Category: Featured Other Series

At the end of the 100 lap race on the streets of St. Petersburg, James Hinchcliffe would go to victory lane for his first career win.

 

Power grabs the lead ahead of Sato and Hinchcliffe

Lap 3 Power leads Sato Hinchcliffe Castroneves De Silvestro

Lap 17 Castroneves passes Hinchcliffe for third

Lap 18 Dixon pits.

Lap 19 Franchitti pits.

Caution lap 20 Dario Franchitti hits the wall. Marco Andretti, Hlderbrand, Jakes pits. Many drivers hit pit road.

Lap 21 Power, de Silvestro, Hinchcliffe, Hunter-Reay pits.

Restart lap 27 Castroneves grabs the lead from Power into turn one…….Beatris turns Kimball, collecting Jakes, Servia, Hilderbrand……Saavedra gets into the damaged Hilderbrand…..Hilderbrand has stopped into turn 10. Caution. Pagenaud out with mechanical issues. Castroneves leads Power, Hinchcliffe, Sato

Restart lap 33…..Power tries to tuck behind Castroneves, Hinchcliffe passes Power for second.

Lap 34 Castroneves leads Hinchcliffe, Power, Sato, de Silvestro

Lap 35 de Silvestro passes Sato for fourth

Lap 38 Vautier passes Sato for fifth

Lap 39 Castroneves lead Hinchcliffe, Power, de Silvestro, Vautier

Caution lap 45 Castroneves, Power, Hinchcliffe, de Silvestro all pit with the rest of the cars. Caution was for debris at the exit of turn 14. Oriol Servia didn’t pit under lap 45 caution to take over lead. Castroneves first off pit road, followed by Power and Hinchcliffe. Josef Newgarden having clutch issues, slow on the track.

Restart lap 55…..Servia holds the lead through turn one ahead of Castroneves and Hinchcliffe

Lap 56 Servia leads Castroneves Hinchcliffe Power Vautier

Lap 63 Servia pits….hands the lead over to Castroneves ahead of Hinchcliffe Power Vautier de Silvestro…..Servia can’t get the car restarted on pit road.

Lap 65 throttle issue for Ryan Hunter-Reay

Lap 70 Vautier pits, has mechanical problems. Castroneves leads Hinchcliffe, Power, de Silvestro and Kanaan

Caution lap 75 Saavedra over shoots the corner, hits the wall. Castroneves pits along with Hinchcliffe Power and others. Castroneves leads Hinchcliffe Power de Silvestro and Dixon off pit road. Hilderbrand into the wall. Hinchcliffe weaves back and forth, Power slips up to begin warming his tires up and Hilderbrand drives over the side of the car. Power down pit road with flat tire. Castroneves now leads Hinchcliffe de Silvestro Dixon Andretti

Restart lap 85 Castroneves overdrives the corner, Hinchcliffe passes him for the lead.

Lap 86 Hinchcliffe leads Castroneves de Silvestro Kanaan Andretti. Power runs 14^th

Lap 103 Power has problems, gets into the wall.

Lap 104 Andretti passes Kanaan for fourth

2 to go Marco passes de Silvestro in turn 14

James Hinchcliffe. Helio Castroneves. Marco Andretti. Kanaan. Dixon. De Silvestro.

When it came to the road courses last year, it was a continuing battle between Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay. That battle will look to continue in 2013 as Power lead practice with Hunter-Reay second.

Power would top the charts with a speed of 105.457 mph in his No. 12 Verizon Wireless Team Penske Chevrolet.

“”This is normal,” Power said. “We expect to be at the front and we are always disappointed if we are back because we have the team to do it. We’re not doing our job if we’re not.”

In speaking of the competition, Power expects both Andretti Autosport and Ganassi Racing to have cars up front.

“Andretti is right on the pace,” he said. “Their two drivers: (James) Hinchcliffe and (Ryan) Hunter-Reay are no question going to be right there all year. Ganassi, I think, it’s an engine thing, but I guess we will see when qualifying comes, I think that’s when everyone knows where everyone stands and hopefully they’re not good.”

Hunter-Reay was second on the charts, two tenths of a second behind Power at the end of the session.

“It feels great to be in the first official (IZOD) IndyCar (Series) session of the year,” the defending series champion said. “It’s still early days. We’ve only done a total of five runs so far between the two sessions. The guys have done a great job in the offseason, the car has a lot of grip in it, but we just need to refine it a bit. We need to make it work for the drivers where they need it. We’re struggling a little bit coming off the corners, so we know there’s lap time there. We know where it is. We just need to go get it.”

Surprising some people, Simona de Silvestro was third on the charts, 0.24 seconds off of Power.

“It’s a big difference,” she said. “Last year we came in here and we knew it was going to be a struggle, and this year we come after a really good Barber test and it showed right away. Even this morning I thought we were pretty quick even if we still have a little bit of work to do on the car. It’s definitely a relief to know we can be fast and we can be right up there with the other guys.”

Oriol Servia was fourth with Takuma Sato in fifth.

Power’s teammate Helio Castroneves was sixth, followed by Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe, rookie Tristan Vautier and Marco Andretti.

There was no incidents during the session, however it was a surprise to see Ganassi Racing driver Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon 17th and 19th on the chart.

“The Target car felt reasonable,” Franchitti said afterwards. “It was actually better than it was in this morning’s session. It just didn’t have the speed in it we’re looking for. It looks like we’re going to have a busy night.”

“Practice wasn’t so great,” Dixon said. “We had a couple of issues with the car not starting and some other mechanical things that just kind of happened. Not the start we wanted to have for the Target team this weekend but we’ll work on getting it right for qualifying tomorrow.”

Qualifying takes place on Saturday at 3:15pm EST with the race schedule for noon EST on Sunday.

Dalton Baldwin likes his chances at the upcoming KOMA Unwind Relaxation Drink 150 race this Saturday.

This is the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour’s fourth visit to the .4 mile oval track located in Kenley, N.C. It features 17 degrees of banking in the corners and seven degree banking in the straightaways. Only eight drivers out of the 24 entered have Southern Modified experience at this track.

Dalton’s goal is to drive the No. 18 Woman 2 Woman Breast Cancer Chevrolet to a top ten finish and collect some bonus points in his quest to win the Rookie of the Year award.

“I personally picked Southern National,” he told me, “as a track that we would run really well at, possibly win at. Looking at it and watching videos, it’s just our kind of track. Its high banked with sweeping turns, there’s a good outside groove, etc. It looks a lot like Desoto Super Speedway, where we’ve won 4 championships and numerous races across 7 years. So I am really looking forward to this track.”

He also plans on giving himself every advantage by relying on the advice and help of some of the track veterans.

“The fortunate thing for us is that the tour hasn’t gone to this track since 2008. From what I know, only a few drivers that are entered in the race have experience at the track. One of those, Tim Brown, and his brother, Ben, have had serious success at the track, with a win and two second places in three tour races there. They’re gonna help us in a direction for a setup. So, hopefully that leads somewhere and gives us a leg up.”

Dalton missed the first points race of the season due to engine problems.  With his primary focus on competing for the Rookie of the Year award, it makes it even more important to strive for top ten finishes the remainder of the season.

“We’re still in it,” he says. “We just can’t have a bad race now.”

Dalton Baldwin Racing would like to thank their partners, Woman 2 Woman Breast Cancer Foundation, SpeedwayMedia.com, Advance Auto Parts of Dunedin, Fla., BG Products, SpeedRacer Photos, and Eibach Performance for their continued support.

For more information about Dalton Baldwin Racing including driver bio, race schedule, pictures and videos, please visit www.daltonbaldwin.com.  You can also find his Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/DaltonBaldwinRacing and Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/DaltonBaldwinRacing.

As part of OSCAAR’s booth at the Mega Speed Custom Car and Truck Show, Brandon Watson will have his car on display.

The Mega Speed Custom Car and Truck Show takes place March 22nd to 24th at the International Centre. OSCAAR officials will be talking to show attendees about the cars, the schedule, and the season ahead. Watson’s super late model will be in the booth, joining OSCAAR sophomore driver Rob Poole, rookie Kevin Cornelius and veteran Jim Bowman. OSCAAR will also have Bobby Tolton and Brent McLean’s Modifieds on display.

Last year marked a memorable season for Brandon Watson as he picked up four victories and only finished off the podium three times on his way to picking up the championship. Two of those victories the Stayner, Ontario driver was able to capture include OSCAAR crown jewels – the Don Biederman Memorial at Kawartha Speedway and the Autumn Colors Classic feature at Peterborough Speedway.

Speaking of his season, Watson said he knew that he had the car and team to do it after the success they had experienced during part-time schedules in years prior. He also made note that racing the JEGS CRA tour in the States in 2011 helped somewhat in his championship bid.

Moving into the 2013 season, Watson says his focus is on the OSCAAR Super Late Models, as he is ready to tackle yet another full season.

“Definitely a great series, getting better and better each year,” Watson said in speaking of the super late models.

For his championship and M.R.E Pro Series Open Late Model feature victory at Sunset Speedway, Watson was ranked fourth in Spencer Lewis’ Inside Track Motosports News Ontario Asphalt Short Track Rankings.

As previously noted, the Mega Speed Custom Car and Truck Show takes place at the International Centre from Friday March 22nd to Sunday March 24th. The show will include many custom vehicles on display, including some Corvettes to celebrate Corvette’s 60th Anniversary and some Camaros to celebrate Camaro’s 40th Anniversary. The show also includes a star studded line-up that includes Rally Racer Ken Block and car designer Chip Foose, with wrestler Bill Goldberg as the event Grand Marshall.

For full details on the show, check out www.megaspeedcarshow.com.

As the days tick away towards the new season for the OSCAAR Super Late Models and Modifieds, the anticipation grows for the season ahead. With that, teams begin showing previews of their paint schemes and what they have in store for the season ahead. Three teams will showcase their new paint schemes for the season at the 2013 Mega Speed Custom Car and Truck Show as part of OSCAAR’s booth.

OSCAAR will have a booth at the Mega Speed Custom Car and Truck Show next weekend (March 22nd to 24th) at the International Centre in Toronto, Ontario. OSCAAR officials will be talking to show attendees about the cars, the schedule, and the season ahead.

As announced, OSCAAR will have three cars on display including sophmore driver Rob Poole and rookies Kevin Cornelius and Bobby Tolton.

Poole, who enters his second full OSCAAR season, will have his No. 45 OSCAAR Super Late Model on display. Last year saw Poole pick up a couple of heat wins on his way to finishing ninth in points. With the bad luck that Rob Poole Racing sustained in 2012, certainly they are hoping for a better season in 2013.

Cornelius will have his No. 17 OSCAAR Super Late Model on display as the 2011 Sunset Speedway Limited Late Model makes the jump up from limited late models to OSCAAR.

“Really excited about the 2013 race season,” the Orangeville, Ontario native said back in December. “I would have to go back to 1996 when I was in my first race at Sauble Speedway to compare the excitement. Really looking forward to racing in what I consider to be one of the top series in Ontario with the toughest competition with guys like Glenn and Brandon Watson, George Wilson, Derek Tiemersma, Rob Clarke, Rob Poole and the list goes on.

“I think OSCAAR is on the verge of getting real big and that Dave (Gainforth) and the group are heading in the right direction.”

As announced in December, Cornelius will be piloting a McColl Racing Enterprises chassis. It marks the first M.R.E OSCAAR built chassis.

Lastly, Tolton will have his No. 13 OSCAAR Modified on display as he enters his first season of competition at the modified level. Tolton brings six years of mini stock and limited late model experience to the table.

“It’s a collection of the greatest drivers in the province. You get the best of the best and everyone’s respectful,” Tolton explained earlier this year to OSCAAR journalist Clayton Johns. “They race against each other with a lot of respect. That’s what I like.”

OSCAAR is known as Ontario’s premier tour division for Super Late Model and Modified action.

Coming off of a successful season last year with the Super Late Models, the field has continued to grow. Along with Poole and Cornelius, you have 2012 champion Brandon Watson, four-time OSCAAR Champion Glenn Watson, past champion Derek Tiemersma, plus veterans George Wilson, Rob Clarke and sophomore Jesse Kennedy. NASCAR Canadian Tire Series driver J.R. Fitzpatrick has also announced that he will be running some OSCAAR races this year. He will also be joined in the series by rookie Andrew Gresel, who comes off of his late model success at both Sauble Speedway and Delaware Speedway.

With the Super Late Models hitting seven tracks across 12 dates, it promises to be a season packed full of action across Ontario.

Not too far behind, the OSCAAR Modifieds enter their second full season, ready to bring more action packed racing to tracks across Ontario. Many of the drivers have announced that they will return, including champion Gary McLean and front runners Brent McLean, Davey Terry and Josh Gruntz. They will be joined by some rookies as they have announced that they want to get involved in the action.

The Modifieds will hit eight tracks across 15 dates, including some double headers with the Super Lates.

As previously noted, the Mega Speed Custom Car and Truck Show takes place at the International Centre from Friday March 22nd to Sunday March 24th. The show will include many custom vehicles on display, including some Corvettes to celebrate Corvette’s 60th Anniversary and some Camaros to celebrate Camaro’s 40th Anniversary. The show also includes a star studded line-up that includes Rally Racer Ken Block and car designer Chip Foose, with wrestler Bill Goldberg as the event Grand Marshall.

For full details on the show, check out www.megaspeedcarshow.com.