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DaSilva’s Street Car “Big Tent”
Bruce Biegler - August 25, 2008
 Highly reputed Canadian Fast Street car enthusiast Joe DaSilva may have enjoyed his finest hour as an event promoter during his most recent presentation of the Canadian Street Car Nationals, held August 15-17th at Toronto Motorsports Park.
DaSilva, who is the owner and driving force behind the highly successful Mustang Toy Store (Pickering, ON), has been hosting various degrees of the Canadian Street Car Nationals for a number of years. By all observations, the 2008 race, reportedly his 16th
attempt overall, was also his most successful. The 3-day race, which was supported by a myriad of valuable associate sponsors, drew record fan attendance and also a record number of entries.
“I have to agree 110% -- this was our best race ever,” said DaSilva, who also campaigns his own outrageous turbocharged Pro 5.0 Ford Mustang. “A big difference for us was that we had good weather. In previous years that had certainly not been the case. The end result was our spectator gate was way up and our car count was up over 100 from last year. I think it was the dream event which I have been waiting for 15 years for. ”
The 2008 Canadian Street Car Nationals showcased legal Fast Street car racing in a total of eleven categories. The event also featured open competition in two other Sportsman categories, an appearance by the highly popular Can-Am Stock/Super Stock series as well as a premium Pro Mod match race between two of the area’s top-ranked national racers, Tony Pontieri (Toronto) and Mike Stawicki (New York).
 “As a promoter I’m very happy, but I still see some room for improvement,” Joe confided. “Our objective has been to draw more race cars from the U.S.A. For some reason some U.S. racers felt that our race here in Canada plays by different rules. That is certainly not the case because the rules are written around everybody. This year did feature a big win by Dan Millen (from Michigan in Super Street) so I hope that helps to change any misconceptions.”
The event featured ferocious and record setting competition which included the quickest and fastest runs ever on Canadian soil in most categories. That included U.S. based racer Spiro Pappas who ran a thundering 6.763 secs and 217.49 mph while pacing a spectacular Super Street category, driving his turbocharged Chevy Camaro. Oshawa’s Tom Smith, driving a Trans-Am bombed the EZ Street class mark with a 7.7 secs elapsed time.
“Canadian records in all classes were broken – pretty well across the board,” DaSilva confirmed.
The event’s individual winners were: Dan Millen (Super Street), Dave Earhart (Outlaw Pro Street), Tom Smith (EZ Street), Darcy Cumming (True Street), Matt Glassford (Pro Stock), Jason Lee (Drag Radial), Richard Hoekstra (12.90), Glen Luuk (11.90), Stephen Pegg (10.90), Ernie Zambra (9.90) and Rich Mason (8.90). The Open Comp title went to Jay Branning and the Pro Comp title was won by John Oake.
Race fans were also treated to a terrific Pro Mod match race on Saturday and Sunday which saw Tony Pontieri and Mike Stawicki face off. Pontieri, driving Rob Sporring’s super potent potent ’57 Chevy dominated that action running as quick as 6.10 secs.
Venice Perno, who is the owner/operator of Performance Cellar (Stoney Creek, ON), prevailed driving his ’83 Ford Thunderbird during the event’s Can-Am Stock/Super Stock feature, which was held on Sunday. Perno wheeled that high-flying machine past Canadian Super Stock racing legend Wally Clark in that final round.
Unfortunately, the event did also include a super scary moment involving Luis Custodio. That very popular local racer (Ajax, ON) lost his spectacular ’69 Camaro Super Street car in a fiery top end incident on Saturday evening. Just a millisecond after running a career best 6.999 secs at 201.85 mph, Custodio experienced an explosion which broke a nitrous oxide line and caused a major fire. Luis hit the fire system but its intensity did force him to bail out to the car while it was still rolling. After tucking and rolling, thankfully he suffered no major injuries. His award winning and show-stopping Camaro was however a near total loss.
(Bruce Biegler Photos)
For additional photos visit our event gallery: HERE
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