Photo credit: Gavin Baker Photography

This weekend could be the ultimate homecoming for Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport’s Patrick Woods-Toth, who will have the chance to clinch the Formula Regional Americas Championship in his first car race weekend in his home country.

Heading into the weekend, Woods-Toth spoke to media members about having the chance to prepare himself riding in the passenger seat around Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with track co-owner, NASCAR race winner and mentor Ron Fellows in the lead-up to Formula Regional Americas Championship’s Canadian debut.

“He gave me a few tricks on where to place the car,” Woods-Toth said. “I think it’s gonna be a big help for this weekend. As a first-timer there, it’s quite a scary track if anything, but it’s gonna be a fun time.”

Woods-Toth will enter the weekend carrying a 79.5 point lead over Nico Ambiado, the next-highest driver who will be competing in the weekend after Woods-Toth’s teammate Ryan Shehan withdrew from FR Americas for the remainder of the season. With five races remaining between CTMP and the Circuit of the Americas in October, Woods-Toth can clinch the title this weekend.

Fellows has been a supporter of Woods-Toth’s career since awarding the now 20-year-old a karts-to-cars scholarship to attend the Arizona-based Radford Racing School to drive a Formula 4 car for the first time after he won the 2022 Ron Fellows Karting Championship in Canada. 

That progressed into a test session with Crosslink Kiwi Motorsport which eventually led to Woods-Toth winning the Formula 4 United States Championship with the team in 2023.

Fellows commended Woods-Toth’s success and said that Woods-Toth represents the larger goals of what the scholarship and partnership with both Radford and F4 US/FR Americas was set out to achieve.

“When you look at the success that Patrick has had in karting and see it translated into a very competitive Formula Regional season in a F3 car, we’re super happy for him,” Fellows said.

Fellows, as a co-owner of the track, has been a long-time advocate of continuing to bring events to Canadian Tire and alongside FR Americas will be a well-rounded and loaded docket of series across North America, including the Trans-Am Series and F4 US. 

As for the event’s future at Canadian Tire, Fellows confirmed that while the existing event is only booked for this year, he wants to bring the series back to CTMP in the future.

“(We’re working) with Parella Motorsports Holdings, who has worked hard to grow both Formula 4 and Formula Regional Americas,” Fellows said. “We felt it was important to showcase those two open-wheel series and get some Canadian exposure.”

The Canadian exposure will hit close to home for Woods-Toth. A lot of his family members and sponsors who were restricted from being able to watch him race due to the American-exclusive schedule FR Americas has ran will have the chance to be able to watch him in person this upcoming weekend.

It’ll give Woods-Toth the chance to potentially secure a title his biggest championship yet at a spot which holds so much significance for him.

“CTMP is like a home for me,” Woods-Toth said. “I spent so many years at the karting track watching races. I mean, I basically grew up here.”

For more details about the upcoming Formula Regional Americas race weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park from Aug. 29 – Sept. 1, check out framericas.com

For details about tickets, check out canadiantiremotorsportpark.com