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Other series racing

  • Five Questions With Colin Braun

    Five Questions With Colin Braun

    For my next interview, I had had the honor to talk with Colin Braun. He is currently driving for the Core Autosport American Le Mans Series team. He formerly drove in the Camping World Truck Series and the Nationwide Series. Here is my interview with him.

    Q: Imagine yourself not as a driver but as a race fan, if you were to do a ride along with any driver, other than yourself, who would you chose, which track and why?

    Colin Braun: Whew – that is hard to imagine. I suppose I would like to ride along in a Formula 1 car at Monaco. But then again us race drivers aren’t good at not being in control…

    Q: If you could have a track named after you, what kind of track would it be and where would it be located?

    Colin Braun: It would have to be a fast, road course named after me. I love fast sweeping corners so that’s what my track would be about. I would probably have it in Texas since that’s where I’m from.

    Q: What is your most memorable race?

    Colin Braun: Well as of recent the race in Laguna Seca in the LMPC ALMS Core Autorsport car – it was just a great race and really nice victory!

    Q: Who would you consider to be NASCAR’s bad boy? Golden boy?

    Colin Braun: This is to tough of a question to answer… I take the 5th!

    Q: What advice would you give someone who wanted to be a race car driver?

    Colin Braun: Always work hard and never give up! You can achieve anything you set your mind on… Keep at it!

  • Canadian James Hinchcliffe in search of hometown victory at Honda Indy Toronto

    Canadian James Hinchcliffe in search of hometown victory at Honda Indy Toronto

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”150″][/media-credit]While some drivers dream of winning the Indianapolis 500, James Hinchcliffe has been dreaming of winning the Honda Indy Toronto. After all, the Oakville, Ontario native grew up 40 minutes from Toronto. It was going to the race in Toronto as a kid that got Hinchcliffe interested in racing.

    “I went to that race the first time when I was 18 months old and have been to every one since, so it’s always special to go home,” he says.

    Though so far, this weekend hasn’t gone as well as Hinchcliffe would’ve planned.

    The hometown hero would miss the second session of practice following problems in the first session as he would have an engine failure. Hinchcliffe would come out in Saturday’s qualifying and qualify ninth. However, as a result of the engine change, he will suffer a 10-grid spot penalty and will start the race 19th.

    “Overnight we took a bit of a swing at it and definitely made the car a lot better for this morning,” he says. “It’s a big credit to the Go Daddy guys and everyone at Andretti Autosport, I think we made all our cars a bit better. It’s tough out there – this is IndyCar – it’s a lot of good drivers and it’s only a tenth-of-a-second that sort of makes a difference.”

    This isn’t the first time this year Hinchcliffe has suffered a 10-grid spot penalty as he did earlier this year, though came back to finish on the podium. Hinchcliffe is hoping for the same result with the fans and family that will be at the track on Sunday.

    “The fan support for me, even in the junior formulas, was incredible and having all our friends and family come out… it’s a very cool thing to be a part of,” he comments.

    Obviously that brings forth a lot of pressure for Hinchcliffe, though defending IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchitti says its all about how Hinchcliffe manges it.

    “I think it’s up to him to manage that pressure but not let it kind of interfere, not let it into that bubble, I guess, that we sort of live in on race weekend,” Franchitti says. “I think just don’t let that in and he’ll do fine. He’s done an outstanding job in my opinion. He makes very, very few mistakes on the track, and I’m very, very impressed with him.”

    Franchitti adds that he believes that Hinchcliffe will treat it like any other race, and could find victory lane as that’s the next step for Hinchcliffe after some strong runs this year.

    “He’s been very consistent and done a hell of a job, and I think as I say as long as he treats this race like any other week, he’ll be just fine,” Franchitti says.

    After qualifying, Hinchcliffe said that it will come down to being more flexible with their strategy, working on the car a little, and staying out of trouble.

    “I think we’ve seen in any IndyCar race that its about being able to finish, espically here in Toronto,” he says. “There’s a lot of opportunities here for guys to make moves that don’t pull off so keep your nose clean, stay out of trouble and then we can be there at the end.”

    Though the opportunity to race in front of the hometown crowd is a special piece so far and the result of a lot of hard work.

    “It’s a labour of love – I don’t want to make it sound like it was a hassle to do it,” Hinchcliffe says. “I love this city and I love trying to grow IndyCar here and this is where I’m from. It’s a combination of a lot of things.”

  • Dario Franchitti begins hunt for third Honda Indy Toronto win with the pole

    Dario Franchitti begins hunt for third Honda Indy Toronto win with the pole

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]At the end of the qualifying session for the IZOD IndyCar Series, Dario Franchitti would set a quick time of 59.351 seconds to win the pole. It marked his second pole in the last four years at the Honda Indy Toronto.

    “These Target boys have given us a really fast car all weekend,” he says. “They have taken very good car of both Scott (Dixon) and I. The times have all been so close all weekend – we happy to be a the top.  The Firestone Reds have felt really good and we hit the rhythm and got really good grip during qualifying to get to the top. That was a really hard earned pole. Track position will be very important tomorrow and it is great be up front in Toronto again, the same place I won my first pole 15 years ago in 1997!    Tomorrow is going to be a really good race for all the fans that come out to see us.”

    Penske Racing’s Will Power would set the second quickest time at 59.3757 seconds after getting through the previous two rounds of qualifying barely.

    “I didn’t have anything [in the end for Dario], but very happy to be second,” he says. “We’d struggled to get through every round and made it in each time. I just had one good lap, I could see I was slow on the out on my first set, so I had to put everything together and that was as good as we could possibly do. We’re happy to start on the front row, we all know what this race is about, a lot of crashing and bashing so we’ll stay out of that and be in good shape.”

    Texas race winner Justin Wilson would qualify third after his issues during practice yesterday at a time of 59.4506 seconds.

    “The Sonny’s BBQ car was really good in qualifying and the first round we thought we had a pretty good balance, made a couple of small adjustments and in the second round it was great,” he says. “We’re just really happy, we didn’t change anything into the third, and just didn’t quite get the lap I was looking for. You know, I think it was there, we just didn’t get it all together, so we’ll start and that’s good enough for tomorrow. It’s all about the crashing and bashing so hopefully we can stay out of that from now on, keep our heads down and have a good solid race.”

    Sebastian Bourdais and Scott Dixon would round out the top five. Canadian Alex Tagliani would qualify sixth, though will start 16th as a result of a 10-grid spot penalty due to changing the motor.

    Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified seventh, followed by Helio Castroneves and James Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe, who considers Toronto his home track, will suffer the same fate as Tagliani and will start Sunday’s race from 19th.

    “Obviously yesterday didn’t go our way completely – the first session was a bit rough and then no running in the second session, so overnight we took a bit of a swing at it and definitely made the car a lot better for this morning,” he says. “It’s a big credit to the Go Daddy guys and everyone at Andretti Autosport, I think we made all our cars a bit better. It’s tough out there – this is IndyCar – it’s a lot of good drivers and it’s only a tenth-of-a-second that sort of makes a difference. Our big thing is we were using up our tires quicker than other guys. I think the second lap was always my quickest and I didn’t have a chance to improve on that so it’s too bad. We have to take the penalty so we’ll start 19th and see what we can do from there.”

    Rookie Simon Pagenaud rounded out the top 10.

    Both Takumo Sato and E.J. Viso would suffer penalties due to “qualifying interference”. They would get their two quickest times removed.

  • Tristan Vautier Leads Final Firestone Indy Lights Practice for Toronto 100

    Tristan Vautier Leads Final Firestone Indy Lights Practice for Toronto 100

    [media-credit name=”IndyCar.com” align=”alignright” width=”333″][/media-credit]Rookie Tristan Vautier continued to show his strength, despite his lack of experience, by leading the second practice for the Firestone Indy Lights at the Exhibition Grounds in Toronto. He would lead with a lap of 1:04.7297 minutes.

    “The track is very bumper and very tricky, a lot of different kinds of corners, so it’s tricky to set the car up, it’s tricky to go from corner to corner changing your approach because some corners have a concrete patch, some of them are good, some braking zones are rough, some are smooth, so it’s very interesting,” he says. “Definitely interesting to work with the engineer on the car because there’s a lot to do and from a driving standpoint it was very challenging because of the heat, the bumps and everything, so very exciting, it’s very competitive, very tight at the front, so I think tomorrow is going to be very exciting.”

    He says the only concern on his mind is they don’t know what the weather will be like due to an expected rain shower in the morning.

    Sebastian Saavedra was second, a tenth off of Vautier.

    “It’s an amazing track,” he says. “I always have a lot of fun to come back. The pavement is very smooth through the backstretch going into the first hard braking point, it’s actually a big benefit in a way that we can go a lot later and brake even harder than we used to.”

    Saavedra says that should make both the Firestone Indy Lights and IZOD IndyCar Series races exciting as it will be a great passing zone. He added that turn nine is another tricky spot and why this track is hard to be “perfect” on.

    “It’s one of those places that you’ll never have a perfect car and that’s what makes it so fun, as you cannot set up a car specifically for one corner,” he says. “It’s like half of a car for the complete track. So it’s fun, challenging, physical, and it’s a perfect combination for a good weekend.”

    Another rookie cracked the top five as Carlo Munoz was third, five tenths off of Vautier.

    Last race’s winner Esteban Guerrieri was fourth while Oliver Webb rounded out the top five.

    Fresh off his announcement about his new full-time ride, Peter Dempsey was sixth, followed by Gustavo Yacaman, Victor Carbone, David Ostella and Juan Pablo Garcia.

  • Dario Franchitti Leads Final Practice at Honda Indy Toronto

    Dario Franchitti Leads Final Practice at Honda Indy Toronto

    [media-credit name=”Johnathan Ferrey/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”304″][/media-credit]Three-time IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchitti would lead the final practice for the Honda Indy Toronto at Toronto’s Exhibition Grounds. He would run a total of 11 laps for the session, leading with a lap of 1:00.2786 and an average speed of 104.813. The lap was six tenths quicker than the lap he ran to lead the opening session.

    Rookie Simon Pagenaud would run second, a tenth off of Franchitti’s time. Franchitti’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon would be third, two tenths of a second off.

    Following his practice one problems in turn eight followed by pit lane issues, Justin Wilson would bounce back to finish the second session fourth. However, the practice didn’t go without problems as he would make contact with the tire barrier in turn eight.

    Penske Racing’s Ryan Briscoe rounded out the top five, followed by teammates Helio Castroneves and Will Power.  Mike Conway was eighth, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay and Takumo Sato.

    Josef Newgarden would run into more problems this practice to go along with his first practice problems as the car would stop in turn four. Newgarden says that the team suffered a fuel issue problem, the same problem as experienced in the opening practice.

    “Conditions should be quite a bit different for the rest of the race weekend though so hopefully we haven’t lost much,” he adds. “The team’s going to find the problem tonight and we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

    Graham Rahal would also find trouble as he would spin in turn six.

    “Overall, I would say, it’s been a tough day,” he says. “We’re struggling to find a balance in the car. This is a place we always run well, and I think we will get stronger tomorrow. I feel we just have a lot to improve on. We didn’t quite get a new tire-run in there at the end after we spun. It just kind of hurt the tires and we had to go from there.”

    Hometown hero James Hinchcliffe would miss the second session following problems in the first session as he would have an engine failure. As a result, the team was forced to change motors and he will now suffer a 10-grid spot penalty come qualifying on Saturday.

    “Unfortunately, today is a day to forget really,” Hinchcliffe says. “It’s too bad what happened in the second session because with the first session not going smoothly, we were really looking to make some gains.”

    He added that he will look towards teammates Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay’s notes to get ready for qualifying tomorrow. Despite the disappointment on the day, there is a positive thought….

    “Last time we got an engine penalty we were able to come back and finished on the podium,” he comments. “So we may be down but we’re certainly not out.”

    Also suffering a 10-grid spot penalty for unapproved motor changes are Simona De Silvestro and Tagliani.

  • Dario Franchitti Leads Opening Practice at Honda Indy Toronto

    Dario Franchitti Leads Opening Practice at Honda Indy Toronto

    [media-credit name=”Johnathan Ferrey/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”304″][/media-credit]Defending race winner Dario Franchitti would lead the opening practice for the Honda Indy Toronto at Toronto’s Exhibition Grounds. He would run a total of 14 laps for the session, leading with a lap of 1:00.8972 and an average speed of 103.749.

    His Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon would be second, four hundreths of a second off of Franchitti’s time.

    Rookie Simon Pagenaud continued to shine with the third quickest lap, a tenth off of Franchitti. Tony Kanaan and Will Power would round out the top five.

    EJ Viso was sixth, followed by Ryan Briscoe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves and Takumo Sato.

    Rookie Josef Newgarden would run into problems as he would stall on the course during the opening minutes of practice. It was reported after practice that he suffered a fuel issue.

    Viso would also have problems during practice as he got off the course in turn three while Graham Rahal spun in turn six. Rahal was 11th in practice.

    During the practice, there’d also be an incident on pit lane involving the car of Justin Wilson and the pit crew for Sebastian Bourdais.

    “I came down pit lane and the car refused to go into neutral,” Wilson says. “So I was stuck in first, I couldn’t get neutral, and on top of that, these carbon brakes don’t work when they’re cold, so was hard on the brakes and I couldn’t stop. At the last second, I tried to dive into the wall to take speed off, but those guys were there and had no idea I was coming and even diving to the wall I still hit them. I really hope they’re okay.”

    Dr. Michael Olinger, INDYCAR Medical Director, released that Chuck Homan of Dragon Racing was treated and released from St. Michael’s Hospital after his leg was evaluated. Michael Cole of Dale Coyne Racing and David Martin of Dragon Racing were treated and released from infield care center. Raffi Aroyan was transported to St. Michaels for further evaluation of his ankle.

    Wilson’s car sustained the damage following contact with the wall in turn eight.

    “I turned the corner and saw that the track was blocked and that Tag (Alex Tagliani) was in the wall,” he adds. “I couldn’t stop, so rather than hit him head-on, I just turned back and hit the wall. It was just a horrible session. We’ll just have to regroup and hopefully get back out for the next session.”

    Wilson would end practice with the slowest time while Tagliani was 13th with Bourdais 17th.

    Hometown hero James Hinchcliffe would also suffer problems during practice as he would have an engine failure. As a result, the team was forced to change motors and he will now suffer a 10-grid spot penalty come qualifying on Saturday.

  • Robert Herjavec to be Grand Marshal for 2012 Honda Indy Toronto

    Robert Herjavec to be Grand Marshal for 2012 Honda Indy Toronto

    [media-credit name=”http://www.robertherjavec.com/” align=”alignright” width=”170″][/media-credit]Honda Indy Toronto organizers announced that Robert Herjavec will be the Grand Marshal for the 2012 Honda Indy Toronto, which takes place this weekend from July 6th to July 8th. Herjavec is the star of ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank” and a well-known business leader.

    “We are pleased to name Robert Herjavec as our Grand Marshal for 2012,” Charlie Johnstone, Vice President and General Manager of Honda Indy Toronto, says. “As a Toronto resident, Robert is a huge supporter of the Honda Indy Toronto and he will be a great ambassador for the event.”

    On the big race day, Herjavec will give the command to the drivers to start the engines, while meeting with the drivers and touring the INDYCAR paddocks before the race.

    Herjavec is one of North America’s most recognizable business leaders through being an entrepreneurial and motivational expert for many newspapers and magazines, as well as being the former lead dragon on Dragons’ Den. He dropped that role to join Shark Tank.

    Beyond his daily business life, Herjavec is also a successful race car driver. He will be competiting in two Ferrari Challenge races as part of the weekend also. He won both races earlier this season in the season-opener at St. Petersburg, Florida while winning the Rookie of the Year title last year. With five podium finishes in six races so far this year, Herjavec looks strong so far.

    On top of his duties as Grand Marshall and driving, Herjavec will be appearing at the Ferrari fan zone.

    Tickets to the 2012 Honda Indy Toronto are available online at www.hondaindytoronto.com/tickets or by phone at  1-877-503-6869.

  • Roulo Teammates Battle For Bill France Four Crown Award

    Roulo Teammates Battle For Bill France Four Crown Award

    [media-credit name=”ARCARacing.com” align=”alignright” width=”345″][/media-credit]While everybody wants to win the overall ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards points championship, there’s also another award that every drivers wants and that’s the Bill France Four Crown Award.

    The Bill France Four Crown Award is a four-race series that comprises of a superspeedway (Michigan International Speedway), a road course (New Jersey Motorsports Park), a dirt oval (Illinois State Fairgrounds) and a short track (Salem Speedway). The driver who earns the most points in those four races is crowned the Bill France Four Crown Award winner.

    So far this year two races down out of the four, Roulo Brothers Racing teammates Chris Buescher and Brandon Davis lead the standings.  Both teammates posted top five finishes at Michigan before finishing third and fourth at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

    “It was a lot of fun,” Buescher said after New Jersey. “The Roulo Brothers did a nice job, coming home third and fourth with Brandon. It was a lot of fun racing with him. I knew he’d be really quick there. I always love coming to New Jersey. Each year, it’s something different. It’s like the dirt. We get to break it up and try something different. You know, we ran really well again. We’ve had good runs every year.”

    Buescher now leads with 390 points while Davis has 365 points. Frank Kimmel sits third with 340 points while Alex Bowman is fourth with 335 points. Buescher likes his chances moving forward as he says they’ve got some good cars ready for the next two races.

    “We’ve got a good piece for Iowa and Brandon is going to come run with us as well, at the first two of those,” Buescher says. “I’m looking forward to them. We’ll be really competitive at all three. I’ll take this off week and try to relax and catch up a little bit and go enjoy the Fourth of July.”

    Meanwhile, Davis is riding a wave of momentum as he posted a career-high fifth-place at Michigan before posting a fourth on Sunday at New Jersey. It was a hard fought finish for Davis with how hot it was on Sunday.

    “It got real hot,” he said. “My feet were burning and it was kind of hard to see straight there. These guys made a call, and it didn’t quite work out. We had too many yellows for it to work, but that’s racing and we took a shot at it. It was a good day. Obviously, we would have liked to come away with a win. It didn’t work out and we’ll move on to the next one.”

    The race also meant for a late race battle with teammate Buescher as Buescher passed him with five laps to go, though Davis couldn’t find a way back by him.

    “Chris was coming hard,” Davis said. “They told me he was on fresh tires and I tried to hold him off as long as I could. These cars, you just work so much and I gave everything I had left but he was able to go past me. He’s a great teammate. I’m happy for him and I know he’s got to be close to the points lead. Overall, it’s a good day.”

  • Venturini Motorsports Tested On & Off the Track at New Jersey; Poole Claims Top Spot among Team Drivers with 6th Place Finish

    Venturini Motorsports Tested On & Off the Track at New Jersey; Poole Claims Top Spot among Team Drivers with 6th Place Finish

    Concord, NC (July 03, 2012) — The storyline leading up to the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards “All American Race Weekend” event at New Jersey Motorsports Park was mostly focused around the annual road course event and how Venturini team drivers would adapt to the unfamiliar track configuration.

    For team Venturini however the focus would unexpectedly shift gears before the weekend even started. Just like any other constant in life, our world is made up of a series of ever changing events, which cause us to adapt and overcome obstacles thrown our way.

    This was evident Saturday morning just after midnight when Mother Nature set her sight on the Mid-Atlantic States delivering a direct blow to southern New Jersey in form of a rare storm, known as a Derecho – a straight-line wind storm that sweeps over a large area of land at high speed with little warning.

    The freak storm hit the team’s hotel in Vineland, New Jersey around 1:00am knocking out power and causing wide-spread damage with hurricane strength winds estimated at 90-100 mph.

    Even though the visible effects left in the wake of the storm’s path was obvious, it was the unseen loss of electricity that highlighted the strength of the storm as extreme temperatures left many with nowhere to hide from the near 100 degrees temperatures plaguing the area.

    The undesirable temperatures parlayed with the lack of power and air conditioning offered little refuge for those seeking the basic comforts typically taken for granted. While some team members relocated to hotels in the Philadelphia area (60 miles away) the majority of the team stayed behind and rode it out making the best of the situation.

    Once the weather related disruption subsided the team was able to get back to business, focusing on the rare road course event at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Venturini Motorsports unloaded Saturday morning with four drivers ready to take on the 2.3 mile sidewinder offered up at Thunderbolt Raceway.

    Brennan Poole, ARCA’s Championship point’s leader at the mid-way point in the 2012 season, made his first career road course start driving his No.25 Country Music Artist – CJ Solar Band backed Toyota. Poole, who struggled to find his rhythm during practice, found himself in foreign territory on the road course yet managed to turn in a respectable 11th place qualifying effort.

    Resigning to the fact his road course inexperience would be a major hurdle to overcome for his bid to claim his third series victory of the season, Poole relied on his mild manner to stay calm and focused on his primary weekend goal of gaining experience and completing all 67-laps of the scheduled event. His game plan proved to pay dividends as the leading Rookie finished a team high 6th position and claimed his 8th top-10 finish of the season maintaining his series points lead.

    Leading the way in practice and qualifying for Venturini Motorsports was 23-year old Kevin Swindell (No.55 Curb Records Toyota) from Germantown, Tennessee. Although a relative newcomer to the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, Swindell is considered to be one of the top rated driver prospects in the country, widely known for his remarkable three consecutive Midget National victories at the famed Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

    Swindell, who qualified fourth for Sunday’s race, relied heavily on his diverse driving background. He jumped out early as he’s done in his previous three 2012 races, positioning his Curb Records sponsored machine among the leaders turning consistent fast laps around the 2.3 mile course.

    However, in bizarrely coincidental fashion to his other previous career ARCA starts, Swindell’s chances evaporated due to circumstances out of his control when a lap car off the pace slammed into his car as the leaders were in line navigating their way around the track. Once again he found himself out of contention and questioning when his stock-car luck would change for the better. After several trips to pit road for repairs, Swindell was able to limp home and salvage a 19th place finish.

    South American driver, Nelson Canache, wheeling his No.15 Venezuelan Tourism Ford entered the weekend as the only Venturini driver with extensive road course experience. As a two-time Venezuelan driving champion, Canache has spent nearly his entire career turning right. His cumulative stock-car career to date consists of several 2011 late model starts for Lee Faulk Racing and just ten races in the ARCA series this season with Venturini Motorsports.

    Still getting comfortable driving his 3,400 pound stock-car, Canache was able to use his familiarity and claim his career best ARCA qualifying effort with his 8th place start.

    Teaming up with veteran crew chief, Keith Hinkein, Canache showed balance as he displayed a comfort level unseen yet on the ovals this year. Highlighting his talent, Canache showed discipline and drove the best race of his young ARCA career. Running in the top-10 most of the day, Canache made it all the way up to the fourth position before giving back the positions on lap 55 of 67 during a late race, single car yellow flag pit stop to address a front end suspension issue that plagued his car’s handling performance.

    Although disappointed with the outcome, Canache was still able to earn his best career finish crossing the stripe in the 12th position. Rounding out the field of Venturini entries this past weekend was ARCA veteran driver, AJ Henriksen from Elgin, Illinois driving his No.66 Engineered Components Chevrolet. Henriksen qualified 20th, advancing two positions for an 18th place finish.

    This was Henriksen’s second start for Venturini in 2012. Earlier this year at Pocono Raceway, Henriksen qualified 12th and finished 8th during his season debut. Henriksen’s career best finish came in 2003 at Charlotte Motor Speedway where he finished second.

    Sunday’s 150-mile road course event at New Jersey Motorsports Park’s Thunderbolt Raceway was just the 16th road event in ARCA’s 60-year history. The road race and diversion from the typical oval track competition along with two series events on the dirt at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds later this summer make the ARCA Racing Series the most diverse national touring racing series in the country.

    About Venturini Motorsports  Venturini Motorsports (VMS), fielding cars in the ARCA Racing Series, is one of the premier NASCAR driver development programs in the country. The 2012 season marks the team’s 30th Anniversary of competition in the ARCA Series. Multiple team championships and consistent on-track success, VMS has evolved into one of the most recognizable names in motorsports. Since 2007, VMS has assisted in the career development of notable NASCAR drivers such as Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier, Steve Arpin, Brian Scott, Max Gresham, Miguel Paludo, Josh Richards, Ryan Blaney, and Scott Lagasse, Jr. Official: www.VenturiniMotorsports.com  |  Twitter @VenturiniMotor  |  Facebook: Venturini Motorsports

  • Brandon Watson continues stellar career with third career OSCAAR victory at Sunset Speedway

    Brandon Watson continues stellar career with third career OSCAAR victory at Sunset Speedway

    [media-credit id=4 align=”alignright” width=”266″][/media-credit]On Saturday June 30th, Brandon Watson crossed the finish line first to score his third career OSCAAR victory at Sunset Speedway in the inaugural Lucie Aylwin memorial presented by Rival Office Solutions. It marked his second win of the 2012 season as he won back at Sunset Speedway on May 20th. He will try to complete the Sunset trifecta when the OSCAAR Super Late Models return to Sunset in September.

    Watson has impressed many throughout his young career to date as he won the 2008 Kawartha/Capital City Speedway Summer Shootout Series championship at the age of 15. While most late model drivers hit their peak in their early 20s, Watson was racing in the Late Models as a teenager and winning big events.

    The biggest event for Ontario short track racing is the Autumn Colors Classic, which happens on Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend in October. Watson has impressed each year that he has gone down to Peterborough Speedway for the event, always in contention to win.

    In 2009, he competed in three seperate divisions – the OSCAAR Super Late Model 50-lapper, the Pro Late Model (PLM) 113 lapper and Limited Late Model (LLM) 75 lapper. He came home with a victory in both the PLM and LLM event, while finishing second in the OSCAAR race.

    In 2010, he competed in two divisions – OSCAAR and PLM. He won the OSCAAR race for his first career OSCAAR victory while finishing seventh in the PLM race after being involved in a wreck that destroyed the front of his car.

    The 2012 season marks Watson’s first full-time season in the OSCAAR Super Late Model Series and with the win at Sunset, he now leads the points, 17 points over veteran Derrick Tiemersma.

    “Hoping to get a few more wins under my belt, maybe take home that championship,” he says.

    With his whole family being involved in racing, the Stayner, Ontario driver started racing go-karts at the age of eight.

    “My father took me and he also raced too, which got me into racing,” he said last month. “I just followed in his footsteps. Always knew I was going to race.”

    From there, he moved up to the four cylinder class before moving up to Late Model. Watson has raced Late Models across Ontario, winning premiere events. He ran full-time in the JEGS/CRA Late Model Series last season, finishing seventh in points. He also competed in the World Series at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida this past February, having success with top five finishes.

    When he is not behind the wheel of an OSCAAR this year, he will be racing his late model. Watson plans on competiting in all four events for the McColl Racing Enterprises Pro Series at Sunset Speedway. He also plans to run his late model this year at Kawartha’s Summer Sizzler, Delaware’s Summer Showdown, Sauble’s Dash for Cash and Peterborough’s Autumn Colors.

    George Wilson would finish second to Watson at Sunset in the OSCAAR feature, followed by Jeff Hanley, Gary Passer and Dave Taylor. Todd Campbell finished sixth, followed by Charlie Gallant, Glenn Watson, Tiemersma and Chris Burrows. The qualifying heats were won by Wilson, Hanley, Gallant and Campbell. The next race for the OSCAAR Super Late Models is this weekend at Sauble Speedway.