|
For Release - Friday April 11, 2008 - Jim Irvine - Merrittville Speedway Public Relations - 905-892-8266
Thorold, Ontario (April 11) – Merrittville Speedway’s 2008 Season is 15 Days away. Yesterday we learned about three young drivers that share the #16. Today the number 16 continues with a special Merrittville edition of Tomas Tales.
Tomas Tales is a weekly e mail blog that you can sign up for that is generated by the voice of the nationally syndicated Raceline Radio Network.
And in just 15 days and counting down – you will hear that voice along with his announce partners Clinton Geoffrey and Fran Buschardt when the Baron Roofing Windows and Doors Spring Sizzler 100 takes to the track – Saturday April 26th.
The voice you will hear belongs to Erik Tomas.
A native of Niagara on the Lake – Erik lives in Fonthill with his wife Janice and their daughter Katelyn – so close that he even walked to the track one day.
Erik’s wife Janice is the former Janice Uhl – daughter of former Speedway Owner Kurt Uhl and Merrittville is where they met. Janice was scoring and as a Niagara College Broadcasting Student – first announced at Merrittville in the mid 70’s.
Fast forward to 2008 – and Erik’s ‘day’ job – anchor and host of The Raceline Radio Network, Canada’s only national motorsport radio voice is celebrating it’s 16th season on the air – heard locally on 105.1 The River in addition to 18 other stations coast to coast across Canada.
Since his radio start at CHSC in St. Catharines in 1975 – you may have heard ET on the air on CKTB, CJRN, several stations in Calgary Alberta in the early 80’s, CFTR and MIX 99.9 in Toronto .
Television viewers have also seen him on TSN, the Empire Sports Network, DIRT Motorsports Television and most recently on SPEED around the World of Outlaws Late Models and the DIRTcar Modified Series and Super DIRT Week.
If you have attended what was the Molson Indy in Toronto you may have heard his voice and for the last three years on the Champ Car Radio Network for the 3 Canadian Events.
Hopefully, in 2009 we will hear his voice again when at least the Toronto Event returns to the IRL Schedule!
So if you are new to Tomas Tales – here goes – sit back and enjoy …
The sport has changed tremendously since I
first watched the action at Merrittville in 1960,
and started announcing in the mid 70’s.
Local racing through the years? The die hards
now are just as enthusiastic as the fans were back
in the 70’s. They have their favorites and villains.
Once the old 30’s-40’s era coupe and coach bodies
became scarce, the cheese-wedge shaped AMC Gremlin
bodies brought us around to building cars that were
aerodynamically sleeker, while the custom built tube
frames helped hook up the power better and were easier
to repair.
Modified/Sportsman cars became big, wide, heavy sprint
cars with bodies on them. Drivers could throw the cars
into the corners much more aggressively, ala a sprint car.
Heroes like Ivan Little, Jeno Begolo, Bill Rafter, Chuck Boos
and Bruce Van Dyke gave way to the dominance of Davey
Moore as team and car owners starting applying bigger budgets
- “Cubic Dollars”.
Glenn Donnelly brought DIRT into the picture
to homogenize the rules and tracks.
Now we were all part of a larger sanction. A bigger picture.
This meant local drivers started running other member tracks and,
tours. The picture grew well beyond the border of your local track.
The target got larger. Instead of battling for the local track championship,
you also aimed to do well at Syracuse and the “DIRT” overall
Championship”
Pete Bicknell turned his hobby into a ground breaking business
while taking over the dominator roll. Big Blocks became too
expensive for local shows and the small block arrived. But still
expensive, the crate engine idea to save money is our insurance
policy for the future. So we don’t go broke and out of business.
It’s still utterly amazing to me there’s still opposition to the crate
engine and cost containment in general. That makes no sense
to me!
One thing I miss? The sound. We need to use mufflers now to
stay good neighbors, but the cars of today are no where NEAR
as loud as the cars in the 60’s into the 70’s.
Listen to that deep rumble when a vintage modified visits.
Think about the big block at full song times 24-25 cars. Music
and earth-shaking. Not like a sprint car. That’s alkie and short
collectors. I’m talking a big block V8 on gas (or aviation gas)
and that note never gets forgotten. Along with that little blue
flame out the end of the headers. The smell was exquisite too!
Even though there’s an overload of asphalt racing with NASCAR
and open wheel with the IRL and Formula One, dirt track racing is
just as popular, if not more popular now than it’s ever been.
All the big money short track races these days are on clay.
Going sideways, 3-wide, full bore is still one of the greatest
thrills in motor sport.
I can still get Mario Andretti’s Italian eyes to dance when I ask
him about his dirt racing days.
This stuff is still top notch affordable entertainment,
and as budgets get tighter for fans, it makes more sense
than ever!
I have the utmost admiration for the Bicknell and Williamson
families. Their hard work keeps the sport alive in The Niagara Region.
And in reality, it’s that same hard work ethic the owners of Canada ’s
oldest dirt track deployed through the decades to ensure
the sport has been the only sport in Niagara that’s survived for close to
60 years.
Not hockey, not baseball... the racing at Merrittville Speedway.
That’s an amazing feat not duplicated in too many places in this country.
We are very lucky this track is still a part of lives.
Career hi-lites... working in Toronto for the first time at CFTR
(now 680 News), doing Toronto Maple Leafs play by play on TV
in the mid 80’s, the arrival of Indy Cars in Toronto in 1986 and
my close association with the “bigs”.
The launch of Raceline Radio 16 years ago, and to this day,
I might be the only sportscaster in the Canada that makes his
full time living in motorsport. That’s the most special.
Erik Tomas
Merrittville Speedway and the local tracks not to mention all those across the country are fortunate to have ET and his keen interest in racing of all levels.
Listen for ET in just 15 days and all season long at Merrittville and Monday Nights at 9:06 PM locally on 105.1 The River in Niagara Falls .
Race fans can also visit www.raceline.ca – powerful sport – popular radio! |
|
