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Celebrating 50 years of Grand Prix in Canada at CIAS

February 21, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

As a kid in the Seventies, I used to look forward to the Toronto auto show every year. My parents had split up, which meant no more race cars for me, but my step-father always took me to the auto show and for a number of years that was the only place that I got to see racing cars. Then, at some point, someone in charge of the show decided that race cars did not belong at a show for new cars and the show got boring. Over the years, you began to see more fun, but never to the same level.

Until, that is, Jason Campbell took over as the General Manager of the show, now known as the Canadian International Autoshow. With a background in international motorsport marketing, think Red Bull, Campbell immediately set to work making the show fun again. It meant the return of motorsport in a big way, with a celebration of the 100th running of the Indy 500. With the fun came attendance and the 2016 show saw more guests go through the turnstiles than ever before.

To open the 2017 show, Campbell worked with my old boss, Norris McDonald and using their combined talents brought together a collection of individuals who have been influential in Formula 1 in Canada since the earliest days along with some incredible cars that were part of the action.

Legendary Canadian motorsport journalist, Norris McDonald used decades worth of connections to help bring this celebration together and acted as emcee.

The day before the show opened for the media preview, a crowd of maybe 100 or so people gathered in a hall at in the MTCC to oogle race cars and listen to this group swap tales. The conversation began with Bob Hanna, the man who brought Grand Prix racing to this country.

Originally scheduled for an hour or so, the event ran closer to three, as people such as former Canadian F1 team owner Walter Wolf and F1 driver Alan Berg reminisced. As time progressed, Canadian racing legend Ron Fellows, who now co-owns Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (home of the Canadian Grand Prix when it was called Mosport) was followed by 1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve. The latter was joined by his Mother and Sister.

Jacques Villeneuve



The racing machinery, which remains on display throughout the public show, is even more impressive. The Villeneuve connection is strong here, as the first car one sees when they enter in Gilles Villeneuve’s Ford Mustang, freshly restored and looking perfect. A Ferrari 312 T3 that Gilles drove sits across from the Williams driven by his son.

There is a Cooper, driven by Bruce McLaren and the ’78 Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing machine piloted by Mario Andretti. A Lotus driven by Ayrton Senna sits across from a Nigel Mansell Ferrari.



With the FIA Masters Historic Formula 1 Championship coming to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in June, the track also has a multimedia display in the collection, offering up free entry to the event, printed on cool reproductions of the 1967 Grand Prix of Canada tickets.

To learn more, visit the Canadian International Autoshow online

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Tommy Kendall returns to Trans Am

August 14, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

srt

This morning’s news comes out of the Trans Am paddock, where it has been announced that four time T/A series champion Tommy Kendall will be returning to the iconic racing series, at the wheel of a bright green Dodge Challenger SRT in the TA2 category. The first outing for the Miller Racing prepared Challenger will be this weekend at Mid-Ohio.

The timing is perfect to put guys like Paul Tracy, Tony Stewart, Montoya and even Villeneuve in to showroom based cars. Mustang, Camaro, Challenger: all are back (or still) in showrooms. Bring on BMW’s 1 series and Nissan’s 370Z for a bit of nostalgic spice to the group. Run the cars in a showroom stock configuration again so the fans can relate. Think those drivers above won’t add enough excitement? How about bringing in guys like Michael Andretti, Little Al, David Donohue to add in a bit more historic star power? If memory serves, I think Unser may have driven the tubie cars at some point in the Eighties. The time couldn’t be better for auto manufacturers to be involved in a series like this. Indeed they could once again benefit from Win on Sunday….

I wrote those words back in 2008, when the T/A series had just been re-launched after a bit of a hiatus. Six years later, it looks like they are finally beginning to pull the package together.

The T/A folks are understandably chuffed to have the entry in the field for a number of reasons. Kendall spent some time away from the driver’s seat and while he may not offer the immediate name recognition as a driver with a name like Andretti, many younger fans know his personality as a motorsport color commentator and host of a few television shows on Speed, which certainly gives the driver more star power than anyone else in the field.
[Read more…]

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Introducing Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, formerly known as Mosport

February 10, 2012 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Since Ron Fellows and friends bought the iconic Mosport International Raceway, there have been many changes at the track. Most of those changes have been expected and were a long time coming. Today’s news was massively unexpected!

Mosport International Raceway will now be called Canadian Tire Motorsport Park!

The track has formed a partnership with the Canadian automotive retail giant, which includes the name change. While some of the elder race fans will not be happy with the change, it seems fitting that a company with such a strong motorsports history in Canada should help usher in a new era at the track.

Fans can meet with Ron Fellows in the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park booth this weekend at the Canadian Motorsports Expo.

Read the official press release and take a lap with Gunnar Jeannette after the break.
[Read more…]

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Canadian Tire named title sponsor for Grand-Am race at The Glen

August 11, 2011 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

Since Ron Fellows and his partners purchased Mosport, there have been many rumblings, mostly positive, about the what changes would come to the track and how this would impact Canadian motorsport. The changes within the motorsport world are coming fast and hopefully indicate that the changes are going to be felt far beyond Ontario.
[Read more…]

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Fellows and Canadian Tire Return to NNS Competition with JR Motorsports

August 5, 2011 by Media press release Leave a Comment

Team press release

Road-Course Veteran to Drive No. 5 Chevrolet at Watkins Glen and Montreal

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Aug. 5, 2011) – JR Motorsports announced today the return of two critical components to its road-course program – driver Ron Fellows and sponsor Canadian Tire. Fellows, a previous winner for JR Motorsports, will drive the No. 5 Chevrolet in NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) events at Watkins Glen International (Aug. 13) and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Aug. 20) with Canadian Tire as the team’s primary sponsor for both events.
[Read more…]

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The Mayor of Mosport now owns the legendary facility

June 1, 2011 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

He is known as the Mayor of Mosport, partially because of his mastery of one of the World’s most difficult race tracks and partially for his deep affection for the place. It is fitting then that he is part of a Canadian group which has just purchased the famed property from American owner, Don Panoz.

Canadian Motorsport Ventures Ltd. is made up of Fellows, Allan Broughton of Trailcon Leasing and Carlo Fidani of the Orlando Corporation.

From the press release:
The new leadership team brings a renewed focus, fresh thinking, and a strong vision on how to maximize the potential of Mosport. Over the next 18 months, they will look at all aspects of improving the facility to deliver the high calibre racing experience that fans, sponsors, teams and drivers want, including the construction of a new events and meeting facility. The new owners will utilize their unique areas of strength and knowledge to guide Mosport into the future
[Read more…]

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Found on ebay: Porsche 944 Rothmans Turbo Cup driven by Ron Fellows

November 5, 2010 by Gary Grant 10 Comments

The late Eighties and early Nineties were a very special in North American road racing history. In Canada and the USA, there were several healthy showroom stock series that kept fans on their feet at race tracks across the continent. Of those series, the two most exciting were the Player’s Challenge for Camaros and Firebirds and the Rothmans Porsche series. These two series stand out not only because of the depth of talent and close fought battles, but also because of the incredible personalities driving the cars.

One of the most endearing and enduring personalities of both of those series was NASCAR road course ace Ron Fellows. As a working driver, Big Ron would often miss qualifying due to other races (he still does that today) and would work his way from the back of the grid, up to the podium. The car you see above is the car that Fellows drove in the 1990 Rothmans Turbo Cup series. In ’88 and ’89, it was raced by Ted Powell. The ’90 season ended in Halifax at the Moosehead Grand Prix. During the race, Fellows was taken out by Uli Bieri and backed the car hard into the concrete barriers. The fuel cell ruptured and the car caught fire.

Over the past 15 years, the car has been restored to as raced condition. In fact, the factory sealed engine still wears the series seals. As of this writing, there are 3 days left on the auction, where the car has a buy it now price of $130,000. To say this car is a unique piece of Canadian racing history would be an understatement. What makes it even more unique is the fact that the car comes with all of the original documentation and many of the spares that were supplied to competitors by the factory.
[Read more…]

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Ron Fellows is still the Mayor of Mosport

May 24, 2010 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Long before the invention of Four Square and other location apps, Ron Fellows had been dubbed the Mayor of Mosport by his fans. After a red eye flight from a race at Laguna Seca on Saturday, Big Ron showed just why he has that title.

Early morning qualifying put Fellows’ Carlisle Companies/Cragar Wheels Chevrolet Corvette on the front row alongside The K-Pax Volvo S60 of Randy Pobst. Off the start, Pobst’s all wheel drive Volvo took an early lead, with Kuno Wittmer in the Viper in 2nd. It took less than a lap for Fellows to pass Wittmer and begin hunting Pobst.
[Read more…]

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Ron Fellows confirmed for World Challenge at Mosport

May 10, 2010 by Gary Grant 1 Comment

If there are two things that excite Canadian race fans more than just about anything else, it is Mosport’s season opener on the May 24 long weekend and long time racer Ron Fellows. This year, the two four actually lands on May 24th and will be even sweeter with the announcement that the local favorite will be on hand.

NASCAR road course regular Fellows has also been an integral part of Corvette Racing’s ALMS program for years. This year, Big Ron is also driving in the World Challenge series in a Corvette entered by CRP Racing.

The Mosport event overlaps with another driving commitment south of the border, but Fellows will be jumping out of one car and heading north to keep the World Challenge fans happy on Sunday.
[Read more…]

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Canadian Motorsports Expo begins today

January 22, 2010 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Matt Kenseth. Paul Tracy. Ron Fellows. Just a few of the big names that will be meeting the fans at the 2010 Canadian Motorsports Expo which kicks off today at Toronto’s International Center. Fans can check out a wide range of race cars, from local club racers to the #24 & #88 NASCAR cars. Learn how to get involved in racing by visiting some local clubs. Racers can find the equipment they need for this season from a wide range of vendors.

I will be at the show today from 1 pm till about 4. Just look for the fat guy in the Garage Blog flame logo hat.

Follow this link to print a $2 discount coupon off your entry fee.
$2 off CME entry coupon

Visit the CME website for complete details and hours.

See you there!

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