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Date Posted: February 13, 2011 |
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Grisdale Remains Key Late Model Partner |
A JP Post Loyalty and partnership trumped change and assimilation, as Flamboro Speedway announced their continued relationship with Grisdale Racing and American Racer at the annual general meeting on February 13th in Waterdown, Ontario. Since the start of the new year Flamboro Speedway has been considering presentations to make changes to the Late Model division rules package, including a change from the American Racer rubber to the performance Hoosier tire. This specific amendment would have jeopardized the long-standing relationship that the speedway has built with partner Grisdale Racing Enterprises, supplier of the American Racer tires and lead partner in the development and support of the Late Model racing at Hamilton’s asphalt arena. The tire presentation that was up for discussion would have put the Flamboro Late Model teams on the 8-inch Hoosier tire, mounted on their current 10-inch rims. The different tire compound would create a new challenge for teams in April, as the Hoosier tire has a reputation of being unforgiving for poor chassis setup. In theory, this change would slow the cars down and put more team focus onto mastering their chassis setup. However, looking back at the recent history of the Late Model division at Flamboro Speedway and considering the decreased number of multi-car accidents since moving to the American Racer tire, an argument was made to hold-off on making a change. Since the introduction of the 10-inch tire from Grisdale Racing, lap times have decreased as the cars are more able to keep speed and control through the corners. Similarly, multi-car accidents are significantly lower and less common. Said co-promoter John Casale, “We did consider the change to Hoosier with a critical eye. While it absolutely would have offered new opportunities, the returns for the race teams and the loss of a great sponsor partner were simply not matched. We find it more beneficial to everyone involved in our weekly program to continue our current relationship with Grisdales and keep our teams on the American Racer tire.” Currently the only weekly Late Model class in the province on the American Racer brand, the speedway wants to make clear that it does not intend to be “an island”. Said Casale, “We want visiting cars to try our race track. We would love to see more teams join our weekly program. Our competition team is working on rule amendments to make that opportunity easier but, the fact is that at our track the current tire has performed better than the alternative. It has a proven safety advantage for our race teams, and if more grip and longer tire life means less accidents, than we believe that’s a cost savings in itself.”
Grisdale Racing is continuing to do their part for the division, creating team savings and performance incentives. At the top of the list for the new year, Grisdale is absorbing more than half of the cost increase for the Late Model tires. The American Racer tires were to go up by $10 per unit in 2011, to compensate for changing international markets. As part of the announcement and sponsorship support, Grisdale Racing has held that increase to just $3 per unit, a 70% savings on the proposed increase. Plus Grisdale Enterprises is back for the 9th annual Grisdale Triple Crown tournament, Ontario’s premier 3-race home series. This summer the 75-lap events are scheduled for May 28th, July 2nd, and August 6th.
Grisdale Triple Crown Class of 2010, taken August 7th 2010 Past GRISDALE Triple Crown Champions: 2003 – #16 Todd Nagel; 2004 - #91 Robbie Thompson; 2005 - #7 Pete Vanderwyst; 2006 - #52 Scott Lyons; 2007 - #07 Todd Campbell; 2008 & 2009 - #8 Paul Howse; 2010 - #89 Shawn Chenoweth.
Cheers, JP |
One of the speedway’s chief concerns in considering the switch was
the affect it might have on the weekly competition. As mentioned,
the greater focus on chassis setup may have provided a new
challenge, but the competition team felt that the new learning curve
would be steeper than they would like. The speedway did not want to
make the Late Model class, a division that already requires
significant financial investment, to become even more intimidating
to new teams. “We are trying to manage a difficult situation,
balancing new technology with the parts and pieces that teams have
built up in their inventory. We want to open our gates to more
teams, but we have to keep a level of parity on the speedway, both
in what goes in the car and in the budget.”
