2016-10-05

Baize Wins Sunoco Rookie of the Year

Baize Wins Sunoco Rookie of the Year

Tops Dippel and Davis For K&N East Honors

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 5, 2016) – Hunter Baize closed out his rookie campaign with a bang, winning the 2016 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award.

Baize became the fourth consecutive HScott Motorsports with Justin Marks driver to win the award.

The 19-year old beat teammate Tyler Dippel by seven points (90-83) and Spencer Davis by 11 points to take home the prestigious title.

"It feels great to win the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award," the Bremen, Kentucky, native said. "The competition in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East this year was really good. I had to battle Tyler and Spencer for the title, but the entire rookie class, like Harrison Burton and Dominique Van Wieringen, was really talented."

The Sunoco Rookie of the Year winner earned one top five and 10 top 10 finishes enroute to a fourth place finish in the 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East final standings.

"We had a good year," said Baize. "I felt like I was pretty consistent, showed good speed and overcame issues. HScott and my team always gave me a good car and equipment, we just had some bad luck. But I always felt like we could go out there and be competitive."

The 2016 season saw 31 talented young drivers competing for the elite rookie title in the K&N Pro Series East.

Rookies accounted for five wins, with Austin Cindric, Spencer Davis, Tyler Dippel and Todd Gilliland all visiting Victory Lane throughout the year.

Baize took home his career-best K&N Pro Series East finish, fifth, at Iowa Speedway in July.

The highest finishing rookie in a race receives 10 points, second receives nine, third gets eight and so on.

Earning the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in the K&N Pro Series East has gone a long way toward advancing a driver's career in recent seasons. Starting with Logano in 2007, every Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the series have gone on to compete in NASCAR's national series, including five drivers – Logano, Austin Dillon (2008), Alex Bowman (2011) and Larson who are full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as well as last year's winner William Byron who is contending for the 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship and will pilot a car for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR XFINITY Series next season.

"It's a great honor to win this award," Baize said. "Midway through the season we saw it was possible to win it and we set out to get it. It's a huge accomplishment."

Baize will be formally recognized as the 2016 Sunoco Rookie of the Year at the NASCAR Touring Series Awards on Saturday, Dec. 10 in the Charlotte (N.C.) Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. 

Contact:
Brooke Franceschini
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications


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Posted by Marc Patrick Roy at 5.10.16 0 comments

FALL BRAWL TO WRAP UP AREA SHORT TRACK RACING AT SPEEDWAY 51 IN GROVETON

FALL BRAWL TO WRAP UP AREA SHORT TRACK

RACING AT SPEEDWAY 51 IN GROVETON

 






            The 2016 racing season for area short tracks will come to an end this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Speedway 51 in Groveton, New Hampshire with the running of the 2nd Annual Fall Brawl weekend presented by Perras Ace Hardware and Bruno's Pizza.

 

            The three day weekend will start off on Friday with a special season ending event for the North Country Family Restaurant Go Karting Series. All area Go Karting teams are invited to participate in this family fun event. The weekly karting series had an outstanding race season as close to thirty Karts participated each.

 

            On Saturday morning the pits open at 8am for the North Country Ford Late Models, and 9am for all other divisions. Saturday will feature qualifying for all divisions. Post time on Saturday is 1:30pm. . The pits will reopen on Sunday morning at 8:30am, a spotters meeting will be held at 9:30am for all Late Model spotters. Sunday post time is 1pm. Joining the North Country Ford Late Models, will be the Sign Depot Tigers, Schweppes Street Stocks, A.B. Excavating Daredevils, White Mountain Community College Pure Stocks and the North East Cyclones. The highlight of the weekend will be the North Country Ford Late Model Fall Brawl 151, featuring 151 green flag laps of racing for the ACT type Late Models.

 

            See the entire schedule of events on our website, and for more information on this event and others, please visit our website at www.speedway51int.com, or call the Track hotline at 802-479-2074. Speedway 51 is located on Brown Road in Groveton, New Hampshire.


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Posted by Marc Patrick Roy at 5.10.16 0 comments

Brandt Graham Seals the Deal with His First Sportsman Cup Series Championship

Brandt Graham Seals the Deal with His First Sportsman Cup Series Championship

By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media

 



A time-honoured adage tells us "good things come to those who wait" and when Mother Nature dictated that the 2016 Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup Series finale would be delayed by a week, Brandt Graham took it all in stride. The young, second-generation racer from Orono, Ontario was the odds-on favourite to claim this year's point championship and if a far from desirable weather forecast for the originally scheduled run meant a week's delay, that's how it would have to be.

 

"It was just one of those things that sometimes happen and there wasn't anything we could do about it," said Brandt Graham. "We were already well on our way to the track when we got word that because of the expected rain and possible thunderstorms, they'd made the decision to throw in the towel for the day. We got off the highway, made sure the rest of the team knew what was happening and then headed back home."

 

With having the car back in the shop for a week between the postponement and the make-up date, the driver; along with his father and his grandfather had to make sure they didn't over-engineer their ride for the championship charge. The #14 team already had a pair of Flamboro Speedway starts and pre-season test session as the basis for their raceday set-up, so other than going through their checklist a couple of times, they basically left the car alone.

 

Knowing that his 17-point lead was anything but an insurmountable advantage, Brandt Graham had the knowledge that he'd need to run a smart race when the tour returned to the venerable Hamilton, Ontario area raceway for the season's last dance Saturday, September 24th. Graham time-trialed in 5th spot and would take the green on the outside of the front row after the pre-race 'Fast 5' redraw.

 

"We may have been the favourite to take the championship, but it was hardly a walk in the park," admitted the 18 year-old, who recently began post secondary studies in the Trades Fundamentals Program at Durham College, in Oshawa. "I had a realistic shot at winning the title, but the other drivers in the field were also looking to improve their overall finishing position in the final standings. A lot can happen in a 100 lap race and we had to hope for the best."

 

At the checkered flag, the team's equipment may have shown more battle scars than they might have liked, but Brandt Graham still logged a 3rd place finish and the spot on the podium was enough to clinch the title for the sophomore standout, becoming the youngest champion in the history of the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup Series. The final margin between Graham and the second place point finisher was 22 markers.

 

"It was a great season and I almost can't believe how successful we were," said Graham after claiming the title. "Our team worked so hard throughout the year and I really appreciate the support my family, friends and fans. It'll take a while for things to sink-in, but this is an experience I'll savour for many years to come. It'll be nice to relax for a while and then start thinking about next year."

 

Graham Racing thanks their 2016 sponsorship partners Full Circle Automation, Arcade Pools, J & M Restoration, Auto Care, Hot Rod Swag and Squirrel Head Music, DJD Graphics and Mayhew Graphics for support throughout the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup Series season. Team media and promotional services are provided by Clarke Motorsports Communications.

 

Follow the team behind the scenes and at the track by checking @Graham_Racing on Twitter and the Graham 98 Racing page at www.facebook.com. Look for www.graham98racing.com, an Image Factor web-site.


Photo attachment: Stephanie Schwemler – Johnathan Schwemler Racecars www.jsracecars.com


Brandt Graham celebrates with his parents after clinching the 2016 Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup Series championship – Saturday, September 24th – at Flamboro Speedway.

 

Prepared by: Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media


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Posted by Marc Patrick Roy at 5.10.16 0 comments

John Baker Jr. Takes Sunset Speedway Win; Clinches 2016 OMRS Title

John Baker Jr. Takes Sunset Speedway Win; Clinches 2016 OMRS Title

By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media

 



The Ontario Modifieds Racing Series – powered by Torque Builders Inc. – ran their final event of the year over 2 days – Saturday, September 24th and Sunday, September 25th – at Sunset Speedway. A total of 15 of the popular open wheeled racing machines signed-in to tackle the race track north of Toronto and the 2016 season wrapped-up the same way as it had begun.

 

With Alex Lees and Chris Burrows on the front row, the OMRS teams took to the track for the final time of the year in a 30 lap feature that would determine the final standings for the tour. Even though he came from the middle of the field, it didn't take long for John Baker Jr. to work his way through the pack and grab the top spot. The crowd favourite came away with his 7th win of the season to clinch the overall title. Winning the race also came with a bit of drama, as the #63 machine developed a mechanical issue midway through the 3rd and 4th turns and needed to be towed to victory lane for the customary post-race photo session.

 

Baker was followed across the line by Chris Burrows, Mark Gordon, Stu Robinson Jr. and Cory Horner. Alex Lees, Ryan Dick, Rob Warnes, Gary Elliott, Connor James, Randy Hollingsworth, Adam Hagan, Rick Warnes, Ryan Babin and Willow Barberstock completed the finishing order.

 

Qualify heats at Sunset Speedway were won by Chris Burrows, Mark Gordon and John Baker Jr., with a pair.

 

The year's OMRS Championship Celebration awards presentation banquet will be held Saturday, November 12th.

 

Ontario Modifieds Racing Series notebook: In honour of his father Doug, who had recently passed away, Rick Warnes made the year's final start in a car that had been repainted purple and carried the #90 that his dad had made popular throughout his career…Late Model stand-out Mark Gordon took his first-ever OMRS green flag, wheeling a machine that had been run by Brad Stevenson earlier in the year to a 3rdplace finish…Although he was missing from the heat races run during the first day of action, veteran Gary Elliott was added to the starting line-up for the Sunday afternoon feature event and finished 9th.

 

Ontario Modifieds Racing Series Final 2016 Point Standings

 

#63   John Baker Jr.              615

#68   Stu Robinson Jr.           558

#46   R. Babin/C. Mulders    497

#95   Robert Warnes             497

#88   Ryan Dick                     495

#62   Randy Hollingsworth    448

#64b Chris Burrows              439

#90   Rick Warnes                 432

#07   Alex Lees                     401

#62w Willow Barberstock      398

#41   Duane Cinnamon         369

#77   Brad Stevenson           359

 

Fans can find full series details at www.ontariomodifiedsracing.com or www.facebook.com/OMRS. The Ontario Modifieds Racing Series is supported by Clarke Motorsports Communications.


Photo attachment: Dan Little Jr.

 

John Barker Jr. (centre) captured the checkered flag in the Ontario Modifieds Racing Series finale and earned the 2016 season championship – Sunday, September 25th – at Sunset Speedway.

 

Prepared by: Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media


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Posted by Marc Patrick Roy at 5.10.16 0 comments

Pro Late Model Thriller to Close the 24th Annual Autumn Colours Classic

Pro Late Model Thriller to Close the 24th Annual Autumn Colours Classic

By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media

 

Central Ontario's motorsports community knows no other event that compares to the 24th Annual Autumn Colours Classic – presented by Lucas Oil Products – at Peterborough Speedway. The 3-day late season spectacular – Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 7th to 9th – brings 10 action-packed racing divisions to fight it out on Canada's Toughest 3rd of a Mile Paved Oval for a combination of prestige and bragging rights that will last through a driver's entire career.

 

With 116 laps on the agenda, the Pro Late Model feature event that will close-out the 24th edition of the Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing is nearly 50 circuits longer than any of the weekend's other 'A' mains. Teams won't only be looking for a checkered flag of their own, they'll also be looking to put an end to a win streak by Shawn Chenoweth. Beginning with last year's APC Series tour stop, the Ayr, Ontario native has owned a 3 race win streak at the tight, tricky bullring on Mount Pleasant Road, west of the Liftlock City.

 

"I don't feel like there's any pressure on me to win again. The Pro Late Model division has some of the most talented drivers in the province, so its really anyone's ballgame," said the 32 year-old Chenoweth, who recently clinched the division championship at Flamboro Speedway. "The team will use the practice sessions and qualifying events to put together the best possible set-up for our equipment. All we can do is prepare the car as best we can and approach the weekend's event the same way as we have in the past."

 

Chenoweth – who finished 3rd in this year's APC Pro Late Model Series standings – says he'll be bringing a brand new piece into action at the Autumn Colours Classic, while Andy Kamrath, who himself is a former Jiffy Lube Mini Stock champion of the event has rented the car that found its way to the 3 straight Peterborough Speedway wins.

 

The 24th Annual Autumn Colours Classic – presented by Lucas Oil Products – gets underway Friday, October 7th and continues throughout the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend at Peterborough Speedway. The opening day's activities will include pre-race inspection and practice, along with opening round qualifying for the Battlefield Equipment Rental 4Fun, Jiffy Lube Mini Stock, Paul Davis Systems Thunder Car, Late Model, Pro Late Model and OSCAAR Modified divisions; as well as the APC Auto Parts Young Guns Races in the Mini Stock and Thunder Car classes. Pit gates will open at 10:00, with the spectator grandstands unlocked at 5:00 and racing getting underway at 6:00.

 

Full schedule details for the annual Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing – along with up to the minute news and results – are always available at www.peterboroughspeedway.com and selecting 'Autumn Colours' from the drop-down choices. You can also like the track on Facebook or follow it on Twitter. Fans can download the free Peterborough Speedway app for their Smartphone.


Photo attachment: Jim Clarke – Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media

 

Shawn Chenoweth will be looking for his 4th straight Peterborough Speedway Pro Late Model checkered flag during the 24th Annual Autumn Colours Classic – presented by Lucas Oil Products – at Canada's Toughest 3rd of a Mile Paved Oval.

 

Prepared by: Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media


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Posted by Marc Patrick Roy at 5.10.16 0 comments

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