This weekend is the first ever Canadian Motorsports Expo, hosted by Glenn Butt who most enthusiasts know from his involvement with Mosport. With a many Canadian racing stars coming by for autograph sessions, it looked like a promising day, so I took a couple of the kids out for a walk around.

For the first year of the show, I think Glenn and friends did a great job putting together a nice gathering in a really great venue. While the show is still small, there was a bit of something for everyone. There were open wheelers, stock cars, race bikes, showroom stock sedans and even an off road race truck and buggy. The line up of racing stars is incredible, with names like Ron Fellows, Scott Maxwell, Pete Shepherd, J.R. Fitzpatrick, Shane Jantzi and even Chris Economaki.

I was a bit surprised that there were so few race & safety equipment suppliers in attendance. I was hoping to score a deal on a new helmet for the youngest kart racer in the family, but there were only two shops selling lids and they were high end stuff. Likewise, I was surprised that there weren’t more local racers on hand showing off their cars. This isn’t a comment on the show, rather on the fact that many racers don’t grasp the concept of a great marketing opportunity.

Overall, it was a fun show. It was great to see some old friends and make some new ones. It was great to see longtime friend & ice racer Carol Raitt who has just made a big move from the marketing department of Mosport to Cayuga. They have big plans for the coming months at Caygua, so you can expect a podcast interview with Carol soon.

Mosport had their Panoz LMP show car on hand

The Krikorian’s Acura, looking great as always

Speed Touring Lexus

From a distance, this looked like a regular stock car

Really, it’s a mini stock. Kid size or what?

Viper Competition Coupe on display in the CASC booth

Suzuki Canada had some race bikes on display

Project Track Champion was on hand. This specially built car can hold a wheel chair and 3 passengers to let sick kids experience the thrill of driving on a track.

The highlight of the show for the kids was the Scalectrix slot car track hosted by veteran endurance racer Scott Maxwell and his shop MiniGrid.