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Saturday's INEX Winter Heat series event saw the sky open up and a rain cover the mile long road course for the entire day.

"Legends do race in the rain,"commented driver Ryan Mackintosh. "We could have gone out and ran around but we're not competing for points in this series so we thought we would sit this one out."

INEX Legend cars do run in the rain and the results can be spectacular. Chris Woods Racing decided to let the teams competing for the championship go out there and decide it amoungst themselves.

Team co-owner "Woody" Woods stated,"we don't want to go out on a wet track and have our car involved in something that might ruin someone else's day."

Mackintosh plans to be back at Charlotte next weekend and the team is preparing for the annual trek to Florida for INEX Winter Nationals later this month.

Chris Woods Racing driver Ryan Mackintosh spent Sunday testing at Little Rock (Rockingham Speedway) with Fast Track Racing and Andy Hillenburg.

"Ryan did a great job. He handled the bigger cars very well," commented Hillenburg after the test. "Oh yea, he did great."

One of Stock Car Racing's top instructors and coach, Andy Hillenburg, gives driver Ryan Mackintosh last minute instructions before a test run. (Lindsey Marks Photo/MagnoliasAndMetal

The day's testing accomplished several things for Mackintosh. When the driver turns 16, in April, he will be able to apply for and receive his ARCA license, for short tracks, based on Sunday's experience. He can also attend testing and a Speedway School based on the results of Sunday.

"It was a great day, I can't thank Andy and his staff enough", commented Mackintosh from the Chris Woods Racing shop in Kannapolis, NC.

The ARCA series races pre-COT NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car with engines producing 800 plus horse power.

"It certainly was different from the 3.5 horse power karts I started driving less than five years ago", stated Mackintosh.

Ryan Mackintosh tests at Rockingham in an 800 plus horsepower ARCA car.(Lindsey Marks / MagnoliasAndMetal photo)

Mackintosh will compete in the 2012 Allison Legacy Touring Series starting in March for Chris Woods Racing. The Canadian driver will also run 5 to 6 late model races for Dave O'Blenis Racing in Eastern Canada as well as compete in several INEX Semi-Pro Legend races throughout the season.

Chris Woods Racing and Ryan Mackintosh have started a new chapter in an INEX Semi-Pro Legend car.

Mackintosh, a regular on the Allison Legacy Touring Series, has decided to spend some time back with INEX. Mackintosh commented,"It is great to be back racing with INEX. We will be racing select events throughout 2012. We are still focused 100% on the Legacy Series but are looking forward to racing in the competive Semi-Pro division and with some great drivers and friends."

Mackintosh made his first start last week on the mile long road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mackintosh struggled on the start and had contact while running in 8th place but managed to bring home the #03 in 11th position.

"We were pleased with the result. An untested car and a driver with less than 15 laps of practice", stated team co-owner Chris "Woody" Woods.

On Saturday, January 28th, Mackintosh was back on track. Practice was very good with Mackintosh charting the 8th fastest time in his division.

The first heat race had Mackintosh running in 3rd place coming to the white flag and final lap. Mackintosh encountered problems in turn 1 and the car turned causing Mackintosh to finish the heat race in 8th.

The feature had Mackintosh starting deep in the field for the 10 mile event. The Amherst driver worked his way patiently through the field to complete his second ever Legend race in 7th place.

"The car worked well, I was battling a small oil leak making it hard to see at the end but overall I am very happy with the day. We closed in on the leaders a bit cutting a full second off our lap times from last week's race," commented Mackintosh.

Ryan Mackintosh battles for position in the #03 INEX Semi-Pro race on Saturday. (www.legendsnation.com / Stix FX Photo)

The Chris Woods Race shop in Kannapolis, NC has a little less room to move around this week. The team is fielding two Bandolero entries in this weekend's INEX Winter Heat event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The #1 and #8 CWRR Bandoleros will be piloted by two young Canadian drivers from the province of Nova Scotia.

"We're used to Canadian kids down here,"joked team owner Chris "Woody" Woods. "This weekend the team will have three drivers from Nova Scotia. It should be fun," continued Woods.

Amherst, NS driver, Ryan Mackintosh will have some company from home this weekend in Bandolero Outlaw driver Cole Tanner and Bandolero Bandit driver Luke Ettinger. Both young Canucks have established themselves on the INEX Bandolero scene by winning the Canadian National Championships in their respective divisions.

The team will be at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday to test and get the two Bando drivers familiar with the track and the surroundings. Mackintosh will be testing his #03 Scotia Hyundai - Power/Works Generators Semi-Pro Legend car on the one mile circuit.

Bandit Driver Luke Ettinger

Outlaw Driver Cole Tanner and Crew Chief Jack Tanner

Chris Woods Racing will now be able to site five Canadian drivers on its alumni list with New Brunswick's Cole Boudreau competing for Woods in 2011 and again in 2012 and PEI's Brodie MacQuarrie making several starts in 2010 and 2011.

A quck visit to both Tanner's and Ettinger's Facebook pages shows that there is a lot of excitement and support for both drivers.

"It really will be great to have some folks here from Nova Scotia," commented Mackintosh in an interview from Concord, NC. Mackintosh continued,"I have watched Cole race and have had a chance to run karts against Luke back at Scotia Speed World."

Stay tuned to www.legendsnation.com and their Facebook site for updates, photos and videos from the weekend.

The first outing for Ryan Mackintosh in an INEX Legacy car was not what the Chris Woods Racing team wanted.

Co-owner Chris "Woody" Woods stated,"we had a part failure in the rearend and unfortunately it happened early in the day. We were hoping for a good day and some additional seat time."

"We didn't expect to be competitive the first time out in the car ever but we had hoped to get a chance to get out there and ride for some laps,"stated the Canadian driver, Ryan Mackintosh. "We will get it back together and be ready for the next event."

The team plans on competing in the remainder of the INEX Winter Heat in the Semi-Pro division. "It gives us a chance to pick and choose events and have no pressure of running for points,"stated Woods.

Front Runner Imaging Photo

The #03 Scotia Hyundai / Power Works Legend will make its first ever appearance this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Ryan Mackintosh will pilot the INEX Semi-Pro entry on the mile long road course at the famed speedway. The race is event #2 of the INEX Winter Hear Series. Mackintosh did compete in the first event in the team's Outlaw Bandolero bringing it home in 3rd place after leading laps and taking the white flag while in front.

Mackintosh stated from Kannapolis,"we are working hard to be ready for the race. There is a lot to do because we just purchased the car on December 24th."

Team co-owner Chris "Woody" Woods commented, "it's a good chance to get Ryan even more experience in another class. We are just going to log some laps and hopefully have some fun learning. Our focus is still clearly on the 2012 Allison Legacy Series which starts in March."

The team has indicated that Mackintosh will likely run two or three Winter Heat events and participate in the INEX Winter Nationals at Auburndale Speedway in Florida this February.

"The Legend gives me a chance to get even more experience and to race with some guys I started with in Bandolero a few years ago." added Mackintosh in a phone interview from North Carolina.

Mackintosh plans to practice at CMS on Friday and compete on Saturday.

www.LegendsNation.com will have updated stories, photos and videos from the weekend. 

Ryan Mackintosh has been nominated for "Up and Coming Stock Car Racer" in Canada.  This nomination has come from the national publication Inside Track Magazine.

Mackintosh commented,"I am really excited to be nominated for this award." This is the first nomination for the 15 year old from Amherst, NS native.

Mackintosh finished his rookie season in the Allison Legacy Touring Series in 5th place overall.

Mackintosh will compete in the Allison Series for Chris Woods Racing again in 2012 and will run several races for Dave O'Blenis Racing in Canada in a Late Model.

The Chris Woods Racing team has added a new entry to the car stable with an INEX Legends Car. Mackintosh will compete in the Semi-Pro division of select events this year.

Driver Ryan Mackintosh completed his rookie season in the Allison Legacy Series in 5th place in the overall standings.

"We had a season with lots of ups and downs but we worked hard and the second half of the season was solid,"commented Mackintosh from his home in Amherst, NS, Canada.

Heading into the final event at Kershaw,SC, Mackintosh was in 4th place in the touring series standings but a rough outing saw the Canadian driver give up one position in the final total.

Team owner Chris "Woody" Woods stated,"we had a good season and we learned a lot. We are already working hard preparing for the 2012 season that begins in March."

Mackintosh will compete in early 2012 in the Semi-Pro divison of INEX Legend Cars. The team is not going to run in any one Legend series but will use the competitive Legend car circuit to fill in some gaps in the upcoming season.

All the members of the Ryan Mackintosh Racing and Chris Woods Racing Teams would like to congratulate Tyler Hill on his series victory this season.

"Tyler and Mark were strong all year and are full value for their championship," stated CWR Co-Owner Chris Woods.

This weekend is the final event of the Allison Legacy Touring Series and the last chance for Canadian driver Ryan Mackintosh to move forward in the series standings.

After another top 5 finish, last week at Concord with a solid 4th place, Mackintosh has passed Justin LaDuke by two points into 4th place in the standings. The Concord race saw Mackintosh pick up the Hard Charger award and his 6th top 5 finish in the last 7 races.

Mackintosh faced a field, at Concord, which had two Nemechek entires. Series Regular John Nememcheck was joined by his father "Front Row Joe" Nemechek on the Grid. The senior Nemechek has been a NASCAR driver in the top two series for the last decade and finished the Allison Legacy race in 2nd place.

Saturday will see the #03 take to the road course at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC. The series will take on the challenge of the West Course which lays out at just over 1 mile in length.

"This is my favorite type of track,"commented driver Ryan Mackintosh in a recent interview from Kannapolis, NC.

Ryan Mackintosh battled a tight car for the entire day at Florence Motor Speedway. "No matter what we tried we just couldn't get the car to turn in the centre of the turns",commented a frustrated team owner Chris "Woody" Woods from the track in a post race interview.

Mackintosh hustled the car and was able to bring it home in 7th place in the 100 lap feature. The promoter reduced the event to two 50 lap segments from the original 200 lap schedule.

The team is battling to catch the #27 Justin LaDuke team for 4th place in the final standings and did manage to close the gap to 10 points with two events remaining on the schedule.

Saturday saw the #03 Chris Woods Racing Legacy compete in a 50 lap feature at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Driver Ryan Mackintosh qualified third but drew pole in the redraw.

Mackintosh finished the race in 5th position after having to go to the back of the pack after spinning out on a restart on lap 23.

The race was won by John Nemechek, in the #51 Allison Legacy.

A complete video of the action is available in the video section of www.ryanmackintoshracing.com

Ryan Mackintosh and the Chris Woods Racing Team will be in Hickory, NC on Friday for practice.

Woods commented,"the team has had limited time to practice this season and an afternoon at Hickory will be great for both Ryan and the team."

Mackintosh will be racing the #03 Power/Works Generator car on the PASS race card on Saturday. The Allison Legacy Touring Series will race 50 laps in the 4th final event of the season.

After a tough outing, two weeks ago, the #03 Power/Works Allison Legacy will be back on the track this coming weekend at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Driver Ryan Mackintosh commented,"we just couldn't get anything going. We got up to 3rd but the whole day just had cars, including us, going everywhere." Mackintosh ended up finishing 8th and ending his streak of top 5 finishes at 4.

Saturday's race will see an extremely competitive field at historic Hickory. The back to back stops at Hickory are due to the closure of operations at North Wilkesboro.

With only four events remaining on the schedule, Mackintosh is hoping to improve on his 5th place position in the standings with a solid run this weekend.

Last weekend's heavy rains washed out the Atlantic Canadian Championships "Vance Haynes 100" for Super Sportsman.

15 year old Canadian driver, Ryan Mackintosh, was prepared to make his first late model for start for Dave O'Blenis Racing of Boundry Creek, NB. "We were ready, Ryan practiced well and looked very comfortable in the #48", commented team owner Dave O'Blenis from the shop in New Brunswick. "I am sure we would have been good, very good."

Mackintosh tested at the Centre For Speed on Thursday and again on Friday with several other cars preparing for the weekend event. Mackintosh was disappointed but did find some positives from the overall experience,"I ran close to 200 laps in a great car and had an opportunity to work with some great people."

The race has been rescheduled but due to scheduling conflicts, Mackintosh will not be able to compete.

This Saturday the Chris Woods Racing team will be in Hickory to continue to try to keep moving forward in the standings in the Allison Legacy Touring Series. Mackintosh currently holds down 5th postion in the points but is just 13 out of 3rd place.