Canada Well Represented on No. 55 Team & in NASCAR

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

There will be a special moment before Sunday’s NASCAR race at Michigan International Speedway for two of Mark Martin’s crew members and probably dozens of others in the sport.

MIS is one of three tracks in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series that plays the Canadian national anthem along with the Star Spangled Banner as part of its pre-race ceremonies.

The playing of “O Canada” has special meaning to Mike “Nook” McCarville, a native of Prince Edward Island, and Toronto’s Glenn Shano who travel the NASCAR circuit each weekend as part of the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine crew at Michael Waltrip Racing.

“I’ll have guys on my team look at me and tell me to make sure to stand at attention,” laughed McCarville, a shock specialistand 14-year Sprint Cup veteran. “Everyone looks to me. It’s kind of like a hockey game with both anthems. It’s all good-natured ribbing, but they understand that it’s special to me.”

Michigan International Speedway says nearly 20 percent of its fan base hails from Canada. The track is about 90 miles from Windsor, Ontario. Few think of Canada as a hotbed for stock car talent, but the list of Canadian drivers starting NASCAR events exceeds 50, including Earl Ross who won at Martinsville in 1974.

There were many driving greats who never made it to NASCAR including Shano’s first racing hero, Canadian Norm Lelliott.

“People in Canada love racing,” said Shano, who finished second in the Freightliner Run Smart Driver Challenge and third in the Pilot Flying J Truck Driver Challenge in 2012.

“There’s strong racing at the local level. I got started working on my dad’s two race cars in the 1960s at places like CNE, Pinecrest and Cayuga Speedways. Everyone I know follows racing in Canada. You get out in the country and you see just as many NASCAR license plates and decals as you do in North Carolina.

MWR

Speedway Digest Staff
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