TWO MORE CHAMPIONS ENTER CANADIAN SPRINT CAR NATIONALS

by Tommy Goudge (September 23, 2008) –
The dark clouds which interfered with the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals at Ohsweken Speedway had silver linings for at least two drivers, as the rescheduling of the Nationals has enabled Gord Kynoch of Spruce Grove, Alberta and Dale Blaney of Hartford, Ohio to compete in the event, rescheduled for this Friday, September 26, and Saturday, September 27.

Kynoch heads into the Nationals on a high note, having locked up the 2008 Alberta Sprint Tour championship with a 4th place finish in the final AST event of the season on Saturday night at the Castrol Raceway located next to Edmonton International Airport. Kynoch is the first ever entrant in the Nationals from the province of Alberta, as well as the first representative in the Nationals from the Alberta Sprint Tour, and his presence this weekend will create a truly National sprint car event in Canada, with all of the different regional dirt track sprint car hotbeds in the country represented. Kynoch came home 4th in the Gold Cup feature at Castrol Raceway on July 12 in what is Western Canada's longest-running and largest 360 sprint car event, and also claimed a 2nd place finish at the Speedy Creek Raceway in Swift Current, Saskatchewan on August 1 for his best finish thus far this season. Kynoch is expected to fill the "wild card" spot in the $1,000-to-win Dave McLeod Memorial "Mr. Sprint Car Challenge" match racing tournament which is part of this Friday's Night Before the Nationals festivities.

Blaney, meanwhile, is one of the hottest sprint car drivers in North America at the moment, and has taken home no fewer than 12 sprint car feature wins since June 25, when he won his first feature of the season during Ohio Sprint Speedweek competition at Skyline Speedway. Over the past 2 weeks alone, Blaney has won a cool $80,000: On September 13, he drove to victory in the final All Star Circuit of Champions feature of the season at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Indiana which was worth $10,000 and helped to clinch the $50,000 All Star season championship. Blaney followed that up with a $20,000 victory in the Jim Ford Classic at Ohio's Fremont Speedway this past weekend, and can add another $8,000 to that total with a feature win at Ohsweken this Saturday night.

Blaney's first and only visit to Ohsweken came during the 2006 Canadian Nationals weekend when he finished 4th in one of the twin features on that Friday night, and followed that up by coming home 5th in the Saturday night A-Main. Blaney was actually in contention for the win that Saturday night, as he had started 9th and moved up through the field quickly to challenge Steve Poirier and Alain Bergeron for the 2nd position before suffering damage to his nose wing which caused him to drop back. Blaney returns this weekend driving again for Ron Hammons, who also provided Blaney's ride in the 2006 Nationals. Blaney has driven for Hammons 3 times this season during off-days in the All Star schedule, and claimed a feature win behind the wheel of the Hammons #6 in NRA competition at Limaland Motorsports Park on July 18.

Kynoch and Blaney join an illustrious list of drivers on the 2008 Canadian Sprint Car Nationals pre-entry list who have captured Sprint Car championships with their respective club or track in 2008, including Ohsweken Speedway Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Car track champion Keith Dempster, Southern Ontario Sprints tour champion Glenn Styres, Humberstone Speedway DTD 360 Sprint Car track champion Rob Pietz, Limaland Motorsports Park track champion and National Racing Alliance tour champion J.R. Stewart, and 2008 Empire Super Sprints champion Steve Poirier, who locked up that title this past weekend at Mohawk International Raceway in New York. Not to be left out, one area sprint car tour’s championship chase is still ongoing - the ASCS Patriots schedule still has 1 full points event remaining, and Bryan Howland is currently leading the standings by 78 markers over Jared Zimbardi.

Friday, September 26 will feature the "Night Before the Nationals" presented by Village Pizza, Sit-n-Bull Construction, and Village Cafe, and will include twin 15-lap features for the Sprint Cars, the 4th Annual Village Pizza Ohsweken Shootout, and the 2nd Annual Dave McLeod Memorial Mr. Sprint Car Challenge, plus the Season Championship races for the ESSO Thunder Stocks, ESSO Mini-Stocks, and Friday Night Fun Stocks. Besides prize money, guaranteed starting spots in Saturday night's A-Main are available to each winner of the twin 15-lap sprint car races on Friday night. The Season Championships were originally slated for September 5, but rain also interfered with those plans, prompting track officials to reschedule them as part of Nationals weekend. With rain also affecting that rescheduled date, the stock car divisions will try for a 3rd time to complete their season with extra-distance features with increased prize money on the line, but no more season championship points available.

Advance Reserved seats for Friday night are available at a cost of $15 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and FREE for kids age 5 and under, while general admission seating will be available on race day only at a cost of $10 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and free for kids 5 and under. Pit gates will open at 12:00p.m. on Friday, September 26, while spectator gates will open at 5:00p.m., hot laps are slated for 6:00p.m., and racing will get underway at 7:45p.m.

Saturday, September 27 is the date for the Arrow Express Canadian Sprint Car Nationals, with an $8,000 cheque on the line for the 30-lap Feature winner, while $600 is guaranteed for every driver who qualifies for the 28-car field. Featuring 70 or more of the best 360 sprint car teams and drivers from Ontario, Quebec, New York, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and beyond, the Nationals have quickly grown into a must-see event for Canadian race fans and Sprint Car fans everywhere. Another great field is expected on September 27, featuring the best drivers from the 5 affiliate sanctioning bodies on board for this year's Nationals, including the Southern Ontario Sprints, National Racing Alliance, Empire Super Sprints, ASCS Sprints on Dirt, and ASCS Patriots, as well as Ohsweken's weekly Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Car division competitors, and potential surprise visitors from all over North America and beyond!

Advance Reserved seats for Saturday night are available at a cost of $35 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and free for kids 5 and under, while general admission seating will be available on race day at a cost of $20 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12, and free for kids 5 and under. Pit gates will open at 8:00a.m. on Saturday, September 27, while spectator gates will open at 1:00p.m., hot laps are slated for 5:00p.m. followed by time trials, and racing will get underway at 7:00p.m. Fans who purchased reserved seats for the Nationals before the event was rained out may use those tickets on September 26 and 27. Two-day ticket packages are available, and plenty of free camping is available on the Speedway grounds! Please visit www.OhswekenSpeedway.com for additional information about ticket sales, scheduling, directions to the speedway, and much more!