NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Rolls Into The Edmonton International Raceway For Inaugural Race

Details: Category: Oval Racing

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The stars of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series roll in to Edmonton International Raceway for the first time this weekend. (Photo-Mike Sullivan/RaceCanada.ca)

By: Edmonton International Raceway

July 8, 2014

The stars of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will face a difficult challenge when they roll onto EIR's freshly paved, quarter-mile oval for 300 laps. The "Alberta has Energy 300" takes place on Friday, July 11, at Edmonton International Raceway (EIR) in Wetaskiwin.

Loretta Thiering, EIR promoter, says there's been a lot of investment into the facility and track staff have worked around the clock for weeks to get ready for the only NASCAR stop in Alberta. "EIR was responsible for bringing this race back to the Edmonton area," says Thiering. "We are not a one-event track, we will be here for the long term. Racers and fans can be confident that local dollars will not be taken elsewhere and will be invested into the track to make this an annual event."

This is the first time the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series has been in Alberta since the cancellation of the Edmonton Indy in 2012. Two-time series champion, Andrew Ranger is thrilled to return to the province.

"To go out west is good for the series, it's great for business and exposure of our national sponsors and it's fantastic to see the Alberta race fans again," said Ranger who is fresh off winning last week's event in Quebec. "It's fun to go on a new track, it means we will be going very fast and it will be quite a show for the fans."

One of the drivers he will have to contend with is 5 time Alberta Champion Erica Thiering. "I'm excited to compete at my home track in front of fans who have watched me grow up driving at EIR. I raced against these guys last month and I look forward to testing myself against them again."

It will be with a heavy heart when Edmonton's Admiraal Racing drives the Alberta Cancer Foundation car. The team lost a member of their racing family, Brenda McKinlay, to cancer just last month and this is one of the ways they are remembering her. "Losing Brenda was devastating," says driver Ian Admiraal. "I want to honour her memory and continue to create awareness, discuss prevention, and seek new cures. We have a race team and the mechanism to get the message out to a national audience. I know this would make Brenda happy."