Shift Up Now Athlete Alana Carter continued her strong 2026 Emzone Radical Cup Canada presented by Michelin championship campaign with a top-five finish, which she then bested with a fourth-place finish, in the Labour Day Sprints at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on September 4-6, 2026.
Driving the No. 2 Emzone Radical SR3 for Radical Academy in the Pro Class and sponsored by Vibrant Performance, Carter hit the 2.459-mile, 10-turn track for the first time on Friday morning for practice. The weather was cool and overcast, and Carter had a solid session, running fourth-fastest on the time sheets.
Later that day, qualifying took place at 3:05pm EST. This time, the weather was warm and sunny, and Carter noted that the track was filled with lots of rubber from the other series.
She had a disappointing qualifying session when her engine blew just before turn eight. She was able to coast into pit entry and realized her previous lap was good enough to secure a 12th-place spot on the starting grid for the first race.
That night, the Radical Academy team worked hard to get a new motor in the car in time for the following morning’s race.
On Saturday, race one began at 9:30am EST under cool and overcast skies, which provided optimal track conditions. Carter lined up on the outside of row six for the green flag and fought her way through the field to cross the finish line fifth in class.
For race two on Sunday, Carter started second and was able to take over the lead in turn four of the first lap. She led the field for approximately five laps before a battle with the second- place car ensued. When the top three cars entered turn one going three-wide, Carter got pushed into the marbles and back to fourth place.
When the checkered flag flew for race two, she was running fifth. However, a post-race disqualification bumped her up to fourth to award her two top-five finishes on the weekend.
“It was a great note to end the season on for me,” said Carter. “The competition this year was steep and I learned a lot from it. Although I got so close to the podium multiple times without actually securing one, I’m so proud of the progress we made as a team this year, and myself as a driver.
“I owe a huge thank you to my car chief Anna Arkhipova and my team for getting my car ready in time, and my partners this year who helped me get on track. Emzone and Vibrant Performance played a huge role in my success this year. I’m forever grateful for their support.”
