Pirelli World Challenge heads to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for TC showcase

The fourth overall race weekend of the 2014 Pirelli World Challenge season, the 25th Anniversary of the championship, sees the series head north of the border an hour east of Toronto to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park at the former Mosport circuit, as the series returns to the famed track after a one-year hiatus. The May 16-18 weekend will mark the first of three showcase events this season for the Touring Car classes, with the GT classes on a break until Detroit the first weekend in June.

What was originally a two-race weekend for the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car (TC), new Touring Car A class (TCA) and Touring Car B-Spec class (TCB) has become a three-race weekend, as severe weather forced the second race at Barber Motorsports Park to be moved to the CTMP weekend.

A host of native drivers will headline the field and seek a win on home soil at the 10-turn, 2.458-mile road course. The eight Canadians are split across two of the three classes running with four in TC and three in TCB.

Pirelli World Challenge TC: Two of Honda's best teams are set to slug it out

The odds are stacked in favor of the Canadians driving at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in TC. Four of the seven drivers in class are Canadian, and all four drive for two local teams.

Michael DiMeo, of Toronto, looks to add to his win in Round 1 at Barber in the No. 71 ENJ Excavating/Formcrete/HPD Honda Civic Si. Teammate and Compass360 Racing team principal Karl Thomson, also of Toronto, will be in the No. 72 Children's Tumor Foundation/Touge Tuning/Racing4Research Honda Civic Si and seeks his first podium finish of the year after a mechanical took him out of Round 1.

Compass360 scored two podium finishes in the CTMP rounds in 2012, with Todd Lamb (one third place) and Ryan Winchester (one second place) each coming up just short of a victory. DiMeo and Thomson seek to rectify that this weekend.

The M&S Racing team returns to Pirelli World Challenge for the first time since the Toronto street course weekend last July, with a pair of Honda Civics. The brothers Tom and Gary Kwok have a wealth of experience at this circuit, and will no doubt be contending for victories.

Tom Kwok, of Markham, Ontario, will be in the No. 63 M&S Quality Produce Honda Civic Si. At Toronto last year, he finished second and third in the two races and set the fastest race lap in both events. Gary Kwok, of Markham, Ontario, will drive the No. 88 M&S Quality Produce Honda Civic Si. He won the most recent Pirelli World Challenge race at CTMP, Race 3 of the 2012 triple race weekend.

Not to be overlooked either are the two other podium finishers from Round 1, Jason Saini and Adam Poland. Saini, of Chicago, in the No. 28 OMP/Motovicity Mazda MX-5 for Grid-1 Motorsports was the fastest qualifier at Barber before his car was found out of compliance in post-qualifying tech. But from the back, Saini stormed through the field up to second, just behind DiMeo. Poland, of Mt. Vernon, Texas in the No. 11 Eastex Motorsports/Poland Construction Mazda MX-5, finished third in his series debut at Barber.

Lastly, a late entry but making it a lucky seven in the TC category is Jon Miller of Tustin, Calif., back in the Cawley Motorsports' No. 68 Titan Motorsports/Loudbasstard/BeTheMatch.org Honda Civic Si. Miller was exciting to watch in battling both Saini and DiMeo at Barber and with luck and three races, should finally achieve his first career Pirelli World Challenge TC podium this weekend.

Pirelli World Challenge TCA: Holbrook, Cherry look for an encore after Barber battle

The new Touring Car A class, an evolution of the current TC class, premiered at Barber with a fantastic two-car battle for the win between Pirelli World Challenge veteran Shea Holbrook, and series debutante Jason Cherry. Holbrook held on to claim the inaugural class win, her second in series competition.

Heading into CTMP this week, Holbrook, of Groveland, Fla. in the No. 67 TRUECar/Lucas Oil/Radium Honda Civic Si for her own Shea Racing team, has the benefit of experience on her side. She posted two podium finishes during the series' most recent trip to this circuit in 2012, with a second and third place finish apiece in the three-race weekend.

Cherry, of Gambrills, Md., showed impressive pace at Barber and has additional new support this weekend driving for Breathless Performance. The 17-year-old will drive the No. 13 Autism Society of America/Avpro/Purposeful Architecture Mazda MX-5 for the team, and looks to continue the momentum from his first series start.

Rookie Jason Wolfe, of Mount Vernon, Ohio, made it to the podium in his first series start in the No. 36 Kia Motors America Kia Forte Koup. He's joined by Kinetic Motorsports teammate Russell Smith, of Buford, Ga., who finished fourth and just behind him at Barber in the No. 38 Kia Motors America Kia Forte Koup.

Perhaps the driver to watch beyond these four is Ernie Francis Jr., of Dania, Fla., who will make his first TCA class start in the No. 98 Breathless Performance Mazda MX-5 as a teammate to Cherry. Francis Jr. won seven TCB class races last year, including one on the streets of Toronto, en route to winning class Rookie-of-the-Year honors. The 16-year-old made a single series start this year, in the team's GTS class Chevrolet Camaro at St. Petersburg.

Series debutante Robbie Foley, of Randolph, N.J. rounds out the class in the No. 97 Motovicity/Grid-1 Motorsports Mazda RX-8. Foley takes over for Justin Hayes in that car this weekend.

Pirelli World Challenge TCB: Price and the Canadians among those to watch

A three-way battle for the lead kicked off the 2014 Touring Car B-Spec season, with victory ultimately going to series debutante Brian Price, of Middletown, Va., in the No. 51 Unlimited Performance/RP Racing Honda Fit.

Price enters the TCB weekend at CTMP as points leader and early weekend favorite. But among the challengers he'll have to face is a pair of entries from MINI of Charleston Racing. Tyler Palmer, of San Diego, Calif., seeks his first win of the year as he shifts from the team's No. 37 to its No. 54 MINI of Charleston Racing/MINIUSA.com Mini Cooper this weekend. Meanwhile first-time driver, Nic Lougee, of Toronto, takes over in the No. 37 MINI of Charleston Racing/MINIUSA.com Mini Cooper.

Lougee is one of four Canadians in TCB racing this weekend. One who should impress is Shea Racing's P.J. Groenke, of Toronto, in the No. 66 Verax.ca/Tundra/Mulligan Gold Honda Fit. Groenke finished sixth at Barber and looks to add to his inaugural Pirelli World Challenge podium finish, achieved at Houston to end 2013. He finished in the top five in two TCB starts at CTMP in 2012. Another Canadian to watch is Nick Wittmer, of Montreal, Quebec, in the No. 00 Shriners Hospital for Children 4R Motorsports FIAT 500. Wittmer has significant seat time at CTMP, and is also a former race winner in the series having won at Toronto in TC in 2010. The other Canadian in class is Andrei Kisel, of North Vancouver, B.C. in the No. 57 Racing.ca/LaptopScreen.com Mini Cooper.

After finishing fourth at Barber, 14-year-old Nathan Stacy of Owassa, Okla. hopes to secure his first series podium this weekend in the No. 14 TSG/Ford Racing Ford Fiesta for Motorsports Development Group. Another young gun who seeks the top five, if not his first podium, is Groenke's teammate at Shea Racing, Paul Holton of Tallahassee, Fla. The 17-year-old will race the No. 65 TRUECar/Lucas Oil/Radium Honda Fit.

Three others who raced at Barber, Chris Capaldi, of Imlay City, Mich., in the No. 31 Wolverine Bronze Company/Capaldi Racing Ford Fiesta, Jason Fichter, of Jupiter, Fla., in the No. 7 Surf Fire & Security Mini Cooper and Tom Noble, of St. Louis Park, Minn. in the No. 24 4R Motorsports/West Real Estate/Hawk Brakes Mini Cooper, look to improve on results of eighth, 12th and 13th, respectively.

Also entered at CTMP and looking to improve on his result from Barber is Jim Cleveland, of Brisbane, Australia in the No. 78 Downunder Motorsports Mini Cooper. Cleveland's Mini had mechanical issues at Barber and failed to complete a race lap.

Making a welcome return to the series is veteran Peter Schwartzott, of Freeville, N.Y., in the No. 44 PS Racing Chevrolet Sonic. In five 2013 starts, Schwartzott had a best qualifying position of second at Mid-Ohio Race 1, and a best finish of fifth in the same race. He's the lone Sonic within the TCB class.

Besides Nick Wittmer in the No. 00 FIAT 500, former TCB class race winner Jeff Lepper, of Rancho Cordova, Calif., is also listed to that entry.

Event/Circuit:

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

10-turn, 2.459-mile permanent road circuit

Qualifying:
Friday, May 16, 2:00 P.M. EDT

Green Flag/Live Streaming and Live Timing:
Friday, May 16, 5:25 P.M. EDT (TC/TCA/TCB Race 1)
Saturday, May 17, 10:35 A.M. EDT (TC/TCA/TCB Race 2) 
Sunday, May 18, 10:30 A.M. EDT (TC/TCA/TCB Race 3) 

Race Lengths: 40 minutes (TC/TCA/TCB)

Television (on NBCSN): Sunday, June 15 – 2:30 PM (EDT)