The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

26 Oakville Beaver Weekend Sunday, July 18, 1999 Sports An Oakville Beaver Feature Editor: NO RM NELSON 845-3824 (Extension 255) Fax:337-5567 O akville's Matt W hite (below) is competing in the Formula Ford 1600 series at this w eekend's M olson Indy. He's pictured here during a series stop at Mosport on May 24th. A 20-year-old student, W hite won six races in last year's Bridgestone Racing School Formula 2000 Championship series. INSET PHOTO: O akville's Kenny Wilden is a force on the KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship series. He won in Cleveland last year and is fourth in the series this year after six events with two second-place finishes. H e's got a ride in the Indy Lights series at the Molson Indy this weekend, courtesy of Toronto's Brian Stewart Racing Inset Photo Special to the Beaver ... Bottom Photo by Barrie Erskine Local flavour at Molson Indy The Molson Indy has taken over Toronto this weekend and Oakville has three drivers involved. Neither are in the big Indy race, of course, but are part of the package of four support races. INDY LIGHTS With six KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship events and one American Le Mans Series race under his belt already this season, Oakville's Kenny Wilden is looking to further broaden his racing horizons this weekend when he makes his debut in the PPG-Dayton Indy Light Championship Series. The Lites are essentially the farm system of big league open wheeled racing, running in profes­ sionally prepared chassis with V6 motors. * This series has graduated most of the current Champ Car drivers. Oriol Serviva, of Catalonia, leads the series for Dorricott-Mears racing, heading into this weekend. But all eyes will be turned to Wilden to see how he fares in his Indy Lights debut. Local team Brian Stewart Racing (BSR) is arranging their third car for Wilden, giving him a ^huge opportunity to show his stuff in a premiere open-wheeled race. "We spent three days at Blackhawk Farms Raceway last week testing the car that I'll drive this weekend and everything went real well," said Wilden, a Burlington native who has called Oakville home for the last three years. "I was able to run competitive times after just a handful of laps on the first day and we just got bet- i ter after that. "I really think we'll be able to run among the leaders in Toronto and have as good a chance as anybody of taking home the win." BSR team owner and Toronto native Brian Stewart agreed, saying: "I was extremely pleased with Ken's test with us at Blackhawk Farms. He * was fast right out of the box in a car that was total­ ly new to him, which shows the kind of talent he has. I wouldn't be surprised if Ken's on the podi­ um in Toronto when it's all over. "I'm also happy to have a fellow Canadian dri­ ving for us in my hometown." Wilden is showing his versatility, racing three very different types of racing cars in the span of less than a month. "Driving a Prototype Lola in the American Le Mans Series at Mosport a few weeks ago, running an Atlantic Swift this past weekend at Road America, and testing an Indy Lights Lola at Blackhawk Farms has been a great experience. "All three cars are vety different in terms of horsepower and handling, but in the end you just have to make a few adjustments to your driving style and get on with the job. "People always say that the best drivers can go fast in just about anything, anywhere. I hope I'm proving that. "Of course, what I'd really like to do is show some people what I could do in a Champ Car." Wilden is currently ranked fourth in this year's KTAC standings after six events. He has one career KTAC victory, in Cleveland last year. His KTAC resume also includes five other top-three finishes, including two second place efforts earlier this year at Nazareth Pa and Milwaukee, Wis. He has one KTAC pole position, which he claimed at Long Beach, Calif, in April. A KTAC event was held at the Molson Indy last year, and Wilden finished third. CASCAR Oakville's Robin Buck is racing in the all- Canadian CASCAR series, making its first appear­ ance in 14 years at the Molson Indy circuit. These cars are modified Tauruses, Monte Carlos, and Grand Prix, but still resemble the same models the public drives away from dealer show­ rooms. They are powered by small block V-8s, and ride in custom fabricated chassis. With its first-time exposure at the Molson Indy, CASCAR will be putting its best foot forward and looking to take another step in its development as Canada's leading stock car circuit. The series normally runs at Cayuga, Delaware (near London), Peterborough, and in Quebec and Fredericton, New Brunswick, to crowds of about 12,000. They also secured a television deal with CTV Sportsnet (beginning in August), and are looking at this race as their big chance to show the Canadian public their stuff. About 40 teams will attempt to qualify for the Saturday's Race, the Miller Lite 100, including four teams from CASCAR's western Canadian series. Don Thomson Jr., of Hamilton, enters the race as CASCAR's Super Series East points leader. He has won three of the first six races this season, but will have plenty of competition from road course specialist Robin Buck of Oakville along with Carl Harr and Kevin Dowler. Peter Gibbons, who has raced in NASCAR's Busch and Craftsman Truck series, is in second in the East while Kelly Williams, the series lone female driver, is in 10th. FORMULA FORD Oakville's Matt White will race in the Formula Ford series. These cars are junior versions of Champ Cars, with custom fabricated chassis and 1.6 L engines. The series almost always sees very close rac­ ing, and has had the same engines for about 30 years. The key is in the chassis. There are five differ­ ent fabricators out there, including the Willis Brothers, of Woodbridge, who engineered the Aero 2. That chassis housed the likes of Keswick's Rob McDonald, and now sees points leader Billy Asaro doing the driving chores. Asaro, 17, from Unionville, is being hailed as one of the best pure talents to come along this decade. He usually posts the best times and speeds, and has already won two of the three races this season (he also had a race in Montreal won only to suffer a breakdown with the finish line in sight). Insiders say no driver has dominated the series like Asaro since Greg Moore did it in the early '90s. In the over all standings, Oakville's White is 19th out of 45 teams going into this weekend's Molson Indy. MOTOROLA CUP The fourth series at the Indy (with no Oakville drivers that we know of) is the Motorola Cup. These cars are race prepared production vehi­ cles that are as close to show room as possible. The series features four classes -- Grand Sports, Sports, Touring, and Compact. That's why you'll see Firebirds, Mustangs, Porsches, and Ferraris, racing alongside Hondas and Mazdas. This is a richly divergent series in terms of makes and models, and like CASCAR, the leading drivers are mostly Canadian. In Grand Sports, Toronto's Scott Maxwell and his Mustang have a one-point lead over the Firebird of defending series champions Devon Powell of Port Perry and Doug Goad of Farmington Hills, Mich. Maxwell is also racing a Lola Ford in Donnington, England, Saturday. He has to essen­ tially be in two different places at once, which necessitates two trans-Atlantic crossings in two days. Ottawa's John Bourassa is in second place in the Sports class in his Acura Integra, while 16- year-old Kuno Wittmer of Hudson, Que., will go for his second win in Touring. Hudson became the youngest winner ever in a professional North American road racing series when he won this class last month at Mosport. And in Compact, Mark Craig of St-Eustache, Que., is two points out of the lead. The series will stage two, 45- minute races this weekend, one Saturday, and one Sunday. - with files from TorStar Network Sports An Oakville Beaver Feature Editor: NORM NELSON 845-3824 (Extension 255) Fax:337-5567 Local flavour at Molson Indy INDY LIGHTS CASCAR FORMULA FORD MOTOROLA CUP