IPSC: Scotia Speedworld Forbes Chev Olds 150 Preview

(June 13) - The big show is back in Halifax this Saturday as the International Pro Stock Challenge (IPSC) makes its second stop of 2000 at Scotia Speedworld. The 3/10-mile d-shaped oval will play host to a full field of competitive stock car racers from Eastern Canada and New England. With over $32,000 (USD) in posted awards for the event, the gloves will be off when the green flag falls. The winner is guaranteed $5000 with the opportunity to earn over $8000 - a very good payday in any series at this level of racing - and most certainly an incentive for exciting door-handle to door-handle hard charging race action. How do they make the extra $3000, you ask? Series sponsors present various Competition Awards which pay bonus monies. Snap-on Tools Atlantic offer the Time Trial Award ($300) and the Teamwork Award ($125 to the team that advances the most spots). The Motor Mart Dash for Cash not only sets the starting order for the feature but pays $300 to the winner of the 10-lap heat race. Linco Fisheries offers $150 to the car leading at the halfway point (lap 75). SK Racing/ Parts For Trucks pay $100 (Cdn) to the car that finishes in the 12th position. Bassett Racing Wheels awards a $50 voucher to the team that experiences the worst luck in the feature. A whopping $3,000 (Cdn/ $approx. $2000 USD) bonus is payable with the Copenhagen Inc./Ultramar Corner Stores Pole Challenge if a top-five competitor on the starting grid for the feature elects to forfeit their starting spot to race from the rear of the field and wins the race. By default, they receive $100 per position gained on the field, based on their highest position reached. "You really need to pay attention," said Adam Friend, driver of the No.92 Ford Taurus running out of Detroit, Maine. "Naturally, you always want to finish as well as you can, but sometimes you need to conserve your car to get there. Well, if you can earn an extra $150 for leading at halfway, or whatever, it all goes into the overall race strategy." As the season begins to unfold, so does the strategy and also the apparent rivalries which will play out. With three of 11 races complete, the IPSC has seen one Pontiac (Scott Fraser, Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia) and two Fords (Larry Gelinas, Scarborough, Maine and Ralph Nason, Unity, Maine) in Victory Lane. All three drivers will be on hand for the Forbes Chev Olds 150. Will we see a Ford win the $30,000 championship? Not if points leader Andy Shaw from Center Conway, New Hampshire has any say in it. "It's only early yet," said Shaw, who drives the No. 66 Chevrolet, "but we're taking this battle very seriously." Shaw is 25 points ahead of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia's Mike MacKenzie (572-547), another Chevrolet driver. Kenny Wright from Woolwich, Maine, in another Chevrolet is third with 545 points. Another question. Will an American driver take the IPSC championship home for the first time? Not if MacKenzie has any say in it. We'd like to keep the title here," said MacKenzie. "Myself and my fellow Canadian competitors will have to try and repeat what Fraser did last year and Scott Kelly (Sackville, Nova Scotia) did in '98. Winning the Kelly Cup would be special." Teams expected for the Forbes Chev Olds 150 include, from Nova Scotia: Scott Alexander (Dartmouth), Leo Cochrane (Halifax), Dan Eddy (Dartmouth), John Flemming (Halifax), Vance Hanes (Kennetcook), Steve Henderson (Truro), Scott Fraser (Halifax), Tim MacKay (Sackville), Mike MacKenzie (Dartmouth), Marty Prevost (Fall River), Mike Riley (Halifax), and Russell Smith (Halifax); from Prince Edward Island: Dave Gorveatt (Charlottetown); from Maine: Gary Bellefleur (Litchfield), Adam Friend (Detroit), Larry Gelinas (Scarborough), Chuck Lachance (Cushing), Tom Mayberry (Naples), Ralph Nason (Unity), Ben Rowe (Turner), Sam Sessions (South Paris), Gary Smith (Bangor), Kirk Thibeau (Fort Fairfield), Kenny Wright (Woolwich); from New Hampshire: Andy Shaw (Center Conway). Additional entries may be received. A full day of activity is planned for Scotia Speedworld June 17th. Pit gates open at 11 a.m. Grandstand gates open at Noon. Practice gets underway at Noon. Scotia Speedworld Weekly Racing Series Heat Races start at 2 (alternating with IPSC practice sessions). Snap-on Tools Time Trials for IPSC cars is at 4:30 and the Motor Mart Heat Races for the IPSC start at 6, followed by Scotia Speedworld Weekly Racing Series features and the Forbes Chev Olds 150. Advance tickets are available in Dartmouth at Forbes Chev Olds, Parts For Trucks, Amber Contracting and D & D Racing; in Halifax at Racing Around; in Bedford at Municipal Contracting; in Elmsdale at the Elmsdale Superstore; and in Yarmouth at Motor Mart. FORBES CHEV OLDS 150 PRE-RACE NOTES:

* Dartmouth, Nova Scotia's Dan Eddy will be back behind the wheel of his No. 1 Ford Taurus. Eddy recently scaled back his 2000 racing schedule to regroup.

* Drivers expected to make their first IPSC starts include: Tim MacKay (Sackville, Nova Scotia); Russell Smith (Halifax, Nova Scotia).

* Smith won his first-ever pro stock feature in a MASCAR event held June 10th. It was just his fourth start in a pro stock feature.

* Forbes Chev Olds will host the Cars'N'Stars of the IPSC for Autographs and a Cookout at their Portland Street location in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia this Friday, June 16th from 6-9 p.m. More than 10 teams are expected. Proceeds from the cookout will go to charity. The public is invited.

* Mighty Muffler will host IPSC Cars'N'Stars at their Lady Hammond Road location in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Saturday, June 17th from 9-11 a.m. Scott Alexander and Dan Eddy will be on hand with their race cars.

* IPSC teams are three for three in setting track records on the 2000 season. Ben Rowe circled the Scotia oval in 13.918 seconds on May 6th. Larry Gelinas broke the record at Speedway 95 in Bangor, Maine on May 21st and Ralph Nason set a new record at Autodrome Montmagny in Quebec on June 4th.