There’s nothing like getting back to the racetrack, in any capacity, after the winter break.
The last few seasons I’ve been able to do some winter racing in Florida, Arizona and California. Due to some medical issues that popped up last fall, combined with the hostile treatment the US has shown Canadians, this winter was completely devoid of racing.
While the winter break is over, it seemed that Ontario and the GTA didn’t get the memo. Temperatures ran around 10C for the weekend, with rain, humidity, and lots and lots of wind. It was not very pleasant to be outside for hours at a time, but I’d still rather be freezing while racing than almost anywhere else.
I’m very lucky to have worked with Alex Tagliani for over 15 years. Initially, I served as a sponsor, and Alex quickly became our Brand Ambassador. Eventually, he asked me to put a radio on, which turned me into a spotter, a role that I still hold to this day.
For those of you who don’t already know (from Wikipedia): A spotter in auto racing is a trained team member whose job is to relay information to their driver, keeping them alert of what is occurring on the track.[1][2] They are typically positioned higher, atop one of the grandstands or other support buildings, to see the entire track.[1] Spotters keep in constant contact with their drivers via two-way radio communication. Spotters are considered the drivers’ “eyes” and are one of the more notable yet simple, safety measures adopted by professional auto racing in the past two decades.
In NASCAR, a spotter is required to be in the designated spotter location and is required to have working communication with the driver at all times that the driver is on track. IE: if the radio fails you could be black flagged and DQ’d from the event. Notwithstanding the requirement under the rules, a spotter is very important to a driver as they can really only see what’s directly in front of them as well as the narrow view provided by the rearview mirror.
Experiencing Racing Greatness
Even better than knowing that we were kicking off our 2025 NASCAR Canada Series season was knowing that our first race was at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Formerly called Mosport). It is truly one of the very best tracks in the world from every perspective:
- Layout allows for great racing
- Massive elevation changes provide stunning views from any part of the track
- Amazing fan experience, almost anywhere that isn’t designated as paddock is used for camping
- Ron Fellows, Glenn Butt and the entire staff at CTMP are constantly improving the facility and making sure that everyone is taken care of
- Approaching and driving through the tunnel between T9 & T10 is always magical
- Plus, we’re almost always competitive here
Not only were we returning to racing, but we were running in 2 series: NASCAR Canada Series (NCS) and Super Production Challenge (SPC) with GT Motorsports.
SPC is an IMSA inspired multi-racing series comprising of:
- Super Production Class: Front engine, 2 wheel drive with less than 300 wheel horsepower
- Production Class: Front Engine, 2 wheel drive with less than 210 wheel horsepower
- Compact Class: Front Engine, 2 wheel drive with no more than 100 wheel horsepower
During one of the practice sessions we saw what can happen when things go wrong when the Compact of Alex Donnely went upside down after running wide onto the grass and coming back on track sideways. He was fine and actually got his car back on track to race the next day:
To be clear: I didn’t seek this out, Donnelly was pitted behind us under the same tent-had they not got back on track I wouldn’t be sharing this. Their team did a remarkable job getting their car ready to race and Alex did great to shake off the incident.
The SPC car driving duties are being split between Alex and Jacques “The King” Gravel in 2025. Immediately, we had a few issues that limited our practice time and even forced us to park the car before taking the green flag in race one. Thanks to some excellent work by our crew and support staff we were able to get the issues diagnosed and managed to have the car ready for race 2.
We had to start at the back but Jacques had a great start, drove to the outside of T1 and passed 4 cars. We started 12th in class and finished 6th.
In race 3 Alex took over driving, had a bit of an issue with the brakes that prevented him from charging the corners as much as he’d like, started 9th (based on Jacques’ fastest lap in race 2) and finished 5th. All in all, a great recovery and decent start to the season in SPC.
Getting to Have A Bit of Fun With New Friends
On Saturday night, we even helped facilitate a wedding engagement:
New For 2025
In 2025, our race team: Theetge 80 Inc. run by Donald Theetge made a major change in the offseason with the addition of Don Thompson Jr. DTJ is a Canadian racing legend as both a driver and crew chief, his impact was very obvious from the moment we had our first test.
The NCS weekend was compromised for us from the outset when lightning moved into the area on Saturday during practice which drastically cut our time on track. We never got to make a proper qualifying simulation and definitely didn’t get to do any race runs having only completed 4 laps.
Despite the challenges, Alex was able to qualify 3rd and, of course, he was disappointed that a small mistake cost us the chance at pole.
Race Breakdown
On lap 1 he got beside P2 of Kevin Lacroix, Alex got moved onto the inside curbs which upset the car but he collected it and set his sights on P1 which he took with a great move at 5b. Tag was able to extend his lead at will until the tires got hot which threw the balance of the car off a bit. Before the 74 could overtake us we got a timely caution which allowed our tires to cool off. Alex managed to hold the 74 off until we started making pit stops around lap 20.
But this is where our race started to change.
After we went though pit stops Alex commented that the car was losing power, the battery’s voltage was dropping. We made a pitstop to replace the battery but that dropped us almost 2 laps to the leaders.
At the end of the day, we finished 18th, hardly representative of what the team or driver are capable of. In reality, had we run a full practice session the issue with the alternator would have been seen, it would have been changed and we would have had a shot at the win. But that’s racing and we move on to the next one.
Final Thoughts
Seeing that Camirand, once again, drove another car off of the track without penalty is unbelievably disappointing. There’s a time and place for minor contact IE: on a short oval a bump-and-run when you’re being held up is an accepted form of racing. Camirand takes it too far. He didn’t have a chance to pass Klutt cleanly and chose to make a banzai move instead of accepting that he was going to finish 2nd. It was a wrecking move, a move that is impossible to defend against and a move that, on the last lap, prevents any chance of retaliation. Terrible driving by the 96 and a terrible call by NASCAR.
We were once told that “the reason that a penalty wasn’t issued was that you were able to drive away” IE: if you have a high enough skill level to recover from such an aggressive move the aggressor won’t be penalized……this doesn’t sit well with me, nor does it make any sense.
You can watch a clip of the contact, video from RevTV’s broadcast: https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxASgH3-vemYesR974cz2axI_kyCmGQxmx?feature=shared
After having the win taken away a clearly disappointed Gary Klutt said: “I don’t want to wave a guy by with 2 to go just to have the chance to wreck him, it would be nice if we could race one of these to the finish instead of getting pushed into the grass”. I appreciated that he was able to summarize such a heartbreaking moment so eloquently.
This is nothing new for NASCAR Canada, the 96 did the same thing to us at Icar in 2023 but many drivers have employed the same tactic as there never seems to be any consequence.
I believe that we need to expect more of our drivers, especially when they’ve been bestowed as champions. Very bad look for our series.
On the plus side: Seeing Malcom Strachan put his Jim Bray owned car on the podium was exactly what the series needs and what should be supported. Jim Bray (92 years old) has been in racing his whole life, it’s great to see something great happen to great people. Congratulations to everyone at Jim Bray racing and to Malcom!
You can watch the full race on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkqdiM-fsNc