The Maritime Pro Stock Tour (Commonly known as the Parts For Trucks Pro Stock Tour due to a sponsorship deal with Parts for Trucks) is an annual racing tour located in the Maritime provinces of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

History

The Maritime Pro Stock Tour was founded in 2001 to provide a short track racing in the Maritime provinces and is the successor to the MASCAR Tour. It is now known as the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour and was previously known as the Carquest Pro Stock Tour from 2001-2010. The tour is known as one of the best in

and is recognized as one of the healthiest touring series in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Each summer the Maritime Pro Stock Tour draws some of the largest crowd of any summer sport in the Maritimes. On August 4, 2013, driver Mike Stevens was in involved in a four car accident in with two laps remaining in the Exit Realty 100 at Oyster Bed Speedway in Oyster Bed Bridge, P.E.I. Stevens' car flipped onto its roof, but Stevens appeared to be unhurt. As Stevens remained upside down he began to remove his safety equipment, and in his effort he inadvertently strangled himself. The race was stopped immediately and Stevens was transferred to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Maritime Pro Stock Tour tracks

The tour currently races on five different paved oval short tracks throughout the Maritimes;

Riverside International Speedway Riverside International Speedway is a 1/3 mile, high banked, asphalt short track located in James River, Nova Scotia, Canada, about ten kilometres southwest of the town of Antigonish. Track history Riverside International Speedway started out a ...

and

Scotia Speedworld Scotia Speedworld is a Canadian motorsport race track in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Situated in Enfield on Highway 102 immediately west of Halifax International Airport, the facility was built in 1987 and seats 6,000 spectators. The tr ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, Petty International Raceway and Speedway 660 in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

and Oyster Bed Speedway in

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

was designed after the famed

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the m ...

Bristol, Tennessee Bristol is a city in the State of Tennessee. Located in Sullivan County, its population was 26,702 at the 2010 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The ...

, making it a favourite among fans and competitors.

IWK 250

Since 2008 the series has played host to the

IWK 250 The IWK 250 is a 250-lap late model stock car race held annually at the third-mile Riverside International Speedway in James River, Nova Scotia. In 2007 the annual 250 mile race at the track was repurposed to raise money and garner support for th ...

in support of the

IWK Health Centre The IWK Health Centre is a major pediatric hospital and trauma centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia that provides care to maritime youth, children and women from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and beyond. The IWK is the largest facili ...

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, which has quickly become their biggest and most high-profile race. The IWK 250 has attracted some of

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

's biggest stars, including

NASCAR Hall of Fame The NASCAR Hall of Fame, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, honors drivers who have shown expert skill at NASCAR driving, all-time great crew chiefs and owners, broadcasters and other major contributors to competition within the sanctioning ...

inductee

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series st ...

2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 64th season of NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, professional stock car racing in the United States and the 41st modern-era Cup season. The season started on February 18, 2012, at Daytona Interna ...

champion

Brad Keselowski Bradley Aaron Keselowski (; born February 12, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and entrepreneur. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 6 Ford Mustang for RFK Racing, a team he also ...

, two-time

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

champion

Matt Crafton Matthew Justin Crafton (born June 11, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is a three-time champion of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (2013, 2014, 2019), in which he competes full-time, driving the No. 88 Ford F-150 ...

and

2015 Daytona 500 The 2015 Daytona 500, the 57th running of the event, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race which was held on February 22, 2015 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 203 laps – extended from 200 laps due ...

winner

Joey Logano Joseph Thomas Logano (born May 24, 1990), is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Seri ...

. In 2008, the first year the event was held as part of the Maritime Pro Stock Tour, Regan Smith became the first and to date only NASCAR regular to claim victory in the event.

List of tour champions

John Flemmings car prior to the 2013 IWK 250

Race results

Season still in progress
Rained out

Title sponsors

CARQUEST Carquest Corporation is an American automotive parts distribution network that is currently owned and operated by Advance Auto Parts via independent retailers associated with the network. As of October 4, 2014 Advance operated 5,305 stores, 109 ...

Auto Parts (2001–2010) * Parts for Trucks (2011–present)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Speedway 660 WebsitePetty Int'l Raceway WebsiteOyster Bed Speedway WebsiteRiverside Int'l Speedway WebsiteScotia Speedworld WebsiteTours Official Website
Stock car races Stock car racing series Auto racing series in Canada Motorsport in Canada Recurring sporting events established in 2001 2001 establishments in Canada