Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
This past weekend, five individuals were inducted into the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame – John Chisholm, Ralph Luciw, Alex Tagliani and Don Thomson Jr. They were joined on the induction docket by three-time World Formula One Champion Jackie Stewart.
John Chisholm is known for putting racing in the maritimes on the map with Riverside Speedway, which opened in 1969. The one-third mile oval has become one of the most famous ovals in Canada, hosting big events throughout the years that have hosted champions from across North America.
“Some of the most successful winningest racers on the planet have competed at Riverside and very often, in cars prepared by his own race team,” his son Donald said. “Sprint Cup Champions, XFINITY Champions, Camping World Truck Series Champions, V8 Supercar Champions, Daytona 500 winners and many national regional champions and winners. Every one of them have had the same reaction to the facility – wow, what an incredible facility, a true racer’s race track.”
Chisholm walked away from the oval in 1989, but bought it back in 2006.
“He did some intensive traveling, attending some of the best short tracks,” Donald said. “At each track, he would take notes of what worked well, and what didn’t work well. It was those trips that helped turned the old Riverside into the new Riverside.”
Beyond his success as a track owner, he was also an accomplished racecar driver, becoming the first Maritime driver to start a NASCAR-sanctioned race.
Ralph Luciw is known as a competitor, builder and significant contributor in general to motorsports in Canada. He founded the Honda-Michelin Challenge Series in 1976 after a career behind the wheel that saw him race in hill climbs and rallies while building Canada’s first Formula Vee. He was also part of the media relations for Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for a number of years, promoting many of the series.
Alex Tagliani (pictured top) is known as a true racer, having had success in a bunch of different divisions of racing, from open-wheel to stock cars.
“This is a big honor for me,” he said on stage on Saturday. “Obviously, people that know me, they know that I don’t travel with a big entourage and there’s 30 people here from Quebec for the first time so it’s a big privilege to be here. My mom and dad – they’re not in the highlights of racing; they came a couple of times. I had to convince them to make the trip in 2011 to the Indianapolis 500 because I had a bet with my dad that if I was on the front row, he had to make it. It cost me a private plane ticket to make it happen. For my mom to be on stage here tonight, it took a lot and I really thank them as it means a lot.”
Coming up through the ranks, he moved into Champ Car in 2000, which became IndyCar over the course of seasons. The biggest highlight for Tagliani came at the 2011 Indianapolis 500, when he became the first Canadian to start on the pole in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
Since his success in open-wheel, he has also ran some NASCAR events for Team Penske and Brad Keselowski Racing with success. He’s currently a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, making his mark there as well. He became the only driver to lap the field en route to a victory, doing so in June at Sunset Speedway in the Leland Industries 300 Pres. by Johnsonville.
“I don’t race for trophies or hardware or fame or glamour,” Tagliani continued. “I have the addiction of racing and I’m doing it because I love it. It’s a joy of my life. When I got this phone call and started thinking and really the people that I met in my life in racing, they’re unselfish people that are willing to live their passion through me. These people are my family that made a lot of sacrifices for me to be here today, friends that gave me a room to save some money on my travels when I started racing, sponsors to put money into my career and help me, mechanics that have turned bolts on cars for us to do what we love, journalists & the media that make their mission to make the sport in our country known, and the fans out there that are always there in the rain and cheer you up. For all these people that are sharing the same passion and living it through the guys that behind the wheel, I just want to say thanks and hope you’re all recognizing yourself out there and you’re enjoying this celebration with me. This honor is not a personal honor, it’s a team honor as everybody knows in racing there’s no I in team, and this is the same.”
Don Thomson Jr. was honored as a racecar driver, and successful racecar builder for his success in both CASCAR and NASCAR.
“Growing up in a small town outside of Hamilton, I would never have thought that I’d make it this far,” he said on Saturday night. “Ever since I could remember, all I thought about was racing. I grew up watching my dad race, and a couple times my mom. At Cayuga Speedway, you used to have to drive your car to the gap pumps to fill up your car, and my dad would let me drive the car. I was like, ‘Here, I am Mr. Cool Guy’. I was hooked at that time. When I was 17 with help from my dad and brothers, we built a street stock and and the rest is history.
“I had a couple mentors throughout my career – Jack Greenhall used to run a late model at Cayuga Speedway. He built the car from scratch at his shop, and built the motor in his basement; Jack worked seven days a week. Of course, like a lot of young guys, it wasn’t long before I had Junior Hanley on my radar. Another guy that builds his own cars, works seven days a week and had the most wickedest racecars and beat all the other guys. I realized I needed to be more like these two.
“In 1991, CASCAR caught my eyes. I would like to thank Hall of Famer Tony Novotny for building such a high profile series. Most of my success came in that series.
He would win the 1991 CASCAR Rookie of the Year, followed by two consecutive CASCAR Canadian Eastern Championships in 1999 and 2000. He took his dynasty to the next level in the years that followed, winning five straight CASCAR Super Series titles beginning in 2001. He then won the inaugural NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race in 2007, followed by six more wins before retiring as a driver in 2011.
For Thomson, the majority of his success came driving for John Fitzpatrick, so it became a natural transition for me to see him step up on the pit box and call the shots for J.R. Fitzpatrick’s NASCAR Canadian Tire Series effort from 2012 to 2014. During that time, the pair won five races with two runner-up points finishes.
“He (John) provided me the guidance, the confidence and the equipment to achieve my goals, and I am forever grateful,” Thomson said.
Thomson is still involved racing, currently leading the effort for Cayden Lapcevich at Fastline Motorsports.
