October 7, 2009 – Shediac (N.B.) — Over 200 drivers and teams from throughout Atlantic Canada and Maine including a number of current and former track, tour and defending Atlantic Champions, have registered to compete in this weekend’s 9th annual Maple Leaf Foods / Vance Hanes Auto Parts Atlantic Stock Car “Championships Speed Weekend” on October 10 & 11 at the Centre for Speed (CFS), Atlantic Canada’s Super Speedway and Metro Moncton’s ‘Playground of Power’, located in nearby Grand Barachois.
A total of over $50,000 in payouts, including lap sponsorships, will be available for teams in the seven stock car divisions of Pro Stock, Sportsman, Streetstock, 4 cylinder Mini Stock and Four Fun, Atlantic Open Wheel (AOW) modifieds and Legend stock car racing events during this upcoming weekend.
Two feature races will highlight the 2009 Atlantic Stock Car Championships with the Vance Hanes Auto Parts Sportsman 100 on Saturday, October 10th and the Maple Leaf Foods Pro Stock 150 on Sunday, October 11th, both starting at 1:00 p.m. The October 10th event will also feature Atlantic Championship races for Legend, Mini Stock and Four Fun division drivers. Sunday’s action will also include Atlantic Championship racing for Streetstock (50 lap feature) competitors as well as 35-lap events for Sportsman and AOW Tour competitors.
NASCAR drivers J.R. Fitzpatrick of Cambridge, Ontario, and Donald Chisholm of Antigonish, Nova Scotia will highlight a field of top stock car drivers from throughout Atlantic Canada, including for the first time ever, competitors from two Newfoundland speedways – Avondale and Thunder Valley Speedways.
“Were very excited about this year’s Atlantic Championship events,” says Tim Wile, track promoter and general manager for the Centre for Speed (CFS). “We’ve got a super field of competitors in all divisions and the cars continue to register every day. We should have the strongest overall field of stock cars that we’ve ever seen at our facility for this years annual event, including drivers from all four Atlantic provinces thanks to our first-ever Newfoundland entries and strong representation from each of the stock car facilities in our region including Fredericton, Halifax, Sydney, Antigonish, and Charlottetown.”
The long weekend events are expected to attract most of the top drivers from throughout the four Atlantic provinces, including most area track and tour champions as well as a number of former champions and defending Atlantic Champs.
On Sunday, October 11th, the Maple Leaf Foods Pro Stock 150 will feature CARQUEST Maritime Pro Stock Tour (MPST) champion, Wayne Smith (Timberlea, N.S.), who will be defending his 2008 Atlantic Championship title against the best Pro Stock drivers from our region, including Nova Scotians Donald Chisholm and John Flemming, local favorites Dave O’Blenis (Boundary Creek), Mike Stevens (Riverview) and Brian McNaughton (Lower Coverdale), as well as Bern Hickey of Avondale Speedway (NL). J.R. Fitzpatrick, a rising NASCAR Canadian Tire series driver, will also be competing in both the Pro Stock 150 on Sunday and the Legends feature on Saturday. This year, J.R. has been quite busy in both Canada and the United States, competing in a number of Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series events south of the border as part of the Kevin Harvick NASCAR racing team.
Other top regional Pro Stock competitors expected on Sunday include a number of teams from Nova Scotia including George Koszkulics (New Glasgow) and Craig Slaunwhite (Terrence Bay), Fredericton-area drivers Shaun Tucker, Greg Fahey along with PEI competitors Jonathan Hicken, Kris Hughes, Scott Livingston and Kris Fournier. Over 40 Pro Stock drivers have registered to compete for positions on the starting grid for the Maple Leaf Pro Stock 150 on Sunday.
Sunday’s action will also include top Streetstock track champions and drivers from throughout the Atlantic region in the very competitive Atlantic Streetstock Championship 50. If last year’s ‘photo finish’ is any indication, defending 2008 Atlantic Champ Fred Broussard from Sydney’s Island Speedway will have his hands full in this ‘edge of your seat’ Streetstock feature. Competitors from the AOW Tour will also battle it out in the AOW 35-lap main event.
On Saturday, October 10th, a total of 60 of the Maritimes top Sportsman drivers are expected to battle for positions on the 28-car starting grid for the Vance Hanes Auto Parts 100. Top competitors, including current and former track champions from most of the stock car tracks in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, are expected to make the trek to CFS for the 100 lap feature. The event will include top competitors and multi time track champs such as Dan Bourque (Grande Digue), Claude Gaudet (Barachois), Jim Duke (Moncton), Glyn Nott (Burton), Bradley Logan (Fredericton) and Jeff Dillman & Terry Roma (Halifax).
The Saturday program will also include track champions from throughout the region and other top drivers, including a few competitors from two Newfoundland speedways, in the very competitive 4 cylinder (Mini Stock, Four Fun). Both of these division drivers will be competing for their respective Atlantic Championship bragging rights in the Four Cylinder 35. Also included in the Saturday event will be drivers from the region’s Legends racecar series putting their skills to the test against J.R. Fitzpatrick in the Legends 50 feature race.
“There are two things that make this weekend event unique,” said track promoter Wile. “Fans, drivers and crews get a chance to celebrate the end of the racing season in friendly competition, without any pressure, and it’s also an opportunity to match skills with most of the top teams from throughout the region – in every class with a chance to be named the ‘best of the best’ in your division.”
Friday afternoon and evening on October 9th will feature practices for all divisions as well as a pit party.
Weekend passes for adults will be sold for $40 while a youth (5-15 years old) weekend pass will go for $10. Weekend Family Passes for 2 adults and 2 youths will also be available for $85 – a savings of $15! Furthermore, a limited amount of advance weekend passes for only $30 are available at Race Time located in Dieppe’s Champlain Mall.
On Saturday October 10th, individual day passes will be $20 for adults and $10 for youths while day passes for the October 11th races will be $25 for adults and $10 for youths. Monday, October 12th has been reserved as a rain date for either event.
The CENTRE for Speed is a 128-acre motor sports park which includes Atlantic Canada’s largest and fastest stock-car oval along with several other racing facilities. The CENTRE overlooks the Northumberland Straight and is located 5 kms east of Shediac’s Parlee Beach in the village of Grand Barachois, New Brunswick.
Full schedule details are available at www.centreforspeed.com