2 nd ANNUAL “CANADIAN SPRINT CAR NATIONALS” AFFILIATE SANCTIONS GROWS TO SIX

Courtesy Ken Pelkie

An even stronger field of 360 sprints will converged on the Styres family owned Ohsweken Speedway, a fast three-eights mile clay oval located on the Six Nations Reserve just outside Brantford, Ontario when the 2nd annual running of the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” set for September 15th and 16th takes place. Not to say that last year’s seventy-two entries who attended the 2005 edition of the race was disappointing by any means.

In fact, the inaugural event run last September 17th was much more than expected. The four regional sprint series bordering the area which threw their support behind the race was impressive; and the huge crowd that turned out was unbelievable. Kenny Jacobs of Holmesville, Ohio driving a JEI chassis prepared by Mike Woodring took the win over Jeff VanDusen in one of the greatest events in the modern day era of dirt track racing in Ontario. The reception received from the fans and race teams provided the encouragement to the organizing staff to go with a second race and proceed with a plan to develop the Nationals into the annual premier event at Ohsweken.

With that in mind, CSCN staff has been able to secure “affiliate sanctions” from two more bodies neighboring the region. The NRA (National Racing Alliance) headquartered in Lima, Ohio are the last to join the CSCN group. Represented by several teams at the inaugural race last year including J.R. Stewart, Tim Allison, and Cory Seeling the NRA is expected to send a large contingent to this year’s race. The other group to throw support behind the CSCN this year will be the URC (United Racing Company) operating out of Dover, Delaware. Recently reorganizing, the former United Racing Club is rich in sprint car tradition with over fifty years of sanctioning experience. Still operating under the direction of John Zimmerman and Bob Miller, the URC boasts of such notables as Kramer Williamson, Curt Michael, Kevin Welsh, and Dave Ely of DMI Sprint Racing Parts and should also send a strong contingent that will raise the bar of competition. They join the New York state based ESS (Empire Super Sprints) and PSG (Patriot Sprint Group who have recently been absorbed by ASCS), the ASCS Sprints On Dirt (SOD) from Michigan, and the home grown SOS (Southern Ontario Sprints). Together they form all of the 360 sanctioning bodies in the north-east region operating in nearly 1.25 million acres in seven states and two Canadian Provinces.

The second “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” presented by Arrow Express, will retain a one day format and look very similar to the inaugural race. Time trials will once again set the starting line-ups for the heat races. There will however, be a couple of subtle differences. First of all, the winner will collect $6,000, up from $5,000 in 2005 while second place will now pay $3,000. And secondly, two additional positions will be added to the starting field of the 30 lap “A” Main which will now total 26. Each of the additional positions will pay $500.

Friday night September 15 will also feature a program of sprint cars with the second running of the “Village Pizza - Ohsweken Shootout” headlining the program. Also on the card will be a series of sprint heats lined up by a random draw and a pair of 15 lap features with the two winners guaranteed starting positions in the Nationals “A” Main the following night.

Make your plans now to join us at Ohsweken Speedway on September 15 & 16, 2006 for the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” weekend. More information will be released in the coming weeks as momentum grows and entries begin to be filed.