Sydney Speedway Hosting Big Show This Sunday September 26, 2019 Regional Sydney Speedway will roar to life on Sunday afternoon with its third stock car racing card of the season. Racing action will see twin features in the Colbourne Auto Group Legend, Steve Lewis Auto Body Bandolero, and Mini Stock divisions along with a 50-lap Bomber/Endurance division race and a 10- lap Dash for Cash. Racing action begins at the Grand Lake Road oval at 1 pm. With no INEX sanctioned events scheduled for next weekend in the Atlantic Provinces, Sydney Speedway’s Sunday card is the last chance for Legend and Bandolero drivers to score points towards National and State championships in their home region. INEX is the international sanctioning body of Legend and Bandolero cars and is the third-largest short track sanctioning body. Drivers who compete at Sydney Speedway collect INEX points towards National and State championships. With the Canada East State Championship hanging in the balance, several hopefuls will look to travel to Cape Breton Island on Sunday with those season-long championships in mind. Austin MacDonald (Pictou, NS) is hopeful to make the haul to Sydney this weekend. One of the region’s top young talents will make his first start in Sydney this weekend at the wheel of the No. 27 King Racing Legend. MacDonald has 10 100-point Young Lion division wins this season across North America – including at Texas Motor Speedway (TX), Atlanta Motor Speedway (GA), Tri-County Motor Speedway (NC), Oxford Plains Speedway (ME) and Scotia Speedworld (NS). MacDonald leads Canada East in the INEX Young Lion standings for drivers aged 15 and under and is currently in a top-three battle for the National Championship with North Carolina’s Zachary Miracle and South Carolina’s Janson Marchbanks. Local favorite Kody Quinn (Sydney, NS) will look to put a lock on the Canada East Semi-Pro State Championship this weekend. Quinn has a 110-point advantage on Devin Wadden (Hammonds Plains, NS) and can inch closer to the State championship with a win this weekend at his home track. Brian Northrup (Shubenacadie, NS) will make his return to Sydney Speedway behind the wheel of a Legends car. Northrup’s racing career spans decades in Atlantic Canada across several divisions including Late Model Sportsman and Pro Stock. He was also instrumental in bringing the Bandolero division to the Maritimes and Scotia Speedworld in 2006. Northrup will race the No. 81 car out of the PPM Incorporated stables. With big car counts for the Four Cylinder Mini Stock division on Opening Weekend in July, the Mini Stock division drivers are anticipating the green flag on Sunday afternoon for another chance at the checkered flag. The opening weekend saw local favorites like Josh Benac, Kody Quinn, Brandon MacMillan, Jonathan MacInnis, Ryan Price, Douglas Webb, Rhonda Kelloway and newly crowned Passione Flooring & Interiors East Coast Mini Stock Tour Rookie of the Year Darrell Hulme thrill fans with most of them looking to return Sunday for the Twin 30 lap features. Dave Matthews of Kennetcook won the two Tour-sanctioned events at the track in July. The Steve Lewis Auto Body Bandolero division will open the card on Sunday with two 20-lap features. In July, Dylan Dowe (Bedford, NS) and Austin Tanner (Shubenacadie, NS) picked up INEX National Qualifiers on Opening Weekend. The Endurance/Bomber division returns on the card with a focus on teams being able to build race cars on a budget with safety features. These competitors will compete in a 10-lap “Dash for Cash” heat race with a 50-lap feature as their headliner. Three dozen Endurance cars showed up to compete on Opening Weekend. This Sunday’s event will be also used as a tune-up for the Thanksgiving Thunder weekend, taking place from October 11 to 13 at Sydney Speedway. Interest for the Thanksgiving Thunder weekend has been received from all three Maritime Provinces and with it being the final stock car event of the season, it is expected to draw some familiar names to stock car fans to Cape Breton Island for the racing action. Adult grandstand admission prices for Sydney Speedway events (per race day) are $15 (aged 16 and up), Youth eight to 15 years of age are $6 each with children aged seven and under admitted to the grandstands free of charge. A family pass (two adults, two youth) is $35 per day. Pit admission is $25 per day and is restricted to those 18 years of age and older, or aged 14 to 17 with minor waiver form signed. Pit gates open for competitors on Sunday at 9 am, grandstand gates open for fans at 11 am with racing beginning at 1 pm. Tickets are available at the gate on race day, cash only. Camping is available on site (no services or hookups) free of charge. About Sydney Speedway:Opened in 1975, Sydney Speedway has built a racing tradition on Cape Breton Island over the past four decades. Purchased in 2019 by local businessman and racing enthusiast Greg Dowe, the track is home to a number of stock car racing divisions, a destination for local touring series and motorsports events. For more information on Sydney Speedway, find them online at SydneySpeedway.ca and on various social media platforms at @SydneySpeedCA.
