By Tommy Goudge
(March 24, 2010) – The fifteenth season of Southern Ontario Sprints competition is set to kick off in less than two months time. The touring Sprint Car club will award championship points in events at Autodrome Edelweiss, Brighton Speedway, Merrittville Speedway, and Ohsweken Speedway, and has signed on as an affiliate once again for the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals at Ohsweken.
Brighton Speedway is once again the anchor track for the tour, and hosts the season opener for the eleventh year in a row on Saturday, May 22. The tour will also travel to Brighton on Saturday, June 19, Saturday, July 10, Saturday, August 7, and the annual Labour Day Classic weekend Saturday, September 4, and Sunday, September 5. Winners at Brighton last season included Glenn Styres (May 9, June 6, September 5), Adam West (July 11), Rick Wilson (August 8), and Ryan Hunsinger (September 6). More information about Brighton Speedway can be found on the official website at www.BrightonSpeedway.com.
The club returns as an affiliate sanction for the third annual Northern Summer Nationals at Ohsweken Speedway on Friday, July 2. For this year’s edition of the Summer Nationals, points towards the SOS season championship will be awarded to SOS members. The tour will also be back at Ohsweken in a non-points capacity to support the sixth annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals September 16 to 18. More information about Ohsweken Speedway can be found on the official website at www.OhswekenSpeedway.com.
The SOS tour will visit Autodrome Edelweiss in Cantley, Quebec just outside Ottawa for the first time ever on Friday, July 9, creating a doubleheader weekend with Brighton the next evening. The event will be the first ever championship points race for the club in the province of Quebec, and figures to be a contest for provincial pride with many Quebec drivers set to take on the travelers from the SOS. Autodrome Edelweiss is a fast 1/4 mile oval which regularly features Sprint Cars lapping in the eleven second range. The track has hosted twenty-eight Sprint Car events since 1990, including feature wins by Steve Poirier and Tommy Wickham in Empire Super Sprints competition last season. More information about Autodrome Edelweiss can be found in both English and French on the official website at www.AutodromeEdelweiss.com.
Merrittville Speedway will also host a round in the SOS championship for the first time since 2003. The 2010 championship chase will come to a conclusion for the SOS at Merrittville on Friday, September 10 as part of Merrittville’s Championship Triple Header Weekend. Four SOS races were held at the historic 1/3 mile clay oval located just outside St. Catharines between 2001 and 2003. All-time SOS feature wins leader Rick Wilson won two of those, while Billy Krull took a victory, along with Warren Mahoney who was the most recent SOS winner at Merrittville on August 16, 2003. More information about Merrittville Speedway can be found on the official website at www.MerrittvilleSpeedway.com.
Make your plans to attend events on the 2010 calendar and celebrate fifteen years of homegrown Canadian Sprint Car racing!
2010 SOUTHERN ONTARIO SPRINTS SCHEDULE
1. May 22 – Brighton Speedway
(Rain Date – May 23)
2. June 19 – Brighton Speedway
3. July 2 – Ohsweken Speedway
(Northern Summer Nationals – Points for SOS members)
4. July 9 – Autodrome Edelweiss
5. July 10 – Brighton Speedway
6. August 7 – Brighton Speedway
7. September 4 – Brighton Speedway
(Labour Day Classic)
8. September 5 – Brighton Speedway
(Labour Day Classic)
9. September 10 – Merrittville Speedway
(SOS Championship)
NP. September 17 – Ohsweken Speedway
(Night Before the Nationals)
NP. September 18 – Ohsweken Speedway
(Canadian Sprint Car Nationals)
Please visit www.SouthernOntarioSprints.com for more news and information about the Southern Ontario Sprints! 2010 marks the fifteenth year of operation for the Southern Ontario Sprints, brought to you this season by Wiseco Piston, Kenetic Photos, Stealth Racewear, Triple X Race Co., ASI Racewear, The Racers Edge, BS&B Radiator, www.ImageFactor.ca, Hepfner Racing Products, Saldana Racing Products, Kreitz Oval Track Parts Inc., Keizer Aluminum Wheels, and Have Bus Racing Tours.