10/06/2026
🏁 Two Men Remembered. One Special Night. A Legacy That Will Live On. 🏁
Some races are about wins, points, trophies and championships.
Some races mean a whole lot more.
On October 16th at Bud’s Speedway, during the 5th Annual Caper Memorial, the V6 Thunder division will take to the track for a race that will carry a lot of meaning for two families, our team and many people throughout the racing community.
The V6 Thunder feature will be the Darrell McDonald Memorial V6 Thunder 30, honouring Darrell McDonald, father of James McDonald of JDM TV.
And when that field takes the green flag, they will also be competing for something incredibly close to our hearts at Strang Road Racing:
🏆 THE RICKY DIXON MEMORIAL CUP 🏆
Two men being remembered.
Two men who were much more than racers or race fans.
They were fathers, husbands, family members and friends whose lives meant far more than anything that happened at a racetrack.
For all of us at Strang Road Racing, having Ricky’s name on this cup means more than we could ever properly put into words.
Ricky was one of us.
He was a V6 Thunder racer, a crew chief, a teammate, a friend and a huge part of the Strang Road Racing family.
When our cars rolled through the gates, Ricky was part of it.
When something broke, Ricky was there.
When we were scrambling in the pits trying to get something fixed before the next race, Ricky was there.
When we needed another set of hands, Ricky was there.
And the thing about Ricky was that it didn’t have to be our car.
It didn’t matter what number was on the door, what team you raced for or whether you were one of the people we were competing against that night. If Ricky saw somebody who needed a hand and there was something he could do to help, he helped.
That’s just who he was.
But racing was only one part of Ricky’s life.
There are probably a lot of people throughout Cape Breton who knew Ricky and may never have even realized how involved he was in racing.
A lot of people knew Ricky from serving taxi. Others knew him through his work at Miller’s.
And anyone who knew Ricky through work probably already knows the type of man we’re talking about.
Ricky could spend the entire day working at Miller’s, finish his shift, and then turn around and drive cab at night.
And somehow, even after all that, he was still there when somebody needed him.
If a company was stuck in the middle of the night and desperately needed something from Miller’s, Ricky was the kind of guy who would go out of his way to make sure they got what they needed.
It didn’t matter that he’d already worked all day.
It didn’t matter that it was late.
It didn’t matter if it was inconvenient.
Somebody needed help.
And that was enough for Ricky.
That probably tells you more about the man than anything we could say about his racing.
Ricky didn’t help people because he wanted recognition.
He didn’t need somebody telling everyone what he’d done.
He didn’t expect something back.
He helped people because that was simply the kind of person he was.
Whether you knew him as your cab driver, the guy from Miller’s, the V6 racer, our crew chief, a fellow racer, a friend, a husband, a father, or simply as Ricky, chances are you’ve got a story about him.
And chances are that story involves Ricky working, laughing, racing, or helping somebody.
He truly was one of the kindest souls you could ever meet.
That’s why losing Ricky last November hurt so much.
He was simply gone far too soon.
There are some people whose absence you notice immediately, and then there are people whose absence you continue noticing in a hundred little ways afterward.
That’s Ricky.
There’s somebody missing when we’re working on the cars.
There’s somebody missing when the hood goes up at the racetrack.
There’s another set of hands that should be there.
There’s somebody missing from the conversations and laughs in the pits.
There’s a crew chief missing.
There’s a racer missing.
But most importantly, there’s a friend missing.
No race, trophy or memorial cup can ever replace that.
If we had the choice between putting Ricky’s name on a cup or having him standing beside us again, there wouldn’t even be a decision to make.
We’d take Ricky back every single time.
Unfortunately, life doesn’t give us that choice.
So we’re going to do the next best thing we know how to do.
We’re going to make sure Ricky’s name stays at the racetrack.
Ricky raced in the V6 Thunder division, so there couldn’t be a more fitting group of racers to compete for a cup carrying his name.
His son Ryan had talked about wanting to do something in his father’s memory, and Ricky’s family wanted to see him remembered. We had also been talking about getting Ricky’s own V6 car fixed back up and onto the track at the Caper.
Now, we’re incredibly proud to see something permanent come from all of that.
Because we want to make one thing very clear:
The Ricky Dixon Memorial Cup is NOT a one-year thing.
As long as Strang Road Racing is around and we’re able to make it happen, the V6 Thunder Caper Memorial race will be for the Ricky Dixon Memorial Cup.
This year, one driver’s name will become the first one associated with it.
Next year, they’ll race for it again.
Then again the year after that.
And again after that.
We want to see this cup grow with the Caper Memorial.
We want to look at it years down the road and see the names of V6 racers who battled for it year after year.
And someday there may be a young racer standing beside that cup who never got the opportunity to meet Ricky.
They may never have raced against him.
They may never have watched him race.
They may never have seen him working on one of our cars.
But they’ll see the name:
RICKY DIXON
And hopefully they’ll ask:
“Who was Ricky?”
That’s when somebody gets to tell the story.
They can tell them about the V6 racer.
They can tell them about the crew chief.
They can tell them about the guy who would walk across the pits to help somebody he was about to race against.
They can tell them about the hardworking man who could work all day at Miller’s and then drive cab all night.
They can tell them about the guy who would still answer when somebody was stuck in the middle of the night and needed help.
They can tell them about the husband.
They can tell them about the father.
They can tell them about the friend.
And hopefully they’ll finish by telling them the most important part:
Ricky Dixon was just a damn good person.
That’s what we want this cup to represent.
It’s not about how many races Ricky won.
It’s not about where he finished in points.
It’s not even really about race cars.
It’s about the person behind the name.
And on October 16th, Ricky won’t be the only person being remembered.
The race itself will honour Darrell McDonald, father of James McDonald of JDM TV.
Darrell was also much more than a name attached to a race.
He was a father, husband, family member, friend and race fan, and his memory continues through the family and friends who loved him.
That’s something racing families understand better than most.
Motorsports isn’t only about the person sitting behind the steering wheel.
It’s the fathers bringing their sons and daughters to the track.
It’s husbands and wives spending their weekends together at the races.
It’s parents building cars with their kids.
It’s crew members working until midnight so somebody else can race the next day.
It’s announcers telling the stories.
It’s families sitting in the grandstands.
It’s kids growing up at the racetrack and someday bringing their own kids through those same gates.
It’s friends helping friends.
It’s competitors helping competitors.
That’s what makes a racing community a family.
And that’s what memorial races are really about.
They’re an opportunity for all of us to stop for a little while and remember the people who helped make our lives and our sport what they are.
So on October 16th, we’re going to remember Darrell McDonald.
We’re going to remember Ricky Dixon.
We’re going to remember the racers and race fans they were.
But more importantly, we’re going to remember the fathers, husbands, friends and family men behind those names.
Then we’re going to honour them the best way a bunch of racers know how.
We’re going racing. 🏁
The Darrell McDonald Memorial V6 Thunder 30 will see the V6 Thunder field battle for the Ricky Dixon Memorial Cup, with the V6 Thunder championship also being decided that same night.
Thirty laps.
A championship.
A memorial race.
A memorial cup.
Two men being remembered.
Two families getting to see the names of people they love carried forward.
And a whole racing community coming together for one very special night.
To every V6 competitor who takes the green flag that night — race hard.
But when the race is over, remember what that cup represents.
Help the guy parked beside you.
Lend somebody a tool.
Give somebody a hand when their car is broken.
Shake hands after the race.
Enjoy the night with your family.
Take the pictures.
Make the memories.
And appreciate every opportunity you get to climb into that race car.
Because if there’s anything losing someone far too soon teaches you, it’s that none of us knows how many more races, weekends or ordinary days we get together.
So make them count.
When the checkered flag falls on October 16th, someone will have earned the first Ricky Dixon Memorial Cup.
We can’t wait to see who it is.
But no matter whose hands are holding that cup at the end of the night, the most important thing to us is the name that’s going to live on because of it.
Ricky Dixon.
A racer.
A crew chief.
A hardworking man.
A husband.
A father.
A teammate.
A friend.
And one incredibly kind soul who left us far too soon.
From everyone at Strang Road Racing, thank you to Ricky’s family, the McDonald family, Bud’s Speedway and everyone involved in making this special night possible.
And Ricky…
We wish more than anything that you were standing in the pits with us instead of us writing a memorial post about you.
But we’ll keep telling your stories.
We’ll keep saying your name.
We’ll remember all the times you helped us and so many others.
And every year when those V6 Thunder cars roll onto the track for the Caper Memorial, we’ll make sure there’s something there carrying your name.
Because as long as Strang Road Racing is around:
🏆 THE V6 THUNDER FIELD WILL RACE FOR THE RICKY DIXON MEMORIAL CUP. 🏆
Forever our racer.
Forever our crew chief.
Forever our teammate.
Forever our friend.
Forever part of the Strang Road Racing family.
Gone far too soon.
Never forgotten. ❤️
🏁 Darrell McDonald Memorial V6 Thunder 30
🏆 Ricky Dixon Memorial Cup
📅 October 16th, 2026
📍 Bud’s Speedway — 5th Annual Caper Memorial
Two men. Two families. Countless memories. One very special night at the racetrack.
This one’s for you, Ricky. 🏁❤️
