We thought it only fitting to host our 2018 awards banquet celebrating 50 years of Racing at the traditional Moose Hall in Wetaskiwin.
It was a great night with lots of visiting, great 1968 dress attire and tons of fun dancing with the young and “older”!
Special guests included Wetaskiwin county councillors Ken Adair and Bill Krahn, Wetaskiwin city councillor Alan Hilgartner and his wife Janice and Gary Hartl and his wife Christine from BAYER International.
Special thank you to Chris Pavola (Velocity Motorsports News) for which all photos should be credited to!
Special announcements from EIR included the development of new Late Model Test Drive Cars for EIR’s 2019 Stock Car Test Drive Program and Gary Hartl from Bayer International announced that BAYER would once again sponsor the 2019 NASCAR Pinty’s Series Race on July 27, 2019 with the LUXXUR 300!
Trophy sponsors for the EIR 2019 banquet included Superior Lumber, Allied Distributors, Wild Rose Food Service, Praxair, Manluk Industries, Waste Connections Canada, Leduc Sheet Metal and Gas Fitting, Roberts McClure Insurance and How Sweet it Is Bakery here in Wetaskiwin.
2019 champions
Evolution Racing Mini cups champion - Kaylee Wilkie – Bashaw, Alberta
Baby Grands champion - Dale Edwards – Cochrane,Alberta
Future Stocks champion - Haley Crandall – Wetaskiwin, Alberta
IMCA Modifieds champion - Chad Malone – Red Deer, Alberta
NASCAR Feature Stocks champion - Mike Ramm – Wetaskiwin, Alberta
NASCAR Modifieds champion - Roy Wigley – Calgary, Alberta
NASCAR Super Trucks champion - Wade Lee – Calgary, Alberta
NASCAR Thunder Cars champion - Alex Krause – Irricana, Alberta
NASCAR Super stocks champion - Lee Werner – Red Deer, Alberta
Rookies of the Year
NASCAR Feature Stocks - Cory Mandryk – Bashaw, Alberta
Future Stocks - Tierra Ulrich – Alliance, Alberta
NASCAR Super Stocks - Ron Elder Jr. – Wetaskiwin, Alberta
Baby Grands - Faith Luther – Wetaskiwin, Alberta
Mini Cups - Noah Banman – Sherwood Park, Alberta
NASCAR Thunder Car - Alex Krause – Irricana, Alberta
NASCAR Modifieds - Donovan Wiebe – Wetaskiwin, Alberta
NASCAR Super Trucks - Art Eilander – Leduc, Alberta
Andrew Crandall from Wetaskiwin - 2nd year in a row - 2018 University of Northern Ohio Youth Track Achievement Award from NASCAR
Loretta Thiering closed the evening speeches by thanking everyone for being with herself and spouse Ron every step of the way in the successes of Edmonton International Raceway in Wetaskiwin. “Everyone works so hard all year and I want you all to know we totally appreciate and value every one of you! Our little raceway continues to blossom and every year we see new and exciting changes. We will be working very hard over the winter to create an exciting 2019 race season.
“We are pleased to announce that the Super Late Models will run four events in total at EIR including another major event near the end of August. We will continue to meet with our race classes to ensure the car counts are strong and sustainable in 2019.
“A quick reminder, our next meeting is with the Thunder Cars and Feature Stock on Sunday, November 11 at 2 p.m. Ron will be very busy this winter building our new test drive cars. This program is truly the bread and butter of EIR. With the new Late Model Style Cars we will attract even more new people to EIR and wow them with our excellent race program which will continue to build our fan base even bigger! There is a lot of excitement out there now for test drives in our new Late Model Cars,” added Thiering.
She added that EIR looks forward to continually building their relationship with both the County and City of Wetaskiwin and truly appreciate their partnerships as EIR moves into a very exciting future.
-Submitted by Edmonton International Raceway