Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Photos from the pits - 07 Nascar Canadian Tire Series - Cayuga

I join Joe Hamilton in the pits at the Cayuga Speedway Park in Ontario for the May 26, 2007 Nascar Canadian Tire Series. Joe provided the following picture of me on the track in front of the line of race cars.

This is the view from the entrance of the pits looking into the pits.

Joe is helping to cover the Nascar north race on behalf of Inside Track Motorsport News.

Greg MacPherson, the editor for Inside Track, was also present for the race. Greg was told to go a few places to get his press pass and when we arrived on site we found him being chauffeured around on a golf cart. I had attended a car event at the Toronto Congress Centre and had won tickets to the Cayuga Race by answering a question (what magazine did Greg work for?) and for $10 upgraded the ticket to a pit pass.

Also joining Greg were his photographers Chris and Pierre. I had met Chris while photographing at the 2006 Toronto Grand Prix.

Ramesh, Chris and Joe (left to right).

Michael at the far left and Pierre at the far right.

We also met photographers Ramesh and Michael from another magazine covering the race - PRN. I met Michael at the Grand Prix as well. Also in attendance were about 15 other photographers and TSN (The sports Network). The coverage was high because this was the first race of the new Nascar racing series running in Canada (it used to be called CASCAR until the recent takeover).

Ramesh at the pit exit.

TSN gets some video footage of one of the drivers.

The gathering of the photographers was great and I look forward to meeting them again.

Michael and Joe during a lull in the action.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Nascar Canadian Tire Series at Cayuga Speedway May 26, 2007

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series began their season at Cayuga Speedway on Saturday May 26, 2007 where Don Thomson Jr (car #4) claimed victory over the 23 car field.


While it was not a large showing of vehicles, neither was the crowd watching. Which was too bad as the first showing of the season brought plenty of crashes and other excitement which quickly led to about half the cars out of the race.



The first surprise for me was seeing Andrew Ranger driving the 27 car (he finished 4th) after he moved from CHAMP car as, unfortunately, he couldn't bring the needed level of sponsorship dollars at this point in his young career.

The crews spent the early part of the day getting the cars ready for racing in the pits across from the main grandstands.




Then it was time for inspections and time trials. After a smaller race was run (Pro Cup Lites) then the NASCAR north cars take to the track.




Then the drivers lined up for introductions and the National Anthems were sung, afterwards the drivers and VIPs cut the ribbon on this important first event.




They also had three parachutists make a landing on the field.

Then the racing began - it was more intense than previous Cascar races as they have removed the mufflers. The race close and they like to nudge each other and one by one the field starts to thin as more and more laps are run under the caution.



Then it was all over and Don Thomson Jr had finished his victory lap and climbed out of his car and waved to the crowd.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Frankie Muniz - to race the Steelback Grand Prix

I was surprised to receive notice that Frankie Muniz, star of movie and television - including Malcolm in the Middle, has been racing and will compete in the 2007 Toronto Steelback Grand Prix.

Frankie will be in Toronto today (May 16, 2007) for an autograph session. To see information regarding the session just follow this link to the Toronto Grand Prix website.

2007 Fashion Cares - PEEP





I caught a bit of the 2007 Fashion Cares PEEP event held at the historic Toronto Distillery District on Saturday May 12 and besides the fabulous models I ran into George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC's The Hour.



The gala tickets were sold out and they were mega bucks! One of the headliners was Dita Von Teese, former wife of Marilyn Manson. Ahhhhhhh - Youtube removed the video that I shot because of copywrite violations, sorry.



The event is held to raise money to fight HIV/AIDS.

Doors Open

Scarborough Bluffs

Pride

Redball

Beaches

Graffiti

Lake Ontario

Nathan Phillips Square

Transportation