Saturday Race Will Feature The Coveted Al Craighead Memorial Can-Am Cup

Toronto, Ontario – The BEMC Indian Summer Trophy Races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this weekend will be rounds 11 and 12 in the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship - the final two rounds of the season.

25 cars and drivers from all over North America will descend on CTMP’s challenging track for two days of action.

Reid Arnold of Keswick, Ontario has enjoyed a breakout year and sits atop the “A” Class point standings with a tally of 744, slightly ahead of Minesing, Ontario’s Andre duPreez, jr. with 654 and Oakville, Ontario’s Ben Hurst with 596. Hurst has also locked up the Rookie of the Year standings.

“I am really happy with the way the season has gone so far,” said Arnold. “We had some issues with a motor setting us back a little bit but my Brian Graham Racing prepared Piper has been fast all season, is ready to go and I am really hungry for this championship.”

In the “B” Class the battle has been predominantly between point leader and defending champion Connor Wagland of Dundas, Ontario and Cambridge, Ontario’s Graham Lobban. Wagland’s 888 point tally is slightly ahead of Lobban’s 754 with Amy Castell of Waterloo, Ontario and Mike Lee, of East York, Ontario fighting it out for third with 662 and 608 respectively.

“I am feeling really confident heading into the final weekend,” said defending “B” Class champ Wagland. “I am going to go into this weekend looking to play it a little conservative and run my own race and close out the year with another title which would be an amazing feat for our team.”

Featured on the Saturday of the event will be the running of the Al Craighead Memorial Can-Am Cup.

Al Craighead, a former motorsport writer and F1600 competitor with a deep connection to the sport created the Can-Am Cup many years ago. He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and his time with us was cut short so the custodian of the Can-Am Cup, team owner Brian Graham, decided to re-name the trophy last season while Al was still with us. It also produced the best race of the season, won by Zacharie Robichon and with Al in attendance.

Al passed earlier this year and we are thrilled to have Al’s wife Denise and his family in attendance to make the 20155 trophy presentation.

The best in Canadian F1600 talent have signed up for the prestigious event, 25 cars in total, making it the largest field of the season.

Newly crowned F1600 Super Series Champion and former Toyo Tires Series title-holder Michael Adams of Courtice, Ontario leads a star-studded lineup including defending winner Zacharie Robichon of Ottawa, Ontario and Scott Andrews of Australia who swept the weekend in his series debut at the last event. Andrews is also the points leader in the F1600 Championship in the US.

They will be joined by “A” Class points leader Reid Arnold, of Keswick, Ontario and a couple of very fast “B” Class cars in Graham Lobban of Caledon, Ontario and former “B” Champ Craig Willis, of Guelph, Ontario, both of which are capable of running all day long with the lead “A” Class group.

New for this year is a “B” Class award, a trophy donated by Britain West owner David Clubine and formerly won by his late father Oliver Clubine.

Lobban and Willis are favoured for this prize but points leader Connor Wagland will be pulling out all of the stops as well as perennial podium finisher Amy Castell.

Each day of the event will feature a short morning practice followed by a qualifying session setting the grid for the mid-afternoon races.

Tickets for the event are free to the public if downloaded from the CASC-Ontario Region website.

The Toyo Tires F1600 Championship Series is the premiere open wheel series in Ontario, sanctioned by CASC Ontario Region and proudly supported by Toyo Tires, Honda HPD, Heather’s Heros, Cove Dentistry, Stäubli, Lincoln Electric and MK Technologies. The series is comprised of a six event, double-header format and competes at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Shannonville Motorsport Park and Calabogie Motorsports Park.