TEAM NPP/Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series Statement:
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
EDMONTON, AB – Canada’s oldest open wheel motorsports event will be contested this weekend at Castrol Raceway. First run at Edmonton’s Speedway Park back in 1954, the prestigious Jim Albert Memorial Gold Cup runs Friday and Saturday night August 17th and 18th. Ask any driver who has raced the Gold Cup in Edmonton and they will tell you it can be one of the toughest Sprint Car races to win. “Yes it is,” exclaims eight-time track champion Wade Fleming, “it’s hard to win most nights here but when you add in the out of town cars from the United States, it just amplifies it even more.” The driver of the Northern Provincial Pipelines Ltd. #7 Sprint Car ois the all-time Feature win leader at Castrol Raceway. Since 1991 Fleming has had 49 trips to victory lane. One of those victories was the Gold Cup race back in 1997. “The competition in Edmonton is as good as anywhere,” adds the Ardrossan, Alberta driver, “I know my kids are looking forward to seeing me win my 50th. It’s a little tougher though when you’ve taken nine years off and come back.
The thought process is there (to win) but the tools are not as sharp as they once were.” Fleming retired from the sport of ‘360’ Sprint Car racing after the 2009 season to spend more time with his family. After some encouragement from his wife Tracy and his now grown children, Fleming returned to the sport in 2018. “I really don’t have anything to prove to anybody else,” says Fleming, “what
I wanted to do was prove to myself that I still could drive the car.” Fleming has one Heat race win and an average Feature finish of 8th this season. “My consistency in the Heat races is solid but you don’t realize the endurance needed to run one of these cars in a Feature.” Fleming’s last appearance in a Gold Cup race was back in 2009 where he finished 6th. “I made no expectations of what I
was to accomplish (this season),” admits Fleming, “the most important expectation was to be more of a family at the track. Everybody is in the pits now and we all work on the car together. We are going to go out and do our best.”
CASTROL RACEWAY
ALL-TIME FEATURE WINS – ‘360’ SPRINT CAR
(as of August 14, 2018)
1. Wade Fleming 49
2. Sean Moran 38 (retired)
3. Marc Duperron 33
4. Tim Gee 24 (retired)
5. Casey Adams 16
2018 GOLD CUP
Castrol Raceway – Edmonton, Alberta
>FRIDAY, August 17th
— RACING @ 7:00pm
>SATURDAY, August 18th
– RACING @ 6:00pm
TEAM NPP/Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series
http://npp-racing.com/
Graphics Courtesy of TEAM NPP/Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model Series