Racing to End Alzheimer’s Fundraiser

Join the Charity Race to End Alzheimer’s at K1 Speed Toronto! 

Be a racer with a cause this month at K1 Speed Toronto when we host the Race to End Alzheimer’s Charity Go Kart race on Saturday, September 14 from 12:00pm to 5:00pm!

All funds we raise during the event will be donated to the Baycrest Foundation to aid their tremendous Alzheimer’s research and treatment efforts.  And that’s not all – every dollar raised will be matched by the terrific sponsors who have jumped on board, doubling the total amount! 

Information about this Charity Event in Toronto

Starting at 12pm, racers who are 4’10 or taller are encouraged to set the fastest lap time they can around the indoor Toronto track. The drivers that set the 10 fastest laps of the day will qualify for the R2endALZ Race at 5:00pm. We’re expecting a great turnout for this, so be sure to arrive early and set that fast lap time!

The main race will be a 12-lap grand finale race for glory. The cost to participate in the main event is only $30 (a donation in itself), and participants will compete for thousands of dollars’ worth of prizes!

The Prizes

Every qualifier will receive some amazing swag from K1 Speed and the sponsors of the event, so no competitor will leave empty handed. The top three finishers will receive prize packs worth hundreds of dollars each:

Everyone is encouraged to come to K1 Speed for a fun afternoon of kart racing, regardless of experience. Show your speed by laying down a lap time that can’t be beat. For a $30 donation, the Top-10 fastest racers will qualify for the main event which includes a thrilling, standing-start race for glory. Every qualifier will receive a swag pack, and each top-3 finisher will win a prize pack worth hundreds of dollars!

1st Place

  • 2 tickets + VIP Experience, 2020 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, You’ll be invited to spend the day with the No.23 R2ENDALZ Race Team, and will receive a tour of their paddock, garage and transporter. You’ll meet the drivers, and see the Audi RS3 LMS race car up close. You’ll receive a team shirt and hat to feel like part of the crew as you watch the race from pit lane, listening in on team radio headset. $250 value.
  • 2020 CRKC Membership at Goodwood Kartways. You’ll be awarded membership in Goodwood’s Arrive & Drive series, plus 25 practice laps in the “A&D” karts. $150 value
  • Google Nest Hub smart speaker courtesy of High Definition Installations. $100 value.
  • Swag Pack from our sponsors including K1 Speed Corporate, Scarboro Subaru and Nostalgia Coffee Co. $50 value.

2nd Place

  • 2020 CRKC Membership at Goodwood Kartways. You’ll be awarded membership in Goodwood’s Arrive & Drive series, plus 15practice laps in the “A&D” karts. $130 value
  • Google Home Mini smart speaker courtesy of High Definition Installations. $50 value.
  • Swag Pack from our sponsors including K1 Speed Corporate, Scarboro Subaru and Nostalgia Coffee Co. $50 value.

3rd Place

  • 2020 CRKC Membership at Goodwood Kartways. You’ll be awarded membership in Goodwood’s Arrive & Drive series, plus 10 practice laps in the “A&D” karts. $120 value
  • Google Home Mini smart speaker courtesy of High Definition Installations. $50 value.
  • Swag Pack from our sponsors including K1 Speed Corporate, Scarboro Subaru and Nostalgia Coffee Co. $50 value.

All of our Top-10 qualifiers will receive swag from our partners at K1 Speed Corporate, Scarboro Subaru, High Definition Installations, Carts & Coffee Racing Series, Goodwood Kartways & Nostalgia Coffee Co.

Activities for the Whole Family!

Of course, our indoor go kart racing will be the main attraction. But there’ll be plenty of other activities for the whole family to enjoy! We’ll have games, contests and activities for junior racers, plus a raffle and bake sale. Again, all proceeds from these side activities will be going to fight Alzheimer’s!

Event organizer Daniel Demaras’ No.12 PRO Intrepid Briggs & Stratton racing kart will be on display at the R2ENDALZ fundraiser at K1 Speed.

Want to Donate but Can’t Make It?

If you would love to go to this event to donate but already have plans that day, don’t worry. You can still help the cause! 

Donate to R2ENDALZ

Get started by visiting the R2ENDALZ donation page – just click the button above!

OUR SPONSORS

K1 Speed Toronto: https://www.k1speed.ca/

K1 Speed Corporate; https://www.k1speed.com/

Scarboro Subaru: https://www.scarboro.subarudealer.ca/

Goodwood Kartways: https://goodwoodkartways.com

High Definition Installations: http://www.highdefinitioninstallations.com/

Nostalgia Coffee Co: https://www.facebook.com/NostalgiaCoffeeCompany

Carts & Coffee: www.cartsandcoffee.com

ABOUT R2ENDALZ: The non-profit Racing to End Alzheimer’s Foundation https://www.r2endalz.org/ is dedicated to raising awareness and funds for the cutting-edge research, treatment and support services that will end the scourge of Alzheimer’s once and for all.

ABOUT DEMARAS 15-year-old racer Daniel Demaras competes in the Toronto Racing Association of Karters (TRAK). The young man teamed up with Racing To End Alzheimer’s with a personal objective of raising 1% of the foundation’s 2019 fundraising goal.

Fast Friday: Day Shift

Daniel went up to Goodwood Kartways for some driver training, with guidance from Andrew Waring.

Daniel set quick times, improving throughout the day all while putting on a show for the arrive and driver karters. The brand new Arai helmet painted by Taylor Gates got it’s first laps on track.

Drift Night 3

K1 Speed Toronto’s Drift Night on Monday was so much fun. For one day out of the month, racers like Abrar Khan, Kevin Lazarus, Dale Goz, Dawson Campbell, Chris Demaras and Daniel Demaras put aside their on track aggression and just cut loose. Points for style, not speed.

This is one of the only times you’re going to see a race order with Chris above Dawson and Daniel. So…just let the man have his moment.

Check https://www.k1speed.ca/ for the next Drift Night.

Custom Painted

Ever since Daniel started racing in 2014, he’s had the same Scorpion helmet. Not the best brain bucket, but the neon yellow helmet became Daniel’s most identifiable characteristic on track. Easy to pick him out from the others.

No longer a little kid, Daniel invested in a new ARAI SK-6 helmet, and immediately sent it off to Lone Palm Design for custom paint by Mr. Taylor Gates. Demaras wanted to keep his signature look on track, while adding some extra style points.

Lone Palm Design is very well known within in the Canadian karting community as the premiere helmet painted. His complex and multi-layered designs can be seen at tracks across Canada. But this simple, understated design really shows Gates can create exactly what his client requests.

Check out more or Taylor’s work at https://www.lonepalmdesign.com/ and watch for Demaras on track soon with his new lid.

Indy Toronto 2019

Alice, Michelle, Daniel and Chris Demaras took a weekend off from racing to spend Sunday afternoon at the Honda Indy Toronto. Everyone has their favourite drivers; Tony Kanaan, Takuma Sato and Will Power are popular in the Demaras household.

Even relatively unknown racers like Felix Rosenquist and Marcus Ericson have die-hard fans at the Toronto Indy!

Michelle enjoyed the being part of the Rookie Racers program again this year, especially the ‘high five line’ where she got to meet all the drivers. The picture (below, right) of pole position starter Simon Pagenaud Michelle made it onto IndyCar’s Instagram page!

Seeing the Firestone Firehawk and SpongeBob SquarePants sharing the stage with Brigadier-General Paul Prevost, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Strategic Joint Staff was a real odd sight.

Just before the IndyCar race started, crowd favourite Stadium Super Trucks took over the track and put on an impressive display. Goodwood Kartways veteran Russel Boyle put on an impressive display in the mini monster trucks against big names like Robbie Gordon.

The most emotional moment of the weekend was watching Robbie Wickens take a specially prepared, hand-controlled Acura NSX our on the same track where he finished on the podium last year (before his injury at Pocono). The crowed roared and gave him a full standing ovation as Wickens scared the living daylights out of his fiancee, Karli Woods. Watch the video!

The moment finally arrived, and the race started shortly before 4:00 pm. Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud started at the front and battled all competitors on the way to victory. Sadly, Takuma Sato’s engine became a Honda flame thrower while running in the top 10, ending his day, and Will Power suffered a final lap mishap to end a frustrating afternoon for the fan favourite.

Fast Friday: Part 1

‘IndyCar Practice’ by Michelle Demaras

On Fan Friday we did lots of stuff! I saw my friend Angeline there which was a big surprise! After that, I tried this cool racing simulator. It was a VR game, so I got to put on one of those weird VR headsets for the first time. I crashed a lot, but it was still lots of fun! We even bumped into professional race car driver James Vance, who was coaching. Later, I got to sit in this really retro looking race car called Formula SAE, which was super cool!

I got to ride a dirt bike at this thing called Honda Junior Red Riders! First of all, we had to put on all of our gear. We put on shoulder pads, knee pads, gloves, boots and these really warm long sleeved shirts and pants! We got on our dirt bikes and started riding around. At the beginning, the instructors said to not pass anybody while riding around. But some kids were passing me, which was really annoying. I fell down a lot, but it was still tons of fun!

We got to watch the IndyCar practice from all the way up top of the stands! We were at turn 11, right in front of where Takuma Sato would be pitting!

At every Honda Indy Toronto ‘Fan Friday’ there is an autograph session with the drivers. We had actually already met some of the drivers before, so we brought some old photos of us with the drivers for them to autograph! They had these pre-autographed cards with the drivers on it (which we took for some of the drivers, because we don’t have pictures with all of them) but I thought getting them to sign the pictures with us in them was way cooler. I had one with Ryan Hunter Reay, and he signed it out to Michelle, which was super nice. There was also one with me, Daniel and Simon Pagenaud in it. He signed it and he even said to Daniel that he had grown so much since that picture last year! Sitting next to Pagenaud was Josef Newgarden, and he added that Daniel must’ve had a growth spurt! It was really funny.

When we got to meet Will Power we told him we were the Will Power Fan Club because we all had Team Penske #12 shirts and hats on. I think that made him happy, and he took pictures with us.

It was a really great day! It was so fun, and I hope we go back again next year! But before that I am going to another IndyCar race in August. It’s at the ‘Tricky Triangle” in Pocono. I’m super excited!

Michelle Demaras