Drivers ready and rarin’ to go
Schedules set for the NASCAR Pinty’s Series and the Action Sprint Tour
The NASCAR Pinty’s Series and the Action Sprint Tour have announced their 2023 schedules.
Canada’s national stock car series will be busy this year with a record 14 events on tap on 11 different tracks in five provinces. The Pinty’s cars are the only NASCAR-sanctioned series to race on paved ovals, dirt ovals and road circuits.
Highlights this year include two races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, with May 21 and Sept. 3 dates on the big circuit north of Bowmanville. After a successful and popular inaugural race on the dirt oval of Ohsweken Speedway last year, the teams will return this year with two races Aug. 14 and 15.
Along with circuit racing at CTMP, the cars will compete on the street courses of Toronto on July 14, during the IndyCar weekend, and Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières on Aug. 6.
The teams will also return to Eastbound International Speedway in Avondale, N.L., on June 24.
The Western Canada swing includes stops in Alberta and Saskatchewan on July 22 and July 26. The Quebec tracks of Autodrome Chaudière on June 10 and Circuit ICAR on Aug. 26 are on the card, as well. Racing gets underway May 13 at Sunset Speedway just south of Barrie and winds up Sept. 24 at Delaware Speedway.
The Action Sprint Tour for crate engine-powered sprint cars gets underway May 13 on the Brockville Speedway clay. It’s a large, 25-event season, with points funds in excess of $35,000.
The racing will be split up into three series with eight Pinty’s AST National Series events, eight Surprenant Truck Shop AST East Series events, and nine Oakwood Transport AST West Series events. National events are scheduled for the speedways of Brockville, Brighton, Ohsweken and Humberstone. The West Series schedule also includes Merrittville Speedway along with Ohsweken and Humberstone, while the East Series schedule brings the Can-Am Speedway of upstate New York into the AST fold for the first time, as well with Cornwall Motor Speedway a little farther east on the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence River. There will be championships for both the east and west legs of the tour, and a national title, as well.
Bits from the pits
More sprint car news with the running of the inaugural Germfree Southern Sprint Car Shootout from Jan. 26 to 28 on Florida’s half-mile Volusia Speedway Park. More than 30 drivers from three countries are expected to compete, including five from Canada. Glenn Styres, Liam Martin, Dylan Westbrook and Ryan Turner will represent Ontario, and Jordan Poirier of Quebec will be racing … After a four-year absence, the Targa Newfoundland is back. The six-day event across Canada’s newest province will start Sept. 16 on the Avalon Peninsula and end Sept. 21 in the Conception Bay area … The Bridgestone-sponsored Canadian National Superbike Championship Series will add a new division this season called Pro Twins. This new development category will feature two-cylinder engines with four manufacturers — Aprilia, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki — agreeing to participate.