Skip to main content

Canada's Stewart Friesen to Make NASCAR Cup Debut on Bristol's Dirt


Photo Credit: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images


If you’re a professional driver seeking to make their first NASCAR Cup Series start, it makes perfect sense to plan a debut during an event where a variety of unknowns exist. The March 28th Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway is going to be something new for the entire Cup Series field enters with an empty notebook. With varying levels of dirt experience among the regular competitors in the series, this first NASCAR Cup Series dirt race in 51 years provided the ideal time for Stewart Friesen to run his maiden effort in the tour.
A native of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Stewart Friesen will be behind the wheel of a #77 Chevrolet Camaro fielded by Spire Motorsports. A mainstay of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series since 2016, Friesen’s career highlights in his 97 starts in the popular touring division include two victories including his first series win in the 2019 Eldora dirt event. Outside of NASCAR, Stewart Friesen has amassed a large assortment of wins in dirt track racing that includes 26 victories in the Super DIRTcar Series and 22 in the Super Track Super Series. Friesen also won a World of Outlaws Sprint Cup Series event in 2015 becoming the second Canadian to take a feature race in the high-profile dirt track tour. The victory was a source for national motorsport pride in Canada as it came at Ontario’s 3/8-mile Ohsweken Speedway.

The Spire Motorsports #77 car’s driving duties in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season’s six races prior to the Bristol event had been shared by Jamie McMurray and Justin Haley. Driving for the Daytona 500, McMurray scored the season’s best effort for the #77 Chevrolet Camaro finishing 8th surviving a crash-filled race. Stewart Friesen will race alongside Corey LaJoie competing in the #7 Spire Motorsports.

Joining the Canadian during his first venture in the NASCAR Cup Series is sponsor Halmar International. A constructor associated with major civil projects including highways, bridges and buildings, Halmar International has been an ongoing supporter of Stewart Friesen’s racing successes including multiple seasons in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. 

Friesen’s race at Bristol will be the first appearance of a Canadian driver in a NASCAR Cup Series since D.J. Kennington competed in the 2019 STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway. Coincidently, the car Kennington drove was a #77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.
Stewart Friesen’s first career start and the NASCAR Cup Series’ first dirt race since 1971, the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway is scheduled to start Sunday, March 28th at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time televise on TSN5 and Fox. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Canadian Star Car: Red Green's Possum Van

Clip of Possum Van during a Red Green Show season 1 scene transition.  It could be argued that the car someone regularly drives can be reflective of their personality. The level of character traits found in our automobiles can range from subtle to flamboyant as practicality, style, power, brand loyalty and other details are factors influencing our vehicle affection. On the big screen and silver screen, an automobile (frequently popularized as a Star Car) can be used to affirmatively to expand on a human character. Batman’s Batmobile, the Dodge Charger called the ‘General Lee’ in Dukes of Hazzard, the Volvo P1800 featured in the 1960s television version of The Saint, the Aston Martin DB5 driven by James Bond in some of the most famous spy movies are some popular examples where vehicles play a major role in reinforcing the appearance of fictional individuals. Due to the budgetary constraints of Canadian media productions, the presence of native Star Cars is rare. However, one success...

Honda’s Secret 30th Anniversary In Indy Car Racing

Photo Credit: Engine Developments Ltd. Too many times, forgetting an anniversary would end with someone spending time in the proverbial doghouse. This has apparently happened this year as the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season concluded with no major celebrations or recognition for what is 30 years since a major current partner of American open wheel racing began participation in the sport. The following article is a collection of the details I’ve learned as well as some insight from engine builder John Judd on what was a quiet 30th anniversary in the Verizon IndyCar Series. During the week where the 30th running of the Canadian street race now known as the Honda Indy Toronto, I was compelled to capture the flavour of the inaugural event. The viewing experience provided me some insight into a period of time where I was too young to absorb auto racing in the manner I do today. A race that featured television coverage with no regular onscreen statistics, the league used a local ...

The 1967 Indy 500: When An STP-Sponsored Turbine Almost Changed Racing

Photo Credit: Uncredited Photographer/IMS LLC Racing has always been the ultimate proving ground for automobiles. Not only has competition promoted innovations big and small, race cars have also influenced overall vehicle appearance. At the 1967 Indianapolis 500, the STP-Paxton TurboCar fielded by the late Andy Granatelli provided a shocking example of how much racing at the speedway evolved over 56 years. Ever since the first 500-mile event was held at the 2.5-mile rectangular oval Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1911, the winning Marmon Wasp with a rearview mirror paved the way for what would be a grand showcase of automotive development. Accompanying “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” advancements in automobile technology showed greater sophistication with every passing decade in the quest for more speed. During the 1920s and 1930s, American race car designer Henry Miller offered groundbreaking engines to the Indianapolis 500. Miller also gave front-wheel drive technology it...