards went head-to-head in the Dutch TT with Hayden winning after a breathtaking contest over the final two laps. Edwards, who crashed his Yamaha at the final chicane within sight of the flag, handed his countryman the second GP victory of his career. Japan’s Shinya Nakano had an impressive ride to second position with a late race surge. Spanish rookie Dani Pedrosa claimed third place ahead of Casey Stoner and Kenny Roberts Jr. The last-lap duel saw both Edwards and Hayden lead on the final lap, and then both riders run off the track at the final chicane, with Edwards dumping his bike heavily in the gravel trap. Edwards had dominated the race, leading 24 laps, with Hayden stalking him most of the way. Hayden grabbed the lead on lap 25 but Edwards responded a lap later to regain top spot. Hayden’s audacious late braking move at the final chicane saw him run off the track, only to see Edwards crash as he in turn ran onto the grass and lost control. “It was a wild one today and I really enjoyed it, a great day for me,” said Hayden after claiming Honda’s 200th premier class win. “I knew I had to get on the back of Colin because his race pace was fast. I knew I had to try something different. So going into the last chicane he was going in so deep I went down the outside, but it wasn’t going to work because I caught neutral on the downshift, but he ran off the track too!”

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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While Rossi won in Spain, the big story revolved around the Turn 1 crash that sidelined several riders including Marco Melandri, Sete Gibernau and Loris Capriossi

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8/14/06 7:01:43 PM

Motorcycles It was a great battle between the Americans in Assen as Nicky Hayden (#69) hounded Colin Edwards (#5) all race long, an off by both riders on the final chicane saw Hayden emerge with the win while Edwards came home 13th

Behind, injured Italians Marco Melandri and Valentino Rossi rode bravely to finish seventh and eighth respectively. Starting from last on the grid with a fractured right wrist, Rossi needed pain-killing injections to race and salvaged valuable points. “That was a difficult race for me and I wasn’t at 100% and for the first three laps I had lot of pain but then the adrenaline and the painkillers took over,” Rossi said. “Hayden leads the championship by 46 points but today we saw his limit and I think he can still be beaten.”

Donington Park

Kenny Roberts Jr. was back on the podium after a long absence as he came home third in Catalunya

Rookie Dani Pedrosa continued to shine in his debut season as he took third in Assen and then captured his second victory of the year at Donington Park

Rookie Dani Pedrosa raced to his second victory of the season in the British Grand Prix and announced his arrival as a MotoGP championship contender. Pedrosa cruised on his Repsol Honda to a 3.8s margin over Yamaha rival Valentino Rossi, who finished second with a towering performance. Rossi and fellow Italian Marco Melandri fought a tense battle over the final three laps with Melandri finishing third, just a couple of bike lengths behind. Fourth went to Casey Stoner with another strong top five performance ahead of 2000 world champion Kenny Roberts Jr. Hayden’s off-form weekend cost him points in the title chase with the Kentucky Kid’s lead cut to 26 points ahead of Honda teammate Pedrosa. Rossi is third, 35 points behind with seven races remaining. Pedrosa rode an impressive race and pulled a comfortable gap once he got to the front on lap 12. Victory for the young Spaniard came after he qualified on pole. His only mistake came on lap five when he ran wide while trying to pass Melandri at the hairpin. “I’m happy because this was almost the perfect weekend,” said Pedrosa. “When I tried to pass Marco I couldn’t stop the bike and I was saying, ‘please leave room!’ and luckily he did. “Once I got in front I didn’t know if I could open a gap because this class is really close and at the end I slowed down to just to be careful.” Rossi ignored the pain of wrist and ankle fractures with a sublime performance from 12th on the grid, slicing through the field to dominate the final laps to claim second. While Hayden’s Michelin tires were working well, his Honda was off the pace after losing most of Friday practice testing a new swing-arm and chassis set-up. The new parts were put aside for the race, and Hayden started 11th and finished seventh on his standard specification bike. “Normally you wouldn’t test on a race weekend but I got nine points,” said Hayden who also suffered brake problems. “And the race just about summed up how my weekend went and the bottom line is we didn’t get it done. I made a mistake in the race, losing four places on lap seven, just trying too hard. We’ll fight back.”

After recovering, mostly, from injuries suffered in Spain, Marco Melandri came back with a vengeance in Britain as he took the final podium spot

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Motorcycles Photos by Ramesh Bayney

SZOKE Cruising Across Canada Mont-Tremblant Superbike

ordan Szoke did it again as the Canadian Kawasaki rider won round two of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant with a perfect win record in the two national Pro classes. He won the feature Superbike race after taking victory in the Pro 600 Sport Bike final earlier. The two time Canadian Superbike champion convincingly won the opening round at Shannonville Motorsport Park and came into MontTremblant with confidence, knowing that he was the last rider to win a Superbike race at the historic venue in 2004. Defending Superbike champion Francis Martin grabbed the early lead in the 15-lap feature as the Team Suzuki Blackfoot rider found himself at the front of a freight train of fast riders including Kevin Lacombe on a Picotte Performance Toyota Yamaha, Szoke, Tom Kipp, and another two-time class champion Pascal Picotte on another Picotte Performance Yamaha. Szoke moved his ZX10-R superbike to the front on the fourth lap and immediately started to tow current number one plate holder Martin away from the rest of the field, never seeing any serious threats from the Suzuki rider for the remainder of the race. Lacombe held on to third while Kipp finished fourth, after riding the latter half of the race unchallenged. Picotte finished fifth ahead of Riders Choice Suzuki rider Matt McBride and the Z1 Yamaha of Andrew Nelson.

Jordan Szoke is on a tear to open the year as he snared the Superbike wins at both Mont-Tremblant and Calgary, while also winning 600 Sport Bike at Mont-Tremblant

Clint McBain had another unfortunate Superbike final. The Team Suzuki Blackfoot rider crashed out on lap 10 after working himself up to as high as fifth place from his 14th starting position. McBain crashed out of the season opener as well and now leaves another round with very few total points in the championship. 2005 HJC Pro Rookie-of-the-Year Erick Beausejour crashed his Armour Bodies Honda, but was able to pick it up and continue on to a 10th place finish. Top Pro Rookie contender Jeremy Burgess after finishing 12th on his Freedom Cycle Kawasaki.

Mont-Tremblant 600 Sport Bike

Earlier in the day, Szoke also took the checkered flag in the Hindle Pro 600 Sport Bike race. Szoke put his ZX6-RR in the lead on lap 4 with a pass on teammate Tom Kipp and never looked back. Clint McBain also go the better of Kipp, who had grabbed the lead and rode with it for the opening laps, after the three leaders began gap the rest of the field. Kipp finished third.

Kevin Lacombe took the win in 600 Sport Bike in Calgary and had a pair of third-place runs in Superbike

Defending Champion Francis Martin was second in Superbike at Mont-Tremblant but finishes off the podium in the other races have him playing catch up in the points

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Photos by Ramesh Bayney

Clint McBain had a string of runner-up finishes in Quebec and Alberta, taking the second step in both 600 Sport Bike races and the Calgary Superbike race

Two-time class champion Pascal Picotte finished fourth on his Picotte Performance Yamaha over fifth-place finisher Francis Martin. Kevin Lacombe was sixth on another Picotte Performance Yamaha ahead of the Z1 Yamaha of Andrew Nelson. Frank Trombino finished ninth on the Kahuna Kawasaki and Zenon Nelson completed the top 10 for Suzuki.

Race City Superbike

The off-season move to Green Machines has definitely agreed with Jordan Szoke as the two-time Canadian Superbike champion made it three in a row with his win at round 3 of the Parts Canada Superbike Championship at Race City Motorsport Park. The Canadian Kawasaki rider battled with Team Suzuki Racing’s Clint McBain throughout the 20-lap final with both riders taking their turn at the front. Szoke and McBain began to gap the rest of the field early, leaving Kevin Lacombe chasing them from a distance for the entire race. Szoke made his final charge to the front at the end of the long Race City front straightway on the last lap and held off McBain to the finish line. Lacombe finished a distant third ahead of Francis Martin. Lacombe’s teammate Pascal Picotte, still battling through injuries sustained before the Canadian season started, finished fifth followed by Tom Kipp, who faded late in the race on his Canadian Kawasaki machine.

Still recovering from injuries, Pascal Picotte kept his title hopes alive with strong top five performances in the recent rounds

Race City 600 Sport Bike

Kevin Lacombe won the Hindle Pro 600 Sport Bike final, taking over the lead only a few laps into the 13-lap final and never looked back, riding in charge of the race until the finish. Clint McBain finished second, working to stay ahead of the battle for third, after losing his early race lead to Lacombe on lap two. McBain’s teammate Francis Martin looked set to take the final podium spot before Tom Kipp made a last lap pass on his Canadian Kawasaki machine, leaving Martin to settle for fourth. A good ride from Andrew Nelson saw him finish fifth on the Z1 Yamaha ahead of Lacombe’s team boss Pascal Picotte in sixth. After struggling on the Kahuna Kawasaki throughout the weekend, Frank Trombino finished seventh. Erick Beausejour and Guy Tomlinson had a great fight for eighth, the two riders exchanging positions for the entire race, with Beausejour’s Honda getting the better of Suzuki-mounted Tomlinson. Local rider Tom Cody completed the top 10 aboard a Yamaha.

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Tom Kipp continues to impress at Kawasaki as he snared third in the 600 race at Tremblant along with top six results in Superbike

8/14/06 4:15:44 PM

Spies still leads the way in AMA

Ben Bostrom returned to the podium for the first time since 2004 in Race 1, and while he led early in race 2 a scary high-side incident left him in the garage at the end

Photos by Ramesh Bayney

Utah 1

The first ever AMA Superbike race at Miller Motorsports Park didn’t disappoint, as the fans that flocked to the brand-new Utah facility were treated to the most exciting and dramatic contest yet this season. Yoshimura Suzuki’s Ben Spies scored his seventh win of 2006 following an intense shootout that involved teammate Mat Mladin, American Honda’s Jake Zemke, and Parts Unlimited Ducati’s Ben Bostrom. Right from the start, Zemke proved to be a threat, dropping polesitter Spies to third on lap three and then shifting his focus to applying the pressure on early leader Mladin. The Californian finally took control on lap 8, drafting past Mladin. The champ responded by driving right back by on exit, but Zemke retook the lead in the very next turn. When he crossed the line to conclude the circulation, it was the first time a rider other than Spies or Mladin had officially led a lap in 2006. While Zemke looked comfortable out front, Mladin, Spies, and a resurgent Bostrom all queued up behind, setting up a slugfest for the race’s final half. On lap 13, Mladin shot up the inside of Zemke in the Turn 5 ‘Black Rock’ hairpin, only to have the feisty Californian fight back in the following righthander. The Honda star then found himself trapped on the outside of a lapper entering the final corner, allowing Mladin to power back into the lead to open lap 14. The defending champ opened the door moments later, however, running wide and letting Zemke sneak back into first. Mladin swung back onto the racing line in second, just inches in front of his teammate and multi-time World Superbike race winner Bostrom. Again, Mladin outbroke the leader in Turn 5 on lap 15 of 21, only to have Zemke immediately retaliate. The two made contact, which pushed Zemke off course and slowed Mladin enough to allow Spies to leap from third into first. Spies, who had rode a measured race to that point had enough tire left to make a late push. Mladin put his head down in an attempt to track the rising star back down after surviving his moment with Zemke but could only keep Spies’ honest as the two negotiated lapped traffic en route to the checkered flag. “I knew it was going to be a hard race,” said Spies. “Mat and Jake came by on the first lap and I thought the pace they were running was a bit stout at that time. I didn’t want them to get more than two seconds on me and they got right at 1.5, and right about then I knew they weren’t slowing down and they weren’t sliding around a whole bunch. I needed to catch back up and right when I made my charge they started passing each other, going back and forth. The whole time Ben was right behind me so I couldn’t go any slower. 96

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

Ben Spies continued his roll atop the AMA Superbike points by winning Race 1 in Utah and finishing third in the second

“It was an awesome race. I told Mat before we got on the podium that even if I had finished second, that would have still been the most fun race of the year. We had four guys up front and they were battling and swapping paint. ” Bostrom dropped off the back of the leading duo as they raced to the stripe and soon had his hands full with a regrouping Zemke. However, crashing heavily on lap 18 while reeling in the Ducati runner. Former AMA Superbike champ Bostrom then cruised to his first AMA podium since the Virginia International Raceway round in ’04.

Utah 2

Zemke rebounded from his heartbreak on Saturday in the best way imaginable; the Californian tracked down and passed the long-dominant Yoshimura Suzuki duo of Spies and Mladin and then ran away at the front to claim the victory. The win was series-shaking for a number of reasons. It was the first win for any manufacturer other than Suzuki in the class in 14 races, and the first time the CBR1000RR has won since American Honda took the Superbike development program in-house. Early on the race was shaping up to be a ‘battle of the Bens.’ Shortly following the green light, Spies and Bostrom broke free from the pack and engaged in an intense dogfight. Bostrom actually looked to be the faster of the two but gave the Texan the lead on lap 4 of 21 when a near crash almost knocked the Parts Unlimited Ducati runner out the race. Following a miraculous save (after almost running over both of his legs), Bostrom closed right back in on the rear wheel of Spies.

Jake Zemke took the first non-Suzuki win in 14 races as well as Honda’s first win since bringing Superbike development in-house

However, Bostrom was clearly trying too hard in an effort to steal away a win. On lap 7, the former World Superbike star was pitched into the air in a horrific high side. A dusty Bostrom slowly picked himself up off the dirt and limped over to his damaged 999R. He rode it back to the Grand Prix-style garages at Miller where, in a very Grand Prix-like fashion, the doors were slammed down as soon as he had entered his garage. At that point Spies found himself all alone out front with more than three seconds of cushion separating him from Zemke and Mladin. Unfortunately for the points leader, a red flag was shown the next time around, forcing a restart and erasing his hard-earned advantage. At the restart Spies again ripped off into the lead but this time he seemed to be suffering compared to Mladin and Zemke rather than the other way around as before the red flag. The six-time champ overtook Spies for first on lap 9 and Zemke immediately started looking for a way around himself. Once Mladin started to open up a gap to second, the Honda pilot got a bit more serious, moving into the runner-up position early on lap 14. As soon as Zemke worked past Spies he moved right in on the leader while the Texan started fading in the other direction. Zemke got a terrific drive out of the final corner on lap 16 and powered past Mladin with a drafting maneuver heading into Turn 1 on lap 17. The two lightly touched wheels as the reigning series king held a tighter line, but Zemke maintained his control over first. Once through he gapped Mladin by a few tenths per lap and ultimately took the checkered flag with a 4.134 margin of victory.

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Motorcycles

Klatt set to usurp JSR Honda teammates ready to battle for MX1 crown as season enters second-half

By Wil De Clercq I Motocross Editor

fter winning the CMRC Canadian Motocross Championships season opener in Ste. Julie, QC with a clean sweep, defending MX1 Champion Jean-Sebastien Roy seemed poised to begin his march towards a sixth consecutive title. That outlook changed dramatically at the following three rounds. Roy’s Honda Canada Blackfoot Racing teammate Dusty Klatt, who had finished a close second to Roy in both motos at Circuit de Ste. Julie, won in Courtland, ON, Nanaimo, BC and Calgary, AB. Not only did Klatt win, he made a strong statement by winning with consecutive clean sweeps. No championship is won halfway through the season but Klatt has sent a clear message that after winning the MX2 West title in ’04 and ’05, he is determined to carry through in the MX1 division. Although Klatt won four MX1 motos since he started racing selected events in the premier class a few years ago, the national in Courtland proved to be his definitive breakthrough and first MX1 career overall victory. Klatt convincingly annihilated the competition on the tough-as-nails Gopher Dunes track in both motos, at once establishing a new hegemony in the 450cc class. In the first moto, it took the Campbell River, BC native less than a lap to take control. Second place finisher Roy was never able to threaten for position, finishing 29 seconds behind his teammate. In the second moto, suffering from a tepid start, Klatt took five laps before he was able to stall himself in the lead. Meanwhile, JSR, who stalled his bike on the starting line, clawed his way from dead last into fourth by the end of the 15-lap feature. Team Suzuki OTSFF’s John Dowd, filling in for an injured Keith Johnson, clinched second overall on the strength of 4-2 motos. Roy completed the podium, thanks to his 2-4 motos. If nothing else, Gopher Dunes proved to be a wakeup call for the five-time defending champ. After a two-week break in the schedule, Klatt totally dominated his home track race at The Wastelands in Nanaimo. With another clean sweep, he confirmed that his double-moto victory in Courtland hadn’t been a fluke. In the first moto, the 21-year-old rising star grabbed the holeshot and basically checked out. Klatt lapped up to sixth place while Roy followed some 30 seconds back, crossing the finish line in second place.

Five-time MX1 Champ Jean-Sebastien Roy took the overall at the opener but struggled to keep pace with his teammate since; including a stall on the starting line in Moto 2 at Gopher Dunes that forced the reigning “King” to come back from dead last to finish fourth Photos by Stacy Smith

With clean sweeps in three of the first four rounds, Dusty Klatt charged to the front of MX1 and is poised to dethrone his Blackfoot Honda teammate as the new “King” of Canadian MX

Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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Photos by Stacy Smith

In moto two, Roy was the only rider capable of giving Klatt any kind of challenge, albeit a short lived one. Although Roy commandeered the holeshot, Klatt stuck a pass on his teammate before the end of the first lap and then cruised all the way to the checkered. With another second place finish, Roy recorded second overall for the day. At Round 4, Team Honda Blackfoot’s hometown race in Calgary, Klatt took no prisoners as he recorded his third consecutive clean sweep. Roy, for his part, struggled to a third overall finish. In moto one, Klatt snared the holeshot and checked out. Richmond Racing Kawasaki’s Darcy Lange, who occupied second place from the get-go, was never in a position to challenge an unleashed Klatt. Meanwhile, JSR, who started dead last and then had to deal with two crashes as he charged his way through the pack, managed to claim sixth place at the checkered. In the second moto, Roy answered with a holeshot but halfway into the first lap Klatt relieved him of the lead. Once again, Klatt would remain unchallenged for position. At no time during the race did he have less than a five second lead. At the checkered he counted 10 seconds on Roy and 45 on Lange. With second overall, based on the strength of 2-3 motos, Lange carded his best finish of the series to date. Lange currently sits third in the rankings with 151 points; Roy holds down second place with 183 points while Klatt rules the roost with 208

Chisholm and Nelson dominate MX2

While the MX1 title hunt is proving to be an all-Canadian battle for the first time in many years, the MX2 East and West Championships are proving to be an all-American contest. In the MX2 East points, Richmond Racing Kawasaki’s Kyle Chisholm, 2005’s runner-up, won the first two rounds of the four-round series. On the west coast, Team Honda Blackfoot’s Jimmy Nelson won both his races. At Round 1 of the MX2 East points chase in Ste. Julie, Ohio’s Michael Willard handily won the first moto just ahead of Florida’s Chisholm. In the second moto, defending champion Willard was unable to keep Chisholm from claiming victory. On the strength of the 2-1 results, Chisholm took the overall for the day while Stoneridge KTM’s Willard grabbed second, thanks to 1-2 motos. Top Canadian honours went to Honda Blackfoot’s Mitch Cooke. The Nova Scotia native hammered down 3-2 motos, claiming the remaining podium spot. One week later, in Courtland, Chisholm confirmed his Round 1 winning status by claiming the overall with a clean sweep. Meanwhile, Willard had a day to forget. Despite grabbing the first moto holeshot, and building a sizable lead, he couldn’t keep an unrelenting Chisholm from passing him towards the end of the moto. Adding insult to injury, a hapless Willard was docked five positions for jumping on a yellow flag. In the second moto, Chisholm had the lead in hand by the second lap and never looked back. Willard, who couldn’t really find his groove, had to take satisfaction with fourth, finishing fourth overall for the day. Willard’s KTM teammate and fellow Ohio native Matt Barnes snared second overall on the strength of 3-3 motos. Top Canadian this time around proved to be a surprising Ryan Gauld. The Machine Racing Yamaha rider recorded 5-2 motos, which was good enough for third overall. Although Nevada’s Jimmy Nelson snared both holeshots at the opening round of the MX2 West Championship in Nanaimo, BC, he had it anything but easy on his way to a double moto victory. He had company from Richmond Racing Kawasaki’s Teddy Maier in both motos. In the first moto, the California native couldn’t quite put it together, however, following Nelson a close second across the finish line. In the second moto, the duo battled back and forth for position the entire race. Unfortunately for Maier, he DNFd with mechanical problems on the final lap. Gray Davenport, who inherited second place from Maier, snared second overall combined with his fourth place in moto one. On the strength of 3-3 results, KTM’s Eric Nye completed the podium. At Round 2 of the 250cc West Championship in Calgary, Nelson tolerated no competition. He pegged the holeshot in both motos and put on a clinic, twice finishing some 30 seconds ahead of Maier, who claimed second overall. Washington State’s Davenport, who had come to Round 1 as a Kawasaki mounted privateer, completed the podium on the strength of 3-4 moto results as a new member of Richmond Racing Kawasaki. With the MX2 West Championship wrapping up in July, and the MX2 East in August, it’s a safe bet the East trophy will remain in American hands — since the series was inaugurated in 2000 only one Canadian has won the title — and the MX2 West will revert back to an American, after Dusty Klatt’s domination of the series for the past two years. Nelson, more than likely, will become the fourth American to claim the West title.

Canadian MX 18.04.indd 3

It’s been a strong return to Canadian MX for Darcy Lange as the Kawasaki rider has been on the overall podium throughout the first four rounds and sits third in the points chase

Kyle Chisholm was dominant in winning three of the first four motos of the MX2 East chase and the American is ready to take the crown when the series returns east to make up for his runner-up position in 2005 (by one point!)

Blackfoot’s Jimmy Nelson has been untouchable through two rounds of the MX2 West title hunt and it will take a major problem if anyone hopes to catch the Honda rider

8/14/06 4:23:35 PM

Flurry of Firsts! E BIEGLER I DRAG

s by BRUC Story and photo

RACING EDITOR

sh o Mod racer Jo NHRA AMS Pr RA IH t rs ﬁ his ed Hernandez scor ham win at Rocking

HRA’s second event of the 2006 season, the Nicko’s Spring Nationals in North Carolina featured a slew of first time national event winners. In fact, all five IHRA Pro categories saw breakthrough victories. NHRA POWERade circuit regular Cory McClenathan, driver of the Carrier Boys owned, Fram Boostsponsored dragster, led that barrage, becoming the first driver other than Clay Millican to conquer the Top Fuel field at Rockingham Dragway since 2001. For McClenathan, who is no stranger to victory on the NHRA side (28 career wins) the IHRA “Ironman” was his first. The Arizona-based driver won an exciting Top Fuel final round over Australia’s Andrew Cowin, driver for Scott Griffin’s potent new Serta-sponsored dragster. Cowin jumped to an early lead in the final and appeared to have it won before his engine caught fire. That development allowed McClenathan to sneak by to take a narrow 4.712 secs / 309.91 mph to 4.786/281.54 victory. McClenathan’s win did come from the pole — he ran both low ET 4.549 secs and top speed at 326.32 mph during time trails. Perennial Rockingham event winner Millican, who had won no less than 10straight times at the facility coming into the event had that amazing streak end in the semi-finals. The IHRA’s second event go with the Torco Race Fuels Pro Nitro Funny Car class produced a highly improbable final round pairing with Iowa’s Jack Wyatt facing off against New York-state independent

After racking up 28 career wins in NHRA POWERade racing, Cory McClenathan won his ﬁrst IHRA “Ironman”

The Nitro Funny Car ﬁnal at IHRA’s Spring Nationals produced a most improbable pairing of Jack Wyatt and Vinnie Arcadi

Vincent Arcadi. Wyatt, driving his RaceGirl-sponsored Pontiac Firebird, won when his 5.033/290.01 just edged out Arcadi’s 5.102/294.44. Wyatt upset Dale Creasy Jr. and pole qualifier Bob Gilbertson in the first two rounds. Gilbertson had set both low ET and top speed of the meet during qualifying at 4.837 secs and 312.86 mph Texan Josh Hernandez, driver of the popular Dr. Moon’s Rage Chevy Camaro, won in Pro Mod. Hernandez covered overall IHRA Pro Mod points leader Glen Kerunsky in the final when his 6.274/228.07 won easily over Kerunsky’s tire-shaking shut off effort. For Hernandez, who has two NHRA AMS Pro Mod wins to his credit, it was his first win on the IHRA eMax tour. Pro Mod racing at Rockingham was of typical high intensity, with 34 cars battling for the elite 16-car field. Tommy D’Aprile earned the pole at 6.132 secs driving his ’63 Corvette. Another Texan, Dr. Tom Carter, earned top honours in Alcohol Funny Car — his first win in the category. Carter, a former Pro Mod racer, outran Fred Tigges in a great final round match-up winning a very close 5.944/236.42 to 5.931/240.29 decision. Pre-race AFC class favourites Robbie Atchison and Mark Thomas both lost out in the semi-final round. Atchison had pushed the new Erickson Manufacturing Chevy Monte Carlo to both low ET (5.774 secs) and top speed (246.08 mph) in earlier action. The Pro Stock title bout round also featured two

surprise finalists with Illinois-based driver Tony Gillig facing off against Bert Jackson in a classic Ford vs. Chevy battle. Gillig, driving his Mustang, won rather easily as his 6.499 secs prevailed over Jackson’s machine which went into violent tire shake. Pro Stock racing was a super swift affair. Despite losing one scheduled qualifier to rain, all 16 qualified cars ran in the 6.4 secs zone. The Rockingham race included Sportsman class wins in Top Stock (Bo Kenney), Top Dragster (Jason Lynch) and Top Sportsman (Chris Nyerges).

36th Nicko’s Spring Nationals  TOP FUEL Winner Cory McClenathan R/U Andrew Cowin  FUNNY CAR Winner Jack Wyatt R/U Vince Arcadi  PRO MODIFIED Winner Josh Hernandez R/U Glen Kerunsky  PRO STOCK Winner Tony Gillig R/U Bert Jackson  ALCOHOL FC Winner Tom Carter R/U Fred Tigges

MPH

4.712 4.786

309.91 281.54

5.033 5.102

290.01 296.44

6.274 10.25

228.07 101.12

6.499 6.930

203.28 209.98

5.944 5.931

236.42 240.29

100 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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Canadian Nitro

Baptisms! Story and photos by BRUCE BIEGLER I DRAG RACING EDITOR

Detroit’s Harold Martin produced this memorable moment during Pro Mod qualifying when he coughed up this little “nitrous hairball”

The ﬁrst Nitro FC ﬁnal in 14 years in Canada saw Dale Creasy (far lane) edge out Bob Gilbertson

opar’s 7th Annual Canadian Nationals presented by Castrol at Grand Bend Motorplex raised the bar again for Canadian drag racing as it featured a record car count, spectator gate and high emotion in the Torco Pro Nitro winner’s circle. New York’s Bobby Lagana Jr., who has been a popular independent racer on the IHRA circuit for years, was finally “baptized” in the Top Fuel category as he won for the first time in his career. Lagana spotted defending World Champion Clay Millican an early lead in the Top Fuel final but when both cars developed tire spin problems it was Bobby who out peddled Clay to the finish line — 5.367 secs/236.59 mph to 6.611 secs/140.05 mph. Lagana beat Tony Zizzo and Rick Cooper in earlier competition. “For me, my father, my brother and my racing family things are now complete,” said the tearful racer after his victory. “It’s been a very long road to this point — this experience is something I only dreamed about before.” Top Fuel attracted a strong 13 entries at the event. Class notables included the very first pole qualifying effort for Rick Cooper, who drove his Torco/Mach Series Accelerator sponsored dragster to a career quick 4.646 secs — a new track record. Cooper’s racing teammate, and overall IHRA eMax points leader Doug Foley, was a shocking DNQ at the event as his 7.505 secs missed the 6.030 cut. The first Nitro Funny Car eliminator presented in Canada since Cayuga 1992 featured a popular win for Illinois-based Dale “Peanut” Creasy Jr., driver of the Torco-sponsored Chevy Monte Carlo. Creasy won an exciting wire-to-wire final round dash over Bob Gilbertson’s Prestone/Autolite XP Dodge Stratus, taking that title 4.999 secs to 5.050 secs. Creasy’s first ever national event win came from the pole (4.870 secs), was also a career first. He was also credited with top speed at 306.01 mph. Pro Modified attracted a spectacular field with no less than 29 machines making qualifying attempts. Florida’s Tommy D’Aprile bombed the old track record (6.179 secs) when he thundered to 6.084 secs — the quickest official PM run ever on Canadian soil. The Pro Mod final featured an ultra cool Can-Am pairing of vintage replica Chevrolets with the ’57 Chevy of overall IHRA points leader Glen Kerunsky facing off against the ’62 Chevy of South Carolina’s Al Pittman. Pittman, who won at Grand Bend back in 2001, managed to pull off the upset as his

The Mopar Canadian Nationals produced two “ﬁrst time” Pro winning teams: Bobby Lagana Jr. (Top Fuel) and Dale Creasy Jr. (Funny Car)

6.243/227.10 beat Kerunsky’s tire-shaking effort. For Alberta’s Kerunsky, the runner-up finish was his third straight IHRA final round this season, which further strengthened his #1 points standing. Pittman’s win was a result of some good driving, good fortune and consistency. He beat pole qualifier Tommy D’Aprile on a first round holeshot (6.293 secs to 6.283 secs) and then benefited from a red-light foul start by Carl Spiering in round two. Pittman delivered a strong .022 RT in the semis and that advanced his 6.307 secs past Quain Stott’s much quicker 6.231 secs. The event’s highly anticipated Performance Racing News sponsored “Night of Fire” was unfortunately rained out and nixed the event’s third scheduled qualifying session. That did seem to take its heaviest toll on the PM class with the normally top running Pro Mod cars campaigned by Rick Distefano, Scott Cannon, Shannon Jenkins and Harold Martin all being left outside the program on Sunday.

102 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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8/14/06 12:15:05 PM

Allan Pittman won the event’s ferocious Pro Modiﬁed title driving his spectacular new “Super 62”

Another overﬂow crowd enjoyed the 2006 Mopar Canadian Nationals

7th Mopar Canadian Nationals

Michigan’s John McCormick demonstrated that there was no lack of traction during the Mopar Canadian Nationals

Pro Stock along the shorelines of Lake Huron has historically always been a quick affair and that trend continued. The track record going into the race was 6.476 secs, but incredibly 15 of the 16 qualiﬁers bettered that old mark during just two sessions! Maryland’s Frank Gugliotta produced by far the quickest and fastest Pro Stock run in Canadian history with a spectacular 6.393/218.39 driving Charlie Taylor’s ultra-powerful Ford Escort. Gugliotta, however, was gunned down in round one by Tony Gillig — 6.420 secs to 6.412 secs. The Pro Stock ﬁnal boiled down to a classic Ford versus GM match with Robert Patrick’s cutting edge new 2006 Ford Shelby facing Pete Berner’s all new GTO. Patrick, who was favoured and who had lane choice, experienced a slight wiggle off the starting line and that proved to be the difference as Berner collected his second career IHRA title with a 6.452/216.81 to Patrick’s 6.478/217.49.

 TOP FUEL Winner Bobby Lagana Jr. R/UP Clay Millican  Nitro Funny Car Winner Dale Creasy Jr. R/UP Bob Gilbertson  Pro Modiﬁed Winner Alan Pittman R/UP Glen Kerunsky  Pro Stock Winner Pete Berner R/UP Robert Patrick  Alcohol Funny Car Winner Mark Thomas R/UP Terry Monroe

MPH

5.367 6.611

236.59 140.05

4.999 5.507

296.44 295.95

6.243 6.849

227.10 210.77

6.452 6.478

216.81 217.49

5.898 5.979

243.37 235.17

Alcohol Funny Car produced the milestone 25th career win for Ohio’s Mark Thomas — a fan favourite with Canadian drag racing fans. Thomas strengthened his overall points lead when he scored a come-from-behind win over Terry Munroe in an all Chevy Monte Carlo final round pairing — 5.898/243.37 to 5.979/235.17. Thomas drove his Ethanol Performs sponsored machine to wins over Terry McMillen and Larry Dobbs in earlier competition. Ontario’s Kevin Wicke highlighted Sportsman action as his Stratford- based Mopar K&K Racing team scored its first ever IHRA national event win by besting a star-studded Top Sportsman field. Maryland’s Joe Aluise Jr won in Top Stock also driving a Mopar. Other event winners included Jeff Brown (Top Dragster), Donn Rhode (Super Stock), Dan Fletcher (Stock), John Hickman (Quick Rod 8.90), Leo Zynda (Super Rod 9.90) and Tim Shuck (Hot Rod 10.94). Grand Bend Motorplex regular Dave Wainman won the event’s added attraction ET Tournament. www.prnmag.com – Performance Racing News 103

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ALBERTA

AT ITS BEST! Story and photos by BRUCE BIEGLER I DRAG RACING EDITOR

Clay Millican’s second round win over Doug Foley at Edmonton may have had serious ‘06 season championship consequences

fter two consecutive years of less than perfect conditions a kinder Mother Nature delivered some “Chamber of Commerce” weather for version 4.0 of the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals. The 2006 event, sponsored by Cars RV & Marine and presented by Torco Race Fuels, at the renamed and highly improved Castrol Raceway, attracted the biggest car and spectator count in event history. A massive crowd of 41,000+ went through the event turnstile. Clay Millican, who had won the previous two events at Edmonton but had so far gone winless in 2006, returned to what has proven to be the very friendly confines of Canada to earn his first circuit win of the season. Millican and his talented Werner Enterprises team looked steady and much more like they used to this weekend as they collected both the pole and low ET at 4.639 secs while pacing the field. In the final, Millican spotted a slight lead to opponent Rick Cooper before running him down at 4.773 secs/306.88 mph to 4.838 secs/304.19 mph. Millican’s win was the 10th of his career on Canadian soil and the 47th of his amazing IHRA Top Fuel career. He beat Chris Karamesines and Doug Foley in earlier competition with consistent 4.74 secs ET slips. “We’ve got our mojo back,” said an elated Millican. “We made six runs here without the tire shake. Mike was doing what he does best — getting us down the race track and repeating. That second round win for us over Foley was big. We didn’t run as fast as we have here before, but it was hotter in Edmonton than in the past and the track sits at about 4,000-foot altitude. That will definitely take power out of a car.” In Torco Race Fuels Nitro Funny Car, Dale Creasy Jr. enhanced his recent win at Grand Bend with another victory driving the Torco-sponsored Chevy Monte Carlo. Creasy, who qualified only sixth, found his stride on race day as he beat Terry Haddock and Mitch King to advance to the final against IHRA

Dale Creasy Jr. continued his winning momentum in IHRA Nitro FC with his second straight circuit victory

Rockingham winner Jack Wyatt. Creasy was out of the gate first and won easily at 5.324/285.23 while Wyatt aborted. Funny Car featured a surprise pole sitter with New York’s Vince Arcadi setting both low ET and top speed at 4.942/310.70. Arcadi, who also did have an interesting top end close encounter with the guard wall during qualifying, won his first round before losing in the second frame to Wyatt by a 5.105 secs to 5.253 secs count. A total of eight Nitro Funny Cars were present for the Edmonton event, including first time IHRA class appearances for Alberta’s own Jason Duchene, Washington’s David Benjamin and Texan Mitch King (who also participated in Top Fuel). Pro Modified was a truly spectacular program and produced the quickest 16-car PM field in Canadian history with a bump spot of 6.242 secs. That eclipsed the 6.251 secs mark set at Grand Bend two weeks earlier. The eliminator saw 25 cars make qualifying attempts and was headed by South Carolina’s Scott Cannon, who ran low ET and top speed at 6.119/235.84 driving his fast-improving Skull Gear Pontiac GTO. The PM final was an exciting Can-Am affair with Quain Stott’s Lee-Boy Corvette from North Carolina facing Kenny Lang’s Manitoba-based Corvette. In a great drag race, Lang got out of the gate first only to have Stott catch him at the finish line. Stott’s winning time was 6.271/228.19 compared to Lang’s 6.232/227.00. The win was Stott’s first since Grand Bend in 2004 and his second at Edmonton — in fact, his last three IHRA circuit wins have all come in Canada. Lang’s superb runner-up finish came in his first career IHRA final as he managed to outshine all of the heavy Canadian Pro Mod pre-race favourites — Rick Distefano, Glen Kerunsky and Carl Spiering. All three of those top rated drivers were first round victims.

Honest! There is a Gordie Bonin tribute car over there on the left somewhere!

The 7.50 Pro Nostalgia Funny Car final went to Jay Mageau (far lane) over Tim Boychuck

104 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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DRAG RACING Las Vegas strip show 4TH CARS RV & MARINE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONALS ET  TOP FUEL Winner Clay Millican 4.773 R/UP Rick Cooper 4.838

306.88 304.19

 NITRO FUNNY CAR Winner Dale Creasy Jr. R/UP Jack Wyatt

5.324 8.957

285.23 86.98

 PRO MODIFIED Winner Quain Stott R/UP Kenny Lang

6.211 6.326

228.19 227.00

 PRO STOCK Winner Frank Gugliotta R/UP Jeff Dobbins

6.545 8.593

214.62 104.44

 Top Alcohol Funny Car Winner Tom Carter 5.962 R/UP Ken Kraus 6.133

238.17 212.06

MPH

Clay Millican’s success in Canada continued as he earned his 10th career TF win on Canadian soil at the Rocky Mountain Nationals

Winnipeg’s Kenny Lang had his finest showing yet in national competition — just missing the Pro Mod title

Pro Mod points leader Glen Kerunsky suffered his first early round exit of the season at Edmonton

Pro Stock saw Frank Gugliotta increase his overall IHRA eMax points margin with a convincing win. Driving Charlie Taylor’s Ford Escort, the Maryland-based driver set both low ET and top speed at 6.456/215.82 during time trials before blowing away the competition on Sunday. In the final, Gugliotta turned back the game event effort of Jeff Dobbins, who was also driving a Ford Escort. Alcohol Funny Car saw Texan Tom Carter earn his second career IHRA national event title. Carter, driving his Camaro, beat first time IHRA event participant Ken Kraus, driver of the Canadian-based entry owned by Alberta’s George Goodwin. Carter won with a 5.962/238.17 effort while Kraus’s Chevy Camaro slowed due to tire shake. AFC attracted a strong 13-car entry list and produced a swift bump spot of 5.993 secs. Final eliminations featured four Canadian qualifiers — Robbie Atchison, Trevor Lebsack, Kevin Therres and Roger Bateman. Alberta’s Bateman drove a spectacular new Camaro owned by Winnipeg’s Brian Friesen. Bateman qualified sixth at 5.958 secs before losing to Atchison in round one 5.908 secs to 6.098 secs. Edmonton featured special eliminators in Nitro Bikes and Pro Nostalgia Funny Cars. The Nitro Bikes trophy went to Edmonton’s own Ken Kent, who powered to a final round 6.932/202.55 to defeat Robert Smith (from Langley, BC). Jay Mageau, also from Edmonton, won the popular Pro Nostalgia Funny Car show on Saturday when he wheeled his immaculate ’57 Chevy past Tim Boychuck’s cool-looking Vega in the final. Mageau’s victory was his third in the four years of the Rocky Mountain Nationals. Sportsman racing featured a slew of Canadian winners including Randal Olynyk (Top Sportsman), Garth Giroux (Quick Rod), Mike Shannon (Super Rod), James Pahl (Hot Rod) and Ernie Penner (Super Stock). The event’s added attraction Quick 16 title (run instead of Top Dragster) went to Scott Taylor (St. Isidore, AB) and the grueling 130+ car ET Tournament was won by Geordie Castle’s Chevy S-10 from Sherwood Park, AB. Washington-state NHRA circuit Sportsman “hitter” Mark Faul scored in Stock eliminator driving his feared ’69 Chevelle.

106 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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NHRA Power Surge By BRUCE BIEGLER I DRAG RACING EDITOR Photos by BRUCE BIEGLER & DAVE DEANGELIS

Broken records and ﬁrst time victors highlight seven-race stretch for NHRA

Ron Capps remained “white-hot” in NHRA FC, winning at Bristol’s “Thunder Valley”

6TH O’REILLY SPRING NATIONALS

t Bristol’s “Thunder Valley” Ron Capps continued to ride the crest of Funny Car success as the NHRA POWERade points leader won for the third time in his fifth final round of the season. Capps and his talented crew chief Ed “Ace” McCulloch were consistent and their Brut-sponsored Dodge Stratus beat out John Force in the final. Capps was out of the gate first and his 4.793 secs / 319.52 mph covered Force’s quicker 4.788/310.13… Don Schumacher’s potent FC team was certainly “firing on all eight” as his Dodges occupied three of the final 4 spots in eliminations. In addition to winner Capps, Whit Bazemore set top speed at 327.03 mph driving his Matco-sponsored Charger and Gary Scelzi had his best ET of the season driving the new Oakley/Mopar Charger to a 4.777/325.45 mph… Top Fuel qualifying featured the most memorable moment when Cory McClenathan went for a high-speed spill on Friday night. Driving the Carrier Brothers Fram Boost machine, McClenathan had the chassis fail at high speed which saw the car first break in half, get airborne and then slide in a fiery inferno. In a testament to both NHRA’s high safety standards and the benefits of good fortune, McClenathan was not injured. His team rushed in a back-up chassis from Indianapolis and spent Saturday outfitting that car so McClenathan could make his round one date with Rod Fuller, but the untried car lost 4.502 secs to 4.666 secs… Fuller, driving the Valvoline-sponsored dragster, advanced to the final but smoked his tires and was simply no match for Doug Kalitta, who scored his third career win at Bristol Dragway driving the Mac Tools dragster. Kalitta ran a final round 4.537/331.53 (top speed) to seal the victory. Top Fuel featured some history as the 1-2 slots were earned by lady racers Melanie Troxel (4.539 secs) and Hillary Will (4.562 secs). That was a first for drag racing… The Pro Stock final featured a battle between Summit Racing Equipment teammates Greg Anderson and Jason Line. Driving the Ken Black owned Pontiac GTOs; Line moved first and took the victory with a 6.716/205.35 effort which beat Ander-

Cory McClenathan had a frightening top end spill at Bristol, but his team bounced back fast

son’s 6.752/204.70. Line was full marks for his ninth NHRA title has he qualified #1 (6.727 secs) and set both low ET and top speed at 6.708 secs at 205.35 mph… Bristol featured the popular AMS Staff Leasing Pro Modified circuit. That eliminator was won by Jay Payne driving his California based Dodge Stratus – his second event win of the season. Payne qualified #1 and then set low ET (6.063 secs) and top speed (235.72 mph) during eliminations before taking a lop-sided final over the cool ’67 Mustang driven by Joey Martin.

26TH SUMMIT RACING SOUTHERN NATIONALS

Sunday’s final eliminations at NHRA’s event east of Atlanta got off to a late start because of rain. Doug Kalitta collected the Top Fuel victory in the Mac Tools dragster. Kalitta powered to a winning 4.469/327.59 while opponent and overall points leader Melanie Troxel smoked her tires and aborted her run. Troxel’s runner-up finish was her sixth Top Fuel final of the season… U.S. Army-dragster driver Tony Schum-

acher was the performance star as he recorded the quickest and fastest run ever at Atlanta Dragway at a spectacular 4.448 secs and 331.28 mph, but the defending World Champion was then dealt out of competition in round two when he smoked the tires racing Doug Kalitta… Tony Pedregon earned his first win of the season in Funny Car when he powered the Q-Racing Chevy Monte Carlo to a final round win light over Robert Hight. Pedregon showed spectacular consistency while winning the event including four straight low 4.7 secs elapsed times during eliminations… John Force paced the swift FC show after qualifying in the Castrol GTX Mustang. Force’s teammate Robert Hight lowered the track ET record mark to 4.680 secs en route to his runner-up finish… Ron Capps did suffered his first early round exit of the season. Capps qualified 10th and was beaten by Cruz Pedregon in round one, 4.753 secs to 4.792 secs. Capps’ Schumacher stablemate Whit Bazemore also lost in that round. Event speculation had the duo still distracted after being involved in some fisticuffs with one another the day before… The Pro

108 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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Stock final featured a nice comeback statement by Dave Connolly who drove the Skull Gear Chevy Colbalt past the PiranaZ Pontiac GTO of Greg Stanfield for the title. That match-up featured the #14 and #16 qualified cars. Stanfield moved first (.014 to .038) only to have tire shake set in, that allowed Connolly an easy 6.695/205.69 mph victory. Connolly’s win came at his first race with newly appointed crew chief Tommy Utt… Pro Stock was a truly swift affair with all 16-qualified cars running in the 6.7 secs zone followed by a flurry of almost exclusive 6.7 secs runs during all four elimination rounds… Pro Stock Motorcycles saw Antron Brown keep the U.S. Army winning streak alive as he followed up the backto-back wins by his teammate Angelle Sampey (at Gainesville and Houston) with another victory. Brown won the final on a holeshot as he combined a .005 RT with a run of 7.098/187.44 to knock off the HarleyDavidson V-Rod of Andrew Hines. Hines lost with a quicker 7.089/187.94 mph. Brown’s victory also produced low ET at 7.045 secs (track record)… The Top Alcohol racing programs featured wins by pre-event favourites Ashley Force and Frank Manzo.

42ND PONTIAC PERFORMANCE NATIONALS

The 2006 Pontiac Performance Nationals was run off approximately one month earlier than in previous seasons and the cooler weather provided much better racing and track record setting performances. In fact, 6 of the 8 Pro track marks were reset, including overall track ET and speed by Tony Schumacher at 4.476 secs at 331.53 mph… The National Trail Raceway event was not without problems. Rain storms affected the schedule each and every day and eliminations got started about two hours late. Fans and racers also had to deal with a mysterious starting line “computer glitch” that brought action to a halt on numerous occasions… Much Pontiac’s pleasure Jim Yates won his first race in Pro Stock since the 2002 racing season when he drove the Sea Ray Boats-sponsored Pontiac GTO to victory. Yates used a final round holeshot and a time slip of 6.726/205.72 to hold off Colorado’s V. Gaines, driver of the Kendall-sponsored Dodge Stratus. Gaines, owner of the winning car at Gainesville (with Tom Martino driving), ran a much quicker but losing 6.687/206.23. Yates also collected low ET at 6.677 secs while winning in round one… Pro Stock was paced by Allen Johnson who ran 6.679 secs driving the Team Mopar Dodge Stratus for his first NHRA pole… Brandon Bernstein won large in Top Fuel driving the Budweiser/Lucas Oil sponsored dragster. Bernstein’s team delivered superb consistency throughout the event and that proved to be the ticket. In the final Bernstein delivered a 4.531/329.58 mph to win over Cory McClenathan… McClenathan’s impressive runner-up finish came in a special edition Jegs-sponsored Carrier Boyz Top Fuel car and only three weeks after that major crash at Bristol… Round one of Top Fuel featured some big upsets including a first round loss for the third consecutive race for Tony Schumacher. Schumacher’s powerful US Army sponsored dragster, which had set both ends of the NTR track record during qualifying, boiled its hides unmercifully at about the 400-foot mark and that allowed #16 qualifier Scott Weis to take the win. Bob Vandergriff Jr., who qualified his UPS dragster #2 with a 4.513 secs, was also upset in the round by veteran Luigi Novelli who sped to a career quick 4.628 secs… Tony Pedregon took another huge victory in Funny Car driving the Quaker State “Q-Racing” Chevy Monte Carlo. Pedregon overcame what appeared to be a win-in-the-making for the all new Matco Tools

Summit Racing teammates Jason Line and Greg Anderson both enjoyed major wins during the NHRA Spring schedule

Dodge Charger driven by Whit Bazemore in the ﬁnal. Bazemore, who had lane choice, jumped to an early lead only to have the car break at half track which allowed “Tony P” to take a come from behind win at 4.923/313.66… Robert Hight and Gary Scelzi set the track records for Funny Cars. Hight earned the ET mark when he grabbed the pole at 4.715 secs and Scelzi nabbed the MPH mark at 329.58 mph… Pro Stock Bike saw Angelle Sampey keep the 2006 U.S. Army team winning streak alive (4-0) as she won for the third time this season. Riding her Suzuki, Sampey produced her best run of the weekend in the ﬁnal as she beat the Buell driven by Matt Smith and owned by George Bryce to the stripe, 7.046/188.52 to 7.122/185.31… Chip Ellis, also riding for George Bryce, set low ET and top speed at 7.025 secs (track record) and 193.46 mph.

18TH O’REILLY SUMMER NATIONALS

Ron Capps gave the “modern day” Dodge Charger its first dose of victory lane in Funny Car at Heartland Park Topeka. Capps outperformed John Force in the final. Force, driving his Castrol GTX Mustang, jumped to an early lead however when his car hazed the tires at half track, Capps zipped by to take the victory at 4.992/293.54. His final round win over Force made Capps a perfect 3 for 3 while racing the 13-time champ head-to-head this season… Robert Hight qualified his AAA Auto Club of California Mus-

tang on the pole with a run of 4.824 secs, low ET. John Force’s team (including Hight and Eric Medlen) is now 9 for 9 in FC pole at NHRA events this season… Racing conditions at Topeka featured high atmospheric and track temperatures that curtailed circuit racers from their usual barrage of track record setting runs… History was still made when lady drivers Melanie Troxel (Top Fuel) and Erica Enders (Pro Stock) both earned #1 qualified positions —a first for drag racing. Enders, driving her Slammerssponsored Chevy Colbalt, set low ET at 6.785 secs to earn the first pole of her career and the first ever by a lady driver in Pro Stock. Troxel’s run of 4.567 secs, driving the Skull Shine/Torco dragster was also low ET… Neither Troxel nor Enders could turn those performances into event victories as they both lost out in round two… A “certifiably hot” Doug Kalitta won his third race in the last four in Top Fuel to creep to closer to overall leader Troxel. Kalitta wheeled the Mac Tools dragster to a final round win over Brandon Bernstein, winning a tight 4.675secs to 4.691 secs match… Pro Stock featured the first repeat winner in the class this season when Ohio’s David Connolly drove the Skull Gear Cobalt to the title. Connolly won the all-Chevrolet final on a holeshot when his .020 RT combined with a 6.844/201.34 held off Kurt Johnson’s ACDelco Colbalt which ran 6.836/201.70… The event featured some terrific racing in the Top Alcohol categories with

Tony Pedregon’s stock in NHRA Funny Car rose exponentially with wins at Atlanta, Columbus and St. Louis

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DRAG RACING NHRA Power Surge

The FC ﬁnal at Columbus saw Tony Pedregon score a come-from-behind win over Whit Bazemore

California-based racers Sean O’Bannon and Steve Gasparrelli prevailing.

9TH CARQUEST AUTO PARTS NATIONALS

Chicagoland’s Route 66 Raceway once again lived up to its speedy reputation. Visiting racers were met with cool and overcast conditions and the response was an unreal total of career bests as well as all-time quick eliminators. Pro Stock was simply dynamite as it featured the quickest assembly in NHRA history with 15 of 16 qualified cars running in the 6.6 secs zone and a bump spot of 6.700 secs. Kurt Johnson won driving his ACDelco Chevy Colbalt when he edged out points leader Greg Anderson in a superb final round. Johnson moved first (.012 RT) and that proved to be the difference as his 6.646 secs won over Anderson’s 6.641 secs. Johnson’s win denied Anderson the opportunity for a “double up” at the race. On Saturday Anderson collected $50K when he beat Summit Racing teammate Jason Line in a spectacular battle for the King Demon Crown. In what will probably be the most remembered single match of the ‘06 season, Anderson won the quickest side-byside NHRA Pro Stock race in history, recording a winning 6.620/208.20 to a losing (!) 6.637/207.53 mph... The ultra quick PS program was paced by Louisiana’s Richie Stevens Jr., who recorded the second quickest (official) run in class history at 6.635 secs to earn the pole driving his Team Mopar Dodge Stratus. Stevens went on to a strong “final four” finish… John

Force made up some ground in FC points when he won for the first time this season. After squandering some missed opportunities in recent races trying to run down leader Ron Capps, Force drove his Castrol GTX Mustang took advantage when Capps struggled in qualifying and lost to Robert Hight in round two. Force was consistently quick while beating Tony Bartone, Phil Burkhart Jr. and Eric Medlen. In the final Force and Hight ultimately did face off and reports from their pit areas had both cars “hopped up” for potential national record setting performances. However, both cars broke their blower belts at mid range and Force took a less than dramatic coasting win 4.930/233.60 mph to 4.890/244.56 mph… FC was a record setter, producing an all-time quick bump spot of 4.802 secs. The field was paced by Tommy Johnson Jr., who went for the quickest ride of his career with a spectacular 4.672 secs jaunt in Don Prudhomme’s Skoal Chevrolet. Top speed went to the suddenly resurgent Gary Scelzi who clocked in at 332.10 mph while driving the Oakley/Mopar Dodge Charger… Top Fuel featured the fourth win in five races for Doug Kalitta. Driving a special edition Mac Tools/Chip Foose Mac Card dragster, Kalitta ran a flurry of 4.4 secs elapsed times throughout the weekend. In the final he was able to chip away somewhat at Melanie Troxel’s overall points lead when he beat Troxel with a run of 4.503/330.23 while Troxel stuck the tires and then had to fight to maintain control… Top Fuel class racing featured numerous inspiring stories including Alan Bradshaw, driver for

Jim Yates’ timely Pro Stock win at the Pontiac Performance Nationals was his ﬁrst on the circuit since 2002

Bill Miller, who after qualifying #16 ran a career best 4.545 secs to upset low qualifier Tony Schumacher in round one. Schumacher had set low ET at 4.447 secs while earning the pole… Pro Stock Bike saw the first win of the season for someone other then the U.S. Army backed team as Ryan Schnitz rode Rob Muzzy’s Trim-Tex Buell to victory. Schnitz turned back a strong performance for first time finalist Matt Guidera when Guidera went -.004 red. Schnitz took the title at 7.064 secs and 182.03 mph….Low ET for the Bikes went to Chip Ellis who produced only the sport’s third “six” in the class with a dramatic 6.988 riding George Bryce’s Drag Specialties Buell during Saturday’s qualifying action. The Pro Stock Motorcycle field was also a record setter featuring a bump spot of 7.119 secs which eclipsed the 7.158 secs bump set at Gainesville in March….The Joliet event featured the prestigious 22nd running of the Jeg’s Allstars for Sportsman class racers. The team from NHRA Division 1 prevailed in total team points in the event contested late into Saturday evening. They were led by defending Allstars Top Alcohol Funny Car champion Frank Manzo and by additional wins by Don Pires Jr. in Stock and Lynn Hoosigan in Super Street. Other Jeg’s Allstars winners included Marty Thacker (Top Alcohol Dragster); Jeff Taylor (Comp

Doug Kalitta wheeled this special edition Chip Foose/Mac Tools car to victory at Joliet — just one of four recent circuit wins

Erica Enders made Pro Stock class history when she became the ﬁrst female pole qualiﬁer in the class at NHRA Topeka

110 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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DRAG RACING NHRA Power Surge Eliminator); Don Duke (Super Stock); Shawn Langdon (Super Comp); and Rock Haas (Super Gas)….. Sunday’s ferocious Carquest Auto Parts Nationals Top Alcohol eliminators were won by Todd Datweiler (TAD) and Bob Newberry (TAFC).

Kurt Johnson defeated the quickest ﬁeld of Pro Stock cars in NHRA history when he won at Chicago’s Carquest Nationals

37TH K&N FILTERS SUPERNATIONALS

At E-Town, racers had to contend with some serious atmospheric and track heat. Despite that, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park track surface still delivered more record setting fields… Nevada’s “Hot Rod” Fuller and Team Valvoline enjoyed their finest hour so far with a convincing victory in Top Fuel. Fuller scored his third career victory when he stopped the amazing winning streak of Larry Dixon in the final. Fuller ran a winning 4.692/314.24 compared to Dixon’s 4.825/299.73. Dixon had won the last five years (!) on “Fathers Day” at Englishtown driving Don Prudhomme’s Miller Lite dragster… Funny Car featured a pairing of the two most consistent cars with teammates Gary Scelzi and Ron Capps facing off in the first ever all-Dodge Charger final. Capps padded his points lead when his RT combined with a 5.025/299.46 in the Brut car edged out Scelzi’s Oakley/Mopar Charger which went 5.012/301.81. The FC performance stars were a bit of a surprise with Ohio’s Jim Head setting top speed at 325.22 mph, and New York’s own Tony Bartone earning the pole for the first time in his career when he ran 4.787 secs driving Jim Dunn’s Lucas Oil Monte Carlo. Bartone advanced to the semi-final before he lost to Gary Scelzi in a side-by-side tire smoker… The event featured record setting fields in Pro Stock (both car and motorcycle). Pro Stock car saw a bump spot sub-6.7 secs with the 16 qualified cars all bunched tightly between 6.645 secs and 6.686 secs. That 6.686 eclipsed the 6.700 secs bump set at Joliet the week before. Pro Stock Bike was equally impressive with a new all-time mark of 7.107 secs being set which also improved on the 7.119 set last week at Joliet… Jason Line scored in Pro Stock when he gunned down Dave Connolly in an all-GM final round. Line’s Summit Racing Equipment GTO moved first and ran 6.729/205.98 to hold off Connolly’s Skull Gear Cobalt which ran 6.739/206.45… Pro Stock was paced by Allen Johnson as he drove the Team Mopar Dodge Stratus to 6.645 secs… Pro Stock Motorcycle went to first time winner Matt Smith who rode George Bryce’s Buell to victory. Smith overcame a much better start by Karen Stoffer in the final (.030 to .107 RT) to win at 7.111/185.38 on his Torco-sponsored machine… AMS Pro Modified made an appearance at E-Town with Joey Martin’s spectacular ’67 Mustang winning. For Martin, the win was his first and came over another first time finalist, Texan Brandon Pesz in his ’67 Corvette. Martin’s win came over a record quick field for NHRA with a bump spot of 6.230 secs… Top Alcohol racing saw wins going to Frank Manzo in TAFC and Jeff Bohr in TAD…

John Force’s big win at Route 66 Raceway enhanced his chances for a 2006 POWERade Championship

“Hot Rod” Fuller enjoyed his ﬁnest hour in NHRA Top Fuel when he won the East Coast’s marquee K&N SuperNationals

10TH O’REILLY MIDWEST NATIONALS

NHRA reached it’s half-way mark at Gateway International Raceway. The event was highlighted by the first season win and first final round appearance for defending World Champion Tony Schumacher who powered to victory driving the U.S. Army dragster. Schumacher ran a final round 4.565/327.59 to turn back the bid of Brandon Bernstein in the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster… Rod Fuller, driving his Valvoline/David Powers Homes dragster, earned the first No. 1 qualifying effort of his career when he clocked a 4.551 secs run. Doug Kalitta drove his Mac Tools dragster to a speed of 330.55 mph, the 112 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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5/3/06 3:51:01 PM 5/3/06 4:29:28 PM

DRAG RACING NHRA Power Surge When Ron Capps and wily crew chief Ed “Ace” McCulloch won at Englishtown it was their ﬁfth win of 2006

Oklahoma’s Mike Edwards won his second Pro Stock event of the season at St. Louis driving his colourful Pontiac GTO

Defending Champion Tony Schumacher found victory lane for the ﬁrst time in ‘06 during the MidWest Nationals

After a slow season start Dave Connolly bounced back strong in Pro Stock with wins at Atlanta and Topeka

first ever 330 mph run at the facility… In FC Tony Pedregon collected his third win of the season driving the “Q Racing” Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Pedregon took a final round confrontation over his former boss John Force. The two drivers left the line together with almost identical reaction times (.077 to .078), however Force’s Castrol GTX Mustang faltered at the top end allowing Pedregon to win it: 4.859/320.43 to 4.904/269.35… Robert Hight set low ET at 4.803 secs while earning his fourth pole of the season. Top speed went to Whit Bazemore whose fast-improving Matco Dodge Charger ran 325.37 mph… Pro Stock went to Mike Edwards, who defeated Dodge racer Larry Morgan in the final. Edwards’ Young Life Pontiac GTO posted a 6.717/205.76 to defeat Morgan’s quicker, but losing 6.715/205.82 in his zMax Dodge Stratus R/T. It was Edwards’ 13th career victory… Overall points leader Greg Anderson claimed the pole driving his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO with a track record 6.692/206.23. It was Anderson’s sixth #1 qualifying effort of the season and the 46th of his career… Chip Ellis claimed his first victory of the season, defeating Michael Phillips in the Pro Stock Motorcycle final. Ellis rode his Drag Specialties S&S Buell to a 7.153/183.84 in the final to hold back Phillips’ Suzuki, which clocked a 7.298/184.83. It was Ellis’ fourth career victory… AMS Pro Mod saw Mike Ashley drive his Pro Mod Mustang as he rolled to victory over the similar ’67 Mustang of Joey Martin in the final. Ashley recorded low ET while winning at 6.100/233.16 which bettered Martin’s equally impressive but red-lighting 6.104/232.95. Ashley’s victory came from the 16th and final qualified position.

114 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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Seigo Yamamoto and Sony Dream Machines

By BEN WOO Photos by JEREMY GLOVER

am. I wake up to the sounds of heavy rainfall and my 20-year-old Sony Dream Machine alarm clock buzzing in my ear. Having barely slept the night before (crazy Italian wedding), as well as the build up of excitement over the much-anticipated second round of the Castrol DMCC, I grab my things and rush to my JDM EK9 (Civic Type R for all you common folk) parked downstairs. I start the engine and I quickly make my way onto the Autoroute 20 East, direction Quebec City. Final destination: Ste-Croix Raceway, beautifully located just off the shore of the St. Lawrence River and only 20 minutes before the city. It would be two hours before I would get my ﬁrst glimpse of the short track that would be used for today’s drift session. After an enjoyable meandering strip of back country asphalt and the sound of my B16a revving to the hum of 9,800rpm, I was itchy to embrace the sweet smell of tires smoking off the tarmac and blow off valves pissing into the atmosphere. Ahhh yes… all the ingredients that make for a great day of drifting.

10am. Round 2 of the Castrol DMCC welcomed a grand total of 22 participants. Considering the not so favourable weather conditions, this was considered a very strong turnout. Many familiar cars returned to compete again, in particular, the top eight drivers who were already pre-qualiﬁed for Round 2 (based on their ranking from Round 1). However, it would be new, never before seen vehicles that were unveiled that day that really spiced things up. Cars such as an orange JDM Toyota Soarer (Lexus SC400) powered by a 1JZ, inline 6, turbocharged engine as well as a quartet of white Corolla AE86’s that made the trip up from New York State. One by one, they lined up for practice runs through the rain and found out quickly that drifting through such a tight and technical track such as Ste-Croix would prove a difﬁcult task. Would it be the almighty SR20DET powered Silvia’s that would reign supreme like they had at Ste-Eustache? Or would these conditions be more suited for a shorter wheel based, all-motor machine such as the 86? 11:30am. It is no secret that the sport of drifting is growing at a exponential rate here in Canada. The

drivers are getting better, the cars are looking more professional and the events are better attended. But is the judging system for the DMCC on par with either Formula D in the US or even the D1 Drifting Championship in Japan? In fact, the very foundation on which the sport of drifting is built on is the solidity of its judging system. It is for this reason that event organizers ﬂew in legendary Japanese pro-drifter Seigo Yamamoto, as both a special appearance for the event and a coach for the DMCC judges. “Drifting is about control and style, not just smoke. Judges need to see past the surface and examine the real performances by each drifter,” stated Yamamoto in a very thick Japanese accent. “The level of skill of drifters in Canada has improved tremendously since my visit here last summer.” Simply being in the presence of an individual such as Seigo made the entire experience surreal. I was no longer in the boondocks of Quebec! I was now transported to a remote race track, somewhere deep in the hills of Japan! Okay, back to reality. 1pm. The top 16 proved to be an impressive

116 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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GRASSROOTS Seigo Yamamoto and Sony Dream Machines Ben Alden (mid.) gets sprayed by third place ﬁnisher Hideki Nishimura (r.) and runner-up Ryan Tuerk (l.)

lineup of professional, well-established drivers facing off against a handful of newcomers. Rising stars such as Tyler Hall in his pink Nissan Silvia S14 and JF Chiasson piloting his very unassuming matte black 180SX tried their very best to slide their way around the tight chicanes and intimidating high speed hairpin of Ste-Croix. As the day went on, the sun came out along with the surprising 1,500plus fans that endured the climate. They were not to be disappointed as the top 16 narrowed down to eight, then four. Interestingly enough, the Toyo Final Four would end up to be the exact same drivers from Round 1! Team Cooper’s Ryan Tuerk and his KA24 powered 240SX, Ben Alden of Team Yokohama in his lil’ red 86(Corolla GT-S), the FD3S(RX-7) of Hideki Nishimura of Team Toyo Drift and hometown favourite Marco Santos and his newly face lifted and painted, RPS13(240SX). Four different drivers, four different cars from four different regions. Very interesting indeed. 4pm. Last year’s champion and this year’s points leader Tuerk, faced off against Nishimura in the first Final 4 tandem battle. Nishimura found it challenging to keep up with Tuerk’s nimble Nissan through the first chicane, but made ground in the back hairpin by taking advantage of the 400hp generated from his rotary powered RX-7. By throwing his car sideways at a very aggressive angle and keeping up his overall speed throughout the race, Tuerk managed to successfully fend off Nishimura and gain his spot once again in the finals. Santos found himself battling it out with New York native Alden and his well prepped AE86. Santos’ extreme style pleased the crowd but Alden’s surgically precise maneuvers proved to be the winning strategy on this day. Entering the final turn of the second lap, Santos slid off the tarmac due to an oversteer miscalculation, securing Alden’s shot at a first or second podium finish. 6pm. Once again, Santos and Nishimura would go head-to-head for the battle for third place. Judges were stumped as these two top seated competitors were asked to do two “one more times” before a winner could be declared. Unfortunately, due to a lack of tires, Santos’ final run would end up on the grass, ultimately giving Nishimura the clear win. A classic example of how solid support from the team can directly influence the outcome of the race. Tuerk and Alden lined up for what can be called the classic duel of power versus control. A 350hp Nissan against a modest, 175hp naturally aspirated four-banger. On paper, this fight barely even seems fair. Nonetheless, in front of cheering drift fans, Seigo Yamamoto himself and the DMCC judges, Alden of Team Yokohama would pilot his understated Corolla 86 to victory and prove everybody wrong. Many spectators felt that the sheer smoke and power exhibited by Tuerk’s 240SX would surely win the favour of the judges. However, what many may have overlooked was the accuracy of Alden’s driving lines, how he kept up with a more powerful car and the smooth fluidity to his back-to-back drifts. The lesson of the day? Short tracks equal precision driving. And no, we are still not in Japan. Round 3 of the Castrol DMCC is scheduled for July 30 at Autodrome Ste-Eustache. A very special drifting demonstration took place at the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto. With this much drifting action ahead, I’m starting to feel a little inadequate with my FF (front engine, front wheel drive) Civic. Maybe it’s time that I start thinking sideways? Or maybe it’s about time I update my alarm clock? Sideways it is… 118 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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HEADLINE: It’s only just begun but it’s going strong

QUEBEC REPORT

Story and Photos by Éric Descarries I Quebec Editor

What’s next? W

e knew what was coming, but now it is official, Normand Legault, director of the Canadian Grand Prix has taken full control of the two automotive events that are allowed every year on Ile-Notre Dame. Obviously, he will keep the GP. Then, there are serious rumours Legault is looking at a NASCAR event, most probably a Busch Grand National race in August next year. Such a decision would have quite the impact on the Quebec motorsport scene. The first “victim” could be the Molson Indy race now promoted by Alan Labrosse. The race was not a huge success last year (though it was not a failure either) even if there were two local boys in the series, Alexandre Tagliani and Andrew Ranger. If Legault has his way, the Indy would be cancelled. Labrosse is trying hard to get Legault to keep the Indy event but time will tell if he succeeds. If there is no Indy race and if the BGN race is run on a Saturday (like it most likely will), what will happen on Sunday? Since Legault will have to run something on Sunday, the rumour mill is going strong. Will it be an IRL race? What if IRL and Champ Car reunite? The other rumour is that there could be a Grand Am/Rolex event the next day. Simple! Rolex and Grand Am Cup are linked to NASCAR… a natural! Then, there is the date. As this was written, no official date had been announced. But once again, if the rumour mill is right (where there’s smoke, there’s fire), it would clash with theGrand Prix de Trois-Rivières, the very first city course race in North America. To kill that legendary event would be dramatic! The TroisRivières event could always be moved but at a cost. And the Trois-Rivières people are working hard to make it survive… Add to that the fate of CASCAR. We all know that CASCAR wants to be part of NASCAR. CASCAR will run the Grand Prix de TroisRivières and rumours are getting more serious about CASCAR being part of the Montréal Molson Indy. Would Legault fit a CASCAR road race within his second program? I can already hear the local road racing boys (Honda, Echos, Formula 1600’s) fearing the loss of yet another glorious event! Then, there is NASCAR itself. There are already many articles in specialized publications talking about coming to Montréal where “ there is a huge base of NASCAR fans.” Though I would not deny this, I am not sure about the word “huge.” I think that to attract a big crowd at a NASCAR road race in Montréal, there needs to be a lot of big promotion in the Northern USA and Ontario. No matter what, we have not seen the end of this.

hat a miserable month June was in Québec. Many races had to be postponed or even cancelled because Mother Nature poured too much rain on La Belle Province. One of them was the CASCAR Super Series race in June at St-Eustache, which was pushed back to Sept. 9. Even local races at St-Eustache had to be rescheduled as was the case for the Granby and Drummondville DIRT tracks. As far as St-Eustache goes, it has had enough NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series races to put veteran Benoit Juteau at the top of its local Pro truck series. Even if Juteau has not won a race yet this season, he is so consistent that, according to track management, if Benoit Juteau leads the NASCAR Dodge he carries on like this he could very well end Weekly Series points at St-Eustache up as the National Weekly Series champion! Nonetheless, the fight for the championship is very tight. Juteau has 386 points compared to runner-up Jean-François Bouvrette who has 380 and third-place Sebastien Dussault with 378! Among the multiple programs that the 4/10th-mile oval paved track holds regularly, two of the provincial Castrol-LMS championship races were successfully run. Autodrome Drummond also had its share of Saturday night races postponed because of the rain. In its case, the 4/10th- mile DIRT track was able to hold four Modified races since the beginning of the season and veteran David Hebert (once a CASCAR driver) leads the championship ahead of Clement Therrien and young Kayle Robidoux. Autodrome Granby has also had its own share of cancellations. In June, it held only two nights of racing out of a possible five! Blame it on Mother Nature again. Martin Roy is leading Alain Boisvert and David Hebert in the race for the ½-mile DIRT track championship.

Castrol-LMS going on strong

In its second year, the Castrol LMS National championship is going strong. We reported the first event that was won by Martin Lacombe with his Chevy at l’Autodrome St-Eustache but since then, the Montmagny (near Quebec City) race had to be postponed until July 15 because of… you guessed it, rain. Sylvain Lacombe, Martin’s brother, won the Vallée-Jonction race also on a Chevy but ran out of fuel close to the finish as he was heading for another victory at the half-mile Circuit Ste-Croix paved oval. That one went to Quebec City’s André Beaudoin. Then the weekend after, Alexandre Gingras drove his Ford to victory at l’Autodrome St-Felicien. For Canada Day, the tour was back at St-Eustache for a 150-lap race. But Mother Nature didn’t think it was the right day for racing and sent water pouring on the 4/10th-mile track. The race was postponed the next day and this time, there was a race. Sylvain Lacombe chased a very fast Donald Theetge but had to settle for second place. It was Theetge’s first win at St-Eustache and that places him sixth in the championship. Martin Lacombe still leads with 378 points but he is closely followed by Jean-François Dery (Pontiac), who finished third in the St-Eustache race. Alexandre Gingras is third and Sylvain Lacombe, who missed a race, is now 14th.

Theetge (80) took only 20 laps to pass pole sitter Martin Marcoux (63)

Donald Theetge was very happy after his win at St-Eustache

120 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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8/17/06 1:15:01 PM

QUEBEC REPORT

Story and Photos by Éric Descarries I Quebec Editor

Sommet des Légendes, what happened? In the past few years, le Circuit Mont Tremblant has spoiled us with a fantastic event, the Sommet des Légendes, one of the most prestigious Vintage Car events in Canada. The three-day party used to be run in mid-July. This year, for some personal reasons, the promoter decided to present the event a month earlier. It didn’t work out. First of all, according to officials at the track, this June event clashed with other more important venues in the United States. Then, there was the weather. It rained the first two first. Consequently, less than 100 cars showed up when we were treated to more than 200 in the past. The most obvious absence was that of vintage Formula One cars. Nonetheless, there were a few brave drivers, including many local boys, who showed up for the event. Results for the races where a little deceiving as there were few cars in most categories. Consequently, event organizers have told us that the Sommet des Légendes will be back next year… at its original July date.

Local racers didn’t fear the rain

When the track was dry, spectators saw great cars on the track

There were very few F1’s under the rain this year

Once again, veteran Quebec race driver Jacques Duval was at Tremblant with his son François

Four FXX’s at Tremblant If the Sommet des Légendes at Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant was mostly rained out, the Ferrari Festival held the weekend after was more of a success. More than 100 Ferrari owners showed up for a friendly event that included two Ferrari Challenge races for 360s and F430s. Notably, there were four of the world’s only 16 FXX’s on the race track during the weekend. By the way, Montreal’s Emmanuel Anassis won both Challenge races at Tremblant and then went to win the Canadian Grand Prix Ferrari Challenge event. Among the great cars on the track was this Lawrence Stroll-owned ex-Penske Racing 512M

Four Ferrari FXX’s (of the world’s 16) showed up at Tremblant

Guess what kind of F-1 this red is…

122 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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Calgary’s Steve Ross dropped by Mission on Mother’s Day but was black-flagged for tire punctures twice, even though he suffered only one flat in the race

David Saville Peck and Morgan Mansfield were dominant in winning at Mission in P1, but in the second event mechanical difficulties took them out of the race

P3 had plenty of excitement as JP Skinner held off Larry Bell in two races after Bell had difficulties in both races

he SCCBC club road racers continued their season at River’s Edge Roadcourse in Mission, BC in May and June with two CACC-sanctioned events, and as usual, the Westcoast Sportscar Championship was the headliner each time. The May race was unfortunately held on Mother’s Day, and that may have served to keep the entries down in all groups. It certainly didn’t help the WSC, which again this year is striving to get the numbers higher than the mid-teens. After dominating the first weekend in April, the P1class Super 7 pair of David Saville Peck and Morgan Mansfield were back. While the former was late arriving and didn’t get a qualifying lap, and the latter was late to pre-grid along with two others who had to start at the back of the field, it was only a few laps into the one-hour race before the pair had made it up to the front of the pack, where they finished in that order, a lap ahead of everyone else. P2 class saw Calgary’s Steve Ross visiting, but he fell victim to a phantom flat tire black flag, only to go out again and suffer an actual flat tire that put him several laps back of class winners Gerald Paetz and Bob Styan. The story was similar in P3, where Larry Bell also had a puncture, handing the class win to Kevin and John Paul Skinner. As usual P4 had most of the action, the tandem of Scott Arthur and Bob Williams contending strongly until they were nailed for both “breaking out” and pit lane speed, which made the first victory for Tim Rosche easier. Four weeks later on June 11, there were a few new entries, and some strange karma, as the race was full of weird incidents. The Super 7 duo were the only

entrants in P1 and it should have been a cake-walk, but Saville Peck was a non-starter with head gasket issues in his newly-turboed rocket, while Mansfield was in the pits for several laps with a faulty plug coil and a loose driveshaft. That opened the door for a P2 entry to win the race, and the quickest such car, the sports racer of Paetz and Styan, would seemingly have the upper hand. While they won, they didn’t make it easy on themselves. On the driver change, Paetz got in the car but the belts weren’t done up properly, nor was the radio plugged in. So they had to make another stop, and only just caught the debuting, and ultimately brake-and-tireless, Corvette C5R of Greg Carter on the second-last lap. In P3, it was once again JP Skinner, taking class from Larry Bell, with whom he had an early battle before the latter was black flagged twice, for excessive pit lane speed and a “breakout.” P4 went to Tim Rosche again, but not before he survived a battle royal with fellow CRX pilots Williams and Arthur and defending WSC champion Keith Robinson. Robinson, in his road race Honda after his ice race version was pressed into service at the last race, didn’t perform so well. It didn’t help his cause having to pit early to remove the water bottle that his mechanic — he himself, he admitted — left in the footwell under the pedals. At the mid-point of the season heading into Round 4 on July 9, Paetz and Styan held the overall points lead on the strength of three P2 class victories, but the other class leaders (Mansfield in P1, Skinner in P3, Rosche in P4) were not far behind, and it looked good for a fight down to the last race.

124 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

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Story and photos by Bruce Biegler I Drag Racing Editor

Not In Our Backyard!

One of the more inspirational stories to come out of the IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals was a huge win in the grueling Top Sportsman category for a local Ontario team, K&K Racing from Stratford. After calling Grand Bend Motorplex home for over a decade, racing partners Kevin Wicke and Kevin Zimmer fully enjoyed their finest hour as they utilized both their local track knowledge and some savvy tuning to turn back an all-star line-up of class invaders. The win was the first ever IHRA national event for the team that had come close before (including three runner-up performances). At Grand Bend they debuted a slick new paint scheme and an all-new 609 CID B-1 motor program for their Chrysler LeBaron. After qualifying solidly in the middle of the pack (24 of 46) they dissected the field with a flurry of 7.3 secs runs. The competition was as stiff as it comes — including required round wins over various previous IHRA national event winners. In the final, Wicke ran a winning 7.310 secs (7.29) at 188.60 mph to beat former World Champion Gary Bingham who broke out at 7.322 sec (7.33 dial in). “Our knowledge of this track did help us,” admitted team driver Wicke. “We have made a lot of laps here and we have won some track championships. But for our first national event title to come at our home track is really the icing on the cake. There are really no words to describe how we feel!” Wicke was also quick to credit his hard working crew, which is comprised primarily of racing partner Zimmer (“who did magic with the 4-link” according to Wicke), Dan and Dennis Culliton and his sons Kody and Kayden.

Edmonton’s Jay Mageau earned his third career IHRA “Ironman” during the Rocky Mountain Nationals

Nielsen Wins PMRA Opener

Mark Nielsen from Brantford, ON earned his first career PMRA (Pro Modified Racing Association) title when he won that series’ opening event at Toronto Motorsports Park in June. The PMRA event was part of the first feature race of the season at TMP, the KC Auto Family Day Thunder Fest. Nielsen qualified his Chevy Camaro, which now features a new Hemi-engine program for E.R.D., fifth and then waded through eliminations to face defending 2005 PMRA champion Joe Lilienthal in the final. Nielsen had to peddle his car a couple of times because of a damp surface but emerged the winner at 7.233 secs compared to Lilienthal’s 7.866 secs. The event’s top qualifier was event host Kasey Janzen of St. Catharines, who set the pace for the field with a 6.490-second, 214.86-mph pass before being eliminated in the first round.

ECH “Thunder By The River”

Eaton Cutler-Hammer presented a Pro Modified feature race at the fast and newly resurfaced Mission Raceway Park the weekend before the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals. The event featured a strong contingent of top-ranked cars from both Canada and the USA. South Carolina’s Scott Cannon, son of legendary class racer Scotty Cannon, emerged victorious driving his Torco/Skull Gear Pontiac GTO. Cannon stopped Canada’s hottest Pro Mod driver Glen Kerunsky (from Priddis, AB) in an exciting final, winning a close come-from-behind victory. Cannon ran 6.101 secs at 235.23 mph to take the win-light compared to Kerunsky’s 6.152/231.24. Cannon had earlier recorded a very impressive lap at 6.071 secs to open eliminations. Invading Eastern Canadian Carl Spiering did however manage to steal some of Cannon’s event spotlight. Driving his new Eaton Cutler Hammer ’67 Camaro “Big Dog” rocked the Pro Mod world with a spectacular 6.032 secs recording during Saturday’s time trials —the quickest Pro Modified time ever on Canadian soil. Spiering, who also had an equally impressive run of 6.07 secs, won in the first round before his powerful machine shook the tires hard in round two and he lost out to Kerunsky.

Ontario-based K&K Racing won big at Grand Bend, taking the Mopar Canadian Nationals Top Sportsman eliminator

ageau Completes Hat Trick

Hometown racer Jay Mageau (from Edmonton) driving the Mageau Family Racing, “Prospector” 1957 Chevrolet Funny Car won his third career IHRA “Ironman” during the Rocky Mountain Nationals presented by Cars RV & Marine and Torco Race Fuels. The title was Mageau’s third win in four years at the event in the Pro Nostalgia Funny Car category and complementing his two other wins in 2003 and 2005. Mageau prevailed in the Saturday night finale over Tim Boychuck’s 1974 Vega — 7.572/180.24 to 7.633/178.78. “We are very happy to get this win.” remarked Mageau, who dedicated his win to his Grandmother who passed away earlier in the week. “It was important for us to win for her and also in front of all our friends, fans and sponsors.” 126 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

Carl Spiering has his new Pro Mod Camaro flying (and then some!) — how about a Canadian record 6.032 secs ET!

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OEMNEWS US makers to double renewable fuel vehicles

+ 0)#2-) "

hicles capable of running on renewable fuels to two million cars and trucks

Today, there are more than 5 million flex fuel vehicles on the road and the three domestic automotive companies will add an additional million cars and trucks this year alone. If all of these vehicles were running on E85, they would displace more than 3.5 billion gallons of gasoline a year, an amount comparable to the yearly gas consumption in a state such as Missouri or Tennessee The CEOs noted that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;vehicles alone will not get the job done. To capitalize on this commitment, Congress and the Administration need to continue to promote the production of biofuels, increase incentives for refueling infrastructure, and continue incentives for automakers to produce biofuel vehicles.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eventually, we need to get to the point where most Americans have reasonable access to these fuels at a price that is competitive with gasoline,â&#x20AC;? they said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Without this alternative fuel infrastructure, the US could miss the opportunity to displace gasoline with homegrown and produced biofuels.â&#x20AC;? Currently, there are only about 700 E85 pumps among the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 170,000 gas stations.

+ 0)#2-) "

Jaguarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2007 Jaguar XKR Coupe and Convertible made its global debut at the 2006 London Motor Show on July 18, 2006, and takes the Jaguar experience to new heights. Designed in parallel with the naturally aspirated 2007 XK Coupe and Convertible, the new supercharged XKR makes intelligent use of practical, modern technology such as its industry-leading aluminum monocoque body structure. In fact, the new XKRsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; aluminum chassis are significantly lighter and stiffer in both Coupe and Convertible form than the steel counterparts they replace. A 420bhp, 4.2-liter supercharged V8 engine makes the Jaguar XKR capable of rapid 0-60mph performance in just 4.9 seconds (XKR Coupe) and produces an electronically limited top speed of 155mph. Both XKR Coupe and Convertible exhibit enhanced performance styling cues such as a sportier new grille and front bumper design, a vented hood and distinctive aluminum-effect side power vents. Its unique option 19- or 20-inch alloy wheel

Photo Courtesy Ford Motor Co.

Jaguarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2007 XKR Coupe and Convertible

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designs and standard quad-exhaust system also add to its overall presence. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The new supercharged XKR captures perfectly the essence of what makes a Jaguar XK so special,â&#x20AC;? commented Bibie Boerio, Jaguar Cars managing director. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is a perfect combination of refined Grand Tourer and serious performance sports car that delivers a truly rewarding and exhilarating driving experience.â&#x20AC;?

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by 2010. The production increase by DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General Motors represents the single largest commitment to renewable fuels in the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s history. The pledge toward more flex fuel vehicles that can use E85 ethanol or biodiesel came in a letter to all Members of the US Congress from Chrysler Group President and CEO, Tom LaSorda, Ford Motor Company Chairman and CEO, Bill Ford and General Motors Chairman and CEO, Rick Wagoner. The letter reaffirms the CEOs message they delivered to Congressional leadership in May that renewable fuels can play an important role toward achieving energy security by reducing the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dependence on foreign oil. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We need business and government to work together to enhance the production, distribution and use of renewable biofuels,â&#x20AC;? the CEOs said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our hope is that with this commitment, fuel providers will have even more incentive to produce ethanol and other biofuels and install pumps to distribute them.â&#x20AC;?

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Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s automotive companies plan to double annual production of ve-

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WWW PRNMAG COM n 0ERFORMANCE 2ACING . 8/14/06 7:40:03 PM

AD INDEX: ARK Performance INC.........................................107 Autodrome St. Eustache......................................123 Beltronics...............................................................6 Beyond Digital Imaging.........................................18 BMW....................................................................87 Caravan Canopies...............................................121 Cedarbrae Volkswagon.........................................93 Continental Tire..................................................OBC CRC Canada.........................................................29 CSR Performance Products.................................111 Digital Performance............................................117 Dodge.....................................................................3 Eagle One...........................................................131 Eclipse..................................................................49 Emcea Trandport.................................................125 Energy Suspension...............................................65 Fast Eddie Racewear....................................73, 127 Fast Wheels..........................................................83 G Force Racing Gear...........................................113 Gatorz Glasses......................................................63 Gentec..................................................................19 Gillette..................................................................31 Grand Bend........................................................105 Grand Prix Imports/MOMO....................................45 Hankook Tire........................................................39 HMS...................................................................129 Honda...................................................................11 Honeywell/ Autolite...............................................25 Honeywell/ Fram...................................................37 IAC.......................................................................40 Jim Russell Racing School....................................75 Maxell..................................................................81 Montreal Indy.......................................................53 Mopac Auto Supply.............................................101 Mopar.....................................................................2 Mosport..................................................................6 NASA Pro Racing..................................................51 Nitro Moose........................................................127 Nitto Tire N. America Inc........................................79 Performance Racing Industry................................91 Red Line Synthetic Oil.........................................115 Sevas Wheels.......................................................84 Sirius Satelite Radio..............................................57 Sony.....................................................................61 Sparco..................................................................73 Stitchy Lizard Apparel...........................................59 Swatch Group/ Tissot............................................23 Tire Mag...............................................................71 Tokiko USA...........................................................77 Toyo Tires.............................................................27 Unorthodox Racing...............................................69 Vibrant..................................................................13 Vogtland.............................................................119 Wakefield Castrol..................................................15 Western Technical Institute...................................97 Woodbine Entertainment.......................................17 Yamaha..................................................................4 Tokohama.............................................................35

www.prnmag.com â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Performance Racing News 129

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-/4/230/24 #!,%.$!2 FIA FORMULA ONE March 12 March 19 April 2 April 23 May 7 May 14 May 28 June 11 June 25 July 2 July 16 July 30 Aug. 6 Aug. 27 Sept. 10 Oct. 1 Oct. 8 Oct. 22

Bahrain Grand Prix Malaysian Grand Prix Australian Grand Prix San Marino Grand Prix European Grand Prix Spanish Grand Prix Monaco Grand Prix British Grand Prix Canadian Grand Prix United States Grand Prix French Grand Prix German Grand Prix Hungarian Grand Prix Turkish Grand Prix Italian Grand Prix Chinese Grand Prix Japanese Grand Prix Brazilian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso Giancarlo Fisichella Fernando Alonso Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Hockenheim, GER Hungaroring, HUN Istanbul, TKY Monza, ITA Shanghai, CHN Suzuka, JPN Sao Paolo, BRA

BRIDGESTONE CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES BY FORD April 9 May 13 May 21 June 4 June 18 June 25 July 9 July 23 July 30 Aug. 13 Aug. 27 Sept. 24 Oct. 15 Oct. 22 Nov. 5

Toyota Grand Prix Sebastien Bourdais Houston Grand Prix Sebastien Bourdais Tecate Telmex Grand Prix Sebastien Bourdais TimeWarner Road Runner 225 Sebastien Bourdais GI Joe’s Grand Prix AJ Allmendinger Cleveland Grand Prix AJ Allmendinger Molson Grand Prix AJ Allmendinger Edmonton Grand Prix Justin Wilson San Jose Grand Prix San Jose, CA Denver Grand Prix Denver, CO Montreal Grand Prix Montreal, QC Road America Elkhart Lake, WI Ansan Race Track Ansan, ROK Lexmark Indy 300 Surfers Paradise, AUS Telmex Tecate Grand Prix Mexico City, MEX

IRL INDYCAR SERIES March 26 April 2 April 22 May 28 June 4 June 10 June 24 July 2 July 15 July 23 July 30 Aug. 13 Aug. 27 Sept. 10

Toyota Indy 300 Honda Grand Prix Indy Japan 300 Indianapolis 500 Watkins Glen Grand Prix Bombardier Learjet 500 SunTrust Indy Challenge Kansas Indy 300 Firestone Indy 200 ABC Supply Co. AJ Foyt 225 Firestone Indy 400 Kentucky Indy 300 Argent Mortgage Grand Prix Peak Antifreeze Indy 300

Dan Wheldon Helio Castroneves Helio Castoneves Sam Hornish Jr. Scott Dixon Helio Castroneves Sam Hornish Jr. Sam Hornish Jr. Scott Dixon Tony Kanaan Brooklyn, MI Sparta, KY Sonoma, CA Joliet, IL

ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP Andreas Wirth Andreas Wirth Graham Rahal James Hinchcliffe Graham Rahal Graham Rahal Robbie Pecorari Simon Pagenaud San Jose, CA Denver, CO Montreal, QC Elkhart Lake, WI

April 9 May 13 May 21 June 18 June 24 June 25 July 9 July 23 July 30 Aug. 13 Aug. 27 Sept. 24

Long Beach Grand Prix Reliant Park Fundidora Park Portland Int’l Raceway Burke Lakefront Airport Burke Lakefront Airport Exhibition Place Finning Int’l Speedway San Jose Grand Prix Denver Grand Prix Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve Road America

March 26 April 1 April 2 May 26 June 4 July 1 July 15 July 22 Aug. 13 Aug. 26 Aug. 27 Sept. 9

Homestead-Miami Speedway Jeff Simmons Honda Grand Prix Raphael Matos Honda Grand Prix Raphael Matos Futaba Freedom 100 Wade Cunningham Corning 100 Bobby Wilson Liberty Challenge Alex Lloyd Cleanevent 100 Jay Howard Milwaukee 100 Jaime Camara Bluegrass 100 Sparta, KY Sonoma 100 Sonoma, CA Sonoma 100 Sonoma, CA Chicagoland 100 Joliet, IL

INDY PRO SERIES

STAR MAZDA CHAMPIONSHIP March 17 May 13 May 21 June 3 June 24 July 15 July 22 Aug. 5

Sebring Int’l Raceway Reliant Park Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course The Milwaukee Mile Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve Miller Motorsports Park Portland Int’l Raceway GP de Trois-Rivières

Gerardo Bonilla Daniel Herrington Ryan Justice Michael Potekhen Adrian Carrio Adrian Carrio Michael Potekhen Trois-Rivères, QC

Aug. 19 Sept. 2 Sept. 29 Oct. 21

Road America Mosport Int’l Raceway Road Atlanta Mazda Raceway

Elkhart Lake, WI Bowmanville, ON Braselton, GA Monterey, CA

ROLEX GRAND-AM SERIES Jan. 29 March 4 March 25 April 8 April 23 May 7 May 14 May 29 June 3 June 25 June 29 July 30 Aug. 11 Aug. 26 Sept. 2

Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona Dixon/Wheldon/Mears Autodromo Rodriguez Pruett/Diaz Homestead-Miami Speedway Rockenfeller/Long Toyota Grand Prix Pruett/Diaz Virginia Int’l Raceway Rockenfeller/Long Mazda Raceway Angelleli/Magnussen/Taylor Phoenix Int’l Raceway Pruett/Diaz Lime Rock Park Bunting/Lally/Valentine (GT) Sahlen’s 6 Hours of the Glen Bergmeister/Said Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Haberfeld/Fernandez Brumos Porsche 250 Braun/Bergmeister Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, AL Crown Royal 250 at the Glen Watkins Glen, NY Infineon Raceway Sonoma, CA Miller Motorsports Park Tooele, UT

AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES March 17 May 13 May 22 July 1 July 15 July 22 Aug. 20 Sept. 3 Sept. 30 Oct. 21

12 Hours of Sebring Capello/Kristensen/McNish Lone Star Grand Prix Capello/McNish Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Bernhard/Dumas New England Grand Prix Capello/McNish Utah Grand Prix Biela/Pirro Portland Grand Prix Capello/McNish Generac 500 Elkhart Lake, WI Mosport Grand Prix Bowmanville, ON Petit le Mans Braselton, GA Monterey Sports Car Championships Monterey, CA

NASCAR NEXTEL CUP *Feb. 11 *Feb. 16 Feb. 19 Feb. 26 March 12 March 19 March 26 April 2 April 9 April 22 April 30 May 6 May 13 *May 20 May 28 June 4 June 11 June 18 June 25 July 1 July 9 July 16 July 23 Aug. 6 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Aug. 26 Sept. 3 Sept. 9 Sept. 17 Sept. 24 Oct. 1 Oct. 8 Oct. 14 Oct. 22 Oct. 29 Nov. 5 Nov. 12 Nov. 19

Budwesier Shootout Denny Hamlin Gatorade Duels Elliott Sadler/Jeff Gordon Daytona 500 Jimmie Johnson California Speedway Matt Kenseth Las Vegas Motor Speedway Jimmie Johnson Atlanta Motor Speedway Kasey Kahne Bristol Motor Speedway Kurt Busch Martinsville Speedway Tony Stewart Texas Motor Speedway Kasey Kahne Phoenix Int’l Raceway Kevin Harvick Talladega Superspeedway Jimmie Johnson Richmond Int’l Raceway Dale Earnhardt Jr. Darlington Raceway Greg Biffle Nextel All-Star Challenge Matt Kenseth Coca-Cola 600 Kasey Kahne Dover Int’l Speedway Matt Kenseth Pocono Raceway Denny Hamlin Michigan Int’l Speedway Kasey Kahne Infineon Raceway Jeff Gordon Pepsi 400 Tony Stewart Chicagoland Speedway Jeff Gordon New Hampshire Int’l Speedway Kyle Busch Pocono Raceway Denny Hamlin Indianapolis Motor Speedway Indianapolis, IN Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, NY Michigan Int’l Speedwat Brooklyn, MI Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, TN California Speedway Fontana, CA Richmond Int’l Speedway Richmond, VA New Hampshire Int’l Speedway Loudon, NH Dover Int’l Speedway Dover, DEL Kansas Speedway Kansas City, KS Talladega Superspeedway Talladega, AL Lowe’s Motor Speedway Charlotte, NC Martinsville Speedway Martinsville, VA Atlanta Motor Speedway Hampton, GA Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, TX Phoenix Int’l Raceway Phoenix, AZ Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, FL

* denotes non-points event, italics denote Chase for the Nextel Cup

NASCAR BUSCH SERIES Feb. 18 Feb. 25 March 5 March 11 March 18 March 25 April 8 April 15 April 21 April 29 May 5 May 12 May 27 June 3

Hershey’s Kissables 300 Tony Stewart California Speedway Greg Biffle Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez Denny Hamlin Las Vegas Motor Speedway Kasey Kahne Atlanta Motor Speedway Jeff Burton Bristol Motor Speedway Kyle Busch Texas Motor Speedway Kurt Busch Nashville Superspeedway Kevin Harvick Phoenix Int’l Raceway Kevin Harvick Talladega Superspeedway Martin Truex Jr. Richmond Int’l Raceway Kevin Harvick Darlington Raceway Denny Hamlin Lowe’s Motor Speedway Carl Edwards Dover Int’l Speedway Jeff Burton

130 Performance Racing News – www.prnmag.com

June 10 June 17 June 24 June 30 July 8 July 15 July 22 July 29 Aug. 5 Aug. 12 Aug. 19 Aug. 25 Sept. 2 Sept. 8 Sept. 23 Sept. 30 Oct. 13 Oct. 28 Nov. 4 Nov. 11 Nov. 18

Nashville Superspeedway Carl Edwards Kentucky Speedway David Gilliland The Milwaukee Mile Paul Menard Daytona Int’l Speedway Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chicagoland Speedway Casey Mears New Hampshire Int’l Speedway Carl Edwards Martinsville Speedway Kevin Harvick Gateway Int’l Raceway Madison, IL Indianapolis Raceway Park Indianapolis, IN Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, NY Michigan Int’l Speedway Brooklyn, MI Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, TN California Speedway Fontana, CA Richmond Int’l Raceway Richmond, VA Dover Int’l Speedway Dover, DEL Kansas Speedway Kansas City, KS Lowe’s Motor Speedway Charlotte, NC Memphis Motorsports Park Memphis, TN Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, TX Phoenix Int’l Raceway Phoenix, AZ Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, FL

CASCAR SUPER SERIES May 21 June 18 July 2 July 16 July 23 Aug. 6 Aug. 12 Aug. 27 Sept. 3 Sept. 9 Sept. 17

Barrie Speedway Scott Steckly Mosport International Raceway Kerry Micks Barrie Speedway JR Fitzpatrick Sun Valley Speedway Brad Graham Grand Prix Edmonton Jeff Lapcevich Grand Prix Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières, QC Mosport Speedway Bowmanville, ON Molson Grand Prix of Montreal Montreal, QC Cayuga 2000 Speedway Hamilton, ON Autodrome Ste. Eustache Ste. Eustache, QC Kawartha Speedway Peterborough, ON

FIA WORLD RALLY Jan. 22 Feb. 5 March 5 March 26 April 9 April 30 May 21 June 4 Aug. 13 Aug. 20 Sept. 3 Sept. 24 Oct. 15 Oct. 29 Nov. 19 Dec. 3

Monte Carlo Rally Swedish Rally Corona Rally Mexico Spanish Rally French Rally Rally Argentina Rally Italy Greek Rally German Rally Finnish Rally Japanese Rally Cyprus Rally Turkish Rally Australian Rally New Zealand Rally Wales Rally

Marcus Gronholm Marcus Gronholm Sebastien Loeb Sebastien Loeb Sebastien Loeb Sebastien Loeb Sebastien Loeb Marcus Gronholm Germany Finland Japan Cyprus Turkey Australia New Zealand Great Britain

NHRA POWERADE DRAG RACING Feb. 12 Carquest Winternationals Melanie Troxel (TF) Robert Hight (FC), Greg Anderson (PS) Feb. 26 Checker-Shuck’s-Kragen Nats Rod Fuller (TF) Tommy Johnson (FC), Warren Johnson (PS) March 19 Gatornationals David Grubnic (TF) Ron Capps (FC), Tom Martino (PS) April 2 O’Reilly Spring Nationals Brandon Bernstein (TF) Ron Capps (FC), Mike Edwards (PS) April 9 SummitRacing.com Nationals Melanie Troxel (TF) Cruz Pedregon (FC), Kurt Johnson (PS) April 30 O’Reilly Thunder Nationals Doug Kalitta (TF) Ron Capps (FC), Jason Line (PS) May 7 Summit Racing Southern Nats Doug Kalitta (TF) Tony Pedregon (FC), Dave Connolly (PS) May 21 Pontiac Performance Nats Brandon Bernstein (TF) Tony Pedregon (FC), Jim Yates (PS) May 28 O’Reilly Summer Nationals Doug Kalitta (TF) Ron Capps (FC), Dave Connolly (PS) June 11 Carquest Nationals Doug Kalitta (TF) John Force (FC), Kurt Johnson (PS) June 18 K&N Filters SuperNationals Rod Fuller (TF) Ron Capps (FC), Jason Line (PS) June 25 Sears Craftsman Nationals Tony Schumacher (TF) Tony Pedregon (FC), Mike Edwards (PS) July 16 Mopar Mile-High Nationals JR Todd (TF) Gary Scelzi (FC), Dave Connolly (PS) July 23 Northwest Nationals Tony Schumacher (TF) Whit Bazemore (FC), Allen Johnson (PS) July 30 Fram Autolite Nationals Sonoma, CA Aug. 13 Lucas Oil Nationals Brainerd, MN Aug. 20 O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals Memphis, TN Sept. 4 Mac Tools US Nationals Indianapolis, IN Sept. 17 Toyo Tires Nationals Reading, PA Sept. 24 O’Reilly Fall Nationals Ennis, TX Oct. 8 Virginia Nationals Richmond, VA Nov. 12 AAA of So. California Finals Pomona, CA

IHRA eMax DRAG RACING March 26 Amalie Oil Texas Nationals Doug Foley (TF) Mark Thomas (FC), Glen Kerunsky (FC), Frank Gugliotta (PS) April 23 Castrol Spring Nationals Cory McClenathan (TF) Tom Carter (FC), Joshua Hernandez (PM), Tony Gillig (PS) June 4 Mopar Canadian Nationals Bobby Lagana Jr. (TF) Dale Creasy Jr. (FC), Alan Pittman (PM), Pete Berner (PS) June 25 Western RV Rocky Mountain Nats Clay Millican (TF) Tom Carter (FC), Quain Stott (PM), Frank Gugliotta (PS) July 9 GM Motor City Nationals Andrew Cowin (TF) Paul Noakes (FC), Mike Janis (PM), Robert Patrick (PS) Aug. 6 Torco Northern Nationals Martin, MI Aug. 27 Skull Gear World Nationals Norwalk, OH Sept. 10 Amalie North American Nationals Epping, NH Sept. 24 ACDelco Canadian Nationals Cayuga, ON Oct. 1 Torco President’s Cup Nationals Budds Creek, MD Oct. 22 World Finals Rockingham, NC

FIM MOTOGP March 26 April 8 April 30 May 14 May 21 June 4 June 18 June 24 July 2 July 16 July 23 Aug. 20 Sept. 10 Sept. 17 Sept. 24 Oct. 15 Oct. 29

Spanish Grand Prix Qatar Grand Prix Turkey Grand Prix China Grand Prix French Grand Prix Italian Grand Prix Spanish Grand Prix Assen TT British Grand Prix German Grand Prix United States Grand Prix Czech Republic Grand Prix Malaysian Grand Prix Australian Grand Prix Japanese Grand Prix Portuguese Grand Prix Valencia Grand Prix

Loris Capirossi Valentino Rossi Marco Melandri Dani Pedrosa Marco Melandri Valentino Rossi Valentino Rossi Nicky Hayden Dani Pedrosa Valentino Rossi Nicky Hayden Brno, CZR Sepang, MAL Phillip Island, AUS Motegi, JPN Estoril, POR Valencia, SPA

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP Feb. 25 Losail, QT James Toseland (1), Troy Corser (2) March 5 Philip Island, AUS Troy Corser (1), Troy Bayliss (2) April 23 Valencia, SPA Troy Bayliss (1 & 2) May 7 Monza, ITA Troy Bayliss (1 & 2) May 28 Silverstone, GBR Troy Bayliss (1 & 2) June 25 San Marino Troy Bayliss (1), Andrew Pitt (2) July 23 Brno, CZR Yukio Kagayama (1 & 2) Aug. 6 Brands Hatch, GBR Sept. 3 Assen, NED Sept. 10 Lausitz, GER Oct. 1 Imola, ITA Oct. 8 Magny-Cours, FRA Oct. 22 South Africa

PARTS CANADA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP May 21 June 4 July 2 July 15 July 16 Aug. 13 Sept. 3

Shannonville Park Circuit Mont-Tremblant Race City Park Mosport Int’l Raceway Mosport Int’l Raceway Atlantic Motorsport Park Shannonville Park

Jordan Szoke Jordan Szoke Jordan Szoke Jordan Szoke Jordan Szoke Shubenacadie, NS Shannonville, ON

AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP March 11 *April 23 *April 30 *May 21 *June 4 *June 18 July 23 Aug. 6 Aug. 20 Sept. 1-3 Oct. 1

Daytona Int’l Speedway Mat Mladin Barber Motorsports Park Ben Spiess (Race 1 & 2) California Speedway Ben Spiess (Race 1 & 2) Infineon Raceway Ben Spiess (Race 1 & 2) Road America Mat Mladin (Race 1 & 2) Miller Motorsports Park Ben Spies (1), Jake Zemke (2) Mazda Raceway Ben Spies Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, OH Virginia Int’l Raceway Alton, VA Road Atlanta Braselton, GA Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, OH

* denotes doubleheader

CMRC NATIONALS May 27-28 June 3-4 June 17-18 June 24-25 July 8-9 July 15-16 Aug. 5-6 Aug. 12-13 Aug. 19-20

Ste-Julie, QC Jean-Sebastien Roy (Moto 1 & 2) Gopher Dunes Dusty Klatt (Moto 1 & 2) The Watselands Dusty Klatt (Moto 1 & 2) Wil Rose MX Park Dusty Klatt (M oto 1 & 2) Regina Moto Valley Dusty Klatt (Moto 1 & 2) Shadow Valley Jean-Sebastien Roy (Moto 1 & 2) Riverglade MX Park Moncton, NB Sand Del Lee Richmond, ON Walton TransCan Nationals Walton, ON

Red Header denotes Canadian Series. Red Text denotes Canadian driver.

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