canadian tire series history
The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series took the green flag, for the first time, in May 2007 at Cayuga Speedway. Greg MacPherson
building memories
Now in its seventh season, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Presented by Mobil 1continues to set the bar for motorsports in Canada.
Capacity crowds have been the hallmark of the young series, racing in front of 60,000 fans in both Edmonton and Montreal. The hotly-contested competition and Canada’s excitement for the NASCAR brand have been two of the primary reasons for the tremen- dous support.
NASCAR announced in September 2006 the purchase of the CASCAR Super Series, the top stock car racing series in Canada. At the same time, they announced a long-term sponsorship agreement with Canadian Tire Corporation as the entitlement sponsor of the new series. A gradual implementation of both compe-
tition and safety-based modifications have been made to the cars used in the CASCAR Super Series. These have included a move to a
Goodyear 9.5” tire, the same size that is used in all NASCAR stock car series, on-dash electrical and ignition systems, in-car fire suppression equipment and increased fuel cell protection. In 2009, the option of utiliz- ing the NASCAR spec engine program was introduced.
The first race was held on May 26, 2007 at Cayuga Motor Speedway and Don Thomson Jr. won a spirited battle for the first series win. Andrew Ranger, in his first year of stock car competition, won the second race on the
the nascar canadian tire series continues to generate excitement across the country
road course at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. He took over the lead in the point standings after that event and never relin- quished it on his way to the first champi- onship. The first season saw no less than five races decided on the final lap.
The second season, in 2008, featured Scott Steckly and his sometimes dominating run to the series crown. He won three of the first four events of the year and held a tight grip on the driver championship point standings all season long. He set a series record with four victories in all. Also, Thomson estab- lished a series record with seven poles throughout the year.
In 2009, Ranger again took center stage by winning his second series championship in three seasons. He completed his transition from the open-wheel racing world by incor- porating his highly-skilled abilities on the road courses with an equally strong program on the oval tracks. On the season, he won a single-season series record six races – three on road courses and three on ovals. The 2010 season belonged to DJ Kenning- ton. He won his first series title on the power of five wins, nine top-five and 11 top-ten fin- ishes. Kennington battled JR Fitzpatrick for the points lead all season long as the two ex- changed the top spot an unprecedented five times.
In the Montreal event at Circuit Gilles Vil- leneuve, three female drivers (Maryeve Du- fault, Caitlin Johnston and Isabelle Tremblay) were in the starting field of 34 cars.
The 2011 season was highlighted by
Steckly’s second series championship fuelled by three wins. In Montreal, a record starting field of 37 cars took to the storied road course. Kennington won his second championship and was the story of 2012 by winning a series record five consecutive races that equalled a modern era NASCAR touring series record among currently sanctioned series. The feat tied the mark previously estab-
lished by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richie Evans (1985 – NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour), nine-time NASCAR champion Mike Stefanik (1997 – NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour), legendary west coast driver Herschel McGriff (1972 – NASCAR K&N Pro Series West) and former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor Ricky Craven (1991 – NASCAR K&N Pro Series East).
In just five seasons, eight drivers have moved up to compete in two of three NASCAR’s top series. Fitzpatrick, Kennington, Ranger, Steckly and Thomson have competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series along with Jean-Francois and Louis-Philippe Dumoulin. Fitzpatrick, Kennington and Derek White have raced in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Ranger finished third in the 2009 NASCAR
Nationwide Series event after having a spir- ited battle with eventual race winner Carl Ed- wards for much of the race. In August 2011, a series regular made a start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series when Ranger took the green flag at Watkins Glen International (NY).
www.nascar.ca • @nascarhometrack • #ncats 53
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