Gordon happy NASCAR an old spoiler sport again

Jeff Gordon's prospects go up with spoiler, James Hinchcliffe wins, and Lewis Hilton's unpunished antics get ink in my latest column in the Globe and Mail:

Watch out for Jeff Gordon for the rest of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

After not having much luck with the Car of Tomorrow's wing, the four-time champion will be looking to regain old form as the Sprint Cup gets back to racing on faster tracks with the old-style spoiler back on the car.

Simply put, Gordon struggled in the wing era, taking only two wins in the 93 races it was bolted to his car. With a spoiler, Gordon won 80 times in 493 starts -- roughly once every sixth race -- and took four titles.

More at: Globe Drive

A grand evening indeed

F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone and former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Fortier, now at the law firm Ogilvy Renault will co-chair a pre-Canadian Grand Prix charity event on June 10, 2010 called “The Grand Evening.”

The exclusive soirée will benefit the Sainte Justine University Hospital Center UHC Foundation and the Hôpital Sacré-Coeur de Montréal Foundation.

How exclusive, or should I say "grand," you ask.

Well, no run of the mill Formula One fan will be attending as tickets for the grand social rendez-vous go for a cool $1,000 each, or a bargain $10,000 for tables of 10, which gets you cocktails and dinner.

Race promoter Octane Racing Group is organizing the event, which is an official activity of the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. Mercedes-Benz Canada and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada are also partners.

Anyone interested in attending can get more information at the Canadian Grand Prix website or by calling 514 350-4731.

Wickens is new Status symbol

My latest column for the Globe and Mail...

Arguably Canada's best shot at having another driver in Formula One, Robert Wickens will be racing this year thanks to a countryman with long roots in motor racing.

He's Vancouver businessman Teddy Yip Jr., majority owner of the Status Grand Prix team that signed Wickens to race in the GP3 series late last month. Although relatively new to the racing business, Yip's motorsports roots run all the way back to F1 in the 1970s when his father, Theodore, owned a team.

“Naturally, being immersed in the motor racing environment from such an early age developed my love of the sport, and I've always maintained a keen interest,” he said.

More at: Globe Drive