Published on YouTube: Porsche 924 Carrera GTS the two-time World Champion with the newly restored car.

Porsche 924 Carrera GTS the two-time World Champion with the newly restored car.
Porsche 924 Carrera GTS the two-time World Champion with the newly restored car.
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Published on YouTube: 2022 The New Mercedes-Benz S-Class Pure Luxury, MULTIBEAM LED Tech.

2022 The New Mercedes-Benz S-Class Pure Luxury, MULTIBEAM LED Tech.
2022 The New Mercedes-Benz S-Class Pure Luxury, MULTIBEAM LED Tech.
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Published on YouTube: What is Acura’s SH-AWD Super Handling All-Wheel Drive?

What is Acura’s SH-AWD Super Handling All-Wheel Drive?
What is Acura's Super Handling All-Wheel Drive? SH-AWD is a sophisticated new system that uses hydraulic control and more power distribution systems than ...
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Published on YouTube: 2021 Ford Transit Review by Lifesavers in Euro

2021 Ford Transit Review by Lifesavers in Euro
2021 Ford Transit Review by Lifesavers in Euro ： Whether you're looking for an entry into the van life or you need a well-equipped cargo van for business ...
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2018 Subaru WRX STI

Review, Pricing, and Specs

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2018 Subaru WRX

Review, Pricing, and Specs

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2023 Kia Sportage to Officially Debut in July with a New Design

These first images of the new compact SUV confirm that it will look far more modern both inside and out.

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2018 Subaru Legacy

Review, Pricing, and Specs

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2018 Subaru Impreza

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News Roundup: Canadian Production Restarts, Genesis GV70 Pricing, BMW M4 Cabriolet, More

The General Motors assembly plant in Ingersoll, ON, that has been sidelined since February 8th is now scheduled to go back to work in June. Unifor Local 88, which represents hourly workers there, posted a GM memo about the return to work. The plant is home to the Chevrolet Equinox, and production was stopped as a result of the ongoing semiconductor shortage. Maintenance shifts are expected to return June 7 with two shifts of production starting the 14th. A two-week summer shutdown is still scheduled for early July. Several other GM plants around the world are expected to reopen in June.

 

Genesis announced pricing for its new small luxury crossover. The GV70 is the brand’s second crossover and will start from $49,000 with standard all-wheel drive. Genesis will offer the crossover with a 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder in Select, Advanced ($55,000), Advanced Plus ($59,000), and Prestige ($63,000). The 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 comes in a Sports package and is available in Sport ($68,500) and Sport Plus ($75,500) trim levels. Genesis all-inclusive pricing includes destination fees and it also includes five years (100,000 km) of Genesis at Home concierge service, complimentary scheduled maintenance, and even GPS map updates.

 

BMW announced the convertible version of the M4, and it will arrive in just one form: As the BMW M4 Competition Cabriolet. Competition means that the 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline-six makes 503 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque. It also means that an eight-speed automatic will be the only gearbox and that it will offer all-wheel drive as standard. That M-tweaked AWD system can be switched to rear-only mode, though, should you feel the need for sideways shenanigans with the roof down. Adaptive M suspension is standard kit with sensors that watch the road as well as your steering. The price should start at a hair under $100,000 with the first cars arriving here in August.

 

Toyota’s recently all-new Highlander is getting a new tweak for 2022, a special edition Hybrid model called Bronze Edition. The most noticeable change is the bronze wheels, but the edition is also offered in a new and exclusive Cement shade as shown. There are more changes inside including what Toyota calls “mid-century modern-inspired” seats that feature bronze accents and stitching and are finished in a special pattern made from Toyota’s Softex faux leather. Bronze stitching around the cabin and a special floor mat badge help complete the package. All 2022 Highlander models XLE and above will get new height and tilt power adjustments for the passenger seat.

 

Ford, during an investor presentation last week, confirmed plans for an electric model of the Ford Explorer crossover. As part of the presentation, Ford showed digital outlines of new crossovers that it would offer with electric power. While one appeared to be a rugged model with a hatch-mount spare (possibly a Bronco EV), the larger rear and AWD platform shown was meant for two and three-row SUVs like the Explorer and Lincoln Aviator. Ford NA communications boss Mike Levine confirmed later on Twitter that “yes, we will fully electrify Explorer as you might expect, given our plan to deliver 40 per cent of our lineup as fully electric vehicles by 2030. We will continue playing to our strengths and electrify our icons in high-volume segments that we dominate today.”

 

General Motors is planning a return to cars on the moon, working with Lockheed Martin as part of NASA’s Artemis program. No, you won’t see these rovers on the road, but the two plan to use modern electrification technology and autonomous driving tech to help expand operations and exploration on the moon. The vehicle is expected to be able to travel much further along the lunar surface than the 7.6 km of the Apollo 15 rover, allowing exploration of the south pole.

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Join Car-Loving Comedy Writer and Podcast Host Spike Feresten on the Next Episode of Inside Track

On June 9, Road & Track will talk with Spike about his career writing for comedy greats and his passion for cars.

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Base Camp: 2021 Mazda CX-30 GX

With the announcement that Mazda will stop selling their mid-size 6 sedan later this year, the number of vehicles in their showroom without any consonants in its model name drops to one – the little (but popular) Mazda 3. This development got us thinking about their next-to-smallest crossover.

Breaking with Mazda naming traditions, this rig is called the CX-30 and shows up for Base Camp duty in GX trim with a sticker price of $24,700. At this sum, it is powered by a 2.0-litre four banger making 155 horsepower and a roughly like amount of torque. This should all sound familiar to buyers of the aforementioned 3, as does the six-speed automatic transmission and front-wheel drive. Opting to have power sent to all four corners is a $1,500 proposition and, unless you live in an area of the country where all-wheel drive is truly necessary, that’s money better spent on a stout set of winter tires.

Mazda’s design house has a propensity for churning out sharp-looking machines, and the CX-30 is no different. LED headlights peer forward with a sharp-eyed gaze, while 16-inch alloy wheels in a dark grey metallic finish look anything but entry-level. There are turn signals on the side mirrors, colour-keyed door handles, and a natty rear roof spoiler to amp-up visual interest. It also helps that Mazda elects to offer its base models with interesting paint selections, including the no-charge Deep Crystal Blue Mica shown here.

The same can be said for the CX-30’s attractive interior, one which draws from the same parts bin as other, more expensive Mazda vehicles. It’s a good example of how parts-sharing can be a good thing if those parts are well-designed and of high quality. An 8.8-inch infotainment screen stands atop the dash like a tablet, packed with Bluetooth and smartphone integration. It is vexing that Mazda chooses not to include satellite radio functionality until much higher up the food chain. At least there is push-button start, plenty of power outlets, and heated front seats.

What We’d Choose

A primary draw of stepping to the next rung on a CX-30 ladder is the larger engine found in the GS model. Displacing 2.5-litre and making 186 horsepower (with a similar increase in torque), this mill suits the CX-30 much better. Its $3,000 price hike will make a noticeable different in one’s payment but it’s worth noting the GS comes with other goodies like dual-zone climate control, a heated steering wheel, and tinted glass.

For those reasons, your author recommends the GS trim if it’s in budget, especially if you’re looking at the difference between an all-wheel drive GX and a front-drive GS. There are a suitable number of added creature comforts – plus the all-important extra power – to make the jump.

Find rest of the Base Camp series here

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Racing Roundup: Indy 500 triggers memories of 1996

Two days ago, on Saturday night, 65-year-old Joe Gosek strapped himself into a fire-breathing, methanol-inhaling, ground-shaking rocket of an oval-track racing car and finished fourth in the 2020 Budweiser International Classic for supermodified racing cars at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway, a race that had been held over since last Labour Day weekend because of COVID-19.

Sunday, a little more than 12 hours later, Gosek and wife Vicky and their two daughters sat down in front of the TV to watch the 105^th Indianapolis 500 and to reminisce about 25 years ago when the supermodified ace qualified for his one and only 500 after the upstarty Indy Racing League declared all-out war against the established CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) sanctioning body.

Before we go back a quarter of a century, however, the race Joe and Vicky, et al, watched Sunday was one for the ages. Winner Helio Castroneves joined the exclusive club of drivers who’ve won Indy four times. He passed second-place race finisher Alex Palou on the high side going into Turn One of the last lap and held on for the victory. Simon Pagenaud came out of nowhere to finish third.

And here’s the good stuff: the race was the fastest in Indianapolis 500 history – 190.690 miles an hour average. The race was only slowed twice by cautions for 18 laps, a race-record low. And just 1.2424 seconds separated the top five – Pato O’Ward was fourth and Ed Carpenter fifth – at the checkers.

Castroneves is one of racing’s great entertainers and his post-race celebration thrilled the crowd of 135,000 fans who watched under sunny skies and a temperature of 18. In his famous “Spiderman” tradition, he climbed the front-stretch fence along with his crew and one of the team’s owners, Michael Shank. Many of the drivers and members of other crews ran to congratulate him, with 1969 winner Mario Andretti kissing him on the forehead.

“This stage is absolutely incredible,” Castroneves said. “I love Indianapolis. The fans, they give me energy! I’m serious.”

Things were a little different back in 1996, Gosek told me during a post-500 interview Sunday. “I could write a book about what went on there that year,” he said. “That aside, I remember the incredible speed, of going wide open during qualifying. It’s just something to think about every year when Indy’s on.

“It’s just so different now; it’s so sophisticated compared to the way it was.”

There’s no doubt that Gosek had the credentials to take a crack at Indy cars. He’d won many supermodified races and championships over the course of his career and those cars are second in speed only to the Indy cars when turned loose on an oval-track speedway. In fact, Gosek once had his “super” at Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina the same day several of the NASCAR Cup teams were there testing and his speed left their stock cars in his dust.

When the IRL was formed and founder Tony George made it clear he wanted to create opportunities for American-born drivers to race at Indianapolis, Gosek struck a deal with retired racer Bill Tempero to drive one of his cars. He drove the Lola-Buick during rookie orientation, and he passed his driver’s test that would allow him to make a qualifying attempt. But then came a surprise.

“One of the mechanics came to me and told me that, ‘I want you to know that you have to get out of this car. It’s unsafe; the chassis was broken and wasn’t repaired correctly; the repair papers are questionable.’ He looked me in the eye and said, ‘I can’t put you in this car anymore.’ He said it was a dangerous car and he wouldn’t let me drive it.”

Gosek didn’t talk about it during our conversation but 1996 was an unsafe year at the Speedway generally. Scott Brayton, who’d won the pole on the opening day of time trials, had been killed several days later while practicing. And Billy Boat, who’d already qualified a car for A.J. Foyt Racing, had been badly injured while trying to get a car up to speed in case his premier mount was bumped out of the field and he’d had to make another attempt. Another driver, Dan Drinan, was also injured badly enough to require surgery so there was a sense of unease around the Speedway.

“Tempero was excited because I’d used his car to get through the rookie program,” Gosek said. “Now you can go qualify it,” he’d said. “But I said no, I wasn’t going to drive the car anymore. It wasn’t safe. Besides, I could never get the car going faster than 215 and we needed 220 to get our guaranteed spot (George had “reserved” 24 starting spots for IRL regulars).”

Gosek went to see Johnny Rutherford, the Indianapolis 500 legend who’d won the Big Race three times and the CART championship once and had sided with George because his background was midget and sprint cars on pavement and dirt. Between Rutherford and some others associated with the U.S. Auto Club (USAC), he was eventually sent to Team Scandia, which was looking for a driver.

Although he had to bump his way in, Gosek was able to turn four laps of the famous race track that were almost identical (“they told me to put my left foot on top of my right foot and don’t lift”) and gave him a four-lap average of just over 222 mph, good enough for 31^st on the starting grid. While qualifying was one thing, the race itself was another.

In the race, in which he eventually finished 22^nd, Gosek had a myriad of problems. Remember, the IRL didn’t have their own cars and motors designed and built until 1997 and so were competing with ancient CART cars that the owners just wanted to unload. The Scandia car was a step up, however, because the Lola was in fairly good shape and there was a Cosworth engine in it.

“The first thing that went wrong, though, was when I lost the turbo boost,” Gosek said. “I was going about 220 when I lost 3,000 rpm and the best I could do after that was barely above 200 mph. You really know you’re in trouble when you have Arie Luyendyk going past you at 230. And then I’d be going along and somebody would come up behind me and I could feel the surge as my car would pick up speed and then they’d pass me and pull in front and drag me along and I’m going ‘Holy sh—” because I’d never really experienced that before. So I didn’t get to race with too many people.

“But I do remember that Scott Harrington had gone down into the grass and I’d gone to hit the brakes and I realized really quickly that at that speed you can’t slow those things down. You come to the realization that you are really travelling around that place.

“But anyway, after that my butt started getting hot and something started leaking and I was getting water up my back and so I parked it. I did 109 laps, though. Not too shabby, all things considered.

“And at the end of the day, it worked out. I mean, how many guys have qualified there. At that time, I was one of something like 770 drivers who had qualified for the Indy 500. Vicky and I watch the race today and we talk about being out there (in Indianapolis) and I had my pal Smitty (the late driver Bob Smith) with me and he was my bodyguard because guys were trying to steal your ride and he had my back. As I said, I could write a book.”

On the morning of that race, the 80^th renewal, ABC announcer Jack Arute interviewed Gosek shortly before the start and told him (and the TV audience) that no driver in the history of that race had attracted as much attention as he had. No driver, said Arute, had received more phone calls, faxes or fan mail to the Speedway than Joe Gosek.

And how did it make him feel?

“I figured that people had watched me race once, or 50 times, back here in the east or traveling, Canada, places like that, and so I had a pretty good reputation. And I’d go into the Speedway office and they’d say, ‘Holy cow, the phone’s ringing off the hook, people wanting to know how you’re doing.’

“Marco Grego, Stephane Gregoire, Eliseo Salazar – they were all in that race. And when it comes down to American race fans and who they can relate to, it’s an American-born guy, right?”

Right.

NOTEBOOK JOTTINGS 

Castroneves joined A.J. Foyt (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977), Al Unser (1970, 1971, 1978, 1987) and Rick Mears (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) as four-time winners. The native of Brazil, who’s lived for years on Key Biscayne, Fla., previously won the big race in 2001, 2002 and 2009, all as a full-time driver with Team Penske.

But this time was different. Castroneves drove the No. 06 AutoNation/Sirius XM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing to the team’s first Indy win and first NTT IndyCar Series victory. And, at age 46, he also became the fourth-oldest winner of the 500.

This was his first IndyCar start of the season and he’s only going to drive in a few more.

“It’s not the end; it’s the beginning,” Castroneves said in Victory Lane. “I don’t know if it’s a good comparison, but Tom Brady won a Super Bowl, Phil (Mickelson) won the PGA, and now here you go. The old guys still got it, kicking the young guys’ butts. We’re teaching them a lesson.” . . . .

Roger Penske, whose racing team has won more Indy 500s than any other, is now the owner of both the Speedway and the racing series. In 2018, he dropped Castroneves from his IndyCar team to make way for younger blood. He had him drive two seasons for his Acura sports car team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and provided him with a car in ‘18 and ‘19 to run the 500. When that deal ended, Castroneves signed to drive for the Mike Shank organization and won the 500 Sunday.

When Penske bumped into Castroneves in Victory Lane, he did not smile at the new champion. In fact, Penske looked like he’d been sucking on a lemon. In contrast, Penske Racing President Tim Cindric and drivers Simon Pagenaud and Will Power sought him out to say congratulations.

A year ago, NBC employed Danica Patrick as co-host of its Indy 500 telecast and – let’s put it this way – she could have done better. Frowned a lot. Didn’t seem to be having a good time. This year, she looked completely different. Relaxed, funny, polished. Seemed to be  enjoying herself. Nice to see her out there. (Of course, last year, as it turned out, she was in the midst of breaking up with Aaron Rogers, which might have had something to do with her mood.) . . . .

Okay, I know the modern-day rules of the Indy 500 allow amateurs to get into a race car and qualify it – if they can.

One upon a time, when the U.S. Auto Club was in charge of the 500, they had no problem at all telling young or inexperienced drivers to go away and learn how to drive a race car. Not any more. If you can come up with the big bucks, they let you have a shot.

Stefan Wilson has an impressive resume – recorded when he was younger. But now he drives one race a year – sometimes. Before yesterday, he’d driven in a total of three IndyCar races since 2013, all Indy 500s. That is like letting a guy who gets hot for one round play in the Masters. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

So fairly early in the race, he flies into the pits for a stop and he’s going too fast and he downshifts and the rear-end seizes up and he spins into the wall, blocking pit lane. Two drivers, Scott Dixon and Alexandre Rossi, are forced to stay out and when they are allowed to make an emergency stop for fuel, they run dry and it ruins their race.

Thanks Stefan.

IndyCar has to take a serious look at who they allow to drive in the Indianapolis 500. Yes, two other drivers – Simona de Silvestro and Power – also spun in pit lane but they were experienced enough to keep their cars off the wall. . . .

Alexandre Rossi is a guy who is clearly unhappy and will be looking for a new ride and fresh start in 2022. You don’t have to even read between the lines of his quote to catch his drift. He ran as high as sixth before a vapor lock stalled the car at the first stop, putting him a lap down (when both he and Dixon ran out of fuel after Stefan Wilson crashed in pit lane).

“Nothing at all went our way. Couldn’t catch a break with anything. Just driving around waiting for some luck. Congrats to Honda for another 500 win and to our friends at AutoNation.”

They are very fortunate that they didn’t have a mighty pileup at the start of Sunday’s Indy 500. This is how it’s supposed to be at the start.

The cars have a pushoff lap to warm up the tires, etc. Halfway through the second go-round, they form up in 11 rows of three so that they complete the lap on parade in front of the massive crowd along the main straight. At that point, the pace car is supposed to pick up the pace to get the field moving at 125 miles an hour (while still lined up in the 11 rows of three) and then pull away and head for the pits so that the pole sitter can hold that 125 mph speed and accelerate away when the green flag flies.

So that is what’s called the pace lap. Ergo, you have the pushoff lap, the parade lap, the pace lap and the start. Doesn’t sound particularly difficult, does it? Except that on Sunday, they didn’t start to form the 11 rows of three until they were on the backstretch of the third lap (the pace lap) and when Scott Dixon led the field out of Turn Four at 125 mph most of the cars at the back hadn’t bothered to line up properly and were on it (as the late PA announcer Tom Carnegie would put it) and some of them very nearly rear-ended the cars in front that were playing by the rules.

One of these days, Alice. . . . .

The Speedway had permission to allow 135,000 to attend the race. The Washington Post, in its post-race bulletin, cited that number as being a pandemic record crowd. I’ll be honest: it sure seemed like more than 135,000. Just like there seemed to be more than 2,500 fans at the Toronto-Montreal hockey game on Saturday night. . . . .

NASCAR 

This is from the Associated Press:

Hendrick Motorsports now has the most Cup Series wins of any team in NASCAR history. Kyle Larson got the team’s 269th win on Sunday night in the Coca-Cola 600 to break a tie with Petty Enterprises atop the NASCAR Cup Series win list. Hendrick tied Petty the week before when Chase Elliott won the rain-shortened race at the Circuit of the Americas. For full story, please click here

Norris McDonald  /  Special to Wheels.ca 

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Graveyard of Rusted Cars Kept Lake Michigan Erosion at Bay, and They're Still There

When conditions are right, you can still see the breakwall near the water's edge made out of old cars in Saint Joseph, Michigan.

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1992 Dodge Viper RT/10 vs. 1965 Shelby 427SC Cobra

In which the lesson seems to be that going 60 mph in a Town Car is not at all like going 60 on a skateboard.

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Tested: 2006 Chevy Corvette Z06 vs. 2006 Dodge Viper SRT10

From the Archive: Two tire punishers face off in a Motor City grudge match. It's not going to be pretty.

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Published on YouTube: Mercedes-Benz: 30 Years of the 500 E Review Specification & Presentation

Mercedes-Benz: 30 Years of the 500 E Review Specification & Presentation
Mercedes-Benz: 30 Years of the 500 E Review Specification & Presentation.
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Published on YouTube: the all-new 2022 Ford F-150 Raptor* the most off-road capable and connected F-150 Raptor ever

the all-new 2022 Ford F-150 Raptor* the most off-road capable and connected F-150 Raptor ever
the all-new 2022 Ford F-150 Raptor* the most off-road capable and connected F-150 Raptor ever An all-new five-link rear suspension, electronically controlled ...
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Published on YouTube: 2022 Acura MDX VS Lexus RX 350L 2021 Specification & Presentation

2022 Acura MDX VS Lexus RX 350L 2021 Specification & Presentation
2021 Lexus RX 350L vs 2022 Acura MDX Review & Comparison Acura MDX 2022.
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Published on YouTube: Acura MDX Road Test VS Infiniti QX60 Review

Acura MDX Road Test VS Infiniti QX60 Review
2019 Infiniti QX60 Road Test & Review vs. the 2019 Acura MDX Road Test.
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2018 Subaru Crosstrek

Review, Pricing, and Specs

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SSC Gave the Track-Only Tuatara 500 More Horsepower

If the normal Tuatara just isn't crazy enough for you, the American supercar maker now has two even more extreme trims available.

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2018 Land Rover Range Rover Velar

Review, Pricing, and Specs

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Sam Correro Built the TransAmerica Trail on Accident, and with a Lot of Work

In 1984, the motorcycle enthusiast began searching for a path less travelled, and then he just kept going and going and going.

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The Unique Rides of Rock Legends

People either loved or hated John Lennon’s 1965 psychedelic Rolls-Royce Phantom V Touring limousine. According to one story, a woman yelled, “You swine! How dare you do that to a Rolls-Royce,” at the Beatle as he cruised along London’s Piccadilly.

Why the strong reaction? At the musician’s request, artist Stephen Weaver had painted the once refined vehicle into a nonconformist, four-wheeled, rolling representation of Summer of Love hip.

“That’s when the car started taking on a life of its own,” said Lorne Hammond, history curator at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria, and the current home of the legendary vehicle.

Lennon bought his distinctive car (before he even has a driver’s license) on the advice of his business manager, who warned the members of the band they needed to start spending money, said Hammond.

“The accountant pointed out that they had done very well, but they would be paying 90 per cent tax,” he said. “They were all ordered to go out and buy houses and cars on very short notice, because, otherwise, it all goes to the tax man.”

Lennon’s spending spree began with the cash purchase of the car, which was tricked out with all the usual accessories and elegant touches – a Valentine Black finish and walnut trim – you would expect from a Royce. Then, there were the unusual add-ons: a writing desk, a radio-telephone, a double bed, a Philips Auto-Mignon AG2101 “floating” record player and a Perdio portable television.

And, as a final touch, the Royce received a new paint job to coincided with the release of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album in 1967. Inspired by the spiritual books that bandmate George Harrison was reading, Lennon paid Weaver to really make it a one-of-a-kind limo. Using cellulose-based house paint, the artist laid down a base coat—a shade the Daily Mail called “shrieking yellow”—and decorated the car with whimsical flower-power vines, colorful art nouveau swirls and Lennon’s astrological sign, Libra, on the roof.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking Lennon was alone in his enthusiasm for a unique ride. A number of musicians have left behind automobiles that were not only symbols of their success, but also works of art that reflected their antiestablishment rock ’n’ roll attitudes.

Unlike Lennon, Janis Joplin had a driver’s license when she paid $3,500 for her second-hand, 1964 Porsche 356 C Cabriolet in Dolphin Grey. The car really stood out after she shelled out another $500 to roadie Dave Richards to customize it with a kaleidoscopic mural called “History of the Universe.”

Bill King, Joplin’s former musical director, said he and the singer would often go to a billiards hall in the San Francisco area in the vehicle. “People would run to the windows when she pulled up” he said. “She’d park it in sight where everybody could see it. She wanted to see it, too, because it could easily get stolen.

“She didn’t let anybody touch it,” added King. “But she couldn’t drive it right. She liked to go out and play nine ball and then we’d ride around in her car, but she couldn’t figure out the clutch. You know how San Francisco is with the hills. She’d go up a hill and all of a sudden it would just cough and die and we’d all sort of jump over and try to put our foot on the brake at the same time so it didn’t roll backwards on us.”

Lennon also managed to keep his car on the road, despite the concerns of the police that its wild colours would distract other drivers. He once crammed nine people in the back to shuttle them to the Sgt. Pepper’s release party at manager Brian Epstein’s new country home and often gave lifts to his famous friends, inclduing members of The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan.

Eventually the limo, which is now valued at nearly $7 million, made its way from England to New York’s Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design before being parked at its current home at the Royal B.C. Museum.

Canadian businessman Jim Pattison paid a record-setting (at the time) $2.3 million for the car at auction, displaying the limo at his Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums before donating it to the province of British Columbia in 1986.

“We have two things,” said museum curator Hammond. “We have a historic vehicle, covered in house paint, and we have a historic painting that happens to be on a vehicle instead of on a canvas.”

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History, Harleys, Black Faces and Spaces

Moving through the Los Gypsies Nation clubhouse is like a short lesson in Black history.

Its walls are adorned with photos of club members, scenes from motorcycle rides all over North America, not to mention memorabilia and vinyl records. Herron Preston, a handsome 64-year-old man with long dreads, acts as a guide.

“This is William B. Johnson, and he owned the first African American Harley Davidson dealership, and he did it in the 1920s,” said Preston, Los Gypsies’ founder. “He wanted to race (bikes), and they said, ‘No, you have to do a shift.’ Harley Davidson (eventually) gave him a dealership.”

He keeps going. There are photos of Clifford Vaughs and Ben Hardy. They built custom choppers, including the famous motorcycles for the movie “Easy Rider.”

There are also some important pieces from the East Bay Dragons, the Oakland, Calif.-based Black motorcycle group that Los Gypsies embodies and honours. There is a photo of Tobie Gene Levingston, the Dragons’ founder, and a letter from the Dragons giving Los Gypsies their blessing.

History, Harleys, Black faces and spaces. Founded about a decade ago, Los Gypsies Nation is the largest motorcycle social group with an exclusively Black membership in Canada. They are a 14-member unit that rides only customized Harleys, bikes that have taken each member years to build. There is also an associated women’s group, the Gypsie Queens.

Preston walks across the driveway, opens the garage door and lifts the covers off his bikes, unveiling two intricate pieces of art. “This is called an American IronHorse,” he said, pointing to one of the custom choppers with a light, orange seat. Its leather is smooth, and its stitching is worked into a pattern that forms into flames on the seat.

“He has a big racing engine on him,” Preston said. He points to his other bike. “He has the same thing and they’re fast, and they’re hard to ride. If don’t know how to ride a motorcycle, you won’t (mess) with this.”

Changing the story

A combined love of Harleys and its ties to Black motorcycle history of the past is just the beginning of what Los Gypsies is about. Its members want to defy stereotypes and show younger generations of Black men that everything is possible for them. The group’s website notes its composed of artists, lawyers, musicians, hairdressers, law enforcement officers and, “above all, fathers and husbands.”

The identities of Los Gypsies’ members, with the exception of Preston, as well as the location of their clubhouse, are being kept confidential to protect them from outlaw motorcycle clubs who don’t like their vision. In this story, we use the nicknames they are given when they join the group.

These brothers are nothing like those outlaw clubs — or any motorcycle club (known as MCs). They’re not criminals and they are not looking for trouble. They’re looking for the opposite: connection and growth.

“We’re at a motorcycle show, and all the criminal clubs got kicked out of it and we’re still in it,” said Preston, whose nickname is Krome. “One of the criminal clubs came to us and asked, ‘Don’t you guys have criminals in your club?’ And I said, ‘No. This is a black MC, most black MCs don’t have criminals in their club.’ They don’t.”

In Black motorcycle culture, there are huge events called ‘roundups.’ Virtually every American state has one each year. Black families, some with their RVs, and motorcycle groups come together for these vast social events that take place over three to four days. Attendance can number in the hundreds of thousands. Preston said they are nothing like other motorcycle rallies, like the famous annual one in Sturgis, South Dakota, where you always hear stories about fights, excessive drinking and rowdiness among its half-a-million attendees. “I wanted to tell everybody that Los Gypsies is nothing like those white dudes,” Preston said. “We’ve kind of changed the whole narrative.”

Creating a family

Members of Los Gypsies are tight knit. They’re like family more than anything, Preston said. “What we do is feed off each other and how can we make our bikes better. The only competition we have here is whose bikes look the coolest.”

Speaking to some of its members, it’s clear that Preston has set a tone. Each of them was brought into Los Gypsies after a lengthy process that included a “hang around” at the clubhouse. They all share the same ethos.

“The momentum of this club, I’ve seen it start with Krome building a place for people of colour to come to,” said Ice, a 55-year-old who has known Preston for about three decades. “That’s the first thing. A place for you and him to escape so to speak. Or, to take a break from the house, the wife, the kids. You don’t have a man cave in your place? This is the man cave.”

But, if you do stay for too long, Preston will kick you out and tell you to go spend time with your family. “You abuse it, you will lose it. That is what I like about this club; the education, the camaraderie, the creativity with the bikes, the travel,” said Ice. “I’ll tell you, when you cross a border and you see and meet these Black clubs, and are at these events, and these meets, and these bike shows and these barbecues, you’ll understand it’s a brotherhood.”

It’s also about connecting different generations of Black men – young and old – to give them a place to destress, share stories and build opportunities – and Harleys.

“I’ve been riding three quarters of my life and I’ve been riding since I moved to Toronto,” said Fast Eddie, who at 33 is the youngest member of the group and joined several years ago. “I’ve always hung out with either a mixed variety of people on sport bikes or vintage bikes. And it just wasn’t the same mindset that I have.

“I still love sport bikes, I still love vintage bikes, but I put everything into that (Harley). It’s like it’s never done.”

The thrill of building a bike is constant, but Fast Eddie and the rest of the crew understand that there needs to be balance. “That’s part of it. We all do something for work, with our families. So, at the end of the day, family always comes first,” he said.

Family comes first. And, as Los Gypsies Nation wait for the pandemic to end so they can come together again, a filmmaker is planning to create a documentary about Preston and Los Gypsies’ presence in Canada. It’s a story that hasn’t been told.

“I remember a guy contacted me from Florida and he says, ‘The only thing I know about Canada is the rapper Drake and you. I know nothing about Canada,’” said Preston, thinking that Los Gypsies Nation are on the right track. While Americans understand the social group and what it is trying to do, there is also doubt. “Black Americans see you and they think maybe it’s a one-hit wonder. They don’t see longevity or legacy because nothing like that’s ever been done,” said Preston.

Los Gypsies Nation may just prove them wrong.

The commandments

Los Gypsies Nation has a list “Ten Commandments,” noted on its website, that members must follow. Among them are that you must be employed, ride your own American made motorcycle – which has to be 800 CC’s or over – be at least 25 years or older, not have a criminal record and cannot belong to any other motorcycle club or organization. More information about Los Gypsies can be found at losgypsiesnation.com.

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An Electrifying Auto Show in Shanghai

If you wanted to sum up the 2021 Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition in a single word, that word would be “electrifying.” Or maybe an even better choice would be “electrified.”

That’s because so many of the vehicles unveiled at China’s most prestigious auto show — a rare in-person major event during the COVID-19 pandemic — are EVs of all shapes and sizes, with a heavy emphasis on utility vehicles and luxury sedans. And there will doubtless be many more EVs to come soon as the auto industry continues its migration away from internal combustion engines.

The following are five significant EVs from the show.

Audi A6 e-tron

Germany-based automaker Audi is expanded its EV lineup with the A6 e-tron, which features a range of 700 kilometres and the ability to reach 100 km/h from rest in four-seconds flat. Audi will begin production of its dazzling new four-door EV luxury sedan in late 2022. The new design rides on what Audi refers to as its Premium Platform Electric technology. Fat tires, 22-inch wheels and a low ride height give this new EV a distinctive appearance.

Toyota bZ4X Concept

The automaker has taken the wraps off its first fully electric tall wagon, the Toyota bZ4X Concept, which the company said is the first in a series of EVs carrying the bZ brand (short for “below zero.”) The automaker said it will offer, globally, some 70 electrified models by 2025, including hybrid and EV pickup trucks and 15 full-on EVs. Although the bZ4X was developed in conjunction with Subaru, the body bears a striking resemblance to similar to some vehicles from Toyota’s Lexus division. The bZ4X will be manufactured in China and go on sale globally in the middle of next year.

Genesis Electrified G80

The luxury division of Hyundai, Genesis is making its first foray into the EV world with the beautifully proportioned, though somewhat awkwardly named, Genesis Electrified G80 luxury sedan. Genesis estimates a driving range of more than 500 kms with its new offering, the design of which is described by the automaker as “athletic elegance.” A rapid system allows the battery to charge to 80 per cent from 10 per cent in 22 minutes. A high-tech control system allows the Genesis Electrified G80 to switch between all-wheel-drive and rear-wheel drive for efficiency.

Mazda MX-30

Set to go on sale in the fall, the Mazda MX-30 is the automaker’s initial foray into battery-electric vehicles, but it most certainly will not be its last. Mazda is planning an entire series of powertrains, including a hybrid that uses a rotary-engine generator (think RX-8), and conventional and plug-in hybrids. The MX-30 is compact and has a unique design that combines conventional front doors with small reverse-hinged rear doors to access the back seat.

Lincoln Zephyr Reflection

Lincoln said the Zephyr Reflection is planned solely for China. But if this drop-dead gorgeous luxury sedan tips Lincoln’s hand as to its plans for EVs in North American, then bring them on. The Zephyr Reflection also features technology we can expect to see closer to home, such as the trio of dash screens running the full width of the cabin.

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Ours to Discover: One Road Trip, Two Experiences Niagara Region

About this series: With COVID-19 restrictions expected to ease over the next few months, Wheels wants to inspire you to get ready to explore – but only when it is safe to do so. This series of daytrips and weekend drives highlights great experiences you can have in the province once conditions allow and show you why Ontario is “Ours to Discover” this summer and beyond.

It’s a single road trip but one where you will experience two different worlds. The morning takes you into the thundering glory of Niagara Falls and its eclectic, carnival-like atmosphere, followed in the afternoon by a relaxing journey among the lush vineyards of the Niagara region and the bucolic streets of Niagara-on-the-Lake. This is one journey that will guarantee something for everyone you take along for the ride.

In the morning

Leave Toronto around 7:30 a.m. driving west along the Queen Elizabeth Way. Allowing for some traffic, you should be in Niagara Falls within a couple hours. Take the exit for Highway 420, which turns into Falls Avenue. The drive will take you past the Bridal Veil Falls on your left and the famed Horseshoe Falls straight ahead. Pull into the park and pay lot at the Table Rock Centre.

Welcome to one of the world’s top tourist destinations. Follow the sidewalk north and take an iconic at-the-brink photo (where the water cascades down more than 50 metres) before venturing further along the walkway to capture additional images from all the great vantage points. Its OK to feel smugly Canadian as you realize our side of the Niagara River has far better views of the falls than the U.S. side does.

Once the shutterbugs are tired (or their smartphones are out of storage space), head to the Niagara City Cruises’ dock and board one of its boats. The 20-minute journey takes you into the swirling, spray-filled maelstrom of water at the base of Horseshoe Falls. After, your braver companions can walk over to Grand View Marketplace where Wildplay Niagara operates a zipline that feels like you are flying straight into the fall’s wall of water. The 670 metres journey ends at the observation deck below Horseshoe Falls.

Around noon

Hungry after your adventure? Ask to be seated near a window at the Table Rock House Restaurant, which overlooks the falls. Its menu includes dishes made with locally sourced ingredients, like White Meadow Maple Yogurt Chicken with vegetables from area farms and Manitoulin Island Rainbow Trout served with Shoal Lake rice.

If you prefer a picnic lunch, grab sushi, burgers, pizza or wings from the to-go Table Rock Market below the main restaurant and spread out on a sunny spot on the grass around the falls. Or walk 20 minutes south to Dufferin Islands, a nature area where you can enjoy your meal while watching the ducks gliding on the water of this quieter inlet of the Niagara River.

In the afternoon

Get back into your car and turn north onto the Niagara Parkway, a road former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once called “the prettiest Sunday drive in the world.” You have a tough decision to make while driving along the roadway toward the quaint town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario.

Choice No. 1 is to pull into the parking lot at the Niagara Glen Nature Centre and hike its winding trail system to the banks of the Niagara River. The centre is home to four kilometres of trails, which provide the perfect vantage point to spot some of the more than 330 bird species that visit this nature area.

Choice No. 2 is to drive to Queenston, home to War of 1812 hero Laura Secord, and head to Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours to experience a wild ride on the rapids of the Niagara River. Be sure to opt for one of its boats without a covering so you can really experience the spray from the waves. (If we didn’t mention it earlier, you should pack a few towels in your vehicle for this road trip).

You will be spoiled for afternoon snack options once you arrive in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which was established as a settlement by United Empire Loyalists in 1781 and is full of period-restored homes and buildings. Stroll down Queen Street and take your pick of places to stop, shop and snack. Enjoy an elegant high tea at the Prince of Wales Hotel, a slice of sweet fudge from Maple Leaf Fudge or an old-fashioned ice cream cone from Taylor’s Bakery & Ice Cream. Before you leave, be sure to stop by Greaves Jams & Marmalades for a jar of its delectable offerings made using fresh fruit from the Niagara area.

In the late afternoon: Leave Niagara-on-the-Lake head south-west on Highway 55, deciding on the way who will be the designated driver for the next portion of your journey. Stop at Trius Winery, about a 10-minute drive away, for a tour of its vineyards and samples of some of its vintages, or head next door to the Wayne Gretzky Estates to taste some of its whiskeys instead. Be sure to try the Canadian Cream Whiskey, which tastes like dessert in a glass.

Finish your Niagara sipping and savoring experience by heading to the small town of Virgil to try some of the beer offerings at Silversmith Brewing Company and enjoy dinner at its prize-winning restaurant, The Altar Kitchen. Order the Sweet-and-Sassy Fried Chicken Sandwich or Blackened Haddock Sandwich.

Head back down Highway 55 to the Queen Elizabeth Way for your drive back to Toronto. If you have the time, exit at the Red Hill Valley Parkway in Hamilton to enjoy one final ice cream cone at Hutch’s on the Beach, on the shores of Lake Ontario while you watch the Toronto skyline light up at night.

 

 For the drive

As you drive, tune into The Secret Life of Niagara Falls episode of the podcast The Secret Life of Canada (Archive) for a deep dive into one of the world’s most-visited tourist destinations. You’ll start with the geological birth of the Falls, learn about the political division between Canada and the U.S. and finish off with a fascinating overview of everything from the wax museums of Clifton Hill to the daredevils who challenged its roaring waters.

 

COVID-19 need to know

The Niagara region is currently under the province-wide stay-at-home order. Most Niagara shops provide curbside pickup only, while restaurants are open just for takeout service. Some parks have temporarily removed their picnic tables. Visit niagararegion.ca for the latest information on COVID-19 in the area.

Drive Guide

• 7:30 a.m. Leave Toronto

• Drive west on the QEW

• Exit at Highway 420

• 9:30 a.m. Horseshoe Falls

• 10:15 a.m. Niagara City Cruises

• 11:30 a.m. Wildplay Niagara

• Side stop: Ride the Niagara SkyWheel on nearby Clifton Hill

• 12:30 p.m. Table Rock House Restaurant/Dufferin Islands

•Side stop: Visit the newly refurbished Niagara Parks Power Station

• Drive the Niagara Parkway

• 2 p.m. Niagara Glen/Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours

• 3:30 p.m. Niagara-on-the-Lake

• 5 p.m. Trius Winery/Wayne Gretsky Estates

• Side stop: Visit the roadside farm stands selling fresh goods

• 6 p.m. Silversmith Brewing Company

• 7:30 p.m. Drive toward Toronto

• 8:30 p.m. Hutch’s on the Beach

• 9 p.m. Drive back to Toronto

NOTE: Times are suggestions only

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If you think race car drivers are fast, try listening to their spotter talk

The 105th Indianapolis 500 will go to the post tomorrow, and for the second year in a row I will miss it. Damn COVID-19.

Not my friend Jim Cooke. He’ll be there because it’s Indy but also because he has a specialized job. He’s a spotter, a second set of eyes for a driver, keeping them informed of track conditions and what’s going on around them in the race.

It’s something that he started doing for Floyd (Chip) Ganassi and continued with Arrow McLaren and now with Ed Carpenter Racing. It’s more important than you think; he also has the best seat in the house.

Born in Oakville and now living in Pointe aux Roches, Ont., he’s there – as luck would have it – to spot for ECR driver Rinus VeeKay, the 20-year-old who won the Grand Prix at Indianapolis a couple of weeks ago and who’s now considered an Indy 500 favourite.

I love talking to Cooke. He’s my kind of guy.

“Do you know how much Lady Luck plays a part in the 500?” he asked me the other day. “Add up every Andretti who ever started that race – Mario and his two boys (Michael and Jeff), his nephew, John, his grandson, Marco, and between them they must have raced more than 60 Indy 500s. They’ve won exactly one race.”

How much does determination have to do with it?

“I’ve always felt there were maybe eight guys on race morning who had the mental strength to win, who didn’t burn up so much mental energy that by the 400-mile mark, they were panting. Thinking takes up a lot of mental energy,” said Cooke, who is also a veteran racer and racing crewman.

NASCAR regularly kicks IndyCar’s butt when it comes to popularity. How’d that happen?

“The guys today, most of them don’t get it. Mario and A.J. (Foyt) kept their ‘rivalry’ going, a lot of which was exaggerated because they knew it made for good press. Johnny Rutherford used to drive around with Earl Baltes, the owner of Eldora Speedway in Ohio, just north of Dayton, and help hang posters advertising the USAC sprint car race that weekend. Do these guys today know what the Marios and the Foyts and the rest did to promote the sport before they came along?”

Cooke was a “go-fer” in the early years. He made sandwiches, went for parts, picked up 35 dinners at the local Italian eatery. In 1995 or ’96, Ganassi team manager Tom Anderson told Cooke that he didn’t have a spotter for Jimmy Vasser and to get up on the roof. That was the start of it.

“At Indy,” Cooke said, “teams have spotters in Turns 1 and 3. To get to the spotters stand in Turn 1 is complex, so it’s hard to describe. Turn 3, though, is 122 steps from ground level to the spotters stand. You have a backpack that probably weighs 20 pounds that contains radios, spare radios, spare batteries, water, Gatorade, a raincoat, hats, sunscreen and binoculars. Once there, you stay there. You don’t want to go down (to the washroom) more than once.

“Of the oval tracks, Indy is the only place where you lose sight of the car. You’re a long way away. In Turn 3, you’re about three-quarters of a mile away from where the cars pop out from behind the museum. To catch sight of your car in Turn 2 means you have to be fast because if you haven’t picked up your guy by the time they’re in line for the run down to (Turn) 3, all you see is a bunch of sparkles and as they get closer to you, they get clearer. But you have maybe a second to pick up your car, so you have to be on your toes.”

NASCAR spotters talk so quickly they sound like auctioneers. At Indy, different drivers want differing amounts of information.

“Two years ago, Scott (Goodyear) and I had to hand off every lap with (Fernando) Alonso. When I did

(Alex) Tagliani, he wanted the radio on and me talking to him about what was going on all the time – who’s in front of me, who’s behind me, who am I catching? Some of the older guys, Tony Kanaan, for instance, he has an old-time mindset. They look after themselves. They want the bare minimum (of info) and the only reason they have a spotter is because IndyCar says they have to have one.”

Spotting at Indy is like being a caddie for a PGA-calibre player.

“You’re way beyond trying to teach him to play golf. You give him the information and then you try to keep his head in it. From time to time, race drivers blow their tops and say they’re going to kill another guy when the race is over but then they go quiet as they settle down because they might have given themselves a fright and are reacting. You try to calm them down, get them focused on the job at hand,” said Cooke

When I did this interview two weeks ago, Cooke said that it was too early for him to make a prediction about the 2021 race. But then he took a breath and said: “There are lot of experienced guys out there this year and they’re all one year closer to the end of the career. So, if you’ve got (Juan Pablo) Montoya around at Lap 190, and he gets a sniff, don’t think just because he’s 45 that he’s going to move over and let you past, Pato O’Ward.”

Norris McDonald Special to Wheels

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Indy 500 Canadian Preview: ‘Hinch’ is due

James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe, 34, of Oakville, Ont., a.k.a. “Hinch,” and sometimes “the Mayor,” of Zionsville, Ind., has raced in eight Indianapolis 500s during his 10-year IndyCar career and just about everything has happened to him except winning the biggest and most prestigious auto race in the world.

He’ll be taking the green flag at noon Sunday for his ninth kick at the can and figures he’s due.

He’s one of two Canadians among 33 drivers who’ll fire up for the start of the 105^th renewal of the U.S. Memorial Day classic, Dalton Kellett (yep, plain old two-name Dalton Kellett) of Stouffville being the other. Kellett is a child of 27 compared to Hinchcliffe’s more mature 34, and has some time to make his mark in the NTT IndyCar Series and the 500; Hinch, face it friends, is running out of time, which is another reason he’ll be holding nothing back in Indiana Sunday afternoon.

He’s started on the three-car front row three times, the last row once and his best finish has been sixth. He hit the wall during a practice run in 2015 and came within a thimbleful of bleeding to death. He came back the next year and won the pole, which had to have been one of the greatest comebacks in auto racing history, beaten only, perhaps, by F1 driver Robert Kubica, who survived a devastating crash in the Canadian Grand Prix in 2007 and returned to Montreal the following year to win the race.

Two years after winning the pole, Hinchcliffe suffered one of the most devastating defeats of his career when he failed to qualify for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. It was embarrassing beyond belief (right up there with losing his ride), but he took it like the trooper he is, and he’s made the field ever since. He’ll start 16^th Sunday, on the inside of the sixth (of 11) rows.

“Our qualifying (last Saturday) was a one (attempt) and done,” he said about his four laps at speed that was not available on television in Canada (Norris note: Let’s hear it, again, for Sportsnet). “When I first finished, we were sitting 14^th and the track was getting pretty hot and nobody was going any faster, so I just sat there.

“(I was) kind of bummed to lose a couple of positions there in the dying minutes. We (his employers at Andretti Autosport) thought about going back out but we had a good place to start. We can definitely race from there.”

Hinchcliffe has a plan in place to both win the race and to go about doing it.

“The goal is always to be within striking distance with 50 (laps, of 200) to go. You want to be part of that last pit sequence and on pace with the leaders. Good restarts and some good pit stops and some good strategy can get it done, so long as you’re in a position to do it. You just have to stay on top of it.

“And how do you stay on top of it? I’m going back to what every veteran told me in my rookie year (2011) and that’s when they preached patience, patience, patience. One year, when we started on the last row, we just picked off cars here and there. Before you knew it. I was in the top ten and that will be the same philosophy this Sunday.

“It’s still tricky to pass when you’re the last car in the train. IndyCar has added some aero bits that have definitely made the racing better and I think it’s going to be a better show. But when you’re back in the pack, it’s about minimizing mistakes, executing on pit lane and just being patient.

“What’s unique about this race is we’ve seen crazy strategies and crazy results at the end of the day and quite literally anybody who’s in the race has a shot at winning it. All any of us are thinking about is winning that race.”

Which includes Kellett. Of course, his adventure just getting into the race last Saturday, which nobody in Canada saw legally (Norris note: Let’s hear it, again, for Sportsnet), was just about as exciting as any race could be. He was cool as a cucumber but, in so many words, had to bump himself out of the race in order to set a new qualifying time that would ensure his position to stay in the race.

“I think it was more stressful for everyone out of the car,” Kellett said about the last-minute histrionics. “I was strapped in and ready to go for 45 minutes or so and most of the chatter about strategy was over the Intercom.

“I was only tapped into the radio so wasn’t 100 per cent involved in everything that was being said; you were just getting snippets of it and so, really, I just focused and got ready for the run.

“I was completely confident that I’d make it. All I was told by Larry (Foyt, who runs A.J. Foyt Racing, which employs Kellett) ) was to keep my foot in it and finish the run, Even if I had a bad first lap – I didn’t but – I was still to finish the run. So I just treated it as just another qualifying run. I had a little moment in Turn Two but I was able to gather it up and keep running and I got locked in.”

Kellett had a bit of a fright when he got out of the car.

“The scoring pylon hadn’t been updated and showed me in 31^st place (meaning he would be one of five drivers who would have to try again to fill one of three places remaining) but then they said over the PA that I was 30^th, so I felt a lot better.”

Kellett was moving toward the front last year when he crashed but he learned what this race is all about.

“I think we have a car that can compete,” he said. “We can make passes but it’s going to be hard to break through the mid-pack on speed alone. We will need yellows (to fall) at the right time. I think we can get into the Top Twenty; the Top Fifteen would be great for us. It’s just so competitive.”

Which is as it should be.

OTHER RACING 

Some Ontario racing series are releasing revised schedules. The APC Late Model Championship will go Friday, July 2, at Delaware Speedway outside London. The APC has eight races on the schedule, winding up Sat., Sept. 25, again at Delaware. Meantime, the Quick Wick Super Series will also start its season July 2 at Delaware and wind up its five-race season Sept. 25, also at Delaware. Other speedways involved include Sunset, Sauble, Flamboro and Peterborough. The Action Sprint Tour (crate engines) remains on pause, as does the Knights of Thunder 360 Sprint Car Tour. Officials from both series are optimistic, however, of starting their seasons soon.

FEL Motorsports has entered into an agreement with Joel Robinson’s motorsport production house Fuel MediaLab to produce three one-hour programs of races in the Sports Car Championship Canada presented by Michelin and the FEL Cup Canada presented by Michelin that will air in both of Canada’s official languages. The series will also be showcased to American viewers on the MAVTV network. The English talent crew will consist of Dave Bradley (play by play), Kyle Marcelli (colour) and Todd Lewis (pits). The RDS French language crew will be hosted by Dominic Fugère and JF Dumoulin. TSN and RDS are the industry motorsport leaders in Canada while MAVTV is the exclusive motorsport network in the United States. Both FEL championships will start their season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park during the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix weekend June 18-20.

Nissan Canada and JD Promotion & Compétition today unveiled the revised schedule for the 2021 Nissan Sentra Cup. The original schedule has been altered after event cancellations were announced due to the pandemic.  The new schedule still includes six events with two races each weekend. The series, which features the all-new Nissan Sentra, will kick off on June 25-27 at Shannonville Motorsport Park near Belleville.

Norris McDonald  /  Special to Wheels.ca 

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