Story By: JIM CLARKE / PETERBOROUGH SPEEDWAY – PETERBOROUGH, ONT – Central Ontario’s Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing – the APC Autumn Colours Classic at Peterborough Speedway – will celebrate its 31st annual edition October 11th through 13th and this will be the 25th straight year that Norwood, Ontario’s Ryan Kimball has been part of the starting line-up.
With back-to-back home track Late Model championships as the latest accomplishments on his impressive resume, Kimball will be looking to add another Autumn Colours Classic win to go along with the 2014 title in what is now known as the Electric City 167 showcase. As remarkable as his string of 25 consecutive starts in the season ending spectacular may be, Ryan Kimball says its something that wouldn’t have been able to do without the help of some good friends.
“Wally Janzen and Sean Grossman have stepped-up to provide some top-notch equipment over the years,” explained the driver. “I’ve also benefitted from wonderful sponsorship partners including Bob Micks at J-Bex Construction and Larry Crowe at Crowe’s Gas who have supported what we do with our weekly program and on selected touring dates.”
With the upcoming running of the Autumn Colours Classic coming-up fast, Ryan Kimball and long-time crew chief Graham T. Annis, Bill Kimball, Rob Micks, Greg Micks and raceday spotter Nathan Wrightly are putting in some long hours to get the Liuna, J-Bex Construction, Crowe’s Gas, Redline Signs, Wraps & Apparel and Mr. Big Roofing No. 16 machine ready for battle.
“The regular season schedule was quite gruelling and we’ve gone over the entire car in the time since the final checkered flag of the year,” said Ryan Kimball. “We’re heading into a weekend where the main event is about 6 times the race distance that we run during a regular Saturday night show. Getting a car ready to run Autumn Colours takes about the same amount of time and effort as we put in prepping for the regular season. After doing it for 25 years, I’m confident we’ll be ready.”
New Faces Take a First Run at the Autumn Colours Classic
Central Ontario’s biggest multi-day motorsports experience is coming up fast. The 31st annual running of the APC Autumn Colours Classic takes the green flag October 11th through 13th at Peterborough Speedway. Again this year, there will be racers throughout the starting line-up who’ll be making their first career start in the season-ending spectacular in a quest for the bragging rights and glory that comes with a championship at the Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing.
Dave Bragg has experienced the Peterborough Speedway action from both sides of the fence. Working as General Manager of the hometown Jiffy Lube/SwitchTire 646 Reid Street location with a company that is a sponsor of a couple of the track’s weekly divisions, the father of 3 was part of this year’s Mini Stock on-track battles, recording a best main event finish of 6th and finished 7th in the overall point standings. The driver of the No. 31 equipment – backed by Switch Tire, Jiffy Lube, BB Kustoms, StrawnCo77 and Kawartha Glass – says he enjoys the friendly, family atmosphere that comes with the team’s weekly dates at the venue known for Making Memories for Life and is ready for his first Autumn Colours start.
A regular at Sunset Speedway, Madisson Tienkamp won’t only be making her first start in the APC Autumn Colours Classic. The Thanksgiving Weekend event will mark the first time the 24-year-old Mini Stock racer from Barrie, Ontario and her No. 9 machine has ever turned a lap at Peterborough Speedway. With backing from Dunlop Billiards Sports Bar and Eatery, Midhurst Roofing Limited, Dublack Hawes Team – Property Lovers, Hercules Sealing Products, Barrie Frame and Alignment, A Girl and Her Truck Property Services, B & B Towing, Mighty Wipes, Creecher’s Design and Bromley Automotive, the 31st annual APC Autumn Colours Classic can’t come soon enough for Madisson Tienkamp.
Kyle McCaughley’s best finish in the 2024 Mini Stock ranks at Peterborough Speedway was an 8th place showing on Saturday, July 20th. On the opposite end of the scale, a wreck a few weeks later bent some sheet metal on his No. 76 machine, but the driver and his team won’t let some twisted tin keep him from a goal the crew set at the start of the schedule. His Kellco Contracting ride will be in the field for this year’s edition of the APC Autumn Colours Classic. The 32-year-old from Omemee, Ontario says that other than some hobby car shows – where safety gear consisted of a helmet, with shirts and a t-shirt – earlier in his motorsports career, this year marks the first weekly racing he has ever done.
