From Ken & Cheryl Pelkie
In just three short weeks, the sixth edition of the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” presented by Arrow Express is scheduled to take place at the Styres family owned three-eight mile clay oval just outside Brantford, Ontario on Saturday, September 18. Since the inaugural event took place in 2005 when Kenny Jacobs in a Mike Woodring car emerged as the winner, Ohsweken has become the Ontario Mecca of dirt Sprint Car racing with a weekly program of the ground pounding winged monsters. Any one of a number of Ohsweken’s top runners must be considered on the favourites’ list when the green flag waves on the premier event.
As pre entries have now closed, early indications are encouraging as nearly fifty entries from five regional sanctioning groups have once again cast their support behind the fall “must see” event. The western sprint car scene will send the Kennedy’s (Lou Jr, and Thomas) from Winnipeg, MB while Fort Nelson BC’s Kelly Terice has filed entry. They along with Jason Solwold from the state of Washington will be tough to hold back. Michigan’s Dustin Daggett has been on a tear at Ohsweken this season winning both of the major races to date. Along with Ryan Grubaugh, and Darren Long, defending champion Shane Stewart of Pittsboro, Indiana and Randy Hannagan have filed their intentions from the mid west. Local favourites’ Dave Dykstra, Travis Cunningham, and Mike Ling along with New York’s Kyle Moffit, Bryan Howland, and Jessica Zemken with new crew chief Mike Woodring in the Tony Stewart 14 are all set to do battle.
And the sponsorship package continues to be strong as Inside Track Motorsport News has renewed their substantial cash award to the highest finishing Canadian in the 35 lap main event Saturday night.
In conjunction with the “Arrow Express – Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” running on September 18, “Village Pizza; Village Café; and Sit-N-Bull Construction” will host “The Night Before the Nationals” on Friday, September 17. The Friday portion of the weekend will feature the sixth running of the “Village Pizza – Ohsweken Shootout” along with a pair of 15 lap “A” Main’s that will guarantee the winners a position in the Saturday feature starting grid. The Dave MacLeod Memorial “Mr. Sprint Car” Challenge will also be contested with the winner set to collect a cool $1,000 in the elimination style event. Also on the card will be a full program of Mini Stocks and Bombers with a series of sprint heats lined up by a random draw.
And as a bonus to start your racing weekend off early, the ASCS Patriot program which was weathered out on June 4th, will return on Thursday, September 16th with a full program of heats, Dash, “B” Main and 25 lap feature event. “Billed as “Fan Appreciation Night”, the first 500 paid spectators will receive a free gift and with many of the outsiders are expected to be on hand to test the track, it should add some insight as to who will be on hand when the big show gets underway on Saturday. A full program of Ohsweken Thunder Stocks will round out the Thursday racing.
The Sixth Annual “Arrow Express – Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” will retain a one day format that has been so successful since its inception. Time trials will once again set the starting line-ups for the heat races only this year they will be completed in groups. These groups will be comprised of the heat race cars being split in half and will qualify within themselves and to determine the starting order for each heat. The winners of the heats will transfer directly to the “A” Main and be lined up according to a redraw. Three “B” Mains will then be run and a non-Qualifier “Little Feature” will be utilized to complete the 30 car starting field. In keeping with the initial goal of adding to the purse each year and building the event into the premier sprint car race in the north-east, the “A” Main winner will collect $10,000 for their efforts, up from $5,000 in inaugural event with the final position collecting $700. Again in 2010, all prize money will be paid out in U.S. currency. The Saturday show will see the Vintage Cars join the program this year as the support class.
Don’t delay – make your plans now to join us at Ohsweken Speedway on September 16, 17 & 18, 2010 for the “Arrow Express – Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” weekend. Advanced Reserved Seat tickets are now on sale at 1-888-720-7223. Anyone buying a Saturday reserved ticket in advance will receive the same seat for FREE for Friday’s action. Be sure to call Cheryl today for that special ticket offer and watch for more race information and sponsorship news as plans are finalized. Log on to the official website of Ohsweken Speedway at www.ohswekenspeedway.com and click on the “Canadian Sprint Car Nationals” ad on the home page for rules and entry forms.