By Craig Revelle – Finish Line Web Design
It is that time of year again that all race fans have been waiting for. The Daytona 500 is lurking just a couple weeks away, with qualifying and the Budweiser Shootout on tap for next weekend. While it is live racing on the television, my true feelings for Daytona will remain intact. NASCAR in itself seems to have been in a downward spiral as of late and the “racing” at Daytona, and its sister track at Talladega are just some of the changes that need to be made in a hurry.
While many race fans enjoy the big pack racing as opposed to the two car drafts that we have seen in the past couple years, I can honestly say that I don’t like either one. The simple fact remains that neither style represents racing at all. I want to see a race where the fast cars race each other, not have to rely on a friend or teammate to make a pass.
With that being said, I will still watch the Great American Race, and cheer on my favorite driver Matt Kenseth and the rest of the Ford brigade in hopes of a similar ending of last year’s classic with newcomer Trevor Bayne taking the checkered flag. I will make that prediction of a Ford driver in victory lane, but in my opinion, the real 2012 NASCAR season will take place the following weekend in Las Vegas.
NASCAR is not the only racing series getting ready to kick off their season. The World of Outlaw Sprints and Late Models are in Florida this coming week, and our own DIRTcar Modifieds take center stage next week at Volusia Speedway. As much as I would like to make it to Volusia this year, unfortunately I am going to have to miss it, but I intend to make plans early so I can attend in 2013.
This past weekend, I attended the Canadian Motorsports Expo in Toronto on both Friday night and Saturday. This event has grown each of the six years that they have had it, and this year they moved the event to a larger hall to meet the demand of exhibitors and race fans that attend. It is a fantastic show, and for most it is the unofficial kick off to a new season. Carl Edwards, Robert Yates, Randy Lajoie, James Hinchcliffe Jr were just some of the stars on hand during the weekend. Several seminars also took place over the weekend from marketing and sponsorship to driver safety.
I really enjoyed the Q&A sessions that took place with Randy Lajoie, Carl Edwards and Robert Yates. The stories that they told are fascinating as they described how they made it up the ranks to NASCAR.
At the end of Saturday night’s show, Inside Track presented their annual Reader’s Choice Awards. Joey Ladouceur of Alexandria, Ontario was named Canadian Dirt Racer of the year. Ladouceur was joined on stage by several other talented Canadian racers including defending NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Champion Scott Steckley and IZOD Indy Car Series Rookie of the Year James Hinchcliffe.
I must also mention another award that was given out to one of our local drivers this weekend. Luke Whitteker who has been part of the RACE 101 program in for the past year, was named Premiere Driver from the graduating class of 2011. Luke will get an opportunity to do some pavement racing this year in the Race 101 house car. Several exciting opportunities are in the future for Whitteker.
Matt Billings was also a graduate of the Race 101 program in 2010, and he returned this year as he was named a Race 101 ambassador. With the graduation of the 2011 class also meant the start of a new class, and several local racers were introduced including Tabatha Murphy, April Wilson, Caley Weese, Katelyn Kane and Shane Billings.
There are still several indoor events taking place before we can get started with the 2012 racing season. March 10th and 11th is the annual Gater Racing News Motorsports Expo in Syracuse. Finish Line Web Design will have a booth at the expo this year with Luke Whitteker’s car on display. The following weekend will be the RoC Icebreaker event at Selinsgrove Speedway in Pennsylvania. March 22nd to March 24th will be the Frontenac Mall car show in Kingston, Ontario. March 24th is also the date for the Mohawk International Raceway banquet. Cornwall Speedway will honor their top drivers on March 31st with Brockville hosting their awards presentation on Saturday, April 7th.
Once the banquets are out of the way, the following weekend is practice at Can Am on both April 14th and 15th with the 2012 season getting underway at Can Am on April 21st. While the winter is still here, we have plenty to look forward to in the coming weeks.
The 2012 season is approaching quickly. I look forward to seeing everyone at the track in just a couple short months. I hope you continue to enjoy my weekly column, as always, any comments or suggestions can be sent to crevelle@ripnet.com.
