McCalmont Racing Weblog

TSN Radio Interview

Ashley — Mon, 02 May 2011 14:32:32 +0000

Hi Everyone,
This morning we had fun on the Mike Richards show on TSN Radio 1050 AM. We will have a link of the interview up on the website soon
Listen to the Mike Richards show every morning from 5:00am to 10:00am weekday mornings. … @MikeRichardsTSN for twitter followers

Getting Geared up for Barber

Ashley — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 12:09:30 +0000

Hey Everyone!
Our next race is fast approaching! Next Tuesday April the 3rd I will fly to Barber Racetrack Located in Alabama. This is a new track for me, but rest assured I have been youtubing alot of in-car footage! That way I know what to expect when I arrive. I love learning new tracks and I think this will be one of my new favorites. Stay tuned for updates over the coming race weekend!!
Thank you for all your support
Ashley

Getting Geared Up for Miami

Ashley — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:34:28 +0000

Hi Everyone!

Today here in Ancaster it is a gorgeous 8 degrees C, for any Americans that is about 46.4. This nice weather is getting me excited for the upcoming race in Miami which will take place in exactly 15 days 10 hours and 30 mins! The cars are prepped and ready to make the long drive down to the sunny state of Florida. I am really excited about this race, the last time we raced here I really had a good vibe from the track and we finished just shy of the podium in 4th place. This year we have set our sights high and want that win. I believe that with a little luck we can make that goal a reality. With such an enthusiastic race series a little luck always helps keep the car in one piece. Well I’m going to go take Jackson for a nice walk and get some fresh air, soon enough he will be running around in shorts and a t-shirt in Miami. Yay no more mittens and hats.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Florida 200

Ashley — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:51:14 +0000

Hello!
Finally back online after a very busy weekend at Daytona International Speedway. Just after 1:30 pm on Friday Afternoon our 2010 CKS Autosport Chevy Camaro along with 32 other competitors took the green flag for the Florida 200 race. It was a very busy stint in the car as I dodged cars spinning, blowing engines and avoiding debris on the track all while trying to gain track position on the track. I managed to work my way up to 10th place at one point from my starting 15th. Unfortunately I had to avoid a car that had spun in the middle of the bus stop and took a detour over the rumble strips/ grass. After this unfavourable maneuver the car seemed to become loose and wanted to spin, all of a sudden I heard a loud thud and felt as if I had a flat tire. I came into the pits for the team to check out the car and perform our mandatory drivers change. Eric Curran jumped behind the wheel and our team realized that we had a front broken sway bar. We continued racing and managed to cross the finish line in 14th place. We are very happy with this considering our unruly broken car. We could have had a front-runner but it is a long season!
The 2011 Florida 200 race with be televised on SPEED channel this coming saturday, Next up we will be racing at Homestead Raceway just outside of Miami. Florida
Stay Tuned

January 2011 Test Days

Ashley — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:54:31 +0000

Happy New Year Everyone,
I hope everyone was able to enjoy a safe and happy holiday season. This past weekend the CKS Autosport team was testing at Daytona Speedway getting ready for the Continental Tire Sports car Race at the end of January. The weekend was very successful! Our CKS Autosport Camaro’s were prepped perfectly, with only a few adjustments needed throughout the weekend to perfect the handling of the car. We were able to consistently run fast competitive lap times. We finished up the weekend on Sunday morning after we managed to run the fastest lap in Class for the weekend! I think we are in great shape for this coming up race. More updates coming soon! Till then drive safe everyone

December 2010

Ashley — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:12:32 +0000

Hello Everyone!
I must apologize for my lack of updates, being a new mom seems to keep you on your toes much of the day! With the new season fast approaching I am happy to say that all my training at healthy “lifestyle” choices have paid off! I am in the best shape of my life (thus far) and can’t wait to see how it helps me in the race car this season. Hopefully I can sneak a few treats this holiday season! I would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. Be careful in the slippery weather and make sure to keep emergency items in the truck just in case.
Stay tuned testing will be here before you know it!

Utah 2010

Ashley — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:52:14 +0000

Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone is enjoying their last few days of the summer. I did this past weekend at Miller Motorsports park just outside of Salt Lake City Utah. This weekend we had the Maiden race of our two new 2010 Chevy Camaro SS’s. They preformed perfectly, Kirk is brilliant in building his race cars. We took our first official Green Flag at 5 pm on Saturday September 11th. We spent the weekend learning how the car prefered to be set-up and how the drivers would prefer it to be set up. Cars and drivers do not always seem to see eye to eye, so compromises always have to be created. Throughout the weekend we were working to create a setup for the car that would balance the overseer and understeer of the car’s handling. When developing a new car and driver for that matter there is always a period of learning to see what works and what doesn’t. Like each Driver each car is unique! This weekend we began trying to solve a push through the Apex of the corner (The car did not want to rotate (turn) in the middle of the corner (the apex)) After Qualifying we decided to take the set up one step farther. With that change we unfortunately created a set up that was extremely loose. Lucky with every accident there is a lesson learned, with that we figured out how to correct our push! Just over an hour into my stint in the car a caution flag was displayed for a car that had went off the track. With that we had a perfectly timed pit stop. Eric Curran took his turn in the car while the CKS Autosport team did a flawless pit stop in which they changed tires, fueled the car and did a Swaybar adjustment to help tune back the car to help the handling. Upon returning to the track Eric confirmed that the adjustment did in fact help address the problem. He continued to analyse the handling of the car while communicating with the team over the radio they came up with a consensus as to what further changes needed to be made. On the following yellow Eric returned for another quick adjustment, after which he started working his was up the field of cars. Just over two and a half hours after we took the green flag, the CKS Autosport Chevy Camaro crossed the finish line in 9th place over all, also we were the top finishing Camaro of the race. We as a team are ecstatic that the car prefomed so flawlessly. We came into this weekend with the agenda of learning about the car and having fun. All of the above was achieved and more. We look forward to taking to the track again with the Grand-AM Continental Tire challenge this January in Daytona.

July 2010

Ashley — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:31:26 +0000

Hello Everyone!
I’m BACK! What a busy six months this has been for me. In January I gave birth to my first child. Jackson Didero, he arrived on January 20th coming in at a whopping 8.3 lbs and 23 inches long. Now he is a healthy 5 month old who has been busy crawling for a month now, I believe we have another racer on the way. Also on May 10th my now husband and I were married on a beach in Mexico, joined by a small group of our friends and family. Lastly we finally had a reception last Saturday with all our friends and family who would not join us in Mexico. Bringing us to today and why I have been so absent. Through out all this we have also been very busy building and testing out new 2010 Camaro SS. The car is coming along great! Hopefully we will be able to compete in a Grand-Am Continental tire Challenge race this season. We will be testing again on July 15th 2010 at Mosport International Raceway. Stay tuned for more updates!

Looking Forward to the New Season

Ashley — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:26:33 +0000

Hi Everyone,
I am sorry its been so long since my last entry! I am currently 33 weeks pregnant and eagerly expecting my son’s arrival as well as the opportunity to return to the driver’s seat! With the new car coming together, I finally see the end in sight of watching from the pits. Our team is really excited for this season, It will have its challenges working out the new car and working through the kinks. I believe that it will be a great year and learning experience. Stay tuned as we gear up for another exciting racing season!

A Quick Friday at Walkins Glen

Ashley — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:48:23 +0000

This past Friday the Grand-Am KONI Challenge completed at the famed Walkins Glen Race track in NY. With Qualifying and the race all taking place on Friday it made for a very fast paced day. Unfortunately during Qualifying our 01 and 00 Georgian Bay Cobalts had suffered from some technical break failure during our 15 minute Qualifying run, in which making it next to impossible to produce a fast time. At around 4 o’clock on Friday after noon the Grand-Am KONI challenge cars took the grid. Starting in 14th place I knew it was going to be a busy first stint and that I would have to work my way up through the cars to ensure a good place for my co-driver Jamie to work with. The GS race started with a wreak coming up through the famous tight S’s causing the ST race to start with both the green and yellow flags being displayed at once. Which means we must immediately form a single line until the race resumes. Shortly after the initial yellow flag I started working my way up through the cars and found myself in 6th place. It was a very exciting ride, the weather wouldn’t decide if it wanted to rain or not so for the majority of my stint I was doing all I could to drift perfectly through the slippy corners and keep our 01 Georgian Bay Cobalt on the track. After a little over an hour we did our drivers change under green. Jamie rejoined the race and in no time was back up to the front fighting for the lead. At the end of our 2 hour and 30 minute race we took the checkered flag with a 3rd place finish. We were extremely happy with this and are excited to race at Mid-Ohio in a couple weeks! Saturday June 13th Catch the Race on SPEED channel!

Until then stay tuned