Category: Featured Other Series

For the fourth time this year, Brandon Watson would grace victory lane at the end of an OSCAAR Super Late Model event as he won the Chase for the Colors event at Peterborough. The win hands him the pole for the Autumn Colors Classic in October well extending his current points lead.

Rob Gibson wouldn’t start the night off well after his Sunset misfortunes as he spun on lap three of the first heat, making contact with the inside wall. Kevin Cornelius took the win ahead of Brandon Watson, Brent McLean, Shane Gowan, Glenn Watson and Jim Bowman.

Andrew Gresel won the second heat ahead of Derrike Tiemersma, John Owen, Todd Campbell, Tyler Hawn and J.R. Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick was driving Gary Passer’s Super Late Model after Fitzpatrick ran into some engine problems last week at Sunset Speedway.

Glenn Watson won the third heat ahead of Cornelius, Brandon Watson, McLean and Bowman. Gowan pulled off mid-way through the heat due to heavy smoke coming from his super late model; Gibson and Kyle Passer also hit pit road before the end of the heat.

J.R. Fitzpatrick won the final heat ahead of Tiemersma, Gresel, Owen, Campbell and Hawn.

Come feature time, Kevin Cornelius started pole followed by Derrike Tiemersma, Brandon Watson, Andrew Gresel, John Owen and Glenn Watson. There’d be a quick caution though as coming off of turn two on the first lap, contact between Tiemersma and Cornelius would result in a cut tire for Cornelius and the caution flag. In the stack up the front pair, contact was made throughout the field as other drivers – including Tyler Hawn – made their way down pit road.

On the restart, Brandon Watson grabbed the lead ahead of Tiemersma and Gresel when Owen and Glenn Watson battled for fifth. Owen got loose on lap two, allowing Glenn Watson and J.R. Fitzpatrick to slip past. Owen would pass Fitzpatrick back for the fifth spot on lap nine with Campbell passing Fitzpatrick for sixth on lap 13.

The second caution flew on lap 36 when Shane Gowan going around. With the dominant pace that Brandon Watson was setting, only four cars remained on the lead lap at this point – Brandon Watson, Tiemersma, Gresel and Glenn Watson. Owen ran in fifth, one lap down, followed by Campbell, McLean, Cornelius and Bowman. Hawn ran in ninth, two laps down, followed by Gowan.

The next 10 laps would run clean with everybody holding down their positions till Bowman would spin off of the corner. There’d be no caution as Bowman would keep it going, though fell another lap down to the leads.

The final 10 laps ran clean when Brandon Watson taking the lead over Andrew Gresel. Those two will be your front row when the OSCAAR Super Late Models return to Peterborough Speedway for Autumn Colors. Derrike Tiemersma finished third, followed by Glenn Watson and John Owen. Todd Campbell finished sixth, followed by Brent McLean, Kevin Cornelius, Jim Bowman, Shane Gowan and Tyler Hawn.

The next race for the OSCAAR Super Late Models is next Sunday at Kawartha Speedway.

Gary McLean scored his second straight OSCAAR Modified win at Peterborough Speedway in the Chase for the Colors event. The win gives McLean the pole for Autumn Colors, as well as allows the defending series champion to extend his points lead.

It was a wreck-filled night for the Modifieds and it began in the first heat when Darryn Wright spins, collecting Brian McLean on lap one. Then, Branden Bullen would get into Mike Westwood. Brent McLean won ahead of Gary McLean, Brad Pearsall, Brian McLean, Westwood and Wright.

Josh Gruntz would win the second heat in his first start of the season ahead of John Harper, Shane Stickel, Dave Osbourne, Dean Scott and Davey Terry.

Brad Pearsall won the third heat ahead of Gary McLean, Brent McLean, Brian McLean, Wright, Bullen and Westwood.

Shane Stickel won the fourth and final heat ahead of Terry, Harper, Scott, Gruntz and Osbourtne.

In the feature, Gary McLean started pole followed by Brent McLean, Shane Stickel, Brad Pearsall, Josh Gruntz, John Harper, Dean Scott, Dave Osbourne, Darryn Wright, Mike Westwood, Branden Bullen and Brian McLean.

Gary McLean would take the early lead ahead of Brent McLean, Pearsall, Stickel and Gruntz as Terry pulled off due to motor problems. Brian McLean would then pull off following problems earlier in the event. The caution would fly when Osbourne spun in turn three.

On the restart, Gary McLean pulled ahead once again, leading Brent McLean and Pearsall while Gruntz got by Stickel for fourth. The caution would fly once again when Scott would go around. Then on the front stretch, Scott and Osbourne would display their displeasure with one another, resulting in Scott in the front stretch wall. Both cars would done for the night.

On the restart, the wrecks continued as Pearsall got into Brent McLean, causing Pearsall to get sideways. The result was the field checking up and collecting Harper and Gruntz in the night. Gruntz would suffer enough damage for his modified to take two tow trucks to tow it off. So with 11 laps to go, Gary McLean led Stickel, Bullen, Wright, Westwood, Harper and Brent McLean.

Gary McLean grabbed the lead on the restart ahead of Stickel while Bullen and Wright ran side-by-side for third. Bullen held Wright off to keep the spot while Brent McLean began his climb through the field.

Gary McLean grabbed the win ahead of Shane Stickel so they will be your front row come Autumn Colors. Brent McLean made it all the way back to third, followed by Branden Bullen and John Harper. Wright and Westwood rounded out the cars still on track.

As part of the summer stretch of races for the OSCAAR Modifieds, the Modifieds head for Peterborough Speedway this weekend for the Touring Chase for the Colors event.

While the event counts as a normal points event for the OSCAAR competitors, it also begins the qualifying procedure for the one of the biggest events in the season – the Autumn Colors Classic in October. The drivers that finish one-two on Saturday night will start the Autumn Colors Classic feature on the front row in October.

Last year, Gary McLean won the Autumn Colors event and will look to begin his road to repeating by winning the Chase for the Colors. The Chase for the Colors event comes at a good time for McLean as he was able to pick up the win last weekend at Sunset Speedway for his 10^th career Modified win. He has also finished in the top four in six of the seven races so far this year. Peterborough has also proven to be a good track for McLean in the past as beyond his AC win, he also won the first event at Pete for the Modifieds last year at Peterborough.

With his seventh place finish due to being involved in an incident, Brent McLean fell to second in points, now five points behind Gary McLean. Brent will look to regain the points lead by scoring his sixth top five in the eighth race of the season. Brent had success at Peterborough last year finishing second twice and seventh in the three races.

Brian McLean scored his first career OSCAAR win last year at Peterborough, followed by fifth and third in the other two events. This year, Brian has had some struggles though could turn his season around this weekend.

Branden Bullen scored his first podium finish last weekend at Sunset Speedway for his second top five of the year and will look to score another solid finish after some bad luck to start the year.

Davey Terry will look for his third straight top five finish this weekend at Peterborough after finishing eighth, sixth and fifth in his three starts at Peterborough last year.

Brad Pearsall has four top fives in five OSCAAR starts so far this season and will be one to watch if he is at Peterborough. Pearsall made two starts at Peterborough last year finishing sixth in one and having radiator problems in the other.

Shane Stickel has run strong so far in his rookie season, though hasn’t had the best of luck. He will look to change his fortune this weekend.

Josh Gruntz will make his first start of the 2013 OSCAAR series season as he has his modified ready to go. Gruntz broke home a fifth place finish at Peterborough last summer and will look to repeat that success. Chad Strawn will not be bringing his modified for this event as he will serve as a team member on Gruntz’s team.

Following problems at Sunset Speedway, Bobby Tolton put in the hours to have modified ready for Peterborough, however ran into problems on Friday night that will keep him from competiting.

David McCullough won his last OSCAAR start that came at Sauble Speedway as he was not in attendance at Sunset so there is a question as to whether he will be there.

Max Beyore finished second last week in his OSCAAR Modified debut last weekend. If he shows up at Peterborough, look for him to do well.

As part of the summer stretch of races for the OSCAAR Super Late Models, the Super Late Models head for Peterborough Speedway this weekend for the Touring Chase for the Colors event.

While the event counts as a normal points event for the OSCAAR competitors, it also begins the qualifying procedure for the one of the biggest events in the season – the Autumn Colors Classic in October. The drivers that finish one-two on Saturday night will start the Autumn Colors Classic feature on the front row in October.

Dwayne Baker and Shane Maginnis have both announced that they will be attendance this weekend at Peterborough following their side-by-side battle for the win at Sunset Speedway last weekend.

Jeff Hanley has yet to confirm whether he will be at Peterborough, but if he is, he will be a threat to win. In three OSCAAR starts so far this season, Hanley has finished in the top 10 in each of them, including a second at Sunset last weekend. Hanley has had success at Peterborough in the past, too, winning the Autumn Colors Classic in 2009, followed by three more wins. In seven starts at Peterborough, Hanley has finished in the top two in six of them.

Glenn Watson will look to score another solid finish at Peterborough this weekend. Watson escaped the mess at Sunset to come home with a fourth place finish. One of the shocks so far this year is that Watson has yet to win a race, but he has been close with a second place finish back at Sunset in May. Watson is also a previous Peterborough Speedway winner, winning the Autumn Colors Classic in 2011 and finishing in the top five in six of his 10 starts.

Points leader Brandon Watson was able to finish fifth at Sunset Speedway despite being involved in a late race caution with Andrew Gresel. Watson will look to get back to victory lane at a track that he has won at before, having won the Autumn Colors Classic in 2012 and in 2010.

Derrike Tiemersma also continued his consistency this year at Sunset Speedway, squeezing out a sixth place finish after going around late in the race. Tiemersma will look to gain points on Watson this weekend, possibly picking up a victory. In six starts at Peterborough, Tiemersma has finished in the top six five times but has yet to pick up a victory with a best finish of third twice.

Rookies Andrew Gresel and Kevin Cornelius will look to bounce back from their misfortunes at Sunset Speedway as they head to Peterborough. Both have laps at the track prior – via Late Model competition at Autumn Colors – but neither has experience behind the wheel of a Super Late at Peterborough. With the pair of them tied in the rookie points heading into the weekend, it’s anybody guess who will come out on top at the end of the season.

Despite sustaining heavy front end damage to his Super Late, rookie Rob Gibson has confirmed that he will be at Peterborough Speedway as he continues to get used to his new car.

Tyler Hawn will look for his second top five of the year this weekend as he looks to put his misfortunes at Sunset Speedway behind him.

Jesse Kennedy will look to repeat last year’s magical fifth place finish as he looks to get his season back on track after an engine failure taking him for a couple of weeks and a finish outside of the top 10 at Sunset Speedway.

After mechanical problems at Sunset Speedway, Sean Cronan came home with a poor finish. If Cronan has those issues worked out before Peterborough, look for Cronan to possibly run up front as Jeff Dunford drove that same car to a second place finish two years ago.

Lloyd Richie was at Sauble Speedway and had a good run, though did not attend Sunset Speedway this weekend. If Richie is at Peterborough, he could a surprise winner as he won the event two years ago.

Gary Passer was not at Sunset Speedway last Sunday and missed the event at Sauble Speedway prior to that so it is questionable whether the defending race winner will be in attendance this weekend.

Charlie Gallant will likely miss this weekend’s event at Peterborough Speedway despite being one of the three Peterborough winners last year due to a wreck during the Don Biederman Memorial causing heavy damage to his super late model.

Racing will kick off at 6pm at Peterborough Speedway with a pre-race corn roast and fireworks included as part of the show.

In his third feature of the year, Dwayne Baker would score his second win as he would hold off Jeff Hanley and Shane Maginnis. The 2013 Don Biederman Memorial Champion battled side-by-side with Maginnis for many laps before taking the lead in the late stages behind the wheel of his No. 48 Zancor Homes, Innisfil Machine and Welding and Baker Performance Parts Super Late Model.

Baker won the first heat ahead of Kevin Cornelius, Jesse Kennedy, Glenn Watson, Ian Bourque, Cory Jones and Roy Passer.

On lap one of the second heat, Brent McLean spun to bring out the caution. Andrew Gresel drove his No. 81 CUSW/Sauble Falls/McRobert Fuels Super Late Model to victory lane ahead of Maginnis, Derrike Tiemersma, Wayne Issacs, Shane Gowan, McLean and Rob Gibson.

Brandon Watson won the third heat behind the wheel of his No. 9 The Smart Exchange – Propane Cylinder Exchange, Ken MacKinnon Construction, Barrie Frame & Alignment, and Knightworks Design Super Late Model ahead of Hanley, Mike Beyore, Tyler Hawn, Sean Cronan and J.R. Fitzpatrick.

Glenn Watson won the fourth heat behind the wheel of his No. 22 Line-X Protective Coatings – Barrie, Race2way.ca, Rival Office Solutions and Williamson Uxbridge GM Super Late Model ahead of Cornelius, Baker, Bourque, Roy Passer and Jones. Kennedy was on track but pulled off with two laps to go.

Tiemersma won the fifth heat behind the wheel of his No. 7 Wayfreight, Speedy Auto Machine, Castrol and Spira Fire Protection Super Late Model ahead of Maginnis, Gresel, Issacs, Gowan, McLean and Gibson.

Jeff Hanley won the final heat behind the wheel of his No. 70 Raylene Racing Inc and Carmen Auto Sales Super Late Model ahead of Cronan, Brandon Watson, Beyore and Hawn.

In the feature, Shane Maginnis drew the pole and battle side-by-side with Dwayne Baker early for the lead in his No. 03 Kerr Cadillac Goodwrench Service, Meguiar’s Canada, Douglas Engines and Canadian Linen and Uniform Service Super Late Model. The pair battled side-by-side till the caution flew on lap three for Sean Cronan having problems . With 47 laps to go, Maginnis led Baker, Jeff Hanley, Brandon Watson, Andrew Gresel and Kevin Cornelius.

On the restart, Maginnis pulled ahead of Baker, Watson and Hanley while Gresel and Cornelius battled side-by-side for sixth. Contact between the rookies on lap eight resulted in Cornelius’ hitting the outside front stretch wall, however continued without a caution. The caution flew, though, on lap 10 when Mike Beyore spun Cornelius. With 40 laps to go, Maginnis led Baker, Watson, Hanley, Gresel, Glenn Watson, Derrike Tiemersma, Wayne Issacs, Jesse Kennedy, Ian Bourque, Tyler Hawn, Shane Gowan, Roy Passer, Cory Jones, Cornelius, Beyore, Rob Gibson, Brent McLean and Cronan.

On the restart, Maginnis and Baker battled side-by-side once again with Baker grabbing the lead on lap 12 ahead of Maginnis, Brandon Watson, Hanley and Gresel. Though the lead wouldn’t stand for Baker as the third caution flew for Gibson spinning. With 38 laps to go, Maginnis led Baker, Brandon Watson, Hanley, Gresel, Glenn Watson, Tiemersma, Issacs, Kennedy, Cornelius, Hawn, Passer, Beyore, Gowan, Jones, Gibson, McLean, Bourque and Cronan.

On the restart, Maginnis and Baker battled side-by-side all the way till the fourth caution for Bourque spinning on the backstretch on lap 17. The incident actually started back in turn one when Issacs came down on Cornelius, causing Cornelius to slow down. Cornelius slowing down caused the domino effect with McLean hitting Jones and Jones spinning Bourque. With 33 laps to go, Maginnis led Baker, Brandon Watson, Gresel, Hanley, Glenn Watson, Tiemesma, Hawn, Issacs, Beyore, Passer, Gowan, McLean, Jones, Bourque, Cornelius, Gibson, Kennedy and Cronan.

There’d be another caution on the restart when Gibson would spin in turn two trying to stay off of Kennedy.

On the restart, Maginnis pulled ahead while Baker and Gresel battled for second. Baker cleared Gresel on lap 19, leaving Gresel to battle with Brandon Watson for third. Gresel would hold off Watson, leaving Watson to battle with his uncle Glenn for fourth. The battle wouldn’t last long as on lap 23 the sixth caution would fly when Passer, Gibson and Jones got together in turns one and two. With 28 laps to go, Maginnis led Baker, Gresel, Brandon Watson, Hanley, Glenn Watson, Tiemersma, Hawn, Issacs, McLean, Gowan, Kennedy, Bourque, Cornelius, Passer and Cronan.

On the restart, Maginnis pulled ahead once again while Baker and Brandon Watson battled for second. Baker grabbed second on lap 26, while Brandon battled with Gresel for third. However, the caution flew on lap 29 for the seventh time when Hanley spun Hawn. With 21 laps to go, Maginnis led Baker, Brandon Watson, Gresel, Glenn Watson, Hanley, Gowan, McLean, Kennedy, Cornelius, Passer.

On the restart, Maginnis pulled ahead as he done the other times followed by Baker, Gresel, Brandon Watson and Hanley. On lap 38, Hanley got by Watson for fourth. The eighth caution came out on lap 44 when Hawn got into the turn four wall all by himself. With six laps to go, Maginnis led Baker, Gresel, Hanley, Brandon Watson, Glenn Watson, Tiemersma, Cornelius, Kennedy, Issacs, Gowan, McLean, Bourque, Passer and Hawn with Maginnis choosing the outside for the restart.

The ninth caution flew on the restart when Brandon Watson and Gresel came together in turn two, both going around. Gresel reported afterwards that his power steering line broke. So now with six to go it was Maginnis leading Baker, Hanley, Glenn Watson, Tiemersma, Cornelius, Kennedy, Issacs, Gowan, McLean, Bourque and Passer.

The 10^th caution would fly on the restart when Tiemersma would slow on the backstretch, getting turned into the wall by Kennedy. Still six laps to go, it was Maginnis leading Baker, Hanley, Glenn Watson, Cornelius, Issacs, Gowan, McLean, Bourque and Passer.

The third attempt at a restart failed once again as Cornelius would spin trying to stay off of Glenn Watson and Hanley when the pair made contact going into turn three. Issacs would then back contact with Cornelius afterwards.

The fourth attempt at a restart brought out the 12^th caution when McLean was spun by Gowan. Still with six laps to go, Issacs led Baker, Hanley, Glenn Watson, Bourque, Brandon Watson, Passer, Tiemersma, Hawn, Gresel, Cornelius, Kennedy, Issacs and Gowan.

On the restart, Maginnis and Baker battled side-by-side for the lead till the 13^th caution flew on lap 46 due to an incident with Passer and Issacs. With four laps to go, Maginnis led Baker, Glenn Watson, Hanley, Brandon Watson, Tiemersma, Bourque, Hawn, Gresel and Cornelius.

On the restart, Baker grabbed the lead from Maginnis ahead of Hanley, Glenn Watson and Brandon Watson.

Dwayne Baker would lead the final three laps to pick up his second win of the season. Jeff Hanley would squeeze by Shane Maginnis at the end to grab the second spot. Glenn Watson and Brandon Watson rounded out the top five.

Derrike Tiemersma ran sixth, followed by Ian Bourque, Andrew Gresel, Tyler Hawn and Kevin Cornelius.

After winning the season opener at Sunset Speedway in May, Gary McLean returned to victory lane at Sunset Speedway to pick up his second victory of the season.

The wrecks started right away in the first heat as Ted Patterson spun on lap five. Lane Zardo then pulled off on lap eight due to throttle and brake issues on his mod. Davey Terry won ahead of Brent McLean, Bobby Tolton, Branden Bullen, Ryan Dick, Dave Osbourne and Patterson.

Gary McLean won the second heat ahead of Brad Pearsall, Shane Stickle, Max Beyore, Dean Scott, Brian McLean, Mike Westwood and John Harper.

In the third heat, Osbourne spun down the front straight to draw the caution. Then on the restart, Bullen spun off of turn four, collecting Patterson. The next two restarts would both be called off as Terry and Brent McLean took turns jumping the start. Brent McLean grabbed the win ahead of Terry, Zardo, Dick and Osbourne. Tolton failed to make the start due to mechanical problems.

Stickel picked up his first career modified heat win ahead of Gary McLean, Beyore, Pearsall, Brian McLean and Scott.

Come feature time, Gary McLean drew pole ahead of Brent McLean, Shane Stickel, Davey Terry, Max Beyore, Brad Pearsall, Ryan Dick, Dean Scott, Branden Bullen, Dave Osbourne, Brian McLean, Ted Patterson, Mike Westwood, John Harper and Lane Zardo.

Gary McLean took the early lead ahead of Brent McLean while Terry and Stickel battled for third; Terry cleared Stickel for third on lap two ahead of Beyore. The first caution came out at lap three when Brian McLean spun. Under the caution, Patterson made his way down pit road and as he left, he took a pylon with him as it got stuck under his left front wheel. Staff quickly noticed it and pulled it out. With 27 laps to go, Gary McLean led Brent McLean, Terry, Stickel, Beyore, Pearsall, Scott, Bullen, Dick, Harper, Westwood, Brian McLean and Patterson.

Gary McLean would hold Brent McLean off on the restart and led ahead of Terry, Beyore and Stickel. The caution would come back out as Dick would spin around.

On the restart, Gary McLean jumped ahead again while Brent McLean and Terry ran side-by-side for second. Terry grabbed second ahead of Brent, Beyore and Stickel. The caution then flew for third time when Zardo spun.

On the restart, there’d be more trouble when contact between Brent McLean and Terry would cause Terry to go for the spin. Both drivers would be sent to the back meaning Gary McLean now led ahead of Beyore, Bullen, Osbourne, Pearsall, Brian McLean, Scott, Terry, Brent McLean, Dick, Westwood and Patterson.

Gary McLean pulled ahead on the restart while Beyore and Bullen battled for second. Beyore held Bullen off all the way till the next caution when Scott and Brian McLean made contact, resulting in damage to both cars.

Gary McLean once again got another good restart ahead of Beyore and Bullen while Pearsall and Osbourne battled for fourth. Pearsall would pass Osbourne a lap later before the next caution for Brent McLean spinning in turns one and two trying to stay off of Osbourne.

The restart came with three laps to go and Gary McLean pulled ahead while Beyore and Bullen battled for second. Gary McLean would go on to take the win while Max Beyore would hold Branden Bullen off to seal second. For both Beyore and Bullen, it marks their first podium finishes in the OSCAAR Modifieds, Beyore’s coming in his first ever Modified start. Davey Terry and Brad Pearsall rounded out the top five.

Dave Osbourne finished sixth, followed by Brent McLean, Mike Westwood, Ryan Dick and Ted Patterson.

In trying to change things up, IndyCar decided to go with standing starts for one of the two events at Honda Indy Toronto.

Going into the standing start, there were a lot of concerns and mixed thoughts due to the simple unpredictability about it.

“That’s going to be interesting, I don’t know what to expect,” Ryan Briscoe said going into the weekend. “I hope it all goes well. I don’t see why it won’t, but certainly something new to adapt to.”

“I grew up doing that,” James Jakes said before the weekend. “That’s all we did in Europe. So when I came over here, I was like ‘What? Rolling starts?’ So it should be fun. I’m looking forward to it.

“That’s going to be a big challenge for us,” James Hinchcliffe commented on the Thursday before the race. “We haven’t had a chance to practice that. A lot of guys haven’t done it in years so hopefully we get through it catastrophe free cause we got a race the next to run.”

One of the concerns was surrounding the clutch.

“The clutches – one of my engineers was speaking with the clutch manufacture that it wasn’t one of the critias when we developed these,” Justin Wilson commented a month before the event. “With a formula one series or other series that do standing starts, the clutch is designed to just slip. Ours, is more of an on-off spin. So you’ll see a lot of wheel spin or cars stalling.

“I think it’s going to be fun. It’s going to add another element. It’ll be nice to see the contrast between the two.”

With all the worries, it was a surprise when the first one went off without a hitch with everybody able to get going and make it into turn one cleanly.

“The standing start was awesome,” Sebastian Bourdais said after the race. “I enjoy it very much. I had an awesome start. That’s probably why I like it. I heard the fans enjoy it. There’s a big thumbs up for the series to try that.”

Now the first one is in the books, the question is being asked. Should IndyCar continue to do them?

Helio Castroneves said that he enjoyed doing the standing start, but they will have to look closely at what tracks it’s possible to do at that. There are certain street circuits that it may be more difficult to do and the ovals would be extra tricky with the banking and such.

Though Tony Kanaan says that he doesn’t agree with the move as he wants IndyCar to stick with tradition.

“IndyCar for me, it’s always been about rolling starts,” Kanaan said on the Friday before the event. “We’re talking about traition and stuff. Maybe tomorrow I’ll end up saying I love it. That’s just because of tradition. That’s my preference.

“I’m not against it. It’s just you guys asked my opinion. I said I don’t like it.”

In the end, Bourdais says it doesn’t depend what the drivers want, but what the fans want.

“If the fans love it, if it makes the event more profitable for the promoters, for the series, it’s a good thing,” Bourdais said. “We don’t have a say in it. We’re just the racers. We have our own opinion, but at the end of the day we’ll do whatever it takes for this series wherever it needs to go, and that is to bring it up. Bring it on. If it works, let’s do it.”

So what do you want? More standing starts or the rolling starts?

Throughout the year, there’s always the question that is asked – what track is the trickiest and why? Well, one of the tracks that is constantly mentioned is the Streets of Toronto. Now originally when I heard this and being from Toronto, I didn’t get the fuss because, well frankly, driven these streets myself. Though once done a pace car ride on Thursday, you could say that my perspective changed.

From the changes from asphalt to concrete in the surface to the tight, blind corners, the track has a trick up it’s sleeve that is sure to put people on their feet at each event.

The challenge for the drivers start right with turn one, as explained by James Hinchcliffe.

“Turn one is everything challenging,” Hinchcliffe said. “First you got bumps on the entry, which hurt braking. You have the concrete patch in the middle of the corner which affects your balance in the middle of the corner, which then leads to a nice long straight. You have to have a good exit or we’re losing time all the way down to turn three. To set up for that, whether set-up of your car or how you plan your way to get through it, it can be a challenge.”

Both Tony Kanaan and James Jakes echoed Hinchcliffe’s thoughts, saying it’s also slippery down at that end due to the new surface.

“You never know what’s going to happen when you go through there,” Kanaan said in speaking of turn one. “It’s a matter of who has it right better than the other guys. I figured the slower I went into the corner, the better I came off, which is completely against my rules.”

Franchitti added the new surface now in turn one seems to be more slipper than any other surface that they’ve dealt with in the past.

“I think it’s polishing up the more we run on it,” he said. “They guy said, ‘There’s water coming out of the surface on turn one’. I said, ‘It can’t make it any slipper’. I was right.

“I like the challenge of the different surfaces. Turn 1 is a little excessive with that surface, but it will make for an interesting race.”

The varying surfaces – from concrete to asphalt – is something that the drivers face throughout the entire course. Josef Newgarden says as a result, it’s tough getting the car to find the apex in each corner.

“The asphalt has tons of grip versus the concrete in the middle of the corner as you lose grip completely,” Newgarden added. “That’s the tough thing about Toronto is figuring out that balance.”

Will Power added that the track also has bumps in it, which makes it harder each year and makes it “bloody hard to find a balance”.

“Makes for a bit of character, you could say,” Power added. “Ring the car’s neck to get some lap times.”

With the layout though, it brings forth quite a few passing zones, which can be a good thing and a bad thing.

“ The passing zones are always tempting; you see a lot of crashes here so something to be aware of during the race to watch out for accidents happening because this race always seems to breed accidents,” Ryan Briscoe said. “So it’s something to keep on your mind especially with two races this weekend.”

The doubleheader last weekend offered for excitement with passes, as well as some incidents. Heading down into future events, that is sure to continue as the surface continues to age and they keep working at sections.

On Friday at the Honda Indy Toronto, an announcement was made with regards to the future of the Firestone Indy Lights. INDYCAR announced they’ve entered into an agreement with Andersen Promotions to license and operate the Firestone Indy Lights in 2014.

“This is a positive move for our sport,” Derrick Walker, president of competition and operations for INDYCAR, said. “A strong and relevant training system is important to develop the next generation of INDYCAR drivers.”

Indy Lights has served an important purpose in developing drivers throughout the years. Charlie Kimball, James Hinchcliffe and Tristan Vautier are just three of the drivers who’ve graduated from Indy Lights to the IZOD IndyCar Series. Many IndyCar teams run drivers in the Indy Lights to further develop their programs.

“The history of Firestone Indy Lights is so impressive with dozens of drivers graduating to IZOD IndyCar Series careers over the years,” Dan Andersen said. “I am honored to be given the opportunity to step in and steer the course for the future.”

The move makes sense as Andersen Promotions already manages the other series that are part of the MAZDA Road to Indy – the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by MAZDA and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. Drivers who want to race in the IZOD IndyCar Series are highly encouraged to use the stepping ladder system to gain experience.

Andersen has been behind the program since day one, saying that it is a unique program as other series don’t have a clear stepping ladder like this.

“As the person involved in the first two steps, I had a natural interest in and concern for the top step,” Andersen said. “In past years I also owned teams in the Indy Lights series. I know what it does. I know the tremendous amount of driers that have been graduated up to IndyCar and I know how valuable the program is.”

In starting to make changes, Andersen recognizes that cost is of importance, but also gaining interest back into the series as right now, the car counts are down with only nine cars.

“We need to do that via changes to the car, changes to the way we produce the whole series, mainly PR and marketing worldwide,” Andersen said. “There are numerous drivers participating in the ladders in other continents that are paying far more than the Indy Lights budget. For whatever reason, Indy Lights is not currently viewed in the way it once was. We need to recapture that.”

Andersen says the first change that you will see is to the car, which will be rolled out come Labour Day weekend.

Budget wise, he says the budget should be from $700,000 to $750,000 a year, given that the Pro Mazda budget is in the 350 to 450 range.

“We will take some steps to make sure budgets don’t rise with the new car and engine by reducing schedule challenges in terms of travel logistics and events,” Andersen went on to say. “We’ll likely introduce a few doubleheader weekends to improve the number of races being driven by the drivers. They need seat time. They don’t only need it in testing and practice but they need it in racing. We’ll attempt to get some more races out of the schedule that we’re operating.”

Indy Lights will be guaranteed 12 races a year, with 10 of those alongside the IZOD IndyCar Series.

If everything goes pertaining to Andersen’s thoughts, we should see 15 cars in the series by 2015, with 20 cars in the years to follow.

“I think it’s totally doable,” he said. “We had an owners meeting in here yesterday and currently Indy Lights has four team owners participating. We had I think 14 or 15 team owners in the room listening to our vision. In my view, if we enlist another four to six team owners, we’ve solved our problem.”