Toronto Motorsports Park -Dragway Schedule

An ambulance powered by a Phantom jet engine? Dragsters powered by the same type of engines in the Tutor jet aircraft flown by Canada's Snowbirds? A schoolbus that does wheelies? Hard to believe. But you can see it for yourself when you head today to Toronto Motorsports Park for Family Day Thunder Fest. "The kids love to see the schoolbus do wheelstands," says Neale Armstrong, race director at the Cayuga facility. Of the Jet Ambulance — a stock International truck cab with a massive jet engine situated where patients would normally ride — Armstrong says, "It's just amazing. Here's a truck weighing over three tons, powered by a Phantom 4 jet-fighter engine, travelling at over 200 m.p.h. (320 km/h), shooting out flames from its afterburner. Awesome.

It's the only one of its kind in the world. People should come and prepare to be thrilled." Jet dragsters Terminator and Gladiator — which are built only for speed — have the same engines as those in the Tutor aircraft piloted by the Snowbirds, Canada's famous aerobatics team. They will face off against each other in a race hitting 300 m.p.h. (480 km/h) or more. In the wheelstanding event, in addition to the wheelie-poppin' school bus, Armstrong says a funny car/stock car called Controlled Insanity will do a full quarter mile with its front wheels in the air, sparks following all the way.

The program also offers less insane drag racing. In the afternoon, qualifying rounds for drivers entered in the Pro Modified Racing Association elimination event takes place, with competitors drawn from Ontario, Quebec, New York and Ohio. One of the competitors will be Kasey Janzen from St. Catharines, whose company, KC Auto Parts, is the Thunder Fest sponsor. Pro/Mods, as they're known, "capture the true spirit of hot-rodding," according to their promoters. A widely-diverse group of race cars, many with unique body styles, they're powered by 2,000-horsepower engines that speed them down a quarter-mile dragstrip at a little over six seconds at up to 230 m.p.h. (370 km/h). "They're about ready to cross into the five-second area. The five-second barrier hasn't been broken yet, but it's that close. We might see it this weekend. That would be something the fans would love," he said. Pro/Mod teams have the choice of running either a supercharged engine with a maximum displacement of 527 cubic inches, or adding nitrous oxide to the engine, which can be up to 740 cubic inches. Turbocharged engines are not allowed.

Minimum weights for the front-engined cars are 2,375 pounds (1,077 kg) for nitrous and 2,700 pounds (1,225 kg) for supercharged. Of the couple of dozen cars or so entered, the eight quickest will become part of Showtime, beginning at 7 p.m. where, following the feature attractions, they will compete in semi-finals and a final to declare a winner. Also during the afternoon there'll be head-to-head competitions on the dragstrip for cars in the CanAm Stock and Super Stock series, a popular grassroots series featuring competitors from Ontario and Michigan, as well as some motorbike events.

Toronto Motorsports Park has grandstand seating for 8,000 overlooking the dragstrip where everything takes place. If you've got $60 bucks in your wallet and purse, and you want to take the whole family, pack as many of them in your vehicle as you can and that's what it will cost to get in. Otherwise, it's $30 for adults, $5 for children 6 to 12, and free to those 5 and under. At the end of the evening, there'll be a firworks show, which the organizers promise will be worth the price of admission alone. To get to the park, take the QEW to the Centennial Parkway (Hwy. 20) exit, follow this south to Hwy. 56, then to Hwy. 3 West, through Cayuga to Kohler Rd. (Regional Rd. 8). Look for the signs for Toronto Motorsports Park, where the gates open at 10 a.m.