When the Vancouver Molson Indy ended its 14-year run, the city of Edmonton seized the opportunity to represent Western Canada and host a world class race event.

This year’s Rexall Edmonton Indy (July 24-26) will also host  the Canadian Tire NASCAR series race, as well as Northern Alberta Sports Club Car (NASCC) and FIL races.

Proformance Racing will be running 8-10 cars in next month’s NASCC event, two sponsored by Seattle Tool. The race averages approximately 50 cars. The course itself is a temporary road circuit, so teams are unable to perform test runs or practice during the season -- mitigating a home town advantage for local racers.

Roy Gangdal, General Manager at Proformance, likes the course, which is a municipal airport for all but one weekend a year. “Being an airport, the track has a lot of open areas for spectators, so you can see the race really well,” he says. “There are less walls, and you don’t get hemmed in so much, unlike the ping-pong type walls we faced when we raced down the streets of Vancouver.”

In 2008, the Proformance team finished first and third in the P2 class and second in P1. And this year they’re planning to build on that success.

Despite the track’s limited access for the rest of the year, Gangdal still feels that they’re going to Edmonton as the visiting team. They don’t know much about the local drivers and the cars those competitors will be fielding.  

Regardless of who they share the track with, Proformance takes every step to carry a team that could race to win in Nascar.
“In the end, it’s the team that wins the race, not simply the horse power of the car,” notes Gangdal. “And that involves a lot of factors from communication with the driver to intricate adjustments to the car to prepping with high quality tools.”

“Time is at a premium at the track,” says professional race mechanic Stan Lamont. “Seattle Tool’s storage system saves me at least an hour of set up time each day because every tool is already in its place before I even start getting down to business.”  

Even so, the Proformance team expect to spend 40-hours of prep time on each car before a big race like this, and each car will likely run through three sets of tires.   

Then there’s the issue of safety. Every single nut and bolt -- not simply the majority . . . not most . . . not the most crucial ones -- on each car will be checked (“wrench to bolt” says Gangdal) to ensure it’s not too tight, too loose or worn out.

Knowing how much behind the scenes work goes into a successful race, we view the Seattle Tool logo on those cars as a badge of honor. And the fact that the crews trust our tools exclusively in such a demanding environment underscores that our commitment to high standards is worth the effort.

If you want to take in the action first hand, see www.edmontonindy.com.