Canadians Come to NASCAR Watkins Glen Races

Photo Credit: Chris Nagy/XSL Speed Reporter

Converging on the 2.46-mile road course at Watkins Glen on its traditional August state of New York weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is assembling for the Sunday's Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen race. Held in conjunction with the preparations of the Sprint Cup Series is the NASCAR Nationwide Series as well as the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car tour.

With the many NASCAR regulars assembled within the unfamiliar confides of a road course, the services of road racing professionals are called in as participants in the two major NASCAR organizations. For three Canadian drivers, their proficiency in handling twists and turns have earned them a call for various stock car race teams. Watkins Glen, Ron Fellows, Andrew Ranger and JR Fitzpatrick will battle in one or both NASCAR events as "Road Race Ringers".


Ron Fellows

NASCAR Sprint Cup: #36 TBR Chevrolet Impala
NASCAR Nationwide: #7 Canadian Tire Chevrolet Impala

Possessing a winning record in competition at the Watkins Glen course, accomplished Canadian driver Ron Fellows has again been a sought-after wheelman. Winning 6 NASCAR-sanctioned road course races, 5 of Fellows' victories were earned on the Watkins Glen track in either the Nationwide or truck series. Reteaming with JR Motorsports for the 2011 Nationwide Series season road courses, the driver/ownership pairing 4th season together comes with sponsorship from Canadian retail giant Canadian Tire covering the Chevy Impala.   
Ron Fellows will be making what is expected to be his only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series appearance in Watkins Glen, New York. For the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen, Fellows will be driving the Tommy Baldwin Racing #36 Chevrolet Impala for the second year in a row. In last year's event, Ron Fellows and the #36 car team retired just past the halfway point suffering suspension breakage. Fellows has finished in the runner-up position twice (2000 and 2004) at Watkins Glen in the 90-lap NASCAR Sprint Cup Series contest.


Andrew Ranger

NASCAR Sprint Cup: #32 Bully Hills Vineyards Ford Fusion
NASCAR Nationwide Series: #53 Bollegraaf/Lobo USA Dodge Challenger

Competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series event in the #53 Waste Management Dodge, the Watkins Glen weekend will also see the debut of French-Canadian driver Andrew Ranger in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. To drive the #32 Ford for Frank Stoddard Racing, Ranger will be wearing Bully Hill Vineyards sponsorship. As a race team backer, Bully Hill Vineyards is a motorsport mainstay that was ridden to Watkins Glen's victory lane in previous years by Canadian Ron Fellows.

A former open wheel driver, Andrew Ranger has been fighting to earn respect as a stock car racing star. A resident of Roxton Pond, Quebec, Ranger's stock car presence is becoming best expressed on road courses. Winning multiple times on the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (including the 2011 Honda Indy Toronto stock car event), other series Andrew Ranger have added as a conquest to his career were the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and West divisions as well as the ARCA Racing Series with a May win at New Jersey Motorsport Park. Ranger's best finish in the NASCAR Nationwide Series is a 3rd at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve event in 2009.


JR Fitzpatrick

NASCAR Nationwide Series: #67 Go Canada Racing Ford Mustang

A talented stock car racing star from Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, JR Fitzpatrick has demonstrated his skill on multiple occasions on ovals. Yet, Fitzpatrick is still regarded as a road race ringer on the basis of his Canadian stock car racing experience. On the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series tour, road and street course play a much heavier role in the championship with 5 of 12 races for the 2011 season.

For 2011, JR Fitzpatrick has been able to make more NASCAR Nationwide Series runs after teaming up with the newly-formed #67 Go Canada Racing organization. This season, Fitzpatrick's best effort with the freshman Go Canada Racing team was a 10th place result at Road America.

Racing for a third year at Watkins Glen, JR Fitzpatrick's previous two events in NASCAR Nationwide Series resulted in a 11th and a 18th place finish.

2011 Plans for Go Canada Racing Announced; Two Sprint Cup Runs Planned

Photo Credit: Greig Reekie

This past weekend's NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Nashville Superspeedway marked the inaugural outing for the #67 Go Canada Racing Ford Mustang. A team founded by Canadian investment firm co-founder Steve Meehan, the new Nationwide Series race team was assembled around Canadian stock car prospect J.R. Fitzpatrick. In the Nashville 300 race last Saturday, Fitzpatrick and the #67 Go Canada Racing team qualified 21st. In their first field test as a full-fledged organization, the efforts over the race's 300-miles secured a 27st place finish 4 laps down to Nashville winner Carl Edwards. While the team was disappointed not to experience breakaway success, the #67 Canadian-based NASCAR Nationwide Series team completed the final distance of their initial event. 

Determined to build on their first track appearance, Go Canada Racing has announced plans for 9 additional NASCAR Nationwide Series events in 2011. Consisting of 6 ovals and all 3 road courses, the team's next race will by the May event at the one-mile Dover International Speedway. JR Fitzpatrick will wheel the #67 stock car in these Nationwide Series races having competed on all tracks with exception of Chicagoland in either previous NASCAR Nationwide or Camping World Truck Series events.

JR Fitzpatrick and Go Canada Racing will also vie to be part of the August NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Ponoco Raceway as well as the road course at Watkins Glen. Qualifying for either of these races will be a significant first for the race team and Fitzpatrick.


NASCAR Nationwide Series

May 14- Dover International Speedway (Dover, DE
Jun 18- Michigan International Speedway (Brooklyn, MI)
Jun 25- Road America (Elkhart Lake, WI)
Jul 16- New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Loudon, NH)
Aug 20- Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (Montreal, QC, Canada)
Sep 17- Chicagoland Speedway (Chicago,Il)
Oct 1- Dover International Speedway (Dover, DE)
Nov 12- Phoenix International Raceway (Phoenix, AZ)
Nov 19- Homestead-Miami Speedway (Miami, FL)


NASCAR Sprint Cup
Aug 7- Pocono International Raceway (Pocono, PA)
Aug 14- Watkins Glen International (Watkins Glen, NY)

Go Canada Racing a Go at NASCAR Nationwide Race in Nashville

Photo Credit: Greig Reekie

At this moment, a Canadian national election is playing out with various parties vying to convince the North American country's people that their beliefs best represent Canada. Attempting to ignite the notions for what Canadian values are most important, candidates challenge the for the heart and soul of Canada for a nationwide vote. Well over 800 kilometers away from the Windsor/Detroit border crossing, an patriotic surge of Canadian spirit will ride around a 1.25 mile oval this weekend as part of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Nashville.

Announced this Tuesday, a co-owner of multi-billion dollar financial firm Investment Planning Counsel has pursued a new, personal venture. Entering the very competitive NASCAR stock car racing circuit, Canadian business Steve Meehan unveiled his Go Canada Racing team. Selected to drive Meehan's Canadian stock car racing is stand-out JR Fitzpatrick.

A champion of the 2006 CASCAR Super Series (now reorganized as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series), the youthful talent of Fitzpatrick has not been a phenomenon limited only to the top side of the 49th parallel. Driving a NASCAR Camping World Series Truck for TRG Motorsports at the Daytona 250-mile race in 2009, JR Fitzpatrick not only survived the high-speed competition but firmly challenged the more veteran stock car drivers. Fitzpatrick finished 4th in that race which kicked off some initial interest later from the Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI) race team. Though JR Fitzpatrick and KHI were able to compete several races together in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and two Nationwide Series road races, the pairing never reached full potential. KHI decided late in 2009 to divest themselves from driver development and focused solely on placing established drivers to please sponsors. Returning to the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series full-time in 2010, Fitzpatrick regrouped for a title-contending season with two wins.

Delivering JR Fitzpatrick his dream position for competing in a major United States NASCAR tour, the Go Canada Racing team have matched the 22-year old driver with experienced crew chief Newt Moore. Enthusiastic about the team, Fitzpatrick responds "Steve has put together an outstanding team and given us the tools to succeed in this sport. We have a great crew, a great car, and a great team, and I'm looking forward to competing with some of NASCAR's best, starting this weekend in Nashville."

Debuting at the Nashville Superspeedway's NASCAR Nationwide Series race on April 23rd, Go Canada Racing will wear a white #67 Ford Mustang with bright red details. A highly ambitious operation, Go Canada Racing is not the first Canadian owner/driver combination to run in the NASCAR Nationwide Series tour. Oshawa, Ontario's car owner and past driver Randy MacDonald has employed fellow countryman on two occasion. Reigning 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion DJ Kennington drove many races for MacDonald Motorsports from 2007 to 2009. Current French-Canadian INDYCAR driver Alex Tagliani also joining the team for the 2009 Nationwide Series race in Montreal.

Based heavily on Canadian symbols and people, even the car number of the Meehan-owned team is significantly Canadian. The number '67' represents the year in the 19th century when Canada proceeded to becoming an independent nation.

Due to NASCAR's commitment to provide a 43-car field in the Nashville 300, the #67 Go Canada Racing Ford Mustang is assured a starting spot for this first outing. Through two Friday practice sessions for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, JR Fitzpatrick placed 25th and 33rd fastest on the timing charts. Competing against some of the best stock car racing drivers and teams, Go Canada Racing understands success will be hard-earned. Comparing the race teams in the United States to the organizations in Canada, Fitzpatrick says "I think the competitiveness in the United States is the major difference. In Canada you go out each week and there are 5-10 guys that are going to be your main competition. In the states you have 25 guys that you are racing each week."

Showing endurance through harsh winters and ruggedness interacting with a vast country like fellow country mates, it is impossible to believe that Fitzpatrick or anyone in the entire freshman Canadian racing team will bow to this challenge. As team owner Steve Meehan iterates, 7 million avid NASCAR fans in the true north strong and free will support the #67 Ford Mustang.