Paul Tracy & Honda Canada to race again

As I noted in early April Toronto driver Paul Tracy will race a partial 2011 season with Jay Penske’s Dragon racing team, which includes five races with two of those races being the Edmonton and Toronto IndyCar events. It was just announced that Honda Canada Inc. has jumped back on board to sponsor Paul for the 3^rd year in the both Honda Indy Toronto and Edmonton races. They will also continue their support of the Make-A-Wish Canada Foundation.

The Scarborough driver, who continues to fight for his rides, will race in the car known simply as the #8 make-A-Wish Canada/Dragon Racing/Honda/Dallara/Firestone car! And I will know it as #8, or in a hurry, 8. By the way, can you imagine what one of these cars cost to fill up at the pumps?

The Make-A-Wish Canada Foundation raises money to help children with life-threatening medical conditions receive a magical wish. Last year fans and Honda Canada, with matching dollar-for-dollar donations, raised over $100,000 and hopes to do much better this year.

NASCAR NCTS ready to race

The 2011 racing season is getting ready to roll and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (NCTS) will start at Mosport Speedway on May 28 with the Dickies 200.

You can meet and greet your favourite stock car racers, get autographs and see the thunder and smell of fast paced racing around the large street course. Several of the drivers have moved into the American head office NASCAR teams, like J.R. Fitzpatrick and Quebec superstar Andrew Ranger, pictured above.

And the crown jewel of racing in Ontario remains the Honda Indy Toronto taking over the Exhibition grounds starting on July 8, 2011 where the NCTS drivers will be out on the track during the full weekend of events.

See more pictures of Canadian stock car racing after the jump (click read more >>, below).

JR Fitzpatrick

2010 Champion DJ Kennington

Canadian IndyCar News

Paul Tracy pictured above finds a ride with Jay Penske's Dragon Racing Team. His contract allows for five races including the Edmonton and Toronto Indy runs. On April 2nd Paul tweets "All the hard word has paid off , I have a 5 race deal with jay penske dragon racing" Paul joins Montreal driver Alex Tagliani at the 2010 Honda Indy Toronto Street Party, below. Alex will be in the 2011 race.

Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracy.

Firestone Indy Lights Winners at 2009 Toronto's Honda Indy (James at right)

And Indy Lights Championship Runner-up and Canadian driver James Hinchcliffe will drive with the IRL, racing in North America which includes our own Honda Indy Toronto race.

In the pits during practice.

And remember it's not all open wheel cars and bud girls.

Model Jersey McIntosh.

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series stock car racing.

Motorcycle leans into the turn at the Honda Indy Toronto 2010.

Honda Indy Toronto - roundup going into 2011

Paul Tracy's latest ups and downs has seen him leave his KV Racing Technology team (Tony Kanaan takes over) and hired by Dreyer and Reinbold Racing with a run in the Indy 500 and some believe that he may race in the Toronto and Edmonton Indys.

The downs for Paul (pictured at top: Paul on the right, with Helio Castroneves on the left) included the difficulty in finding the large bucks sponsorship needed for the price of admission into the very expensive race series. I want to see the bad boy running the track and also raising everyone's temperatures off the track (like Ontario/Tracy vs Quebec/Tagliani  - I just hope he doesn't end up trashing his car.

Another driver I am looking forward to seeing out on the track is of course the famous and beautiful Danica Patrick shown above at the 2010 Toronto Street Party signing autographs. I think it is great that several ladies are part of the IndyCar Series and doing so well in it - here is Simona de Silvestro entering the pits at the 2010 Honda Indy Toronto.

The Honda Indy Toronto owners - Green Savoree Racing Promotions, have also purchased the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and School. This increases their holdings with along with the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg. It's always good when the promoters are growing. They say “Properties like Mid-Ohio don’t come on the market every day,” said Green Savoree Co-Owner, President and Chief Operating Officer Kevin Savoree. “It was a great opportunity to invest in a property with a great history and tradition that, like us, has deep roots in sports car and Indy car racing. It was also a chance to extend our relationship with Honda, which is a longtime partner of Mid-Ohio and our other properties.”

It will be interesting to see if the September 17 Indy Japan 300 ends up being run with the extreme damage and hardship the people of Japan have had to endure with the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plant problems        - especially since IndyCar intends to drop the Japanese race after the 2011 season. Japan was where Danica won the 2008 race.


IndyCar Lights driver James Hinchcliffe from Toronto (and Canadian Driver of the Year) has started the transition to IndyCar and hopefully the Canadian will run and place near the top of the series in his first season.

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, Firestone Indy Lights and Canadian Tour Car Championship racing will be back and those large NASCAR stock cars fill up the track pretty fast. And Ferrari Challenge anyone?

After a rocky period several years ago when the ownership of the Grand Prix and later the Indy seemed to burn and churn, the last several years has seen a steady improvement each year. Free Fridays is a fantastic way to get people in to see the excitement of the high performance race cars. It will soon be time to sit in the warm sun, watch the cars burn around the track and enjoy some cold barley pops.

Toronto Honda Indy start/finish line.

Is it time for the Honda Indy Toronto yet?

I can feel it, so close, CNE and race cars. Be there this July 8-10 for the 2011 Honda Indy Toronto (Dario Franchitti above, Alex Tagliani in the gif below). For your winter car fix you should head to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to see the Canadian International AutoShow starting this Friday from the 18th - 27th of February.

GIF animations generator gifup.com

Milka Duno #18

Dario Franchitti at the Canadian Motorsports Expo

Some of the top racers in the world joined fans at the 2011 Canadian Motorsports Expo (CME) including IndyCar and Indy 500 Champion Dario Franchitti. The IRL driver signed lots of pictures and other racing memorabilia before joining media for a round table discussion and later one on one interviews. Dario is a favourite of Toronto fans for his win at the 2009 Toronto Honda Indy as well as his second place finish at the 2010 race, his great Scottish accent and his lovely wife - actress Ashley Judd. I look forward to seeing Dario putting the pedal to the metal in this years edition on the streets of Toronto.

Joining the motorsports superstars was Canadian and race champion Ron Fellows (below). NASCAR Champion Brad Keselowski was at the show on Sunday - see my post here.

For the stock car enthusiast there were plenty of NASCAR Canadian Tire Series drivers taking part in a Q&A session along with an autograph signing. The drivers were Howie Scannell Jr, Don Thomson Jr, Jason White, DJ Kennington (2010 NCTS Champion, pictured below), Caitlin Johnston, Jason Hathaway, Mark Dilley, Shawn McGlynn and Robin Buck.

Sports media personalities did there best to pick out some of the highlights and predictions for motorsport racing. The Toronto Star's Norris McDonald always provides plenty of great stories gathered over a lifetime of watching and reporting on drivers and races. In the photo below, from left to right are Russ Bond, Erik Thomas (Race Line Radio), Tim Miller (Hamilton Spectator), Norris McDonald (Toronto Star), Todd Lewis and Gerald Donaldson.

The media discussion focused on marketing, especially relating to the Honda Indy Toronto, and the state of Main Stream Media (MSM) reporting. The consensus seemed to be that the Honda Indy Toronto needed the talents and money of a big brewery who would promote both the race and their beers and that racing information will be best found on the web. Much of MSM seems to care less about motorsports. These guys have the knowledge, experience and stories - plus they have a great sense of humour. Norris McDonald (below) talked about the move of his column into the weekend Wheels section of the Toronto Star.

Some of the various topics included best and worst interview subjects, pet peeves and the growth of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Norris, sports columnist and media statesman, also hoped that the Toronto Indy gets better promotion, said that no one new is writing about autosports and that drivers, instead of being nurtured, must now bring in the sponsorship money. 

Erik Thomas of Raceline Radio (above) thinks some races are too long, that the cost of racing has become too much for many and that the NASCAR sticker on former CASCAR vehicles was supposed to open the door to support, which in a large part did not happen. He also thinks that the Honda Indy Toronto is on track with the free friday promotion.

Todd Lewis of Todd Lewis Sports Entertainment thinks that the temporary loss of the Edmonton Indy was the screw up of local government (over paving) hopes that racing gets more sponsors and that new talented Canadian drivers fill the shoes of drivers like Paul Tracy, is concerned that all series are dollar driven and that money decides who gets to drive (sometimes over talent). Todd didn't feel that it was realistic that the NASCAR sticker would open the door to financial support that many hoped and that he sees that the NCTS is becoming a feeder series into the U.S. NASCAR series.

There were some Drag Racers displaying their rockets on wheels - Cassie Simonton (pictured below) had her car at the show.

Hooters girls and other models provided some beautiful atmosphere which was just perfect for a car show - see the ladies and some pictures of the motorsport show after the jump.

Hooters Girl, Toronto Airport

Hooters Girl

James joins some of the models (photos by Fresh Joe)

Inside Track: Canadian Motorsports Expo 2011 is coming

2011 CME car models

Update: The CME weekend is now finished for 2011 and for fantastic shots of IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti and a few beautiful models check out my blog post here. You can also see NASCAR Champion Brad Keselowski photos at my blog post here. It was a great winter weekend for motorsports, in spring the cars come out of the garages and the drivers will come out of hibernation and tracks will begin to feel the horsepower and heat of high power race cars.

Thank goodness for racing and women - two things to chase away the winter blues. Inside Track Motorsport News is sponsoring the 5th annual 2011 Canadian Motorsports Expo through the January 21 weekend at the Toronto International Centre. You can visit the main show website to pick up coupons for the show. Headliners include 2009 Toronto Honda Indy winner, 2010 finalist and IndyCar Series 2010 Champion Dario Franchitti and Brad Keselowski, NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion. Don't forget the Honda Indy Toronto is scheduled for July 8-10, 2011 and the tickets are already on sale for the race weekend.

Dario (#10) at the post race press conference above and on the podium at the 2010 Honda Indy Toronto race.

See more information and photos, including some Hooters girls, after the jump.

The show will run from Friday, January 21 (1-8pm), Saturday, January 22 (10am-9pm) to Sunday January 23 (10am-5pm), 2011. Adult tickets are $18 and the parking is free. What else are you going to do on a cold, winter weekend?

Our own NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Champion DJ Kennington will be on hand along with fellow Canadian race champ Ron Fellows.

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series drivers at the 2010 CME.

Champ DJ Kennington.

Besides the drivers and fabulous race cars I am sure there will be some Hooters girls and hopefully some other beautiful models that help to make the show a winning combination.

Hooters girls at the Honda Indy Toronto.

Hooters girls at the CME.

See my 2009 pictures and 2010 pictures with Paul Tracy and the rest of the 2010 CME fun.