Funny Cars, and trucks, and jets
ON TRACK
The trucks return to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park this weekend for the fifth running of the Chevrolet Silverado 250.
This is the 15th race on the 23-race card for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and the only road course in the series. The trucks have proven very popular on CTMP’s 2.48-mile circuit, and the race, the final weekend event for 2017 at the Bowmanville-area track, is also the biggest in terms of fans.
There were 32 starters in last year’s race, including Canadians D.J. Kennington, Cameron Hayley, and Gary Klutt. John Hunter Nemechek won the race over Cole Custer in a slam-bang finish which saw both trading paint and off the course when the checkered flag flew.
Racing from the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama, the Canadian Touring Car Championship, the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, and the Nissan Micra Cup will also take place.
If you are more interested in watching straight-line action, the Cayuga Dragway of Toronto Motorsports Park will host its annual Canadian Funny Car Championship this weekend. Not only will Cayuga be hosting a bevy of the 250-mph Funny Cars, there will be jet car action, racing for the Race Cayuga Sportsman Series, and the next round of this year’s Can-Am Stock/ Super Stock Series. Ticket prices range from $30 to $80 for the weekend, and camping is available.
Ohsweken Speedway held the Triple Crown Showdown presented by Townline Variety last Thursday night, which included a Super DIRTcar event for big-block Modifieds, a 360 Sprint Car race, and a visit from the Go Nuclear Late Models.
Canadian expat Stewart Friesen was in the Ohsweken pits with his Modified and his Sprint Car, ready to do battle.
He spoke about his racing and his demanding schedule before heading out to the track to do his time trials.
“June and July we are real busy,” he noted. “We did 100 races on the nose in 2016 and will be close to it this year. We average four-five nights a week racing.”
Crossing the Canadian-US border constantly to go racing was a bit of a headache at first but when Friesen, a Niagara-on-the-Lake native, married Jessica Zemken a few years ago, he moved to her hometown of Sprakers, N.Y. just west of Albany. He said he now has his dual citizenship and getting back and forth across the border is much simpler.
Friesen has amassed a solid background in dirt racing. He has won the prestigious Super Dirt Week big race for Modifieds five times, including back-to-back-toback wins in 2014, 2015, and 2016. He has also made his mark in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this year, running 12 races so far and placing second in the Eldora Dirt Derby.
When asked about the differences in racing the cars versus the trucks, he did say the cars (Modified and Sprint) have more power, but treated all equally.
“All of them are fun and challenging,” he said. “And they are all different. But with any of them, the more you race, the more it helps.”
While his background has been in the Modifieds, he took to the Sprint Car, has been successful with it, and thanked his wife for her help.
“Jessica has been a big help with the Sprint Car. She has shown me a lot, and has played a big part in tuning the car.”
Zemken-Friesen has driven a variety of race cars, but was most successful driving a Sprint Car, including a win in the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals in 2014. Friesen has also been successful in a winged Sprinter, winning the World of Outlaws race at Ohsweken in 2015.