~ by Chris #16 Demaras ~

With winter arriving, and the end of the year approaching, I’ve been looking back at 2019. The highlight of the summer for the Demaras family was definitely our trip to the IndyCar race at Pocono.

We went to the Grand Prix of Canada in Montreal a few years ago, and of course the Honda Indy Toronto every year. But a superspeedway is a completely different experience. The place if huge, with a capacity of over 75,000.

Then there’s the infield camping. You’re right in the middle of the action, and positively surrounded by the sounds of speed. We had our camper parked across the road from sometimes IndyCar driver Connor Daly.

But the weirdest part was the ‘behind the scenes’ feel of the whole event, as racers just walked around with their kids. Or in the case of Simon Pagenaud, his dog. Daniel was keeping his little sister Michelle company at the playground on Friday evening when a dad and his kid arrived.

“Oh, you’re wearing my hat.” said the dad while pushing his son on the swings. Sure enough, it was Indy 500 winner Will Power standing next to Daniel!

The event was really family friendly, kind of like an IMSA race where you can pretty much walk wherever you want, and nothing is off limits. But at Pocono, once the on track activity ended, you could even walk on the track and through pit lane if you felt like it.

We had fantastic seats, up in the Terrace Club, which was at the top of the grandstand. We had shelter overhead from the blazing sun, free food and drinks, plus a clear view of the entire 2.5 mile track. Growing up around road courses and street circuits, I’ve gotten used to watching a race from only one corner, within view of the big TVs, so you could follow the race outcome. But at the big oval, you never lost track of the action.

Oval track racing isn’t for everyone. Some drivers refuse to race them, like Max Chilton and Mike Conway before him. It’s a dangerous business. But as a race fan, I was astounded! I’ve never seen a car travel 360 km/h before. The sound was ferocious when I ventured down to the fence for a few laps of practice.

While the ABC 500 was cut short this year due to nasty weather, but our favourite driver Will Power took home the win. It couldn’t have been better!

CBC News, December 1, 2019

Race driver Robert Wickens was told he’d never walk again, but he was determined to dance at his wedding

Robert Wickens has watched the crash countless times.

The Guelph, Ontario, driver has watched his car slam into the Pocono Speedway wall, travelling at more than 200 mph, before careening across the track and splintering into pieces.

The jarring crash, its violence unusual even for a sport used to collisions, would change his life forever.

They call the track at Pocono in Pennsylvania The Tricky Triangle. Unlike Indianapolis or Michigan speedways, Pocono is actually not an oval, presenting drivers with three very different and difficult corners to navigate.

Ahead of the ABC Supply 500 race that August in 2018, Wickens wasn’t comfortable with the track during practice, but managed to qualify sixth and recalls feeling good about his ability to navigate the course.

“I was really confident going into that race, I was very confident; I knew exactly what I wanted to do at the start,” Wickens says.

Seven laps into the race, Wickens went to pass Ryan Hunter-Reay. Their wheels touched, sending Wickens’s car helicoptering into the fencing.

Nearly a year and half after the crash, Wickens says he would change nothing about his actions leading up to impact.

“I’ve really thought about that accident; time and time again looked at the footage,” Wickens told CBC Sports in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he is undergoing extensive therapy. “And I always think like, why couldn’t I have just maybe not tried to pass him? But I got to where I am in my career because of the type of driver that I was.

“You know, I was never just complacent and just happy where I was. I always wanted more and more and more.”

CBC’s “The National” catches up with Guelph, Ontario’s Robert Wickens 15 months after an IndyCar crash left him paralyzed from the waist down.

For Wickens, writing the great Canadian comeback story has many components, but one central goal. It’s all about readying and recalibrating his body and mind to drive a race car again.

It’s all he’s ever known. Since Wickens was a little boy growing up in Guelph he has always insisted on going fast. As a young boy, he raced go-karts, winning wherever he went, and quickly emerged as one of the best young drivers around.

When he was a teenager, his family sacrificed everything, selling their home so he could race in Europe. For the next six years, Wickens raced for the prestigious Mercedes team, competing against and beating some of the best drivers in the world.

His return to North America and the IndyCar circuit in 2017 was triumphant. In the 13 races during his rookie season, Wickens finished in the top five seven times, highlighted by an exhilarating third-place finish in Toronto.

“I was racing the best I’ve ever raced prior to the accident,” Wickens says.

Read the full article on CBC News

Pocono Superspeedway has been dropped from the 2020 IndyCar schedule. I know all the reasons why…but I have to say that I loved Pocono and going to the ABC Supply 500 with my family this year.

The place was so open and inviting. When we arrived on Thursday night, we just wandered into the paddock and garage areas. The vintage IndyCars were out of the museum, and getting ready for the race track.

The four days we spent at Pocono were a real dream come true.

Seeing some of the classic roadsters made me nostalgic for the good old days of IndyCar racing that I’ve only seen in pictures, way before my time.

On our second night at the track, I met Bob. He was in a $100K motorhome parked right next to me. He was loud, brash, very American…I liked him right away. Turns out Bob Holder’s got a show on FOX Sports Radio AM 1230 & 1320 called ‘After Further Review’ broadcasting from Pocono all weekend. On Saturday morning, as my family was walking into the garage area, we met Bob again. He called me over, strapped some headphones on me, and let me join his radio show for a couple of minutes.

Thanks Bob. For an American who couldn’t tell Toronto from Ontario, you’re a good guy.

~ Chris #16 Demaras ~

Chris and Daniel are quite different. Dad is 30 years older, more than 30 pounds heavier. But they’ve both been racing for the same length of time though, having started karting at Goodwood in 2014.

So, if you’re going to race against your dad, don’t do it on public roads: take it to the track where you’ll get a medal instead of a ticket.

But apparently that never occurred to a New Jersey father and son drag-racing duo, who managed to cause a major crash in the Lincoln tunnel, connecting Manhattan to New Jersey, while racing their Corvettes.

Fred Ordine and his 25-year-old son, Chadwick, were arrested for the crash. Not only were they stupid enough to record themselves racing, and crashing, but Chadwick even fled the scene and posted the video of him and his dad crashing to his Instagram!

A sad sign of the times when people not only risk their own lives and public safety by street racing, but cannot stop themselves from putting it on social media.

Take it to the track!

Just look at that 2014 picture. That’s Racing Point F1 driver Lance Stroll and Williams F1 rookie NicHolas Latifi on the podium at the Florida Winter Series karting event.

Five years later, and these two men will race against each other again … in Formula 1.

Latifi, the 24 year old son of a billionaire, will enter his first season in F1. Latifi will spend his first season with Williams, despite links to McLaren, a company his father invested over £200 million in last year.

Stroll, the 21 year old son of a billionaire, will contest his 4th season in F1. After two years with Williams, Stroll made the switch to Racing Point, a team his father purchased when the old Force India team went into administration.

Canadian racers are a funny bunch. Quick to write of these two men as ‘rich kids’ who bought their rides in F1. But on the one hand, there’s the national pride of two Canadians on the grid next season (10% of the field) compared to zero Americans. And of course, the reflected glory of someone who raced at our home tracks making it to the big show. For example, the pictures below are F1 driver Nicholas Latifi (and his little brother Matthew) at Mosport Kartways and Goodwood Kartways.

Will Power is a racing hero to the whole Demaras Racing team. Just look at the smile on Michelle Demaras’ face when she had a chance to meet Power at Pocono this summer. Daniel Demaras runs the No.12 on his racing kart as a tribute to his racing hero.

So getting to see an Indy 500 winner and IndyCar Series champion get back behind the wheel of a kart at the recent SuperNats23 in Las Vegas was a thrill for all Power’s fans, Demaras included.

SuperNats23 is one of the biggest karting events in North America, but it isn’t reported on by traditional media, or even motorsports websites. Power’s progress in the event was scattered across social media platforms and specialized US karting websites.

Lined up for qualifying, just like any other racer.

Well. Not the result we hoped for. 15th to 11th lap 1. Incident in turn 1 on lap 2 dropped us to 38th. @12WillPower drove his tail off back to 20th. Can’t thank the #supernats23 folks and Eric Jones and his @KartSportNA crew for having us. What a blast! Can’t wait for next year!!

MPGmotorsports