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Featured interviews from SpeedwayMedia.com

  • NASCAR BTS: MRN Senior Writer Dustin Long Shares Hidden Writing Talent

    NASCAR BTS: MRN Senior Writer Dustin Long Shares Hidden Writing Talent

    Most race fans who follow Dustin Long know him as a NASCAR beat reporter and Senior Writer for Motor Racing Network. But what they may not know is that he has another behind the scenes talent, children’s book author.

    This week’s NASCAR Behind the Scenes focuses on Dustin Long’s newest children’s book, one that focuses on NASCAR racing.

    “It’s about NASCAR and it is the third children’s book for this group,” Long said. “I did a couple a year or two ago. One was on the Daytona 500 and the other was on greatest sports comebacks.”

    “This one is about NASCAR and it’s basically geared for third to sixth grade and those young readers,” Long continued. “It’s just a way to introduce them to the sport, to give them more understanding and knowledge. I talk about the different drivers and how they started at an early age and how athletic they are and the things that they do. The book talks about the cars through the years and gives them a history lesson of NASCAR, starting with Big Bill France and how the sport has grown over the years.”

    “It’s not a real long book so you’re hitting the highlights.”

    “These books, especially the NASCAR book, introduces the sport to young people, to students,” Long said. “It teaches them about the sport and if they are fans, it gives them a little bit more knowledge and if they are not, it gives them a better understanding that this is more than cars going around in circles.”

    Long started his children’s book authoring at a time when he was impacted by the downsizing that was going on in the sport and with the media covering the sport.

    “It started after I had been laid off and I got the book assignment for a couple books,” Long said. “I had the free time and I was doing all sorts of free-lance stuff. Somebody suggested me as they were doing a series of racing books.”

    “I said I could do the NASCAR books,” Long continued. “I feel it’s something to help the younger generation to explain things to them about sports and racing.”

    Although Long has an incredible amount of racing knowledge in his head, he also had to do quite a bit of research for his most recent book.

    “Some of the things I knew but I had to research to make sure I had everything right and also get the sourcing right,” Long said. “I may know it, but for a book, you have to know the sourcing. So, it was as much work because I knew things but I had to go find where it was to validate it. There were a lot of notes to keep up with that.”

    Was Long challenged by writing for elementary school aged children when he usually writes for adults?

    “I used to say when I was working for newspapers that you would write for sixth grade level,” Long said. “So, you just keep it simple. You try not to make too many compound sentences or make them too convoluted. I try to keep the points simple and the structure simple. I keep it easy to read because if you make it too complicated, no one will read it and you’re not doing anyone any favors.”

    “Kids won’t pick it up.”

    Long said that he will not be doing a book tour or signings and fans may just have to search online for his latest work instead of heading to the nearest book store.

    “I do some interviews from time to time,” Long said. “The funny thing is that I turn the book in and I don’t even know when it’s coming out. When the greatest sports book came out, like in August of last year, it was really funny because I was online one day and I googled it. Then I found out it was out for the last couple of weeks. I googled the NASCAR book and it said it was coming out in September.”

    “I haven’t been out to the classroom yet to talk to the kids about the book,” Long continued. “I think that Texas Motor Speedway saw the books and they did something with the Daytona 500 book with some student reading group that they had. Hopefully they will do something again with the NASCAR book.”

    “Although it will be on sale, you won’t find it in stores,” Long said. “You’ll find it online because more of the focus is getting the book in school libraries and things like that. It’s more of an education kind of thing, teaching kids about the sport.”

    Now that Long is immersed in covering the NASCAR Championship Chase, he may have less time to concentrate on authoring any other books, including his next children’s book venture. But he is more than willing to consider it if asked.

    “I did the Petty Family album years ago, the coffee table book and then these three books,” Long said. “If somebody asks, and I’ve got the time, sure I’ll write more.”

    “It’s just a neat way to pass on knowledge and history and to help others understand the sport.”

     

     

  • Leilani Munter Continues to Share Renewable Energy Message Through Racing

    Leilani Munter Continues to Share Renewable Energy Message Through Racing

    Racer, self-proclaimed vegan hippie chick, and passionate environmentalist Leilani Munter is continuing her efforts to share her renewable energy message through her racing.

    In fact she will do just that at the next ARCA race in Kansas for Venturini Motorsports, in addition to making a special energy stop along the way.

    “I’ll be running Kansas on October 3rd with Venturini Motorsports,” Munter said. “It’s called the Energy Freedom car to address all of the environmental issues that I am passionate about. I think the race will air on Fox Sports 2 at 7 PM on October 3rd.”

    “Prior to the race, I’m going to this really cool town, Greensburg, Kansas,” Muter continued. “They were hit with an F5 tornado and it basically took out the whole town. It was devastating and demolished the whole town.”

    “But they did something really amazing,” Munter said. “They rebuilt the town on 100% renewable energy. The last place that you would expect is that this little tiny town could become an example to the world that you can run completely off of renewables. So, I’m going to sit down with some of the families that lived through that tornado and saw how the renewable energy has changed them. I’m going to document this and talk to the Mayor and we’re just going to produce a short film that we will share on line to tell the story of this amazing town and how they rebuilt. I want to show that Kansas is doing this as part of the race weekend. I think it’s a story that many have not heard. I’m really excited about it and will put that out after the Kansas race.”

    Munter has also been sharing her renewable energy passion by taking electric routes to the race track. In fact, she has taken her new Tesla across the country to the race track to demonstrate just how easy and convenient that mode of transportation really is.

    “I bought my Tesla about a year ago now,” Munter said. “It’s just a wonderful car and I haven’t been to the gas station for a year now. But I’ve also discovered in owning this car how many myths there are about electric cars. One of the many things that people don’t understand is that there is a charging network throughout the country that makes it possible for me to easily do cross country trips.”

    “That’s the purpose of behind why I wanted to drive to Chicagoland Speedway because I wanted people to see and have an example that long electric road trips are possible and they are convenient,” Munter continued. “I was able to stop for 15 minutes, just long enough to get out of your car, use the rest room, have a cup of coffee, walk back to the car and go. And it is a free charge and it is also a very fast charge.”

    “I think one of the myths that people have is that it is not convenient and that you cannot go long distances,” Munter said. “I felt like it was important to do that to show a real time example. I partnered with my friends from the Solution Project, an organization that I joined on the Board of Advisors. Their goal is to push forward with the notion that the US can be using 100% renewable energy by 2050.”

    “The other thing I wanted to bring out with that road trip was to show that one of the problems with gasoline is that a large amount is coming from OPEC, from overseas and oftentimes from countries that don’t like us or countries where there is conflict, which makes gas prices go up,” Munter said. “When you are charging with electricity, there are several advantages. One is that all that money is staying locally in the United States. So, it’s very patriotic to drive an electric car because you are paying money to travel but all of the money stays where domestically. When you fill up with a gallon of gasoline, a large portion of what you are paying is going to OPEC. So, if you don’t want to fund or be part of the problem of spending dollars on foreign oil, then you would want to drive electric. Who in their right mind would argue about keeping money in the United States?”

    While Munter has seen her share of resistance to her renewable energy message in the past, she has definitely seen some changes in recent years, with more understand and embracing of the technology.

    “There are always going to be people that I’m not going to win over,” Munter acknowledged. “I understand that there are those who are resistant to change. I’ve been talking about this for many, many years and there was a great deal of criticism.”

    “But I see that changing now,” Munter continued. “For example at the Daytona race that I ran last year, we actually had the Green Tea Party out there. This is the Tea Party, which is definitely conservative not liberal side of things. They were there because they are fighting for energy independence. They don’t think it is fair that the utilities are trying to stop Americans from putting solar on their homes. They can agree that we as Americans can choose the type of power we want.”

    “That is the most important conversation to have.”

    Munter also acknowledged that her environmental passions have at times negatively impacted her racing passion. But in the end, she has chosen to be true to her convictions and not compromise her strongly-held beliefs.

    “I definitely did make a choice,” Munter said. “There were a few offers that I’ve had in the past to be in the car full-time at higher levels than I am at now. But those companies offering that opportunity to me were not in line with my environmental views.”

    “In essence, I want to work with people that are trying to make the world a better place,” Munter continued. “Ethically I ended up making the decision to walk away from being in the race car full-time and possibly have a full-time career as a driver but possibly selling out in terms of who I was as a person personally.”

    “That was probably a defining moment for me,” Munter said. “The racer in me thought ‘Oh my God, I could be in a car full-time.’ At the end of the day, I couldn’t do it. So, in that respect, the environmental front to my racing because I made that conscious choice did impact my racing career. I did choose to walk away and in some cases, yes it has hurt my racing career because I’ve had less races than I could have.”

    “But I wouldn’t have felt good about it,” Munter continued. “I would have felt badly about not aligning myself with who I want to be and how I want to live.”

    While it may have taken some time for her energy and racing passions to come together, Munter is most hopeful for the remainder of the 2014 racing season, as well as the new ARCA season ahead next year.

    “Hopefully as the world has woken up to our environmental problems, I have definitely seen a lot more people recognize that what I’m doing makes sense,” Munter said. “And so I’m hoping that they are making choices and that I can find companies that understand why I did walk away and want to support the difference I’m trying to make.”

    “Sponsorship is looking pretty good to race in Daytona and things are looking good for me to actually race full-time next year,” Munter said. “I feel like I have more momentum than ever but I will definitely be getting to Daytona in my Tesla.”

    “As long as I’m in a race car, it gives me this amazing ability as a biologist and environmentalist to talk to a huge demographic of people that normally wouldn’t hear this message,” Munter continued. “The race car gives me a voice that amplifies my message to a group that we need to talk to.”

    “I think we are seeing more and more people seeing that this is a good thing.”

  • Casey Mears Undertakes Different Mission at Dover Air Force Base

    Casey Mears Undertakes Different Mission at Dover Air Force Base

    Instead of his usual mission to make it to Victory Lane, Casey Mears and his entire No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet Germain Racing team went on a different kind of mission aboard a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III.

    The group accompanied members of the US Air Force from Dover Air Force base on a complex refueling mission that also included an assault landing as well as a cargo drop.

    Mears became interested in the Air Force mission after his race crew went in the spring for a tour of the Dover Air Force base.

    “Last year in the spring, the guys had a good opportunity to go there to the base and really enjoyed the tour of the C-5s and the C-17s,” Mears said. “They all came back with a huge impression and really enjoyed it.”

    “So, going back when we had an opportunity to do this, it was something that I wanted to go try,” Mears continued. “It was more on a whim than anything, but what a great opportunity. I think anytime you do something like that it allows you to appreciate even more what those men and women in the Air Force do for us.”

    “Just seeing how they prepare to do what they do and to be on an actual training flight with them was pretty interesting,” Mears said. “They made good use of everything that was going on in the cockpit. You could tell that they were learning and keeping up to speed on their task as well. It was fun to see them in the heat of the moment really performing something that seemed pretty difficult.”

    Mears acknowledged that his mission in his Sprint Cup car bore some similarities to the mission of the US Air Force 436th Airlift Wing group.

    “I would just say that the technical aspect is similar,” Mears said. “The mindset and the approach to what they do is very diligent, which is what we have to do as far as being very prepared. They have checklists like we have checklists. It was way more detailed than ours and longer.”

    “There were a lot of procedures that they had to go through,” Mears continued. “Watching them fly the plane, how they worked the throttle, looking at the tools they have to have the best possible outcome, we do a lot of the same things.”

    “We are constantly fine-tuning what we do just like them, making small adjustments that make a big difference,” Mears said. “To watch their hands on the controls as they were trying to get up to the fueling tanker, it was very, very small movements. Then when they were done, you could see how stressful it really was. They made it look seamless but you could tell that it was a very, very difficult maneuver to do. When they got done, they were relaxing their hands and wiping a little sweat from their brows. It was because they were very focused and not nervous and I could definitely relate to that. Everything we do, like them, is under the gun.”

    While many maneuvers were practiced and observed on the Air Force mission, Mears was most taken with the refueling procedure.

    “I think for sure the act of accomplishing the mid-air refueling was the most impressive thing. The plane, the tools, the stuff that they utilize are all stuff that is of interest to us,” Mears said. “We are after the same thing as lighter is faster. The way they built that aircraft, there was nothing extra on it and it was as light as they could make it to be as efficient as they can and carry the biggest loads that they can. We’re pretty versed on what it takes to do that because we’re always trying to make our race cars lighter. For sure, the actual act of trying to plug in and receive the fuel was pretty intense and impressive for sure.”

    Mears was also impressed with the team aspect of the Air Force mission and, in fact, held a bit of his own team meeting aboard the C-17 to debrief with his crew.

    “What happened was that it was pretty loud in the base of the plane so as everyone was getting ready to cycle up and watch the refueling, we took the opportunity to get together and share what they just saw,” Mears said. “We were talking about the details of it, how close it was, the turbulence you felt as you got closer to the other plane.”

    “We were impressed with how technical that was and how difficult that is and the teamwork that it took on our plane as well as on the other plane,” Mears continued. “The collective team that it took was amazing. There was a lot of strategy and communication back and forth, which we can relate to that because that is how we live is on the radio at the race track.”

    Mears did take away some lessons from his Air Force mission that he intends to apply to his race team.

    “The one thing that I think you can always learn from the military is how organized they are,” Mears said. “There isn’t really a check list that is too long. You can’t double and triple check too much. I think that very many times in our sport, when there is a mistake with the car or something procedurally with what we do, it is simply something that was overlooked.”

    “Whether it was a part that wasn’t tightened down going into the race or a tape that wasn’t studied well enough before we went into the next event, there is no replacing being prepared,” Mears continued. “I think that is one thing the military does a good job of.”

    “They are also very clear on the radio,” Mears said. “There wasn’t one time on the radio where I second-guessed what somebody was saying. You knew this guy meant this.”

    “I think a lot of times in our sport, as clear as we are, there can be a lot of slang, personality that comes out over the radio. And at times that can cause confusion and you kind of go ‘did he mean this or did he mean that?’ Mears continued. “On the radio, the things they did and said were very, very clear. I guess organization, being precise and being clear are all things that I took away from that that were important.”

    Mears summarized his Air Force mission with just one word, impressive.

    “It was just impressive,” Mears said. “It’s easy to be on the ground and say we’re going to go up on this plane to do a mid-air refueling and you think that sounds like a lot of fun. And in your mind, you think those planes must have to get pretty close and that must be pretty difficult but when you witness it first-hand like we did and having the fueling plane be as close as it was, you realize just how technical it was.”

    “It was so impressive to see them do their job as efficiently as they did.”

  • Bobby Labonte Finding Balance by Biking for a Cause

    Bobby Labonte Finding Balance by Biking for a Cause

    While Bobby Labonte has always balanced life and racing throughout his career, the NASCAR champion is now finding a new balance on the seat of his bike, all for a good cause.

    Labonte, through the Foundation that bears his name, is sponsoring his fourth annual charity bike ride, the Archdale Drug “Tour de Reason” which will be held on Saturday, October 4 in Trinity, North Carolina to raise dollars for good causes and cycling safety.

    “I’ve been riding a bike for several years and loving doing it with friends and by myself,” Labonte said. “We started this event a few years ago and have continued to try to make it grow to help out our local community.”

    “I started riding for health, exercise and enjoyment,” Labonte continued. “My brother-in-law got me involved in it a few years ago and I just got interested and kept doing it. It clears my head of things and is good therapy.”

    Labonte not only finds personal balance on the seat of his bike but also is helping to balance the needs of his community and raising money to support them.

    “One of the things that I think is really cool is that we help Randolph County’s Communities In Schools,” Labonte said. “We raise money for kids to have back packs that they can take home full of food on the weekend. There are 5,600 kids in Randolph County that go home for the weekends that don’t have food at home.”

    According to Labonte, another organization that will benefit from his bike ride is the BIG program (Bicycling in Greensboro) which promotes cycling and bike safety as well.

    Labonte credits the success of the bike ride to the staff at the Foundation, as well as all those who participate in the ride with him.

    “I have good people working for me,” Labonte said. “I ride the bike and they make it all work. I ride my bike quite a bit and others know I do so they all come out and support the event. If it weren’t for the riders who give, donate and get sponsors to be on the ride, we would not be successful. It’s a group effort and that’s what we want to do in our area.”

    While Labonte enjoys the balance that cycling gives him, he also gets his competitive juices going since the charity bike ride is a bit of a race as well.

    “It’s a mapped out course but it is a timed event,” Labonte said. “We do this for enjoyment but we also want to see how fast we can go. We have riders that want to improve their times from previous years. If you did the ride in two hours last year, you want to do it in one hour and fifty-five minutes this year. So, you kind of measure your strength and fitness compared to last year as well. So, it’s a little bit of competition but we don’t want to make it full out. The race really is for all types of riders.”

    “It is part of the package that they compete with me as well,” Labonte continued. “We had the Highpoint Cycling Classic a few years ago and some of the amateurs will ride in my ride. It’s just fun. Like anything else, bike riders are very nice people and they want to do things to help people out more than you can imagine.”

    While Labonte finds balance through cycling and helping others, he is also looking for balance in his NASCAR life as well. Without a full-time ride currently, he is focusing on testing and his company Longhorn Chassis.

    “I’ve been doing a lot of testing,” Labonte said. “I’ve run three races this year and I’m not sure if I’ll run anymore this year. And I’ve been doing other things and finding other things to do that I enjoy doing and haven’t gotten to do.”

    “I’m still trying to figure that out,” Labonte continued. “It’s part of a balance that is sometimes good and sometimes bad. But I’m excited about the testing, which I’ve done last week, and it keeps me current in the race car. And when I watch the race, I have a feel for what the car looks like and feels like.”

    In the meantime, the former NASCAR champ is focusing on his upcoming seat time on his bicycle, as well as hoping for good weather for the Saturday competition.

    “You can go to http://bobbylabontefoundation.org/ and go online there and register or sign up the day of the event. We’re looking for a good weather day and this is the first time we’ve done it the first week in October,” Labonte said. “So, it’s a little bit later in the year and a little cooler. Before I had to do it after the All Star Race and now this will be on a Saturday. So, this will work out good and I hope we’ll have a lot of people coming in that we didn’t have last year.”

     

  • Gord Shepherd takes home 2014 Whelen All-American Series Late Model Ontario Championship

    Gord Shepherd takes home 2014 Whelen All-American Series Late Model Ontario Championship

    With a pair of top four finishes on the final night of competition this year at Barrie Speedway, Gord Shepherd would take home the 2014 Whelen All-American Series Late Model Ontario Championship, eight points ahead of Rick Walt. For Shepherd, it marks the second time in his career that he has won the Ontario crown, repeating last year’s success. It also marks his third track championship in the last four seasons at Barrie Speedway.

    “It’s always nice to win,” Shepherd commented on Saturday night. “I wanted to go back to Charlotte again and it’s always hard to win a championship so it’s good for the team. They worked really hard and no matter who wins, your team is always working hard to get you there. There’s always a lot of hard work to get you into the winner’s circle. You got to have good driving, too, but you have to have a good team backing you up and a lot of great sponsors.”

    While last season’s championship came with some ease in the form of multiple victories, this year wasn’t as easy as there were a couple on-track incidents that the Ridge Road Racing team had to bounce back from to get themselves back in contention. With the wreck early in the year, it seemed that the RRR outfit was perhaps off on performance at one point during the year. However, into the second half, they hit their stride and with some wins to close out the year, the pieces fell in place.

    Shepherd also played the keys to consistancy right in his wheel house as he drove his No. 10 Progressive Waste Solutions, Shelswell Racing, Puzzle Partner, Cookstown Auto Parts, Montana’s Cookhouse of Orillia, Shepherd Trucking, HWY 400 Transmission, Liberty North, Kruegar Electrical, Seasoned Painting, Checkmate, DesJardins Insurance, Eric’s Car Sales, Fox’s Bakery & Deli, Bill le Boeuf Jewelers and The Dock Guy Late Model to 23 top-fives and 28 top-10s this year, highlighted by seven feature victories.

    Now with the season in the rearview, Shepherd shifts his focus to the Short Track Playoffs. The Barrie native kicked those off last Thursday night at Sunset Speedway with a solid finish of sixth in the Canadian Limited Late Model Championship 125.

    “I think we had a good start at Sunset – finished sixth. I think we had a little better car than sixth, but we messed up on our pit stop,” Shepherd said. “I think we had a pretty good car to contend with some of the bigger guys at Sunset, Sauble. It’ll be interesting. There’ll be a lot of real good cars, but I think we have a good chance.”

    Shepherd has done well in the big distance races before, posting a string of top-five finishes in Sunset’s 75 lap invitational features. He also had a solid performance last year at Autumn Colors, finishing fourth despite being involved in an incident with Ryan Kimball at lap 25.

  • Jeff Gordon Hopeful to get Canadian Motor Speedway Built in Fort Erie, Ontario

    Jeff Gordon Hopeful to get Canadian Motor Speedway Built in Fort Erie, Ontario

    On Wednesday, Jeff Gordon was in Toronto as part of NASCAR’s promotional driver tour to promote the Chase for the Sprint Cup with sending each of the 16 drivers to a different city, titled the “Chase across North America”. While all of the Sprint Cup Series races are in the United States, many fans travel from Canada to see the races live, whether traveling to Michigan or Bristol or all the way down to Daytona.

    “It’s really great to be here in Canada. It’s been a long time since I’ve been up here,” Gordon said. “Been here with Dupont back in the days when we came up here to some plants – that was the first introduction for me to just how avid and loyal NASCAR fans are in Canada. Of course, over the years, seeing the Canadian national anthem happen at Michigan, New Hampshire and Watkin’s Glen, you know there’s a lot of Canadians present at those events. But till you come here and come to an event, you probably don’t realize just how many Canadian there are. It’s great to be back.”

    Though Gordon’s Canadian connection goes beyond just being a favorite driver of many fans as Gordon is trying to build a track in Fort Erie, Ontario, titled Canadian Motor Speedway.

    “I’m hoping we get to break down on a race track in Fort Erie and bring NASCAR racing there – at least have another facility that can have some great action on a small oval in Canada,” Gordon commented. “We know if we ever get that done, it’s going to do well.”

    The project has been ongoing for a couple of years now and ground hasn’t been turned to start building the track as a result of series of government meetings to get building permits and other stoppages on the project removed.

    Gordon became involved in the project after architect Paxton Waters got hold of him through his stepfather John Bickford.

    “He said there was a group of investors that we’re interested in doing a project in Canada with the same type of track in Iowa, using that as the basis, but they wanted somebody to be involved with the design aspect that could earn recognition and a name to it,” Gordon recalled. “That’s how it originally started and then it’s grown tremendously from there from a concept to getting closer and closer to reality with the investor group. My side of it is primarily just the design of the track and the facilities and how I think that from a competitor’s side could be beneficial to the fans, but also talking to crew members and other people within the industry to bring all that experience and make it the best track it could possibly be.”

    While news has been low key and quiet as of late surrounding the project, Gordon notes that the current status of the project is ongoing, but it’ll be a long, slow process to getting the track built.

    “I’m excited for it,” he commented. “Every few months, I go, ‘Okay, where are we at?’ and I keep getting good news each time that I ask. Just like I said earlier, we brought the simulator into my office recently so we’re moving forward. I can’t say that we’re full speed ahead because it takes a long time for these projects to get done.

    “It’s a big project. It’s goes beyond just racing. It’s a project that will incorporate local businesses and entertainment on a whole other level, and that’s what you have to do with these facilities today. You have to incorporate more than just a race track.”

    As the key track designer for the proposed 3/4 mile oval, Gordon is hoping to feed off his experiences as a driver to build the perfect track for side-by-side racing. A critical part in ensuring good side-by-side racing is the transition between the straightway and the corner.

    “I’ve always loved the transitions that Michigan has from straightaway to corner. On a bigger track, you have more space to make those transitions,” Gordon explained. “We would like to do more of a ¾ mile race track so just coming from Richmond, it’s fresh in my mind about those things. I just had a meeting about that last week. In going to Canada, I started thinking about the track that we’re designing and we’re so hopeful and pushing hard to get done. I think about how we’re trying to make those transitions to make a type of race track like Richmond, Iowa even better.

    “I think progressive banking is something that we’ve seen more of, and I like that idea. I really do like being able to make those transitions. It’s funny because you work in a way because fans wants more side-by-side racing. Then at Bristol, they created more side-by-side racing and the fans wanted more bumping and banging. There’s that fine line that you’re trying to create, but I do believe creating multiple grooves and creating those transitions seamless from corner to straightaway is going to offer more side-by-side racing.”

    Gordon says they’re getting closer in finalizing the final track plans as they’re putting a simulator in his office right now.

    “We’re going to map out the track and put it into simulation where I’m going to be able to drive it,” he noted.

     

  • L.P. Dumoulin survives Barrie to hold onto championship lead

    L.P. Dumoulin survives Barrie to hold onto championship lead

    On Saturday night at Barrie Speedway, it was evident that L.P. Dumoulin didn’t have the handling that he would’ve preferred to get around the tight confines of Barrie Speedway. However, throughout the night, Mario Gosselin and the team continued to work on the No. 47 Weathertech Dodge and by the end of the night, the pieces came together as Dumoulin posted a fourth place finish.

    “Tough race. The car wasn’t the way I wanted at the beginning, but Mario Gosselin and the whole team worked really hard to bring it up to speed,” Dumoulin noted post-race. “The car was loose and got a lap down. Got that lap back and ended up running second at one point, but we had a flat tire. We had to pit back in, change the tire and restarted seventh. Moved our way back up to fourth with hte green-white-checkered at the end. I mean, we were points racing, but at the same time we were going balls to the wall to stay up front. J.R. Fitzpatrick finished second – congratulations to Jason Hathaway for winning the race.

    “For us, we’re heading to Kawartha with a 16 point lead, which is not too bad for the last race. We’re heading down there pumped up, but aware and not taking anything granted.”

    Part of getting to finish involved staying out of trouble late in the race with the final cautions that fell back to back, including an incident that happened right in front of Dumoulin involving Alex Tagliani and Joey McColm.

    “It’s always like that at Barrie. You have to be ready for that at Barrie,” Dumoulin commented. “I was, my team was and we ended up finishing fourth.”

    Now heading into the final event of the season next weekend at Kawartha Speedway, Dumoulin holds a 16 point lead over J.R. Fitzpatrick. Historically, Dumoulin hasn’t been that strong at Kawartha in the past with only one top-10 finish. However, this year, Dumoulin has been consistent across the season on both the ovals and road/street courses, failing to finish outside of the top six.

    “We want to prep the car completely, make sure everything is right so that way we can run up front all weekend,” Dumoulin said. “We want to run well, finish the race and ending as the champion would be awesome.”

    Dumoulin knows the challenge that lies ahead as he knows that his closest rival – Fitzpatrick – will be strong given Fitzpatrick’s oval background.

    “He’s going to be strong, but at the end day, you never know what is going to happen with the points,” Dumoulin said. “It’s very important to be there at the end – that’s the main thing – and finish top five.”

    If Dumoulin can hold on to the championship, it’ll mark his first championship in the series. Not bad for his third season in the series, and his first with King Autosport.

    “We have a lot of top fives. Our worst finish is sixth place,” Dumoulin said of his season. “In all the other races, we’ve finished in the top five. It’s great. I mean, I’m very happy about it but we have to keep it up. With a couple races to go, it’s not time to give up. It’s time to keep working hard for the big picture.”

    One of the most memorable moments of the year – winning at Trois-Riveries as Dumoulin says it was “epic” to win his hometown event in front of the home for his sponsors and his family.

  • Jason Hathaway Bounces Back with Dominating Victory at Barrie Speedway

    Jason Hathaway Bounces Back with Dominating Victory at Barrie Speedway

    Leading 182 laps, Jason Hathaway would edge out J.R. Fitzpatrick at the line on Saturday night at Barrie Speedway to score the victory in the Wahta Springs 300. It marks Hathaway’s second victory of the season after winning at Autodrome Chaudiere earlier this year.

    “It was good,” Hathaway commented. “It was a big win. We were pretty dominant throughout the race. Led some laps and then took tires, had to restart sixth and worked our way up. It’s tough here; it’s tough at Barrie with Kennington, J.R., Ranger and Tagliani – there’s some good talent here. I love this place. I love short track racing, I love oval racing – but yeah, the road courses are killing us in the points deal but as long as we can keep winning ovals, we can keep the sponsors happy.”

    It marks a good comeback for Hathaway after transmission issues resulted in a 30th place finish at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. Hathaway said the disappointment from CTMP was still on his mind Tuesday, when fellow series competitor D.J. Kennington helped get him pumped up.

    “I told him I was pretty bummed out and he told, ‘Atleast you have won a race this year’ and I said, ‘That’s true. You’re making me feel better’,” Hathaway said. “Him and I grew up together and have a lot of respect for each other so kind of glad he pumped me up.

    “I’m kind of the cheerleader for my boys. When we get down, I pump them up. They were a little down after CTMP. This win will take care of it and hopefully we can another win at Kawartha.”

    Heading into the season finale at Kawartha Speedway next weekend, Jason Hathaway now has the momentum on his side and has been one of the strongest drivers on the ovals this season. In the six ovals this year, Hathaway has two wins and four top-five finishes. That quite possibly could’ve been three victories this year as he had the strongest car at Riverside International Speedway and a good size lead over second when a pair of lap cars got together in front of him, leaving him nowhere to go.

    “Love that place,” Hathaway said of Kawartha. “I’ve won in everything that we’ve raced there – street stock, late model, NASCAR, CASCAR Sportsmen – I’ve won in everything there so I love that place. Hopefully we have a good car, like we had here, and win another one.”

  • Ryan Blaney Keeps Truck on Road En route to Victory

    Ryan Blaney Keeps Truck on Road En route to Victory

    Following a pair of poor finishes, Ryan Blaney headed to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park this past weekend in hopes of getting his season turned around to challenge for the championship as the series heads into the latter part of the season.

    “It’s been up and down,” Blaney said of his season to date pre-race. “We’ve had fast trucks, but a couple down races where we’ve lost points. The last couple of weeks haven’t been good to us as we’ve lost ground so hopefully we can turn it around here this weekend.”

    While hopes were high, the weekend didn’t start off as planned as Blaney wouldn’t post the qualifying effort that he wanted, qualifying 14th for the event. However, despite that, confidence was still high for Blaney based on a solid top-five finish in last year’s event.

    “We had a fast truck last year,” he commented pre-race. “It gives you a little bit of confidence in knowing that we can run well in having a good run before.”

    Come race time, everything would come together as Chad Kendrick’s strategy worked out perfectly to get Blaney out front late in the race, leading to a battle with German Quiroga, with Blaney winning at the line by 0.049 seconds.

    “That was a lot of fun racing with German,” Blaney said post-race. “We raced really hard and really clean. We had a problem last week and it’s ironic how we’re racing against each other for the win this week. That was awesome racing like that, and that’s how racing was like. We were going to be close on fuel and I was watching my fuel, looking every now and again, and it’d bounce to red a couple of times. Chad did a good job in playing the right strategy and getting us up front after not qualifying that good. It paid off for us.

    “That was a lot of fun. We had a good truck last year and were able to run up front there, and this year we were able to get up there. We only get one road course a year and it’s so much fun to run. It’s a great environment in Canada and the fans have seen a great race two years in a row.”

    It marked a great race as the fans on-hand were treated to side-by-side racing by Quiroga and Blaney throughout the final lap after Quiroga was able to close the gap through with Blaney not getting off 5b that well.

    “He got to my left side and I just tried to keep myself out there. When I got into eight, I wheel-hopped a little bit and I got loose – thought I gave it away there, and luckily I didn’t,” Blaney described the battle. “He was set-up bad for 10 and I kind of committed to the cross-over and luckily we had enough drive out of the corner to get him there at the end. I thought I made a mistake there, but I was able to get the lead back.”

    There were some people that wondered with how close the pair were whether a wreck would happen – repeating last year’s finish – and after their issues at Bristol. However, Blaney noted that it never crossed his mind as he had put Bristol behind him immediately.

    “I don’t like to wreck people to win races,” he added. “I wasn’t going to. If I had to, I would’ve laid the bumper to him – but I would not have spun him out on purpose. That didn’t cross my mind along the last set of corners.”

    Beyond having success this year in the trucks, Blaney has been running well in the Nationwide Series, highlighted by his victory at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    “Nice to finally get a win in that car,” he commented. “We could’ve had a couple before that in that car as we were in position but things haven’t worked out in our favor. It’s good to finally get that car in victory lane.”

    The success has led to other opportunities for the son of Dave Blaney, as it was announced earlier this year that Blaney will run some Sprint Cup Series races next year for the Wood Brothers.

    “Just cool to be part of such a great team with guys like the Wood Brothers like Leonard and Glenn,” he said. “They’ve been really good to me and I think with the Penske alliance, it’s going to put them at the top where they need to be to be competitive. Very fortunate to drive for them.”

    Being one of the young and upcoming drivers, Blaney has the right people around him to help him with his father Dave, Roger Penske, boss/teammate Brad Keselowski and teammate Joey Logano.

    “They’re very helpful – Brad and Joey,” Blaney said. “They both got started really young and had a lot of pressure on them, espically Joey in running Cup at the age of 18. To be able to learn from them has been very beneficial and it’s been fun getting to know those guys. Whenever I run Truck, Nationwide or the couple of Cup stars, they’ve taught me a whole lot on and off the track and it’s definitely made a lot better. I’m really thankful to have great friends to lean on to get information heading into most of these NASCAR places. I’ve been very fortunate to have them.”

    Though while that is the plan for next year, Blaney’s focus is right now on this year and trying to win the Camping World Truck Series Championship as he only sits 13 points behind Johnny Sauter. Blaney’s startegy is simple – keep doing what they’ve been doing thus far this year.

    “The last couple of weeks we’ve struggled but we’re better than that; we’ve shown it all year,” he commented. “We’re strong and like he said, I think we can rattle off a lot of really good finishes from here to the end of the year. Just keep doing what we’re doing. A win for the team motivates these guys so much. The first one is the hardest win to get and I think they’re going to start rattling off here. Just got to stay focused and head to Chicago and go from there. We’ve done a great job all year as a team and we have to keep doing that.”

  • Alex Tagliani unveils special paint scheme, set for busy weekend at CTMP

    Alex Tagliani unveils special paint scheme, set for busy weekend at CTMP

    On Thursday afternoon at the CHILL Ice House in Toronto, Alex Tagliani unveiled his new livery for this weekend’s Pinty’s Presents the Clarington 200 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The new design comes as a result of the second annual Summer of Tag contest, in which allowed Canadian students to design what they feel Tagliani’s car and helmet should look like to raise awareness for food allergies and Anaphylaxis Canada.

    Leah Johnson of Erin District High School had her design selected among the submissions to be on the car, as the judges felt the blue and orange colors matched perfect with EpiPen’s colors. The car also displays the slogan ‘Blue to the Sky, Orange in the Thigh’, which is the key catchphrase for administrating an EpiPen shot.

    “It’s an awesome feeling, but I’m so happy to be apart of cause and bringing awareness to EpiPen and Anaphylaxis,” Johnson said of having her design selected. Johnson added that while she doesn’t have any food allergies herself, she is friends with people who do and is aware of the importance of awareness.

    Tagliani also unveiled the helmet that he will use this weekend, displaying the winning submission by Marcus Uhrich of Archbishop O’Leary High School. The helmet will be auctioned off at Tagliani’s upcoming Tagliani Foundation Golf Classic, with the money being donated to Anaphylaxis Canada. Anaphylaxis Canada is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to helping those at risk of anaphylaxis and those who care for them. Anaphylaxis reports that approximately 2.5 million Canadians have at least one food allergy that effects them, including Tagliani who has a severe peanut allergy.

    While promoting a good cause on his NASCAR Canadian Tire Series car, Alex Tagliani will be a busy driver behind the wheel this weekend as he is set to do double duty, running both the Canadian Tire Series race and Camping World Truck Series race this weekend. Tagliani will make his truck series debut driving the No. 19 Reese Ford F150 for Brad Keselowski Racing.

    “I’m very honored to race for Brad Keselowski Racing and drive the Reese No. 19 truck so hopefully we can have a good weekend,” Tagliani commented on Tuesday. “Ryan Blaney and I are teaming together so definitely going to try to have a good weekend for the team.”

    In trying to post a pair of solid finishes in both races – possibly a pair of wins – there is a big challenge that lies ahead in getting them both set-up accordingly for the 11-turn course, as well as the fact that the Canadian Tire Series car and the truck drive much differently from each other.

    “One drives completely different than the other – the braking system, the weight is tremendously different,” Tagliani explained. “You can see just when you drive a NASCAR Canada car, it has less brakes, but the car is much lighter. The chassis are built differently so they feel tremendously different.”

    Tagliani admitted that the differences do have him concerned, but he’s committed to doing well for both programs this weekend.

    “I think I just have to make sure that I don’t get caught up driving the cars the same way and trying to do the same thing with one and another,” he added. “If I can put myself in the right mode and drive them how they want to be driven in both series, I think I can extract the best out of both.”

    Beyond the challenges behind the wheel, there’s the challenge that lies ahead in the track as Canadian Tire Motorsports Park has 11 unique corners at different elevations throughout, ready to catch a driver off-guard.  While Tagliani hasn’t ran the track in a stockcar, he has ran the track in a sports car in the past.

    “It’s very fast. Everybody knows that it’s quick,” Tagliani commented. “I think that the track is unique in itself. I think there’s a lot of fast corners, a lot of blind corners, a lot of elevation changes. Turn two is always unique and very special, but turn four is really special too. Then you have turn eight, nine and 10 that are fast. It’s tough to pinpoint one place around the track (that’s tough) because they’re all important. They all have their particulars so it’s not like a track with 12 corners and two are difficult and the rest are easy. I think Canadian Tire Motorsports Park track – everyone is tricky so I think that’s why it’s difficult to pinpoint one spot in the track.”

    If anybody can do it, though, it’s Tagliani as a lot of people have faith based on the Quebec native’s previous success on the road courses throughout the years in different forms of vehicles – whether sports cars, IndyCars or the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Tagliani ran a pair of Natiownide Series this year for Team Penske in the No. 22 Discount Tire Ford, finishing second at Road America after passing 21 cars on the green-white-checkered finish, and fifth at the Mid-Ohio Sportscar road course.