EDSON, AB – It was a standout season for all race teams flying the Northern Provincial Pipelines Ltd. logo in 2018.  From paved oval appearances in British Columbia, Washington and Arizona to the dirt tracks in Alberta, Washington and Montana, Team NPP had two victory lane appearances along with nine top-5 and twenty-three top-10 finishes.

Darrell Midgley and ‘part-time’ Team NPP driver Brandon Carlson kicked off the 2018 season at Tucson Speedway back in January.  More than 40 Super Late Model Teams were on the property for the three-night Chilly Willy event.  It was a memorable race weekend, good and bad, for both drivers.  Carlson was making his Chilly Willy debut and recorded back to back top-10 finishes in the preliminary Features.  The Victoria, BC driver then finished 14th in the 150-lap Feature in the Northern Provincial Pipelines Ltd./Alien Race Cars #81C.

Midgley finished 18th in the Chilly Willy 150 but was running in the back-up car.  Twenty-four hours earlier the Sidney, British Columbia driver was running 6th in the final preliminary Feature when he was struck from behind trying to avoid an incident in front of him.  “I managed to stop but then I got smacked,” said Midgley, “rung my bell good.  He was so far into my car he tore the carburetor off his car.”  The contact severely damaged the primary NPP/Alien Race Cars #81 Dodge.  Midgley returned to Tucson Speedway in March for the Pizza Hut sponsored season opening race.  Much to Midgley’s surprise the Team NPP #81 Dodge was featured prominently on track posters and pizza boxes.  In a race that featured several spectacular crashes, Midgley recorded his first top-10 of 2018 with an 8th place finish.  A few weeks later Midgley recorded his best ever finish at the Wenatchee Super Oval in Washington State with an 8th place finish at the Leonard Evans Memorial 150.  Midgley’s run of top-10’s briefly stalled in July after an 11th place finish at South South Speedway in Rochester, Washington.  Three consecutive top-10 finishes wrapped up the 2018 season for the Super Late Model driver and team.  Midgley saved the best for last with a 5th place finish at Tucson Speedway on November 23rd at the annual Turkey Shoot 125 race.  This was Midgley’s best ever finish at Tucson Speedway in fifteen starts dating back to 2015.  “Looking forward to 2019,” says Midgley, “we’ll be starting things off at the Chilly Willy the end of January.”  Brandon Carlson is expected to join Midgley in Arizona at the first race of the 2019 season for Team NPP.

Still on the pavement, Jason Frost became one of the newest additions to Team NPP in 2018.  Frost officially took over driving duties of the Northern Provincial Pipelines Ltd. #81 Late Model at Western Speedway.  “The car hadn’t been run in a while,” explains the Victoria, British Columbia driver, “but it was a pleasure to drive it with Darrell Midgley’s help.”  Midgley last ran the car at Western Speedway in September of 2016.  Frost dusted the car off and raced it a few times at Western Speedway in 2017.  “We drove it every race this season (2018),” says Frost, “we had the car re-clipped.  It ran very well.”

Frost competed in the 8 race The Keg Late Model Series on Vancouver Island and kicked off his season with back to back top 5 finishes in May.  Frost registered his first podium of the season finishing 3rd on June 6th.  The successful season for Frost continued with five consecutive top-10 finishes wrapping up the year with a 7th place finish at the annual Canada 200 on the September long weekend.  It is anticipated that Frost will be in the pits crewing for both Brandon Carlson and Darrell Midgley at Tucson Speedway the end of January for the Chilly Willy 125.

Northern Provincial Pipelines Ltd. has been a proud supporter and sponsor of DJ Kennington’s racing endeavors for close to two decades.  Kennington flew the NPP colors several times at NASCAR events in 2018.  Kennington ran NPP / Clark Construction branded cars twice at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series.

The St. Thomas, Ontario driver finished 31st in the March race and 27th in the November race.  To thank Dwight Kennedy for his years of support, Kennington wore his NPP driving suit at several NASCAR Truck events in 2018 including the season ending race at Homestead Miami Speedway on November 16th.  “I could not even think about doing this without the help of Dwight and Kevin (Clark).”  Alberta based Clark Construction has been an associate sponsor along side NPP for almost a decade.