The field of eight drivers has been confirmed for the 2018 Atlantic Regional Driving Championship taking place at Truro Raceway on Friday, June 29.

This is the first time in the history of Standardbred Canada’s Driving Championships that Truro Raceway will host the Atlantic Regional.

Standardbred Canada is pleased to announce that the following drivers will take part:

(Province in brackets represents the province where the driver raced & qualified from)

“The team at Truro is excited and looking forward to hosting this competition,” said Kelly MacEachen, General Manager of Truro Raceway. “It is one of our signature events for the season and this group of Atlantic Canada’s premiere drivers will attract a great crowd of racing fans.”

Invitations were extended to drivers based on several criteria including their 2017 win statistics in relation to their driving circuit, ability to be an outstanding Canadian harness racing ambassador and availability for the 2018 National Driving Championship and 2019 World Driving Championship.

The field includes 2007 National Driving Champion Gilles Barrieau from Saint John, N.B, who represented Canada in the World Driving Championship hosted in New Zealand the same year.

The eight drivers will participate in eight competition races, driving from every post position. Drivers will receive points based on their finishing position and the top two drivers will join six other drivers at the 2018 National Driving Championship (NDC) at Grand River Raceway.

The winner of the 2018 NDC will have the opportunity to represent Canada in the World Driving Championship (WDC), and join 2017 World Driving Champion, James MacDonald, in the 2019 WDC in Sweden.

Here are the locations and dates for the four regional events (in chronological order):

► Ontario Regional (Includes drivers from Ontario)
The Raceway at Western Fair District -- Wednesday, May 16

► Western Regional (Includes drivers from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba)
Century Downs -- Saturday, June 23

► Atlantic Regional (Includes drivers from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island)
Truro Raceway -- Friday, June 29

► Quebec / Eastern Ontario Regional (Includes drivers that compete regularly at Kawartha Downs and Rideau Carleton Raceway in addition to Hippodrome 3R)
Kawartha Downs -- Saturday, June 30

Regional events will feature either eight or nine drivers who will compete in a minimum of eight races. Drivers will receive points based on their finishing position and the top two point earners will advance to the National Driving Championship at Grand River Raceway on September 26.