Kurtis Connell Makes a Fan Appreciation Pit Stop at Peterborough Speedway
When a racer has an open night on their schedule, they do what comes naturally. Load the car into the hauler and head to a nearby racetrack.
Saturday, August 16th Peterborough, Ontario’s Kurtis Connell rolled his No. 8 Crate Sprint Car into the team’s rig and headed for his hometown track. Even though he’d been there before as a fan and a crew member for friends Jake Sheridan, Kendra Adams and Kelly Balson, it is an asphalt facility and not exactly where you’d expect to find a dirt racecar in the pit area, let alone in Victory Lane. The night’s Fan Appreciation event was a great opportunity to meet some fans and provide some dirt track racing education.
“A media rep from the track reached out with an invitation through Facebook messenger and even though we wouldn’t be racing, our team thought coming out for the event would be a great idea,” said owner and driver Kurtis Connell. “It is always fun to meet the fans and answer the questions they might have about the car. You never know what contacts you can make from a casual conversation at the racetrack.”
Connell – along with his fiancée Tori, who shares the team’s crew chief duties with Matt Reid – makes the weekly 12-hour round-trip trek from their Peterborough home base to compete every Friday at Ohsweken Speedway on the 6 Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario. Their 2025 program also includes selected travelling shows at Brockville and Brighton Speedway. The Ohsweken shows are carried live through GForce TV’s You Tube channel.
This year’s sponsorship partners include Connell’s Construction, Claybar Contracting, DJD Gear & DJD Graphics, Neil Strome Trucking & Bin Service, Crazy Browner Tuned, Atkinson Mechanical and Ryan Hunsinger Racing. The team is also thankful to the crew members, family and friends who help out behind the scenes and at the racetrack.
The driver says he’s thankful to Lance Erskine – drives a similarly painted and lettered No. 88 car, Ryan Hunsinger and Ryan Turner – for helping him learn the sport. He’s also looking forward to Brighton Speedway’s ROCK 107 Labour Classic Sprint Car Extravaganza August 30th and 31st and the 4th annual Northern Crate Sprint Car Nationals – Friday, September 12th – at Ohsweken.
Follow the No. 8 Connell Motorsports program during weekly dates at Ohsweken Speedway and through the team’s social media posts.
