1984 CVM History Completed
Rich Farraway 1984 Champion
Rich cleaned up in 1984 winning both the Flamboro Speedway and Gold Cup titles. It was his first and only Hobby Championship. 1984 was an exciting season of rebuilding for the Hobby club. Go to the menu board on the left side and click on CVM History, 1972 to 1984 are finished. 1985 will be downloaded starting this week, and that was a very busy season as well.
Annie Saucier
1985 History Going Up
I understand many of you have been waiting for me to get all of my history up on this site. 1985 is started with about 35 to 40 pictures and stories posted…and three times that amount still to go up. 1985 was a great season for the CVM, not so much for my team, except for the fact that we got to know John Saucier and his family. That came to be with little Annie being my biggest fan. She always cheered for me (she might not remember now) and her excitement brought us closer to their family. I’m sure there will be lots about her throughout 85’……I promise to keep at this over the winter, to get as much history as possible uploaded, I need to get to 2004…that should only take 15 years, yikes…regardless, it’s been great for me reliving the memories from 25 years ago. We hope you enjoy all the stories on our history section as well.
What’s Going On With The Dirt
358′ Feature Win…#2…In The Dirt
I can’t explain why I do fairly well in the dirt. Racing 6 nights a week from December until March of this year helped me learn a lot. What’s crazy is that some of my best racing is with this 358′. There were 22 of us Sunday night, guys from coast to coast in Canada and the U.S.
Safe In My Garage
New Car For Us In 2011
Tucked away in our garage is a new Late Model for 2011. Okay, it’s not brand new, but new to us. This Howe built, Jeff Hanley set up chassis had an incredible season in 2010, winning most everything. It would be easier to list the things Shawn didn’t win. The car is a step up from our own McColl car. It has the updated suspension and brake options and many other components better than what we’ve been running. Our goal for 2011 is to win the Championship, two features and our first ever big feature race (75 to 100 lap). This car will hopefully give us a shot at our first ever Late Model title. We know the rest of the Late Model teams will be making improvements on their programs as well, making 2011 potentially a very competitive season. Getting the car is the first step to help us reach our goals, we could only wish for a duplication of the season Shawn had in 2010. The car needs a complete going over, but we’ll be sure not to upset it too much other than replacing any loose or wore out parts. Our own #36 has had a close inspection and rebuild over the winter and should be complete by the end of January. It will be painted by Jim Sweers in early March.
First Best Appearing Car Award 1985
1985 History
Our 1985 history is half posted now. This picture shows our new look after David’s re-design. He felt if we were going to have a shot at winning the Best Appearing Car we had to add side curtins and move the number back a little. David was right. We ended up winning our first ever Hobby Best Appearing Car award at the banquet and won a mid season award from Dizzy Dean the owner and promoter of Motion Car Shows. We won at total of 5 Best Appearing Car awards 85′, 86′, 92′, 95′ and 97’…….I hope to have much more history up over the next few weeks and 1986 is ready to go once 85′ is finished. John Fletcher can’t wait until I get to the early 90’s, but Jason Shaw is before that, 1987 and then David’s rookie year is 1988. John, I’m working as fast as I can. There are 208 posts for 1986 and at least another 100 for 1985. I love doing this and reliving the past seasons even though some, like 1985, were tough on us, but so was 2010, but we love to race….here’s a good one, the first time we win Best Appearing Car is not with the number 36 we ran for the previous 16 seasons in Mini’s and Hobby’s, but #9, is that weird or what?…we got a few with #36 so it’s okay.
Making Progress……First Of Three Car Team
89′ Wonders…”How Much Longer Do I Have To Wait”?
Special thanks to Marcello, Gregg and Brian for helping get our #36 finished. This car will most likely sport a new black and yellow look carrying the Pennzoil logo’s for 2011. We cannot announce who will drive this car yet, but hope to have that firmed up by mid to late February, let’s say by the Daytona 500 week end….meanwhile, on the left is our new car for 2011, the #89, and it sits patiently waiting for a full maintenance overahul and a new wrap around body panel kit. Also, outside the garage is our 33 Chev Coupe, sitting in the trailer waiting to come into the garage for a complete going over. We are hoping to have our new Late Model in the Performance World Car Show in March.
Where’s The Rest Of The Car
Gehrig Our Grandson Helping In The Garage
Our 2010 Late Model is very close to being complete. Gehrig, Bob Pereria and Sheldon Bossam finished off most of the bolt on parts to be installed. This week end we’ll install the body, then the car will wait for Jim Sweers to paint it in early March. Next in will be our 33 Chev Coupe. It’s been committed for the Performance World Car Show. We have a lot to do and want the car looking great for the CVM display. A new paint scheme is planned, Shane at Carisle Industries has the paint picked out. This project will be rushed a little but we’re okay. We sure appreciate the help were getting.
Dirt Racer Gregg Rauscher
Gregg Helps With Body
Gregg came from St. Catharines to help me get a little more done on our #9 car. We will finish off the body and park the car until Jim Sweers comes back from Florida. Jim is going to paint this Impala Pennzoil colors. Then we move in the CVM and start going crazy on the Coupe and our new Late Model to get one ready for the Performance World Car Show and have the Late Model as stand by if it’s needed. Gregg has helped a lot over the winter and we appreciate his efforts. He will pit for us when he’s available throughout the summer. Gregg races a Dirt Mod at Humberstone as well as pits for another Late Model team. He has time to help us now and we really appreciate him coming to our shop. Tomorrow, Marcello and Brian will come to the garage and we’ll get this car finished and maybe start on the other two, the Coupe first. It will be a crazy quick make over to be ready for the show, but then we’ll have time to go over everything after….my online racing is suffering huge….this is actually a different kind of fun….and I’ll get to race with my Amercian and Canadian on line friends when the work in the garage is done…by then it will be time to rest a little.
Crew Chief’s….Bob And Marcello
Ready For Paint
We got lots done today thanks to Bob Pereria on the left and Marcello Pontello on the right. Brian Watson who worked hard, was suppose to be in the shot but ducked out. Pictured here is our Late Model from 2010. It’s now ready for paint. We did a complete make over of this car including a new body. It will be painted in early March then completed for opening day at Flamboro, there is still lots to do to get it on the track, but the hard stuff is done. We will be announcing the drivers for this car within the next few weeks, we need that long to get a confirmation. Bob Pereria is crew chief for rookie Sheldon Bossam. They may not be ready until mid season and have joined our team in the meantime. Marcello is our new crew chief for 2011 and likes what he sees in our new car (the #89 car in the garage). We have decided to leave everything as it is and just go over the car maintenance wise. We are going to be busy getting it ready as a stand by for the car show in March. Then, in mid to late March we’ll complete the rest of the work. Likewise for the 33 Chev, who gets pushed into the garage to start a huge rebuild and new look for 2011 and be ready for the Performance World Car Show. Our Coupe will be in the CVM display, and I’m very proud to be one of the cars representing the club. We’ll be busy for the next month. Nonie and I are very thankful for the help we’ve been getting, it’s been a little hectic, but a lot of fun….PS…don’t read anything into the Hoosier Tires being on the car. They’re only on the car because it will be in storage for a month or so and these tires don’t go flat making it convenient when parking the car for long periods of time.
These Two Headed For The Car Show
Hey Coupe, What Are You Doing In The Garage…Don’t You Know Who I Am?
We finished our car from last year, for now, it will need some work to complete it once it’s painted. Meanwhile we have to hustle to get the Coupe and our new Late Model ready for the Performance World Car Show. Both cars are being worked on, the garage is going to be a mess for a few weeks. The Coupe will be stripped down to just the chassis and sent out then completely reassembled and sent out again for the body to get done. It’s going to be nuts. We left the garage late on Saturday and the two cars got into it. The new Late Model coming off a great season said “Hey Coupe, what are you doing in the garage…do you know who I am? The Coupe wasn’t fizzled and retaliated…”Ya I know, give me 10” tires and a four barrell and you won’t get close enough to know who I am”….Gregg came over Sunday to help strip the Coupe. We need to go crazy to make this committment, but we’re on schedule.
Bare Bones
Stripping Two Cars At Once
Getting two cars ready is a rush anytime. It’s even more of a rush when the time line is not too far off. Added to that pressure is a small garage with lots of parts from the two cars, finding room soon becomes an issue. Bob Pereria came over today and stripped more of the Late Model. We got most of the Coupe done the other day, Gregg helped with that on Sunday. Now we must get all the red out of the Late Model and get those interior pieces as well as the Coupe chassis to the paint shop. Ron Easton is repairing the sheet metal for the 33 Chev, he’s also fixing the right side nerf bar. Once the parts are painted we need to reassemble the Coupe and get it back out for body paint. The Late Model interior panels will be reinstalled and then a new 5 Star body installed before it goes to Carlisle Industries for the new…but maybe not so different, paint scheme. The only welding on the Late Model is the rear bumper, that must be done by this week as well. We have about 22 days to get the cars completed and then delivered to Steve Lyons for lettering. Special thanks to Marcello, Bob and Gregg for their help. Marcello is gone to Florida for Speed Week so that leaves three of us to get these two cars finished. We’ll make it happen.
The Ugly Green On It`s Way Out
Carisle Industries
Gregg and I dropped the Coupe off at Carisle Industries late today to have the chassis and crash bars painted. We made it just before they closed. The car will be sand blasted then painted black. We returned to the shop and removed the rest of the interior panels on the Late Model. We`ll drop them off when we pick up the Coupe. The red panels will be painted a medium grey metallic. This week end we hope to have the Late Model rear bumper repaired and the body fit. Once the CVM gets back we can start to assemble it, then work on the Late Model when the panels are painted, then send them both out for exterior paint. Just over three weeks to go and we have 8 weeks work, but thanks to the help I`m getting we`re staying on target. Thanks Gregg, Bob and Gehrig, we can rest in late March….maybe.
Late Model Gets Attention
Three’s No Crowd
Dave and Brian Watson came over today, as did Big Jim to help with the Late Model. The Coupe is at the paint shop along with the Late Model interior. All should be back by this week end. Meanwhile, Dave, a very good body installer, helped me fit our new body panels on our new ride for 2011. Our goal right now is to get the car ready for the car show in case it has to go in. We finished today with the front and rear bumpers, quarter panels, right fender, nose cone and hood fitted. Once the left front fender is cut we’ll remove the complete body to install the interior, new seat belts and anything else we can do now, then we’ll cover it all with plastic rivet the body together and send it out for paint. Maintaining the chassis and going over the suspension will be done after the show and well before practice day………PRACTICE DAY!!!!….we got a long way to go just to make the car show, but thanks to Dave, Brian and Big Jim we had a good day.
Body Close To Completion
Making Progress
We had lots of good help tonight, and made great progress getting our Late Model body fitted. Pictured with me is Gregg Rauscher and Bob Pereria, both were a huge help as was Dave and Brian Watson and Gordon Nicholson. We still have the trunk and rear window to fit, then remove the new body panels and completely clean the chassis. The interior panels will be ready by Wednesday and we will attempt to get them in Thursday night. That will be tricky, making sure the wiring and electrical parts are reconnected properly. I marked everything when it was removed and if the rules were the same as last year I could have left the dual MSD box set up in the car, but one of those units has to be removed and that means rewiring. My wiring skills are much the same as my knowledge of the universe, and what’s that? I took up space for 12 years in school, but still know very little about astronomy…or anything electrical….time to learn? no, time to get someone to help who knows what they are doing. We hope to send the car to Carlisle Industries for paint by Tuesday and then get it to Creative Edge for Steve Lyons by the first of March. We’re right on schedule…oh, and the 33 Chev?, the chassis is painted, once the Late Model is done and at the body shop we will go nuts putting it back together.
If This Was A Race?……The Snow Blower Wins
Less Than 22 Days To Go
The chassis is back, painted by Shane at Carlisle Industries. Our plan is to install the interior in our new Late Model and get it out to the body shop by Tuesday next week. That will give us lots of room to assemble all the parts on the Coupe…that would be everything. Hopefully the Coupe heads to the paint shop by next Wednesday. We have some of our crew coming over on Thursday night and Saturday during the day…want to help?…we could use some eager hands.
Team Work
Five Days To Get To The Body Shop
Here’s our newest crew member Steve working on the Late Model while Brian starts reassembling the Coupe. We need to get a lot done in the next few days, extremely critical time for us. It was Steve’s first night with us and he fit in great.
Steve Learns Quick
Putting It Back Together
We’ve been busy the past few weeks trying to get our cars ready for the Performance World car show, and of course the coming racing season. It was a big challenge to offer these cars for the car show, but thanks to Steve, shown here, Bob, David, Jim, Brian and Gordon we got a lot accomplished today. we still have lots to do before the cars head to the Carlisle Industries for paint, but after todays effort, we’re in fairly good shape.
David A Big Help
New Interior Look
The interior panels are the same, even the bent ones, they’re just a different color. Red interior would have worked on our 1984 and 1985 Hobby cars, but not on any of my Late models. We had to remove much of the wiring, so it was important for me to have David rewire it for me. He did a great job with that as well as helping with the seat and belts. Tomorrow I hope to have 4 or 5 of us work on getting these two cars ready for paint and lettering. We have 18 days until move in. Sounds like a lot, but getting the cars painted will be the next big step as Shane and Scott work them into their now busy schedule. The good news is they are excited about seeing one or both of our cars in the car show.
Couped Up…..Bob, Gregg & Marcello
Late Model & CVM Getting Closer
This week end had to be big for us to stay on schedule for the car show. We had a long list of things to do, and all got done that had to, it was a very successful week end, and being a long week end helped. We should be able to complete both cars by Tuesday night. The Late Model has a few more body parts to install, then the rest of the bolt on stuff will be put in the car for paint later this week. The CVM is not much further behind. Once the body goes on it will be ready as well to head for paint. Today we got a lot done thanks to Bob, Brian, Gregg and Marcello. All the bolt on stuff for the CVM is done, even the inside of all the body panels on both cars were painted black. That was done on Sunday night so it would be dry when the team arrived today. Tuesday should see us ready to take one or both cars to Carlisle Industries…we’ll post that progress tomorrow. Pictured here is Bob on the left, Gregg at the back smiling, or laughing at Marcello who is securing one of the motor mounts.
Finishing Touches
Late Model Ready For Paint
Tonight we finished the Late Model. There was quite a list of small things to do. The rear spoiler, truck lid and pins. Cut out the jack spots on the rocker panels and then rivet them on the car. The vent windows, front and rear bumpers as well as finishing off all the riveting of panels on the car. Gregg came a little early, then Steve, pictured here with my grandson Gehrig, and between us we were able to get this car finished. The toughest part was loading it in the trailer. The fact it’s ice cold out didn’t help. We hooked up the trailer then manouvered the car and rear trailer door to make it easy for us, but it wasn’t. The cold makes things so much worse to work on. Once the car was finally in the trailer and strapped down we made sure everything was loaded. The hood was hiding behind the Coupe but we found it. Then it dawned on me..”did we drain the water”? Gregg reminded me that Bob Chenoweth put anti-freeze in it when we picked the car up. I remember Bob said there may not be enough in it. I decided to take out the two engine plugs, one on each side and let the coolant that was in it drain out. What a mess, but now we know it won’t freeze, but I honestly think it may have been alright. With all that coolant pouring out of my car, I can’t feel safe that my driveway won’t freeze, nor the floor of my trailer. When I unload the car tomorrow at the body shop I bet I fall down, from the slippery floor, wow, a moment to look forward to. This rush has been exhausting, but we have just one more car to complete and get to the body shop, the CVM, and it has to be accomplished tomorrow night. I think we’re okay. Carlisle Industries is ready for the cars, so to is Creative Edge. Steve Lyons has us booked in for March 4th or 5th and that’s coming fast. I still have not heard from Flamboro Speedway to confirm the Late Model is going in the show, but I was asked to have it ready in case, and we are on schedule. Thanks to Steve and Gregg for making it over tonight. I think one more night of craziness and then we get a few days off.
Carlisle Industries
Late Model Waits For Paint
We made it this far and though we still have a lot to do, the good news is, we’re on schedule. Shane should have this car painted by this week end, then we’ll get it back, finish the final prep and get it to Steve Lyons for lettering. Tonight we’ll complete the CVM and get it to the paint shop hopefully tomorrow morning. Then we can clean the garage and take a short nap. The car show is 2 weeks tomorrow. I’m very thankful for those who dedicated nights and week ends to help get us to this point.
Coupe Complete
Heading To The Body Shop
Tonight with the help of Bob and Gregg we were able to complete the body work on the Coupe. This was one of our easy nights, but still required three people for close to three hours. We started this project, getting both our Late Model and CVM ready for the car show, on February 5th, that’s the week end we finished our Pennzoil car. Now, with two weeks to go both cars will be at Carlisle Industries getting painted. I’m hoping we get them back early next week. The good news is I can get the garage cleaned up for the final prep on both cars. Windows, wheels, spoiler and other accesories to be secured on the Late Model before it goes for lettering. The Coupe will need the nose cone and radiator duct work install, as well as the windshield. Then they head to Creative Edge. I’m very thankful to those who helped get us this far. David, Gregg, Bob, Steve, Brian, Dave Watson, Gehrig and Jim all contributed to get this huge work load done quickly. There were others I had to count on as well. Ron Easton made some new panels for the Coupe, John Van Wyngaarten cut led, Dave Trendell from Grisdales got me all the parts I needed. Two months ago I had no crew, but God sent people to help and join our team, and they did a fantastic job with all the assembly and hard work. Now Shane Howard will prepare the bodies with an excellent paint job so Steve Lyons can finsih the cars off with his creative talent. This has been a very tiring but a frenzy of fun. I can’t wait to see the finished products.
Carlisle Industries
Coupe & Late Model Await New Paint
Junior Said It Was Okay
Making The Car Look Better
We decided to paint the interior after a discussion with Junior Hanley, who said paint dosen’t weight much and it won’t hurt, he even agreed it looks better. So, we did just that and now I like the look of the interior on our new (2008) car. Yesterday, Marcello, Bob and Steve helped out adding some things on the before it heads out Wednesay for lettering….update!!…as of Saturday night, Flamboro still isn’t sure he’s going into the car show, but thinks, maybe not.
Ray’s Appreciation Party February 26th
Some Of The Boys & Girls Who Raced With Ray
On Saturday night the Hobby club had a surprise party for Ray Hughes. Ray announced his retirement at the end of 2010 and the club members, Ray’s friends, wanted to show their apprecaition. Ray started in 1967, he ran sporatic at the beginning and but then full time throughout the 70’s, 80’s 90’s and the new century. Ray accumulated 8 Club, 8 Flamboro Speedway and 8 Gold Cup Championships, the most by any racer in the history of the Hobby club. Ray always showed compassion for drivers who struggled, who couldn’t afford the better equipment, or in some cases any. He started that way himself, and never lost sight of the importance of every single racer, not just those who excelled. Ray was presented with a beautiful painted helmet from Steve Lyons, a huge picture frame with all the drivers in his last year of racing, a banner made up by John Karley and a few other appreciations from his friends and teams he raced against. There were close to 100 people in attendance, including over 40 drivers…those in this picture are Top Row left to right: John Fletcher #61, Ron Easton #00, Al Haringa #07, Harold DeLeeuw #7, Daryl Henwood #29, Merv Colling #73, Wayne Martin #34, Jody Chubbs #28, Tim Martin #33, Murry Ducharme #18, Mike Podd #5, Jeff Bedell #65 and Ben Charbeneau #2…Middle Row left to right: Brian Atkinson #10, Bill Lyons #9, George McLeod #64, Ray Hughes #24, Rich Harris #8, Jim Hinchburger #61, Jim English #55, Doug Hood #38, Jim Collison #12, John Karley #19, Gary Elliott #36, Charlie Beck #79, John Jarvis #31, Jennifer Jarvis #12, Dave Trendell #57. Botton Row left to right: Sarah Miskiewicz #36, Paul Otrman #45, Jack Hood #65, Kevin Cantwell #2, Rick Jones #99, Al Bowman #75, Rob Clarke #27, Dave Trendell #73….some drivers who were at this event went home or were not available for the photo. Jim Sweers #75, Steve Lyons #9 and TJ Woolsey #43. Congratualtions Ray, you deserve everything you got and will get. It was my pleasure racing against you and because of it I have many great memories.
Coupe Gets New Paint Scheme
Heading To Creative Edge
Today, Bob, Steve and Jim came over to finish the final assembly for the CVM. Our 33 Chev is committed to the CVM club display at the Performance World car show next week end. We are very happy with the new look of our car and hope our fans like it as well. Steve Lyons will complete the new paint scheme with his art work early next week….meanwhile our Late Model is getting lettered and we should be posting a picture of our Impala early next week. Unfortunately Flamboro Speedway has opted out of the Performance World show for 2011 but our car will be ready for any other shows that come along before the season starts or even during the season. Special thanks to Shane Howard for taking the time to not only do a two-tone paint job but to fulfill our request of detailing the car that obviously took a lot of extra work and effort and for that we are thankful.
Ray Hughes #24
Racing With One Of The Best Ever
A few weeks ago the Hobby club held a special ceremonial appreciation night for Ray Hughes. He made it known after his 5th place finish at Flamboro Speedway on September 18th. There were well over 100 people in attendance for Ray`s night, 41 of them drivers he raced against in his 40 year career. Ray is the winninngest driver in the history of the CVM club. He has 8 overall club Championships, double that of his closest competitor. He also has 8 Flamboro and Gold Cup titles. The CVM and I will miss racing with Ray, and there is no truth to the rumour that he`s building a Late Model, aka Taxi. This plaque is just a sample of our times togther from 1972 until 2010 and though it`s sad to see him call it a day, Nonie, David, Shirley and I thank him for the wonderful memories.
Performance World
Steve Lyons Does It Again
Perry, Bob and Gehrig, take a break after getting our car, and Jim Sweers cleaned for the show. Both cars were 90% cleaned, they just needed that final show room touch. We are very pleased with the paint by Shane Howard at Carlisle Industries and the finishing touches by Steve Lyons of Creative Edge. Steve was able to take this new exciting paint scheme, apply his magic and give us another different, but great looking race car. We will be at the show most of the week end hopefully seeing some of our CVM and Late Model friends.
Performance World Car Show
Scott Gibson’s Beauty
Scott Gibson put his #88 Late Model in this years car show. One of 5 cars from Flamboro in the show. Two Hobbies, A Thunder Car, Mini and this Late Model. Scott says he plans to run 10 times, and if he does it will help the weekly car count at Flamboro in 2011. I got a ride home from John Casale and asked him when he was going to widen the track and he said a wider track wouldn’t mean better racing. I know he wasn’t drinking, and I also know he will take a visit to Sunset to see a wider more banked track and the results it provides for side by side racing. Mark Dilley told John to come up, bring his pace truck and he would let him in free. Once John sees the track I’m sure he will change his mind and make us a new surface at Flamboro…okay, so now you may ask if I’ve been drinking. Anyway as for the show, Scott’s Late Model is beautiful and will brighten things up for the fans that come out to watch the races. Another car that was awesome was Brad Collison’s #13 Thunder Car. All the cars looked good, just not enough to say much about racing in Ontario. The show really has no theme this year, I hope they gear or focus on oval racing more in 2012…the CVM display is good as well, with our Coupe and Jim Sweer’s masterpiece on display.
Performance World
Jim Sweers #75
This masterpiece was built in the past two years. It has yet to be on the track and will no doubt be a nominee for the Berst Workmanship. Depending on how it runs, it could qualify for Best Engineered as well. Today the show was much businer. Mike Williams and his dad Dave, as well as Gehrig and I have kept interested patrons up to date on the club and this coming season. Tomorrow is the last day, then we go through the mayhem of trying to get out in decent time.
George Chuvalo
Never Knocked Down
One of my heros as a kid was this Canadian legend George Chuvalo. He fought some of the toughest boxers in the world and was never knocked down. Cassius Clay said George Chuvalo was the toughest fighter he ever battled. I appreciated getting this picture with him and had to share it on this site. He is such a gentle person. Thanks for the memories Mr. Chuvalo.
Another Completely Different Design
Steve Lyons Gets It Done
After Shane Howard did his part, getting the right paint (2010 Camaro Green) and doing an awesome job with the paint scheme we decided on, the final touch was left to Steve Lyons. It’s one thing to have a great paint job, and we did, it’s a completely different deal to have the car finished off the way you want when it goes to the graphic designer. That trip is what makes the project come to life and Steve Lyons got it done…again!! Now we have both cars looking like twins and a short list of things to do on each to get them ready for practice day in just over a month. The Coupe will be done by Saturday and then we bring in our Late Model and go over it complete, replacing or repairing the leaking shock and testing all the springs, as well as setting up the chassis. Once we go over the car, we’ll get it set up, hopefully using the parts on it, or getting new ones if necessary. That’s it for me and my friends as far as going nuts trying to complete cars for paint and lettering. It’s been a lot of work but well worth it. I started the four car rebuild in November. Jason Legge was very happy with his Limited Late Model, our last years Late Model is just waiting to go to Jim Sweers for paint, then to Steve Lyons for lettering, and I’m very happy with my Coupe and Late Model. I’ll be much happier once we get on the track.
Quaker State Twins
Coupe Close….Late Model Next
Today we got a lot more done on our CVM. Bob, Steve and Sheldon came over to finsih off most of the remaining list of things to do. We bled the brakes, lubed the rear leaf springs, squared the chassis, got the car running and replaced both front tie rods. Next will be the front springs, set the toe, replace the clutch master cylinder and scale it. We should have the Coupe done by next week and theh we’ll go over the Late Model complete, it will need some parts and maintenance before it’s raced. We should be ready by early April and that will be good a good thing for us. Jim, Daivd and I took our last years Late Model, now to be #37 to Jim Sweers and Jim will get it painted for us in the next couple of weeks. Then it goes to Steve Lyons in early April. I will do a story on David’s plans on our message board early next week. I am glad he will be back full time giving Flamboro Late Models another car and an exciting driver.
Jason Legge Sauble Late Model Racer
Jason’s Got The Bug’
With the race season fast approaching, both Sauble Speedway and Jason Legge are getting in the spirit of promoting 2011. Sauble is one of a number of tracks in Ontario that put some of their cars in local malls to give current and new fans a look of the various divisions that compete weekly at the track. Jason got his car from us in early December and has had it lettered and now in this mall…it looks great Jason. We want to wish him, his peers and Sauble Speedway a great 2011 season. We plan on attending the Late Model Open on July 31st at Sauble Speedway.
David’s New Look????
2011 Pennzoil Concept
David will return to Flamboro full time in 2011, driving our 2nd Late Model. One of the changes he will make is the paint scheme. A yellow and black car is tough to make exciting but David and his team came up with this idea. Dad may even give some input, though this picture looks like they’re going in the right direction. Jim Sweers will paint the car and Steve Lyons will make his magic happen. The car is ready for paint and should be decorated soon.
Rolling Thunder
Can’t Break The 4th Place Habit
The past five seasons we’ve finished 4th in Flamboro points, and the streak continues with the On Line racing at Rolling Thunder. There was a difference with the 4th place finish in the 358, it was our best points finish ever, with the mostly American racers. A few Canadians run the series, no so much the Larkins, they’re into On Line shooting (War Games). Brian James and Sean Kerrigan who are two Canadians I race with, Brian lives in Oshawa and Sean near Belleville. I don’t understand why I do so much better on the dirt than the asphault, especially given the fact I’ve had maybe three dirt races out of 2200 in real life. Anyway, we race every Sunday night in the Mod and I look forward to it more than any other series we run. I could race 7 nights a week, and did that in 2010 during the winter, but with building four race cars since November, I haven’t been able to set aside the time. Looks like I’ll have to ask Terry Bauman, he did this photo, to paint my Mod with our new paint scheme. Terry paints many cars for Rolling Thunder members. This is a great pass time and though hard to believe, I think it keeps me sharp. I guess I should get in a real 358 Mod and find out how far off I’d be….or maybe stay with this and just pretend I can do it. One things for certain, On Line racing is much cheaper…but real racing is way more fun.
Quaker State Driver At Martinsville
Yes, I Wanted To Get In The Car
David, Jim, Peter and I headed to Martinsville on Friday morning to watch the Truck and Cup race. It was crazy weather wise. Friday we drove through cold weather right through West Virginia. It was cold enough to turn the rain into snow. By the time we got to Virgina it was still cold, but not near as cold as the northern states. We had a cool day Saturday for the Truck race. Not knowing how cold it was going to get, I dressed as if I was going to Octerberfest, or Autum Colors. It was cool in the morning, then got very warm, but cold when the sun went in. I loved being warm so I was content dressed like this in the noon day sun. I was also content to get close to the Quaker State car lined up on pit row about an hour before the race. We got to talk to some of the crew members but the drivers were impossible to get near. When you’re at the beach and you throw french fries in the air, about 500 Seagulls come out of no where. The same with the NASCAR stars, if they stopped for a second, fans would come running. Robby Gordon was awesome, he actually talked to Peter and David for about a minute and a half. I got to talk to Kenny Schrader in the pits for a few minutes on Saturday. He is looking forward to coming to Flamboro for the July 1st race. I am to, I just need to find a car. I will post some more of our pictures from our trip over the next few days.
Martinsville Pre Race
Charging System
Most of our four man team were getting autographs or asking technical questions from some of the crew members lerking around, an hour or so prior to the race. Me? I was thinking outside the box, definetly, not within the realm of sanity, but here’s what I was thinking when I saw this unit parked on pit row, all shined up. “This may be a great way to handicap some of our Late Model drivers in 2011. I’m thinking since last years Champion, who claims his new car will be 2 tenths faster than last years, should have to haul something like this around just to give the rest of us a chance, I will present the idea to Donny Cox, it may totally eliminate the need to tech our cars, just a slight weight addition”. Okay, dumb idea, but that was my first thought seeing this beautiful kart behind Montoya’s Cup car. More abnormal stuff to follow….meanwhile David’s Late Model is getting painted by Jim Sweers, then goes to Mike McColl next week and to Steve Lyons right after. Since practice day is looking more like a non-happening event, given the weather, we’re not expecting to get near the track for two weeks. John needs a good week or more of warm sunny weather to dry the mud, oh ya, and melt the snow. I’m guessing we may need to get our cars dialed in at home in the garage if no practice day comes available. I’m okay either way, though a few laps in my newer Late Model would be nice.
My Favourite Driver
Autograph From Dale Junior
After the Cup race we went down on the front chute and to our surprise there were very few people walking around. We got there just in time to see the crew from Speed interviewing Kevin Harvick. With only a handful of people there we were able to get close to the set, and on TV. We then decided to take a walk into the pits again, it wasn’t a hard choice, every car in Virgina was trying to get out of the parking lot, so we had lots of time. We went to the garage area and saw three cars. #29, #00 and #88 all being checked. We also saw Dale Earnhardt Jr in the garage with his crew chief. Suddenly Dale started to walk to his trailer with one of his PR people, like a body guard, the man pictured here beside me. David, Jim and Peter all were yelling at me “go,go go”. I looked at them and said “I don’t want to chase after him”. I’d be like a poparatizzi or something. But before I could competely settle the issue in my mind about going they went at it again “go, go, go, get his autograph, it’s your only chance, no one else is in the pits, go go go, hurry you’ll miss him, go, go, go”. So with that I decided to go, they were driving me nuts anyway. I ran about 50 feet. The drivers walk very fast in the U.S. Anyway I got to him and said “excuse me Junior, could you…” but the man beside me stuck out his arm to block me and said “not now he has an interview”. I said “no problem”. Then Junior turned and looked at me and said “no, it’s okay”, and gave me his autograph. How cool was that. When I brought the signed souvenir home I gave it to my daughter Shirley and she went nuts, when I told her Junior autographed it she instantly turned 6 years old. It was great and added to an already awesome trip. On Saturday I will post a picture of Peter with one of his hero’s.
Jack…The Cat With The Hat
Peter..The Rabit With The Pen
Peter hustled around Martinsville pits and got almost every team owners autograph. Here he gets Jack Roush, known in NASCAR as “The Cat With The Hat”. Peter also got an autograph from Richard Childress and many NASCAR drivers. He had no problem chasing them down and was even faster than most of the NASCAR stars who could move very quickly when large crowds were near by. We had an awesome time. If you have Facebook both Peter and David more than likely have downloaded many pictures to see.
Royal Coachman Pub
Sponsor Back For 7th Season
Located in Waterdown, the Royal Coachman Pub is a very well established eatery, with historic decor, a beautiful patio and an awesome menu. We have been blessed to continue our relatonship with the Royal Coachman Pub in 2011, as they support us for the 7th consecutive season. We will have our car on display twice, once in June and again in early September. Both showings will be in conjunction with the Food Bank Drive at Flamboro Speedway. Owner Ross Nelson has yet to attend a stock car race, but plans to make history this summer by going to one of our races at Flamboro. We ask that you support our sponsor whenever possible, tell them we sent you…I don’t think you’ll get anything for it, but you will get awesome service and great food, well worth a night out.
The Auto Spa
Longest Car Wash Tunnel in Canada
The Auto Spa is loacted in Burlington on Appleby Line approximately 50 feet from the south east corner of Mainway. The 265 foot car wash is the longest tunnel wash in Canada. This facility also has a long belt where cars are detailed after or even without an exterior wash. There are 7 or 8 employees working on your vehicle as it slowly moves along the 15′ wide belt. A three bay Jiffy Lube is on site, as well as 7 do it yourself wash bays and two detail bays for interior shampooing and exterior buff and polish. The Auto Spa started with us in 2007 and we are happy to run their logo again in 2011. Please support our sponsors when possible…click on any sponsor logo to learn more about their business.
Sponsor Returns
Burlington EmbroidMe…A Family Run Business
Perry and Karen Van Haaren operate the EmbroidMe location on Appleby Line and Fairview in Burlington. We met a few years ago and Perry has been helping us with our emboridery needs and getting uniforms and shirts for our team. This will be our 4th year together and we appreciate all Perry and Karen do for us. Click on the logo on the right side to access the EmbroidMe web site. It will take you to the main EmbroidMe site and you can search locations to find and visit the Van Haarens Burlington store on Appleby Line. Their prices are very competitive and the service is friendly and quick.
Getting Closer
Opening Day Count Down
We have a dozen days until the 2011 season officially begins. Our CVM is completed and ready to go. The Late Model is in the final stages of scaling and set up. We hope to have that work completed by this week end and maybe get some hot laps on Saturday, Flamboro’s opener, to shake the car down and get me comfortable in the seat….that is if there are no snow storms, mini hurricanes or tornados. We lost a starter and the left rear shock since buying the Late Model, both parts giving up while sitting in the garage. I’m glad the starter messed up now, the teeth were pretty well wore out, better to happen here than at the track. All the shocks had to be tested regardless, Junior Hanley rebuilt two of the four and the other two were tested and were fine. The Late Model, though having an awesome season in 2010, was tired and needed some wear parts replaced, normal for any car. I’m looking forwartd to race both cars, and will be in the CVM 8 times and the Late Model over 20. I’m excited to run the Coupe, especially if we got the steering problem fixed. The youngsters I’m running against don’t need any more handicap, I was driving a car with a jammed steering system, it almost took me out of the final race at Flamboro, and though we finished 3rd, I was way over the exhaustion limit by the time the white flag came out. A better rack and fixing some steering joints hopefully prevent me from going through that insanity again. The Late Model should be fine….anyone know where I can get a bunch of luck? Perhaps the best news for me for 2011 is the fact David is returning and I’m happy about that.
God Bless You Dave
Dave Mogford #39
On Satuday April 23rd at 9pm, Dave Mogford passed away. Dave and I raced for many years in the mid to late 70’s. He was a great person, easy going, laid back, loving racing and all the aspects of the sport. Dave always came by to wish us well before and after the races at Flamboro, and special events he travelled to. The last time we saw him was last years Octoberfest, I had no idea it would be the last time. He was always giving us the thumbs up, and spoke his mind, not afraid to say what he saw…usually good. Rick Schurr told me recently that Dave was sick, but that he may have half a year or more to live. It’s shocking and sad to hear this news now, it seems so sudden, and definitely a lesson for me to not delay to visit a friend when we know they’re sick. I thought I had lots of time to see Dave, but I was wrong, and feel bad that I didn’t get to encourage him the same way he encouraged us. We’ll miss Dave. He was a fine racer, part of the group of hard chargers that ran out of Milton back in the day. Dave McKee, John Hasselfeldt, the Thrings, and many more. Our prayers are with Dave’s family and friends…..We pray today, this Easter Sunday especially, that everyone will know the reason Jesus died was to pay our debt, and whosoever believes in Him will be with Him forever. Dave told me he believed in God, and becasue of that I can say he’s in a better place and will see him again….Funeral arrangements have not been announced but will be posted on our web site when they become available.
Delaware Speedway 1978
A Gentle Giant
Dave, known as Fonzie to most of his friends was a tall slender and easy going man. He loved racing and had many friends, some who he still travelled with to different shows in the south on the off season. He always teased me about David beating, but then would tell David “the old man gave you a hard time”. He was just as kind to Shirley, taking his car in for service when she worked in Grimsby at the GM Dealer. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of good pictures, this one is in 1978, one of the two times we visited Delaware Speedway. Dave will be missed by the racing community. I thank God for bringing Dave into our lives. Here are the funeral arrangements. On Wednesday April 27 a visitation for Dave Mogford between 2-4 and 7-9 at Mckersie-Kocher funeral home 114 Main street east Milton . A service will be held Thursday April 28 at 11 am.
Flamboro Speedway Saturated
Track Should Cancel All Races For The 30th
John Casale sits in my truck as I took this picture. We had a long talk. Yesterday it was announced on the Flamboro web site that Late Models would be canceled this coming Saturday for a variety of reasons. They included a) some teams had no practice yet and b) the track was a mess. The first reason spirred a response by me and many other drivers and fans. The second reason is true, but should have concluded in the cancelation of all classes not just one. I visited the track today and the grassy areas are saturated with water. Trucks and trailers will sink into the ground making a mess of the track, and in some cases possibly needing a tow to get out. The fan part of the track, pictured here, is like a swamp. Though Saturday looks sunny, the track should be closed because it will take a week to dry this place. John is thinking seriously to cancel the week end, I hope he does it soon because the Go-Kart club is heading there on Sunday as is the TQ Midgets and they should be warned of the condition in the pits.
Freedom Village Banquet
Banquet Goes On…Miracle After The Storm
Freedom Village held their annual April banquet in St. Catharines tonight, but not at the planned venue. Originally, the scheduled event was to be hosted by Coppola’s Ristarante’ in St. Catharines, but the severe winds from Thursday storm destroyed hundreds of big trees in the city, taking out the hydro for many homes and businesses including Coppola’s. Scrambling to get a new location, the owner of Coppula’s called his friends at Johnny Rocco’s and pulled off a miracle by not only providing Freedom Village with a location, but enough room to hold over 150 people and food to feed the hungry. This was all organized in a 4 hour span. The workers at Freedom Village had their work cut out for them, they had to notify all the people who bought tickets weeks before, that there would be a new location. By 2pm today the location was confirmed and everyone who was suppose to be there made it. What a blessing for all who attended. Eight young people, former troubled teens who’s lives were turned around by the efforts of Freedom Village sang songs and told their stories. The group, though small, made big donations to help fund this awesome ministry. Here some folks who attended the banquet get a picture with our car. We thank Freedom Village for supporting our team, and want to do everything we can to impact young peoples lives, doing it all in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Steve March #95
Amazing Coach
Steve March may have set a record for chroming his car. We had cars with lots of chrome. In 1986 we had chrome bumpers and side bars, but Steve’s amazing Coach has all of that and tons more. The car looks great and will be at Flamboro on May 14th when the CVM start their 2011 schedule. Steve had one of the worst wrecks in CVM history when he slammed the back chute wall at Delaware in the early 90’s. This will be his first season back, although he says he isn’t running a full season, but with only 13 CVM races scheduled, neither is anyone else….We wish Steve and all the CVM racers a safe and fun 2011.
Gehrig Halliday…Final Set Up
Go Karts Start This Week End
Our grand son is ready to race. We scaled the car and added one piece of led. He is pumped up. Gehrig will run a full season in the Go-Kart and 5 races in Brian Watson’s Mini Stock. Gehrig wanted his Go-Kart painted like his grandpa’s Late Model but stayed with his Uncle David’s #37. Lauren will run #20. She is staying in the same class as 2010 and Gehrig moves up to the next tougher class. He will be fine, and knows it’s going to be a challenge. Soon, like within the next two seasons I hope to have him with me in the Late Model class. It would be great to have him running with David and I in 2012, but I don’t see that happening. If he grows more, and he is growing, it could happen. He’ll be 13 in July, so the earliest he could race against David and I would be after July 16th 2012. I don’t want to rush him (liar) and was thinking of putting him in a CVM, but those cars are crazier than a Late Model. We’ll see, that’s a little down the road. I’m so thankful God continues to bless me with good health and the ability to compete in the Late Model and CVM class. I want to run a few seasons with my grandson before I get out. He’ll be twenty when I retire, it would be good to race for 50 seasons, God willing.
Alex McCollum Wins Main
Racer Just Like His Dad
Though not in person, I’ve had the opportunity to meet many men in the United States through On Line racing. One awesome runner is Paul McCollum from New Jersey. Paul is good at every type of Mod in the I racing world, winning features and taking a few points titles. In real life, Paul and his brother race Legends and his son Alex races Bandoleros. Here Alex grabs the feature win at Bethel Motor Speedway in New York. We want to wish Paul and his family all the best in 2011. Paul and I will duke it out in the 358 Dirt series Sunday nights, incredibly, the series I do the best in. Maybe Paul and his family will visit Ontario and get to see us race…or I could go to Jersey…maybe!!!… Way to go Alex congrats on the win, good luck throughout your racng season.
Season Opener May 7th
Could This Be The 2011 Late Model Champion???
The 2011 seasons gets started this Saturday, May 7th at Flamboro Speedway. It’s been a frustrating spring for the race promoter with tons of rain causing his first two nights to be cancelled. Things look fairly good for this weekend and maybe we’ll get a green flag. David is back full time, driving our 2nd Late Model, sponsored by Pennzoil. This is the car we raced since starting Late Models in 2005. It’s a very good car, has a few advantages over the rest of the field. It will carry 75 pounds less weight than the competition, because of the suspension and brakes. That huge weight advantage is one reason this team will be excited, the other is because of their driver. David is one of the best short track racers in Ontario. Four CVM titles, a Late Model Championship, winner of the WWS and hundreds of checkered flags. To make things worse for everyone else, David is pumped driving what he says is “the best Late Model I’ve ever had”. The question begs to be asked “could he be the 2011 Flamboro Late Model Champion in 2011”?….not if we can help it. We’re just as excited with the ride we have and look forward to making some history for ourselves in 2011. Our goals are to win the title, win a feature, win our first special feature 75 laps or more and compete in all 33 shows we have planned for 2011. We also want to run as hard in the CVM. A feature win with the V8 would be very nice in the Coupe. Our chances of winning the CVM Championship would have been impossible, even with their short season, because we could not have made every race. Brian Watson will race the Coupe 5 times, giving us a shot at the points chase in the Hobby Club. We won that series twice in 1989 and 99′. Our team will be racing two full series in 2011, it will mean some serious focus on both. We know it’s very difficult to win one title, trying to be totally dedicated to two series may not be possible, it could be impossible, so if we have a choice, our goal would be to lean towards the Late Model to try and add a Late Model championship to our resume’….that would be so NICE….it would be the best year ever if that happened. We have the car, the crew and sponsors. Having some luck to go along with that will be a needed ingredient for this recipe to work. Regardless, it’s our 43rd season and we want it to be fun because the most important aspect of what we do is the relationships with all the fans, competitors, promoters and sponsors, and that’s been going on for six decades. This is a great sport and I’m thankful for my team lead by my wife Nonie. They include, Marcello and Jesse Pontello, Bob Pereira, Steve Bradt, Perry Van Haaren, Sheldon Bossom, Gregg Rauscher, Gord Nicholson, Gerry Lancaster, Britt Howell, Lisa Lott, my two grand children Gehrig and Lauren and most of all my wife Nonie, because she lets me do this every year. Jim Hulzinga, our crew chief and spotter for the past six seasons will be helping David on the Pennzoil car and will keep his eye on us in case we need him. The way I look at it we’ve got the best of the best and we’re ready. The rains have stopped, the sun is peaking through, the cars are set, we’re all excited… ..let the season begin!!! God bless, have fun everyone and good luck.
Season 43 Gets Underway
Jim Sweers #75 Returns
This was the start of our 43rd season as Stock Car racing got the green flag at Flamboro Speedway last night. The pits were usable, but the same could not be said for the fan side of the facility. Seventeen Late Models, 19 Thunder Cars, a full field of Mini Stocks and eight or so Pro 4’s. The pits were muddy in places but for the most part were fairly full. In this picture Jim Sweers and I are checking our cars out in one of the practice sessions. The track opened a little early to give the drivers a chance to shake down their cars. Most only needed one or two sets to get ready, all the leg work and pre set up is done over the winter and at home. It was good to see 17 Late Models, Delaware had 14, a small field for them. It was also good to see our friend Jim Sweers back out. Jim painted a few of the cars on the track, Chris Boschler, TJ Marshall’s and David’s. Shawn Chenoweth won the season opener with a train of six cars on his tail. It was a good race, tough on our good friend Steve Laking #44. The full details are on “Diary Of A Season 2011”. More pictures will be posted as they come in.
Thunder Car Action
Mike Van Slingerland & Linda Dean
Opening day got underway for all the regular divisions at Flamboro on Saturday night. The Thunder Cars, like the Mini Stocks and Late Model seemed to put a greater emphasis on appearance in 2011 as many of the cars, like these two, had very nice paint schemes. Mike Van Slingerland #36 is back after a 2 year absence with a totally new Camaro. Team mate Linda Dean is shown here sporting her new look on the #5 Monte Carlo……Freedom Village is the series sponsor for Thunder Cars, thanks to the efforts of Mike Van Slingerland, Canadian Director for Freedom Village. Mike also generously gave every race team in the Thunder Car class an awesome driver’s package including sports bag, hat, golf shirt, and some other promotional items. Sponsors can be hard to get and the support from Freedom Village is much appreciated by the TC drivers……Freedom Village is an awesome place dedicated to helping troubled teens. Learn more about this Christ centered place by clicking on their logo on the right side of our site……There were 19 Thunder Cars, 17 Late Models and 23 Mini Stocks gracing the pits. Though the fan attendance was down, but should pick up once we get some good weather. The weather is one thing to bring fans out, the other is the competition. This may be one of the most competitive seasons in all three classes, and that fact alone will attract fans to Flamboro Speedway for their 50th Anniversary.
Feature Battle
Jeff Stewart #56, Steve Laking #44, David Elliott #37 and Chris Boschler #3
The first 18 laps of the feature ran smooth with some tight racing in the top nine. Here a group from fourth back fight it out in the early going. A caution would bring the field tight and side by side. Unfortunately, shortly after the green, a serious wreck happened right at this spot that sent the #56 and #44 sliding toward the pit exit. Jeff was able to escape but Steve’s #44 Late Model slammed the left hand pillar area of the track exit so hard he needed a flat bed to get him off the track. We are thankful Steve is okay, but feel bad for him to have such a bad wreck on opening night. Hopefully he can get his car fixed for the next race in two weeks. There were 17 Late Models for the opener, with three or four others soon to be out. Stock Car racing continues this week end with an open wheel show of Vintage Modifieds and TQ Midgets. We’ll have our #36 CVM in this event.
Feature Action
Bill Lasaline #22, Pacing This Pack[/head
A tight battle between Jim Sweers #75, Bill Lasaline #22 and our Quaker State car was only one of the two tight packs. Bill ran part of 2010 and improved steady each week. Jim took last season off, and just needs a few more runs to get back in the groove…..Only two cautions were thrown in the first 30 lap Late Model feature of 2011. Shawn Chenoweth #89 started the season where he finished 2010, picking up the feature win. Brad Corcoran #05 was 2nd and David Elliott #37 third. We should see at least 3 or 4 more cars for the next event. Hopefully Steve Laking gets his car fixed. He had a nasty encounter with the turn two exit wall. The Late Models, Thunder Cars and Mini Stocks are off on the 14th, a bonus for Mr. Laking, giving him another week to get his #44 repaired…..This week end we’ll run the CVM in Flamboro’s open wheel show with TQ Midgets, F-4’s and Hurricane Midgets. It’s the season opener for the CVM, another chance for us to get a feature win on opening night. That feat has never happened in 42 years. After Tuesday nights practice session, it’s looking like the drought could continue…BUT!!…we’ll try to make the car much better, that’s our goal with two days to before the rain…I mean green (rain?). The gears and transmission are out of the car and will be repaired before they go back in. We turned a 16:64, about 3 to 4 tenths off the pace, we ran in the 3’s last year and need to get back there to give us a chance at winning the season opener. Races start at 6:30pm.
CVM Opener May 14th
Season Starts For Hobby Cars
The 2011 season starts tomorrow night at Flamboro Speedway. Hopefully the rains hold off because the club is not honoring the tracks rain date on Sunday the 15th. Apparently Flamboro added rain dates when their schedule was released in March that included all the Grisdale shows, as well as the travelling shows. Because they weren’t told prior, the CVM have decided to make the Sunday race, a non points event, basically, it doesn’t matter who goes, or if anyone goes. That’s too bad, the season is short enough as it is, and Flamboro has had enough problems, like most of North America with bad weather, a little grace, co-operation and working with the track would have been an awesome gesture by the CVM….so!!!! lets hope things go as planned for May 14th….this picture was from our 1989 Championship season, the only feature we won all year. The car had everything covered, it was a 1937 Dodge, sponsored by Snowdon Ford with a 250 Chev engine. Jim Sweers painted the car and his name can be seen on the rear panel. If we race on Saturday, the weather sure doesn’t look good, our team has a chance to win the opening night feature, something that has eluded us in 42 seasons. Our team will support the full schedule with Rick Schurr, Glen Schurr’s son, driving the #36 Chev Coupe five nights.
Rained Out Today…….In 1986?……We Raced!!!!!
Season Opener Postponed
Rain has cancelled opening night for the Vintage Modifieds at Flamboro Speedway. The rain date is set for tomorrow. Hopefully that race gets cancelled as well because neither the TQ’s or CVM plan to be there. The CVM members could attend the race, but it will not be considered a race event, meaning no points, and for some no point in going. If a few go, but not enough to make it a race, the track could and should cancel them off the card. The problem for Flamboro is that no Hobby’s or TQ’s at the race would equal no show period. Neither club will support the rain out. Flamboro negotiated with both classes in December but there was no mention of a rain date during that time, not until Flamboro released their schedule at the car show in mid March were “rain dates” part of the show. I understand if a track wants to ask for a rain date the day, week or even month before could be an issue. However I don’t understand why the CVM members would say no to this deal, given the fact tracks need our support because they only have a short window in which to make a living with the race track. As for tomorrow, if the weather changes we’ll be there, but it dosen’t look very promising and with the knowledge of very poor car turn out as well as fans, it might be a good decision for the track to cancel the Sunday rain date now. I suggested that idea to John today while at the track for the go-kart races…..this picture is from 1986. Rains hammered Flamboro this day but we were able to dry off the track good enough to get the show in. I used up $25 in gas, wore my driveline and tires to help dry the track. I didn’t get paid for it, and didn’t get a thank you card and I didn’t care, because helping get the track ready let me do what I love….race my car.
Rolling Thunder Iron Man
Landon Pridemore #43 Wins Iron Man Award
Our team has been sponsoring Rolling Thunder Racing for the past few years. It started in the series run by Rob Larkin, Mini Stock driver from Flamboro. Rob introduced me the Admin members of RTR so I could race with them on other nights. After being there a while it was agreed that our team would sponsor plaques for the various series. The series we sponsored in 2010 included the 358’s and NASCAR Trucks. For 2011, we added another award, the Iron Man, presented to the RTR member who finished the best overall in the five series that were included. Landon Pridemore from Ohio, was the overall winner of the Iron Man award in Season 22. He had to make every race event and run competitive to win the award. Each season runs about 14 weeks, so they can do three seasons in one year. We will sponsor this again in Season 23 that will run until August……..Members of this fun Canadian American series are mostly Americans covering many U.S. States, including Washington, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsyvania, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Tennessee, Hawaii and Ohio. I may have missed a State or two. The rest of us compete from Ontario, but Canadians from the Maritimes and at least one from Alberta also compete……..Special thanks to Terry Bauman for this awesome graphic design of Landon’s 5 race cars.
Body Shop Visit After One Race????
Messed Up On The Paint Scheme
When we brought the car home from the body shop I was a little uneasy. There was something about the car that didn’t seem right, I wasn’t totally happy, in fact I wasn’t happy at all, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Shane gave us some paint and we painted the roll cage a shiny black, getting rid of the rusty steel look. That made it better. Covering up rusty steel always looks better, but I was still very reluctant to say we accomplished what I wanted overall. Once my friends and crew started looking at the car, many said it was good, very good, awesome, a home run etc, etc. I think they were lying, but maybe they did think it was that good, maybe I was the one with the problem. I felt Steve Lyons would make it right when he got through with it, then I’d be happy. The paint job was excellent, and with a great lettering job we’d then have the look I wanted……When you tell a painter the scheme, you have to make sure the design is laid out the way as planned before the car is sprayed so he has a chance to get the look you want. Same with the lettering, taking time to make sure colors and trim are explained helps get the desired out come. Both the painting and lettering were perfect quality wise, there was just this thing that didn’t seem right. When I got it home from Creative Edge, David looked at the car, he liked it but said it needed something. Shirley came out, she to liked it but said it needed longer stripes up to the green. I felt maybe, if I filled in the black between the #6 and the Quaker State with a few sponsor decals it would do the job, and that’s what we did……Prior to opening night, the appearance of the car was the furthest thing from my mind. The night we practiced I was told the car looked great on the track appearance wise, and lets face it, that’s one area of racing that has always been important to me. I was at peace now, everything was okay, that is until I got my first picture of the car on the track. I was heart broken. “This isn’t right”, and could now see exactly what was bothering me and what Shirley and David were referring to. I went to the garage to see the car up close and then it hit me, only a little different than the way it hit Shirley. The green had to come back further, to the Quaker State. The stripes in the rear were running out of no-where and needed to have the appearance they were a continuation of the green. The only way to do that was to ask Scott and Shane if they would paint the black area green. They agreed and the car is now getting fixed. It was my fault, I had thought of continuing the green to the back of the wheel well when it was being painted originally, but stuck with my stupid misled plan. Okay it wasn’t stupid, but it wasn’t quite thought out. Thanks to the grace of my sponsor, Carlisle Customz, the car should be done by Thursday. If no one notices, I’m okay with that because when I get any pictures in the future I will feel better knowing the paint job is the way it was suppose to be in the first place. You would think with this much ink written, we would have been talking about chassis dynamics……Now I can focus on more important things like catching the six cars ahead of me in points. Yes, the goal is to win the Championship, and look good doing it. We have a great pit crew and we think our chances are good. I guess we need the sun to shine on our season, and of course the race track…..it’s drenched.
Al Bowman
Reviewing The Numbers We Provided
Al recently bought a Late Model with the aspirations of being the oldest rookie in Late Model history. After last weekend’s run, Al is on the verge of being parked for the season. Track officials have warned him that he has only a few weeks to get up to speed. Hearing that bothered me a little and prompted my team and I to lend Al a hand to get him where he needs to be. We offered to go over his car, provide him with a spotter and guide him for the next few weeks. During this past week we talked, Al was concerned about set up. Though important, I insisted he first concentrate on getting practice, a most urgent part of his journey to making his dream a reality. I felt he needed radios and a spotter over everything else. He eventually agreed and called Dave Trendell at Grisdales and bought a new set of radios. On the 18th of May we went over the car and provided Al with the scale numbers. Here Al and I check out the results from our set up………..One of our crewmembers, Sheldon Bossom, will spot for Al this weekend, and continue doing so as long as Al is in the driver’s seat. Bob Pereria, Sheldon and I went over the car covering the basics. We set the toe, adjusted the ride heights, put the car on stands, added led, and scaled the car to a fairly simple and common set up. I felt bad for Al, I know he means well and would love to see him fulfill his desire. I also know he needs to make sure he stays away from the faster cars and make sure there are no incidents to bring any attention to him. If he can stay trouble free for a few races, get some needed laps in during the week, I think he could survive the season, I think all of us could. Al is 75 years old. He’s in very good health and really wants to do this. He has no experience driving at the speeds the Late Models go. He has never used a radio system. His spotter is also a rookie, never spotted before. A strategy has been put in place, we discussed that as well. Al will go scratch every week, try to keep up with the pack and hopefully progress every race, making baby steps in the right direction. His spotter will get him down out of the way when the leaders come around. It seems simple enough and if he sticks to the game plan and the Flamboro management team gives him a little grace, maybe, just maybe he gets the honor of being the oldest Late Model “Rookie Of The Year” in history.
CVM Season Opener Sunday
Ron Easton #00 Will Be At Sunset Speedway…But Not In This Car
The Hobby season opener was rained out last Saturday at Flamboro Speedway. The schedule will start this Sunday at Sunset Speedway with TQ Midgets and OSCAAR Super Late Models. This is the 45th year for the CVM, once known as the Jalopy cars from the CNE days. There should be over 20 cars including Ron Easton #00. Ron will be driving his Coach and no doubt be a contender to win the first race of 2011. Our Quaker State Coupe will be there as we start our 40th season racing with the Hobby club…….Weather looks good for Flamboro Speedway to resume regular stock racing this Saturday night. The track grounds will be soft after the week long rains, but two days of sun will cure that. Hope to see you at either or both tracks.
That’s Much Better
Paint Scheme That Makes Sense….Now!!
In case you weren’t following this saga, I was quite disappointed with our paint scheme when I saw the first picture of it from the May 7th show at Flamboro. My immediate response was “this is not right”. The car was taken to Carlisle Customz to get the touch up it needed. We picked the car up today at closing and the corrections were made to make the car look the way it should have in the first place….my fault. I originally pictured the green going to the Quaker State logo, but when following the design we made the green stripes look out of place, like they were coming out of no-where. After this change we lose the stripe down the door between the black (now gone) and green towards the number, but have a paint scheme that makes sense now. Plus it looks way better. We could have left it the way it was if we removed the green stripes in the back, but they look cool, so now is all good in the appearance department. Thanks to Scott and Shane Howard for squeezing this in and to Steve Lyons for getting the replacement decals made up quickly. Tomorrow night we return to Flamboro for our 2nd show of the season. Then it’s off to Sunset Speedway for the CVM opener on Sunday night.
Sunset Speedway May 22nd
Getting Ready For The Heat Race
Bob, Steve and Rick all helped get us ready for the Sunset races. We ran fairly well considering our carb and clutch troubles early. We worked on the chassis to get the car to turn better through the middle and by feature time I was very happy with the car. Sunset is one of my favourite all time race tracks, and now with the new surface it is my favourite. The track design produces side by side racing, making it fun for the drivers and very entertaining for fans. We finished 5th in the feature….On Saturday night we struggled with parts problems on our Late Model. Things went wrong and combined to make our night miserable. However, we made the best of it and know what we have to do to get the car ready for this week ends Grisdale Triple Crown race. The full story is on Diary Of A Season…..Special thanks to my crew on both nights for working hard to get us as good as possible for both races.
Feature Battle
Three Amigo’s
80 years Hobby experience racing through turn three. Brian Atkinson #50 started in the Hobby club back in 1976. He took a few years off to return in the late 90’s. Ron Easton #00 started in 1985 and has been running with the club most of the past 25 years. This is our 40th season running with the CVM, though the past few years have been dedicated to Late Models. I must admit, I really love running these cars. They are so much fun, especially with the new engine. Our car was much better in the feature and we managed a top 5 for the Hobby season opener. Our next race in the Coupe will be June 4th. I’m actually as excited about that as I am the Grisdale Triple Crown this coming week end. I would like to think I’m excited about any race coming up, but racing with the boys in the CVM is a blast……..our Late Model is in the hospital with a lot of major issues. It needs a new carb, clutches, starter and ring gear. Crazy, but all are broken or totally wore out. Hopefully we have all the stuff back by Friday and if so, looks like Saturday could be a very busy day. We’re hoping to get our car in the top four or five where it should be this week end. I sure would fell good with a strong run…oh ya, and with that parts list, a strong pay day.
Grisdale Triple Crown…..Tonight
Rain Hurts Track Business….But The Race May Go On
As if we’ve not had enough rain so far in 2011, this past weeks watering has made a mess of the race track that was slowly starting to dry out. It’s not so much the drivers that will be affected, but rather the race promoter who has very few parking spots for his paying fans. The parking areas on the grandstand side are a mess and with constant rain the past few nights, no time for it to go underground. Even if there was time, the underground has to be filling up to the point that drainage is impossible for a week….in spite of this condition, the track owners, who have already lost 3 of 5 race nights, will likely try to get the show in on one of the two days this week end. Racing is scheduled for Saturday, and rain is not. If rain does come, perhaps the show will get moved to Sunday. It’s a tough start to the season for the owners who rely on a certain number of nights to make their budget. Lets hope we get some decent weather and the fans can find places to park. Extra staff will be needed to guide unsuspecting fans who will be looking for high and solid ground…..we should see 20 plus cars for the first Gridale race and with the tough competition, picking the winner may be as tough as trying to figure out the weather. Races start at 6:30 with double heats for the Late Models. Back gates are scheduled to open at sometime between 2 and 3. See you there.
The Other Way Jason
Jason Lancaster #33 Gets Initiation
The second round of qualifying saw this mishap early in heat #4. Jeff Stewart #56 was blamed for causing #33 to spin but was innocent as Lancasters car was rear ended and sent up the track in front of the Kuboto rocket. This was Jason’s first encounter with the speedy Late Models that resulted in him getting spun just as we entered the turn. Ted Horsfall #49 has to take evasive action, with very few options. My brakes have never been slammed on this hard in my seven years in the Late Model class. I’m glad they were working fine because we avoided contact with everyone in this monster jam. The first Grisdale Triple Crown did get the green flag but after eight laps got the yellow because of rain and will resume on June 11th along with the regular Flamboro Speedway scheduled program for that night. We’ll post starting times for that show next week.
David Elliott Grisdale Triple Crown Pole Winner
Nice Start For 2011
David said after his first few laps in our spare Late Model (the one I should have kept) that “it’s the best Late Model I’ve ever driven”. He finished 3rd in the opening night feature and 7th the following week. Then in only his 3rd night in the new car qualified pole for the opening round of the Grisdale Triple Crown series. David finished runner up in his first heat and won the second qualifier. The 75 lap feature race was rained out only 8 laps in, but will continue on June 11th at Flamboro with a regular show for Thunder Cars, Mini’s and Late Models. Late Model’s will be busy with a double feature night…..this coming Saturday, June 4th, is the second appearance for the Vintage Modifieds at Flamboro Speedway. Thunder Cars, Mini’s and Pro Challenge are also on the program. Should be a great night of racing.
Flamboro Hosts CVM June 4th
Mike Williams #7 CVM
Hobby’s return to Flamboro Speedway this Saturday night for their second race of the 2011 season. Twenty plus cars are expected with at least seven or eight cars that did not make it to Sunset. Our team will be there as we are commited to racing all the scheduled CVM races. Rick Schurr, son of my hero Glen Schurr, will drive the #36 Chev Coupe five times in his racing debut. Rick is very excited about getting in a race car and I can’t express properly how proud I am to have Rick a part of our team……We finished 5th on opening night and hope to improve that run this week end. My crew are just as excited about this coming race and have worked hard to make sure the car is set up and ready to compete in the tough CVM field. Races start at 6:30, and feature Thunder Car, Mini Stocks and Pro Challenge.
Rained Out!!!!……Again
Torrential Rains Cause Cancellation #4
John Casale has to be reeling after yet another race cancellation. This was the fourth lost night of 2011. April 23, 30th May 14th and now June 4th. This was also the 2nd rain out for the CVM in their already short schedule. The next Hobby race is June 25th. Wow, two races (maybe) by the end of June for the CVM….we are going over our Late Model for this coming weekend, the conclusion of the Grisdle Triple Crown 75 lapper. The first race on the program. Our car was struggling badly last week, but hopefully new shocks and some added adjustments will bring us into the circle of competitors we should be running with….we will also have our Late Model on display this Saturday morning at the Royal Coachman restaurant to help raise itmes for the Flamborough Food Bank. This Saturday is also the first of two Food Bank drives. Hope to see everyone come out to support the track and the local Food Banks
Junior Hanley Helps Our Team
Hall Of Famer Lends A Hand And Wisdom
Last week we noticed our car making a hissing noise in the garage when we were jacking it up after the rained out Grisdale race. It was a crazy noise I never noticed before, so I thought something was wrong. We would not have noticed it at the track with all the noise, but in the quiet of our shop, late at night, we heard this weird hiss. Junior explained it was the left front shock making the noise because of the high amount of rebound, he said it was normal. Well it was normal, but on our car it wasn’t because it was coming from the right front. Earlier in the night I thought about putting on the four brand new shocks I had in the trailer. Usually I put the new stuff on and keep the old used parts as spares. I realized it was quite dumb to have my good stuff on the shelf, that would be like the Leafs getting a super star free agent over the summer and not playing him. I asked Junior if I brought the shocks to him, would he change over the springs, he said yes. It was while he was changing the shocks when he noticed we had the wrong shock on the right front, well on both fronts. We had the high rebound low compression shock on the right side and it should have been on the left. He gave them back and suggested we go to practice Tuesday night. He said “this is a big race weekend and you want to be ready”. We put the shocks on, loaded the car Monday night and I headed over after I was done work. Junior guided us and we did whatever he said. He started with ride heights, then scaled the car, then set the toe, the camber and we were ready to practice. By the time we were done, the third set of 10 laps, the car was awesome. We were able to get into some fast times with the tires we had from opening night, they had two full nights on them as well as another four or five heat cycles from warm ups in the past few weeks. They also got 30 more laps for this session and were still able to get into the 15:3’s. Our car is ready and we’re so thankful we had this chance to learn from a legend who uses the simple basic steps to make a car work. We all know the steps, the difference is Junior makes sure every single one of them is applied, not just one or two or three, but all the basic set up adjustments and checks. Bob Pereira and Gerry Lancaster also came out to help, it was a good night for us, we couldn’t thank Junior enough…..I wonder if he has a set up for the weather? I’m guessing he just might.
Grisdale Triple Crown Resumes Tonight
Grisdale Triple Crown, Food Bank Drive & Threat Of Rain
What the headlines will be tonight is anyone’s guess. It could be recognition of the winner of the first Grisdale Triple Crown race, a successful collection for the local Food Banks, or the races called because of rain. Lately the weather has taken the spot light, but we hope that doesn’t happen this week end…..our car will be on display during the morning and early afternoon at the Royal Coachman restaurant. Posters have been placed around town to help bring awareness for the need of items for our local Food Banks. We’ll leave Waterdown about 2:30 and head to the track. Gates open at 2:pm, races start at 5:pm with the first race being the completion of the Grisdale Triple Crown, continuing from lap 8 of 75. Drop by the Royal Coachman and bring a food item to support this worthy cause, and later take advantage of the extra races at Flamboro Speedway for the regular admission price. Hope to see you there.
David Wins June 11th Feature
What A Night
Okay, so I had a bad night, but I did get my first win as a car owner thanks to David’s awesome run in the regular night feature. The first race of the program was the remaining 67 laps of the Grisdale Triple Crown. David finished 2nd in that event, then topped that with this win after going to the back of the pack from a black flag for spinning Paul Howse early in the big race. Finishing 2nd was a great run, but picking up his first feature win in 3 years made his night. The full story will be posted on Diary Of A Season on our message board by Monday evening. Congratulations to David, Jeannie and their team….I think they’re still on cloud nine.
Flat Bed Delay
Jeff Stewart Survey’s The Damage
For the past few weeks, Flamboro tow trucks have been removing damaged or inoperative racecars with flat bed service vehicles instead of tow trucks with hooks. I would think this has to be the only option for Ray’s Towing because there’s no way the race track owners could possibly consider this method good for keeping the show moving. Fans will soon get tired of seeing every wrecked car removed using this flat beds because of the time it takes. If using a flat bed was reduced to once a night, it may be okay, it would give the announcer time to do recaps, up coming events, or souvenir program door prizes and give away’s. Drivers waiting don’t like it either. Racecars change while their sitting on the track for a long time, tires cool; engines over heat, driver’s loose focus and rhythm. The best way is the old way, a regular tow truck. It’s faster, keeping the show alive by moving it along quicker. It is possible tow truck companies no longer use the conventional way, because of new car manufacturer designs. I hope they get it sorted out because this method is crazy……..notice the score board, it’s good to see we’re leading at this point, however things changed very quickly on the restart. We’re working on the car to get it to turn better, wait, even a little. I’ve never had a push this long in a racecar since my first few years in the Hobby car. Just like flat bed removing of racecars, having an incredibly tight racecar must also stop this coming weekend……please!text]
First Win 2011
Heading In The Right Direction
There’s nothing like a win to help turn around a dismal start to a season. Our crew and I have been very frustrated knowing we had a great car in our possession but could not compete with the top runners like we have the past four or five seasons. Winning this race was as exciting for them as it was for me. With the excitement after the race, you would have thought we won the feature. That’s because we struggled for so long, and this win was the best remedy to help us gain some needed confidence. Our team made several changes helping overcome the constant push we’ve had. As the car got better we made smaller adjustments allowing us to win our first race of the year. It was the fast car heat, and that makes it even better. Though we won it from the pole position, Jason Shaw was right behind the full 10 laps, but never made a bid to pass, staying within a car length. The feature race was best described as a test of patience, but a different kind, being in the wrong place for the start of the race. We started 5th but by lap five we were back to 12th. The full story will be on our message board by Monday night. Congrats to all my team for being patient and not giving up and finally getting in the win column. text]
Heading Into Three With The Cream Of The Crop
Leader Of The Pack
It was nice to break out of our season long slump this past week end. The car worked very well in this heat, giving us our first win of the season. In the feature though starting 5th, we ran into construction, or heavy traffic, anyway our lane didn’t move and before you could spell “freight train”, we were 12th. We did end up 7th with most of the cars behind me in this photo finishing ahead of us in the 30 lap feature. The Class of 2011 in the Late Model division is very competitive. Steve Laking made it a two for two night with his win in the heat and feature, congrats to him and his team. That’s two this year for Steve……David moved into a tie with Shawn for the points lead and though we had a good night, we did not gain on the leaders, we didn’t fall back either, but we need to have some good strong finishes to have a shot at the title……There were 16 Late Models, still a good turnout and three cars that had not missed a night all year were absent. Jeff Stewart, Bill Lasaline and Jeff Cassidy. We now have 8 cars with perfect attendance, but another 14 to 16 who`ve been out at least once……this weekend its regular racing at Flamboro Speedway with the high light being a fan event Meet The Drivers……Rick Schurr makes his debut in our CVM in his first ever stock car race at Mosport Speedway. This is amazing for him and us. Ricks dad, Glen Schurr was my hero as a kid, and because of him I ran 36. We`ll post more on that as the weekend nears.
Rick Schurr
Rookie Rick Schurr Makes Race Debut June 25th Mosport Speedway
Rick is the son of my childhood hero, Glen Schurr. I was the racer carrying his dad’s name on my car for the past four decades. Glen Schurr was my favourite driver. The impact he had on me from my early teens was strong enough to lead me to pick #36 for my race car. Rick and I only met and seen each other a few times since 1977. Last year Rick asked me if there was any way I could get him a ride in my Hobby car. I thought we could possibly do some testing during the week. But, that wasn’t going to do the job, he wanted a ride in a competition event, and I didn’t want to give up any nights I had in the CVM, so it wasn’t possible in 2010 but I said we’d see what we could do in 2011. He doesn’t know I gave up a night for Sarah, but that’s a different story, she was sad at the time, I was weak, but it was okay. When the opportunity came for him to race our Coupe in 2011, he jumped on it. He bought everything he needed to be a racer, and he never had been in a race car other than one of the NASCAR experiences in the U.S. We went to Flamboro last week and again this week, where he practiced by doing three sets of hot laps each night, giving him about 60 race laps in total. I must say, for someone who never raced before, he has caught on very quickly. His lap times were consistently in the 17:2’s. The fastest Hobby cars are in the 16:3’s with most in the 7’s and 8’s, so he’s within half a second of getting in trouble……Rick will make his debut in racing at Mosport Speedway on June 25th for the second CVM show of 2011. Then he’ll run Sunset Speedway the following week (wow, talk about going from one extreme to the other). I get the car back for Flamboro on July 9th. This is a dream come true for Rick and we are proud to have him drive our car. It’s funny, I began cheering for Glen Schurr in 1963, and now 48 years later, his son Rick is going to drive our race car. That’s a script for a movie, awesome, crazy and very neat..….no pressure Rick, but we’re 5th in points, go get em’.
Bruce Bennett & His Grand Children
Smiling Now & Later In The Evening
Bruce and his grand children joined the on track festivities by meeting the drivers at Flamboro Speedway on Saturday night. The crowd was very small considering this event usually draws a bigger crowd. The biggest crowd of the season was June 18th, probably somewhere around 1400 people. The kids, big and small love to get a close up of the drivers. In this picture Bruce is smiling, he must have had a good feeling about the night, because the winning car in the Late Model feature was owned by his son Bruce. Jeff Stewart #56, won the close contested 30 lap event beating the hard charging with David Elliott. The full story will be on Diary Of A Season by tonight………This week end is a double header at Flamboro Speedway. Three NASCAR drivers, Kenny Schrader, Jimmy Spencer and Ernie Irvan are coming compete in the Race Of Champions on Friday July 1st. Then on Saturday, it’s the second round of the Grisdale Triple Crown. Friday’s races start early, gates open at 10:am, meet the drivers at 11:am and racing starts at 2:pm.
July 1st Race Of Champions
Excited To Be In This One
It sure is awesome to be given a chance to compete in this very prestigious race on July 1st. Nonie and I are very thankful to Jason Legge for loaning us his car, and to Glenn Schnurr for agreeing to be the set up man and crew chief. Qualifying will be a very tough for this show, both for the Invites, and some of the Flamboro Thunder Car regulars. Drivers only get one chance through their heat race. The top 6 from each heat will advance. It will be over early for those who don’t make the top six. I expect some crazy competition in the heat races as the battle to be in the first feature will be fast and furious. The old saying of “you don’t win on the first lap”, will not be in affect because finishing in the top six will be everyone’s goal. If necessary they will be doing all they can to be in that elite group. Those who are part of the 24 car field in the first feature, will then have to finish in the top 15 to move to the main event and rub wheels with the NASCAR stars in the final 25 lap feature. Our goal is to qualify, and to keep Jason’s car in good shape. The first bit of luck will come when we draw for our heat starting position. The 20 Flamboro cars that make up the first two heats, line up according to their current points position. The “Invites”, those from around Ontario, will line up according to luck….the number they pick out of the container. Getting a good draw number is important, because I doubt there will very many slow cars in the Invite heat races. That group consists of track champions and some very successful hot shoes from the province. Regardless of the outcome, we hope to make it a great day and if we can get a few breaks, maybe we get to race with Kenny Schrader, Jimmy Spencer and Ernie Irvan. No matter what, we will have raced with some very talented Ontario racers. It should be a great day……..grandstands open at Noon…..$35 to get in, kids under 12 and under are free. Racing starts at 2:pm.
Race Of Champions Day
We Made It!!!…Thank You Jason Legge & Glenn Schnurr
It was a beautiful and exciting (though hectic) day at Flamboro Speedway. I was very thankful to have a ride to have a car for the show and one that was able to compete in the wide scale of very fast and different cars. I needed a lot to happen for me to get a chance to be in the same race as the three NASCAR drivers, the only reason for going in this race, other wise I would have watched or helped in some other capacity. Getting the car was the first and most important hurdle. Getting some practice was next. We had to qualify through our heats, there was no consi or last chance. The top six made it out of the four heats, the rest were done for the day. The next hurdle was finishing in the top 15 in the first feature, perhaps the toughest part of all. We had good warm ups, I liked the car. By the second set we were turning 17:2’s not far off the pace at that point. Unfortunately we lost the handling in the heat, but still managed a 4th. We adjusted for the first feature. The car was extremely tight by lap 20 of 25 and we were in 16th spot. The final 5 laps saw us move from 16th to 18th to 11th finally finishing 13th. On the final restart with three to go we were out of brakes. Once I got to the pits the pedal was hitting the floor. The car was very tight making the use of brakes even more important and with no way to dial in rear brakes, the brake fluid boiled out until there was none left. But, in spite of that we hung on, making it in by being in 13th one of the transfer spots, and allowing us to be in the final ROC with Kenny Schrader, Jimmy Spencer and Ernie Irvan. The final feature was fun to be in but kind of ridiculous (almost like the pay out for the first feature) competition wise. Most of us had no business being in this race if it was for any reason other than to say that we raced against the three classy NASCAR drivers. That was my winning moment of the day, to battle with Kenny Schrader for the final 10 laps. Our car was mid pack, automatic against most standards, and a 325 HP engine against many 350 plus HP engines. I had what JR Fitzpatrick called “a decent car”, and yes it was decent, against normal Thunder Cars. But his car was no where near most other Thunder Cars, I think it was and is, in a class of it’s own, somewhere between a Limited Late Model and TC. I think he would run mid pack with the Limited Lates in that car. It’s a beautiful piece of work and an awesome race car. I hope they make a class for those kind of cars because a Thunder Car it wasn’t. Having said that, congratulations to JR for winning the first ROC race at Flamboro Speedway. He won it fair by the rules of the day. The mind set by the track was “it’s a fun day, rules will be somewhat ignored for this one”, Kinda like the Delaware race last year, a fun deal, but everyone had a car that was no where near the one Kyle Busch had. But to be honest, it was a blast and I will do it again. The showed moved quick, too quick at times, but thumbs up to the Flamboro staff for hosting a great organized event. The rest of this story will be on Diary Of A Season by Sunday night……….tonight is the second round of the Grisdale Triple Crown race. Qualifying starts at 5:30. Hope to see you there.
Kenny Schrader #13
Eighty Four Years Racing Experience
I was very fortunate to not only have a car for the show but to be in the final 25 lap feature with the NASCAR stars. Perry Van Haaren got this great shot of me and Kenny Schrader #13, racing into turn one. This is Kenny’s 41st season and my 43rd. He likely has many more nights raced on his resume, because of the racing opportunites available in the U.S. This was a fun day for sure and I hope it becomes a tradition at Flamboro Speedway.
JR Fitzpatrick #14….The Win Fitz’
The Day Belonged To JR
It sure was exciting racing with the NASCAR stars, but just as exciting to compete with many of the top Thunder Car drivers in Ontario. There were great TC drivers from many southern Ontario tracks, and they raced hard and clean in the two features, I was amazed. One of those I had the pleasure to race with was JR Fitzpatrick, a youngster who will race anything anytime anywhere….I think JR means “Just Race”. He was amazing in his beautiful blue Camaro that should be in Transformer #4. The car and driver were very tough to beat, though some were close. JR walked away with a heat win, in this photo and the main event trophy. Congrats to him and his team for a great win for his resume.
Lisa’s Most Excellent Shot
CVM Return To Flamboro July 9th…Shirley’s Birthday
This Saturday night I get to play in the CVM again. I last raced the Hobby car on May 22nd at Sunset Speedway. I had lost May 14th and then June 4th to rain. Rick Schurr has driven the car twice, once at Mosport and again at Sunset this past week end. His run at Sunset was a great success so he is already itching to get back out, but will have to wait until Sauble Speedway on July 16th. I can’t believe it, so far the rookie has more nights in the Coupe than me. I’m looking forward to this race and at least I won’t have to battle with David Elliott, Jason Shaw, Shawn Chenoweth, Paul Howse, Brad Corcoran, Steve Laking, Jeff Stewart, JR Fitzpatick, or any of the other tough racers in Late Model and Thunder Car. No, I’ll have it easy racing with Steve Lyons, Ron Easton, Chris Milwain, Jason Keen, Steve Trendell, Brian Atkinson, Jeff Shaw, Mike Williams and many more, okay so it won’t be easy, but it will be fun. I think I should win this one because it is my daughters birthday…..Sunday we’re off to Sunset Speedway for their first Late Model Open. That event will be another talent packed program. I could do this 5 days a week, it should be a great week end.
John Karley #19
We Thought We’d Have A V8””
John and I raced hard on Saturday night and during the practice session we were thumbs-up after getting some decent lap times. John and I are running the Crate V8. Unfortunately there would be no thumbs-up in the heat race, that ended in disaster, with a sore thumb, and no hope of winning a race on our daughter Shirley’s birthday. Two cars got together coming off turn two on the first lap and I caught Mike Williams bumper with my left front tire. The crash was hard enough to break the tie rod, bend the axle, and spring mounts and maybe my thumb. I still haven’t had it checked as of Monday. It’s really bruised and I can’t move it. I’m calling it a bad sprain, everyone else says it’s broken. We’ll see soon, or when I get to the doctors to have it checked. The last time I went to a clinic to get checked I got healed during the long wait, so I hope it’s just a bruise. I was able to race on Sunday, as long as I didn’t hit it or shake hands, I was okay………Jeff Shaw won the Hobby feature. Good for him and Ron. They worked hard on their little Deuce Coupe all week. Winning the feature was a nice reward after getting beat up two weeks in a row. Jeff comes from a family of gamers and I respect their effort. Congrats on the win Jeff.
Canadian Heroes Front & Center
Promoting Our Troops
We put our hood on display for the fans to see. We were honored to run the Canadian Heroes hood on our car for this race. Here the crew go over the car after the 10 lap heat. It was a great night with a huge crowd, 7000 or more. The racing was a little more competitive, but only after Kyle Busch dropped out early in the feature. He won his heat by 10 car lengths over Steven Matthews, the winner of the time trials. Kurt Busch ran in the top 5 most of the night until he to got into a wreck. I would have loved to see Kyle restart at the back and go through the 28 car field. I was surprised that some people were happy he was out…when do you get that many fans to watch any race in Ontario, so they must have come to watch Kyle and Kurt. I’m sure 95% of the fans were disappointed. Over all it was a great show and we’ll be back in 2012………tonight is regular racing at Flamboro Speedway. Rick has taken our Vintage Modified to compete at Suable Speedway.
Shirley Meets Kurt Busch
Kurt Busch Smiles As Shirley Gets Autograph For Lauren
On our way to the races on Wedneday night we picked up some decals and the nose of Laurens Go-Kart, prepared by Steve Lyons of Creative Edge. Kim Lindsay had got them from Steve the day before and met us at Delaware for the big show. The nose was destroyed the week before at the Go-Kart race at Flamboro, so it was convenient that Kim not only got the stickers we needed for the race but also the Go-Kart part. It also happens that run the Pennzoil colors on Laurens Kart and the Quaker State on our grandson Gehrig. After being in the pits a while, it dawned on Shirley to see if Kurt Busch, who is sponsored by Pennzoil would autograph the nose cone. Kurt was very accomidating and smiling when he signed the part and that made Shirely’s day……Trevor drove our car to a respectable 9th place finish in the 28 car field. It was a great opportunity to show our sponsors in front of the biggest of the season, at any oval in Ontario…..Flamboro’s resutls will be up on our Diary Of A Season soon.
A Night Of Patience
No Boats, Or Planes…But One Big Freight Train
This was a night for us to demonstrate patience, and show our peers that when you get in a bad lane, you basically have to suck it up and wait for the opportunity to pass. If it doesn’t, you’ll drop to the rear and then have to work your way back up. What could have been a win, or a top three finish for us, was eliminated as soon as the slide to the back began on lap one of the feature. Pushing or bumping slower cars in front won’t solve anything, but instead create extra costs, enemies and lower car count. This was our third night in the past four at Flamboro where we got freight trained in the feature. Our car survived and we know sooner or later we’ll get a break and win a feature. Then we’ll be on cloud nine for a week, maybe the rest of the season. Right now we’re disappointed, but not discouraged or giving up……regular racing this Saturday night at Flamboro, races start at 6:30.
Kids Love Race Cars
It Was An Incredibly Hot Day…Kids Didn’t Notice
We had our car on display at the Berean Baptist Church for the annual DVBS, Daily Vocational Bible School. Over 40 youngsters show up every day. The theme for this week’s Bible School was ‘Rev It Up…Full Throttle For God’…I shared with them about my racing and faith inside the very comfortable air conditioned Church, then brought the kids outside to see the car. They loved it and everyone got an autographed picture. This was our 8th event with our race car so far in July that included 6 races and one other Church event with children……….We race this weekend, then cap off July with a triple header racing the CVM on July 29th at Delaware, the Late Model at Flamboro on the 30th, and the Late Model again at Sauble Beach for their 150 lap special on the 31st. This will work fine as long as Flamboro doesn’t rain, the 31st is a rain date and we’d miss (ouch) Sauble, one of my favourite tracks. Of course we have to survive Flamboro as well. If all goes as scheduled we’ll have complete 12 races and shows in July, a record for us. That would be 10 race nights in one month, compared to the CVM who have 5 so far for the season. I actually would be okay with the limited short CVM schedule if they raced on nights when I didn’t run the Late Model, that way I could make all the scheduled Hobby shows, we’d have to get Rick Schurr another car because he’s having too much fun.
Jeff Stewart #56
Kubota Kar Klosing Kwik
That’s not to imply KKK, or in this case KKKK, but more to state the fact that Jeff was fast on Saturday staying right on my tail for the heat race. He enjoyed a little freight train experience getting stuck behind slower cars, but he agrees they deserve to race and has to be patient getting through traffic. Jeff suffered the same fate in the feature, getting freight trained. We avoided the freight train, but got caught in a mid race wreck trying to pass for second. This week end Late Models are at Flamboro on Saturday and Sunday at Sauble for the “Beat The Heat” 150 lap invitational. We’ll be racing the CVM on Friday night at Delaware. I won’t run against Jeff Stewart in the Hobby class, but will race against one of the CVM club veterans Jeff Shaw.
Bill Lyons…..Thank You For Everything
Racing Loses A Great Friend
Last night we were at Flamboro Speedway working on my car, trying to get it better for the coming weekend. Four friends were there, two of them ‘Legends’. Junior Hanley and Bill Lyons, incredible competitors in their day, and still helping out after their helmets have been long put away. Brad Corcoran and Allen MacLean were helping as well. It was about 5:45 when Bill came over and asked “what ya doing”? “We’re trying to make it better Bill”, was my answer. Bill just smiled and watched seeing we had plenty of help. “Help yourself to a drink in the cooler Bill”. Bill has always been my friend and hospitality to him was a given no matter when or where. Eventually he went to the trailer and got a drink. During the last set of hot laps Bill worked the stop watch. It was no different than any other day he would come to the track, or to Grisdales or to Flamboro Machine Shop, it was to hang out, to be part of what was going on, to help if he could, to offer any advice, but mostly just to be a friend. It was no different except that it would be the last time we would see him, the last time we could say “thanks”, or “have a good day”, or “see you on the weekend”. Bill passed away early this morning, most likely on his way to see some of his racing friends. It was terrible shocking news. I’m so glad I got to see him last night, and got to offer him a drink. It’s a small thing, but he meant a lot to me, to many of us. It was a special moment for me to have had the opportunity to show him kindness, and though small, I thank God for that moment. Bill loved working on cars, and was having fun working with the Van Wyngaarten family on the Mini Stocks. Bill was very much respected in the pits, so valuable to the racing community, a true friend, always wanting to help. I will write more on the message board in a tribute to him. I want to say to everyone who reads this, every driver, crew member, track official, fan or family member of someone who does race, that it’s better to love. It’s so easy to get upset with racers, so easy to point the finger at someone, so easy to judge. What’s hard to do is love one another. Of all the things we could offer each another, love is the most important. Showing respect, compassion, understanding, help and patience are some of those traits and our friend Bill had them covered. We learned a lot from this CVM Hall Of Famer, now we can carry on his traditions by helping others every chance we get. We will miss you Bill, but never ever forget you. Thanks for everything, God bless and keep you.
Dedicated To Bill Lyons
Delaware Heat Win July 29th
What a great feeling to win a race in the CVM. This race was special in so many ways. If you go on Demo Derby history and click on 1967, you’ll see my first race win ever at Flamboro Speedway driving (or wrecking) a 55 Chev in a huge demolition derby. That race was on July 29th, my first time on a race track and my first win. 44 years later we get our 3rd Delaware win (only 3 wins in that stretch…wow) but it comes on July 29th and more importantly it’s dedicated to Bill Lyons. Usually heat race winners don’t get interviewed on the front chute, but they did last night and I was able to let the fans know about Bill and dedicate the win to him and his family….tonight we will suffocate at Flamboro Speedway in the Late Model and then if all goes well, I will head to Sauble right after the race to get some sleep for the 150 lap Late Model Open. All the updates will be completed by Tuesday, maybe Monday night.
Bill Lyons With Lindsay & John Van Wyngaarden
July 22nd Lindsay Takes Home Her First Trophy
At the funeral home, during the Celebration of Life of Bill Lyons, many words were spoken to emphasize the generosity and goodness of our friend. Lindsay Van Wyngaarden was one of those gracious speakers, paying tribute, love and thanks to Bill, giving him the credit for her finally winning a trophy in the very competitive sport of go-kart racing. In this picture, Lindsay proudly holds her trophy, as she is surrounded by two very important men in her life, her dad John on the right, and Bill, her mentor on the left. In tears Lindsay told of her appreciation towards Bill, how he helped her become a better and more knowledgeable racer. Her courage was incredible touching all of us that sunny, but sad, August 2nd morning. Surely one day we will see Bill again, and all of those who have crossed the finish line before us. Jesus said in John chapter 14 vs 1-6. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust in me also. In my Fathers house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come and take you to be with me that where I am, you may be also. You know the way to the place where I am going”. Thomas said to him “Lord we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way”. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me”. Knowing that God loves us and sent His Son to pay our debt against Him, and to prepare a place for us when we die is the hope that all Christians on earth live for……”Thank you Lord for giving us Bill Lyons, help us to be kind, gentle, loving, caring, peaceful and make a positive difference while we’re in this world. We ask this in Jesus name”. Amen
David Elliott…..Grisdale Triple Crown Champ
Waterdown Warrior Wins
Going into the final round only two points separated David and Grisdale Triple Crown series leader Shawn Chenoweth. David qualified on the pole with a 2nd and 3rd in the heats, and Shawn qualified 4th with a heat win and 5th. David had an awesome car, lapping up to the 9th place car as the first 53 laps went caution free. Paul Howse would claim the victory in this final leg of the presitious GTC with David on his tail. Congratulations to David, Jeannie, Eddy and all the Pennzoil team for an awesome performance.
Late Model Feature Final Laps
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Jason Wins Raing Out Feature…Battling Here For Third
My computer has been down a while, I couldn’t get the programs I needed to post pictures on the front page, sorry for the delay…….last night we ran double features. Here without about 10 to go, Brennan DiDero holds on to third, driving a perfect line throughout the final laps. Jason won the first feature, David was second and this picture shows 3rd to 5th, as they would cross the finish line. There were 18 cars, a good car count again, the best in 7 years at Flamboro. Delaware had 13 on Friday, and none of their cars came out….Rob Rowse was driving the CVM at Sauble Speedway, but I have not heard how he did, and nothing is posted yet on the CVM site. Next week is a regualar night at Flamboro, we have three race nights left. The chase for the Championship is very close. Some pushing and body checking has already started, it should get worse the next two weeks. We are battling for 5th, a very long shot at a top three, but we had our best outing this year at Flamboro, as far as being comptetive is concerned, but still no top three feature finsih in 2011. It’s coming, we’re not giving up. Check out our message board and get the full story on Diary of A Season 2011. All the shows are up todate now, but will be compete by Monday night.
Mike Bentley Wins Barrie 100 Lapper
Great Win For Mike
Mike Bentley, a former Flamboro Late Model driver, left in 2010 to race Limited Late Models at Sunset Speedway. He has been running well at Sunset against some very tough competition. Mike had never won a major race event until last week when he captured the checker flag at the Barrie Speedway 100 Lap Invitational last week. I know this is kind of old news, but it’s worth giving a plug to this hard working racing family. Mike is the son of Dave Bentley. Dave and I ran many years together in the late 70’s, through the 80’s and into the mid 90’s. Dave was a charger and looks like both of his boys Mike and Matt are doing well following their dads foot steps. Congratulations to Mike and his team for this awesome win….this picture is courtesy of Eric Uprichard. You can see his awesome photgraphy work at speedwayphoto.ca
It Could Have Been Worse
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It Could Have Been Better
It was a rough ending for the Quaker State team on Saturday night. After finishing 2nd in our heat we made one minor change to help improve the car for the feature. Unfortunately I got a little loose coming off four and the car behind could not get slowed up and we ended up slamming the wall very hard. It happened on lap one and put us last in the feature. We may be mathematically out of the points Championship race now, and lost some ground on 5th. We’ll have a hectic week getting our car back to where it was. Our goal is to finish in the top five in the points chase…..Junior Hanley will help us get the frame straight, replacing the front horns on the chassis. We want to get our car ready for next weeks racing and meet our commitment to have our car on display at The Royal Coachman restaurant on Saturday during the day, meaning this will be a busy week. We will be on display from 11:30 until 2:30 and no doubt the car will look much better than it does in this Dave Franks photo. The full story for this cazy night is on Dairy Of A Season 2011 on our message board.
Sunday
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NO-SLEEP-ZZZZZZZZZZZZ
We started taking the car apart on Sunday after Junior Hanley had a look at it. My grandson, Gehrig, helped strip the body parts off the car, and then we power washed it complete. We also removed the rear bumper cover. The next few pictures, tonight and tomorrow, will show the progress to get us back to Saturday night. How does this bother me or my family? A good indication that I have lost the love for racing, assuming I get no serious injuries, won’t be the result of a wreck like this, but rather when I have a good night at the track and there was no smile. That would mean the fun and the passion, the fuel that keeps me going had just ran out. So far we’re still enjoying this great sport and I refuse to act my age….as for the cause of this wreck it was a combination of our car being a little loose coming off the turn and the car right behind not able to check up. It would have been very hard for him to do that because we were on the first lap of the race and all glued togther.
Monday
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Junior Hanley The Artist
The main frame damage is repaired, thanks to Junior Hanley. We still have a lot to do. Another update picture will be posted after Tuesday’s work is done.
Wednesday
Making Excellent Progress…Heading To Jim Sweers
We have most of the work done now. David came over Wednesday night to help for awhile and then Bob and I finished what was left for us to do, including some maintenance. We’re heading to Jim Sweers Thursday night to finish off the front bumper and some touch up to the front bumper. So far, with no other surprises, my cost for this is just under $1,000, that’s better than I thought, better than most thought, and we’re happy it didn’t climb another $500 or upwards to $2,000. We will have our car on display Saturday morning,at The Royal Coachman restaurant from 11:30 until 2:30 to help support our local Food Banks….drop by and say hello, and if possible bring an item for the Food Bank with you….thanks.
Friday
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Bunk Bed Late Models
Bob and I worked on the car Thursday night to finish the front bumper and paint touch up some of the rough areas. Bob came over during the day to get it done. My grandson Gehrig and I picked the car up on Friday night, excellent job on the steel bumper, the rad, shroud, and touching up the battled nose cone. We are on display tomorrow at The Royal Coachman from 11:30 to 2:30 to help get support for our local Food Bank.
Supporting The Food Banks
Join Us Today
Both our Quaker State team and David’s Pennzoil team will be at the Royal Coachman today from 11:30 until 2:30 to help raise food items for our local Food Bank. Please come by and see us and bring a food item for this needy and very worth while cause. Food banks are often running low this time of year and appreciate anything we can do. Later this evening fans and other race teams will bring food items to Flamboro Speedway. Flamboro Speedway races start at 6:30 tonight, hope to see you there.
Local Community Festival
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Late Model On Display..2nd Time This Week End
This was our second show of the weekend, the first being the display to help raise support for the Food Bank at The Royal Coachman with David and his team. When asked to come to this show I had to make a conditional commitment, we had to survive the races at Flamboro Speedway on Saturday night. We did that, leaving Flamboro without a mark on the car, a direct contrast to last weeks crushing blow into the cement. Coming home spotless made it possible to support this special Community Fest at Memorial Park in Waterdown. We also have another show next Saturday at Calvary Baptist Church on Guelph Line, a Church community event for kids and adults. We commit to a dozen or so displays and shows throughout the season to help promote our sport and sponsors……the full story of our racing last night will be posted on Diary Of A Season 2011 by Monday night. Special thanks to Bob and Maggie for helping me today, and to Gordon Nicholson and Late Model driver #88 Scott Gibson, for helping in the pits last night.
Pennzoil Team Ready For The Showdown
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Championship On The Line
This weekend is the last night for regular points at Flamboro Speedway. David would like nothing better than to capture his second title of year after winning the Grisdale Triple Crown earlier this season. David held the points lead for most of the season but fell back after a few rough outings the past month. Jason Shaw has dominated the final month with some very fast runs and turning times much faster than his competition. The 2011 Championship is Jason’s to lose as he sits with a huge 11 point lead. Eleven points is a mile unless something happens in the heat or feature. Heat races have hurt David for the past few months but his feature runs have been amazing, never giving up in spite of the on and off track distractions. Paul Howse sits in 3rd place only a few points behind David, all three drivers are past Champions making this chase one of the most exciting in many years at Flamboro Speedway. We wish David and the Pennzoil team the best of luck and a great night this coming Saturday as they go for their second title……our Quaker State car will be at Calvary Baptist Church on Guelph Line in Burlington Saturday morning from 11:00 until 2:30. Please come out to this communtiy event. There are bouncy castles, clowns, face painting and a barbecue. Hope to see you there or later at Flamboro Speedway where we’ll attempt to get our first top three feature finish in 2011.
Congratulations Shaw Motorsports
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2011 Late Model Champion #82 Jason Shaw
Congratulations to Jason Shaw and his race team for winning the 2011 Flamboro Speedway Late Model points title. Jason struggled early in the year but had his car fine tuned by mid way through the season, especially in the final month. He was able to coast to the win the final night with a comfortable lead on second and third. Late Models do not return to Flamboro Speedway until Octoberfest. You can catch some of the best Late Models drivers in Ontario racing at Sunset Speedway this Friday night to kick off the ir Velocity 250 weekend. Late Models have are running a 100 lap open invitational. Races start at 8pm.
Sunset Speedway 100 Lap Friday Night
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Invitational Could Get The Boot Again
We head to Sunset Speedway for the rained out August 21st show. The problem is the weather again, it doesn’t look very good and the track is talking about having the race on Saturday night. If that happens David won’t make it, neither would Jason Shaw, and I will be in big trouble because we are invited to a barbecue with Rick Schurr and his team after the CVM feature Saturday night. Why would I be in trouble? Take a look at this track and explain how a eating a hamburger wins over racing on one of the nicest tracks I’ve ever been on. Besides Bob, Scott and I could head back right after the race and still enjoy left overs. The CVM are racing at Flamboro on Saturday night and it’s possible that could be a late race and we wouldn’t be that late for the barbecue. Oh, I just remembered the barbecue is at my house, yikes!!!! I think Nonie will not go to Sunset anyway and she could keep them entertained until I get back. So, let’s hope it goes Friday night as scheduled.
Rained Out!!! Rescheduled For Saturday
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Gord Shepherd #10….We’ll Have To Wait Until Saturday To Do This Again
The weather took out the Friday night Late Model Open at Sunset Speedway. The race is rescheduled for Saturday the 24th. There will be time trials instead of heats, a consi if needed followed by the 100 lap feature. Some racers won’t make the new date, others may now be able to come out. If it rains out again we’ll post the date it’s rescheduled. No one wins with rain, the track has to do what it can to get the show in, hope Saturday turns out good, weather, crowd and car count. See you there.
Ryan Kimball #16 Wins Late Model Open
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Sunset Invitational Goes To Kimball
The Sunset Speedway Late Model Open ran Saturday night, finally after a few attempts. Of the 21 cars signed in for the August 21st show, a few didn’t make it back, but there were still 22 fast cars in the thrilling 100 lap feature event. “Flyin’ Ryan Kimball” took the lead on lap 72 and held on to win his first big feature…We had a great run qualifying 5th and almost pulling out a win when we built up a huge lead from laps 60 to 72. Restarting on the inside wasn’t working for our Quaker State car and we fought hard for the entire race, especially the final 30 giving us a 5th place finish.
Three Wide For The Lead
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Excitement On Lap 60 Restart
On lap 60 there was an inversion by throw of the dice. Brandon Watson was leading at lap 60 and threw box-cars. That meant 12 cars would be inverted, putting us outside pole for the restart. In this SPEEDWAY PHOTO picture coming off turn two things got exciting when Gord Shepherd #10 got under Bruce Rankin #55 as we were outside. By the end of the back straight we were in front of Rankin and side by side with Shepherd coming off turn four. The next 12 laps we built up a good lead. I must admit, though we didn’t win it, we were happy to show some consistency and lead a few laps. Our car struggled a little on the inside, we stayed side by side for most of the remaining laps. It was a fun show and our 2nd top five in three features at Sunset……Ryan Kimball #16 won the race with #44 Steve Laking taking 2nd followed by Chris Morrow #11 and Jesse Kennedy #10.
Nice While It Lasted
Freeze Frame Right Now
Oh we hoped so bad there would be no more yellows. We built up a great 12 car length lead with the entire track at our disposal, drove low in the corners and up to the top groove on the straights. We will have to figure how to get on the gas quicker without getting loose when starting or restarting on the inside lane. It killed us at the end but regardless it was a great run with four different tracks represented in the top five finishers. The winner Ryan Kimball from Kawartha, Steve Laking from Flamboro, Chris Morrow third from Sunset and Jesse Kennedy 4th from Delaware…….this coming weekend is the Flamboro Speedway finale!!!!Octoberfest!!!! Races start at 3pm both days.
Flamboro Speedway Salute
Octoberfest This Weekend
This weekend will, Bob, Gerry, Gehrig and I will run our final race at Flamboro for 2011, unless it rains out, then the races will be postponed until the weekend after Thanksgiving. Our team is looking forward to this race, still having two more chances to win a feature and break a four year slump of winning a feature. It won’t be easy, in fact a top three will be tough, but we’re coming to race and as long as we have a good car and can be competitive we’ll declare it a win. Of course if we actually win one of the two features, there could be no sleep for a few days. It’s kind of sad the 2011 season is winding down so fast, but our team is excited for 2012, we are focused on the two nights we have remianing this season. Hope to see you there.
Talledega….Next Octoberfest
Preparing For This Weekend
I race a couple of nights a week with some local racers, Ron and Mikey Larkin, go-karters Brandon Hauck and Austin Penny and at least 20 Americans. It’s a fun way to pass the time and sometimes you get lucky. Now we’re ready for Octoberfest.
Octoberfest Pole…Jason Shaw #82
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Jason Shaw Up Front For First 50 Lapper…David Elliott #37 Outside Pole
Congratulations to Jason Shaw #82 for winning both of his heat races tonight and claiming the pole for the Octoberfest Classic. David Elliott #37 finished 2nd behind Jason in the heats giving him outside pole. Brad Corcoran #05 will start 3rd with Jeff Stewart #56 fourth. We will start the first 50 lapper in 5th. Heat winners were Shaw in two, Corcoran and Stewart……we have some work to do on our car to get it where it should be. Our two third place finishes were somewhat lucky as the black flag was handed out three times for supposedly improper starts in the Late Model heat races……I want to get something straight, mainly because I have nothing but the upmost respect for Jason Shaw. I had some discussion with a few of Jason’s team members. They were upset stating they heard me say that Jason was cheating. I want to state here that I never said that, nor do I think he was or is cheating. All my writing is available to read in the Diary Of A Season 2011. I did question why his car was very fast, why he was braking into time zones no Late Model had ever gone. So what! I did ask the track tech manager to make sure everything was right on Jason’s car, but I never accused him of cheating or said he was illegal. Most every Late Model this year was struggling to get into the 15:3’s. It’s common knowledge the track gets slick from all the oil spilt during the year and makes it hard to run fast, especially in the summer. However, most of us can use a stop watch, and when I timed Jason in the 15:0’s I thought my watch was defective. When he did it the next lap I was stunned, and broke my stop watch (just kidding). Why was I surprised? Because no one ever did that before in a Late Model. I think any team paying attention would have been somewhat taken by the huge increase in lap times. I stated in one of my write ups, I think race #22, that Jason has it all together including set up, power, driving and luck. So, to set this straight, I am confirming that I don’t think Jason is cheating and never thought he was. I do think his team has figured out the shock program to the point of making him very very fast. I also think all of us can get there, eventually. He is the pioneer, thanks to the technical skills of his shock engineer Dave Meades, and his awesome ability to drive a race car. I am fairly certain Jason knew I wasn’t suggesting he was cheating, and for that I’m thankful. Watch for Jason to win at least the first feature, and maybe with a good throw of the dice, get a low invert and take the prize for this years Octoberfest Classic. You can bet there will be a few other hot shoes, David, Brad, Jeff and Paul doing their best to win as well. The winner is based on the best combined finish of both races, but my money is on Jason….my Mom, who was kind and loving enough to buy me two tires for this race, hopes I win, she said she likes to help seniors.
Rained-Out….Froze Out
Features For Octoberfest Postponed
It was miserable on Sunday, very cold, damp, a little rain. David had taken his car home the night before thinking for sure we were done for Sunday. It turned out he was right. In the past two weeks he’s batting 50% on rain out predictions. His most failed prediction was Sunset, he was sure it was going to be cancelled and found himself scrambling Saturday morning trying to make it to the track. He was right about this deal. The races, 5 features and a few consi’s will be run on Saturday October 15th with the rain date for that race on the 15th. Hopefully Flamboro gets good weather, more cars and more fans. The weather will help accomplish that wish list…….this week we are preparing for Autumn Colors. It’s a 3 day event and the weather is looking like spring, same as the past two years. We are heading out Thursday for practice and to get set up in the camping crazy zone. Actually Shirley will stay at the on sight camp grounds, me to until Friday when Jim will scoop me up so we can head to a local hotel. I shouldn’t make light of the camp grounds antics, when we asked how much the hotel rooms were, they asked if we wanted it by the hour. Some red flags immediately flew for that red light deal. I think we’re heading somewhere else.
Autumn Colors Next
Vic Parsons….Another Childhood Hero
This weekend is the running of the Autumn Colors Classic. The Late Models, or Pro Late Models as they’re called at Peterborough, will run two qualifying heats and a 111 lap feature. The weather looks like it’s going to be awesome. We are heading up Thursday around noon to get a spot in the pits and hang out for a few days. Should be fun, we’re looking forward to it………We made some adjustments to the seat in my car, we’re putting Brandon Watson in it, NO WE”RE NOT, he’s a great runner but just kidding, we actually are making the seat more comfortable for to help cope with the constant turning at the quick oval…….when I was a kid, my favourite Late Model driver was Vic Parsons. This is the only time we ran together, and I was lucky the two of us got side by side for the 2009 Autumn Colors photo. There will be tons of race cars and a packed house for this wild weekend…can’t wait, see you there.
Testing…….In Case We Won The Feature
If You Can’t Beat Them, Smoke Them Out!!!
This wild spin occured in the first warm ups Saturday morning. We were having trouble most all weekend with our set up. We did get the car very competitive by feature time. We had a strong run going for us when our rear rotors, even with full front dialed in, began glowing red hot. There was nothing we could do, In spite of that we were fortunate to finish 9th in the 24 car field………new calipers have been installed for this weekends completion of Octoberfest at Flamboro. Races start at 3:pm with the rain date the next on Sunday same time.
Huge Crowd For Autumn Colors
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Peterborough Speedway Blessed With Beautiful Weather For Autumn Colors
It was a most incredibly beautiful weekend. A little cold on Thursday night, but otherwise the equivalent of an early June weekend. This picture shows full stands. Every year the crowds are good, but the sunny weather and great entertainment brings out every race fan from miles around………..the Pro Late Model feature, the class we were in, struggled. It took some time to get going. The tight fast oval filled with at least 75% top notch veteran Late Model drivers should have been the show of the night. However it became just the opposite with so many yellow flags. There were lots of reasons for so many cautions, I’ve written about the race and my take on “yellow fever” in the race report on Diary Of A Season…….Our team had a great weekend, though we struggled with our car. A seized rear caliper took us out of competition by mid way, but we still fought back to finish 9th, and were never the cause of a yellow flag, though we were involved in three of them………the Super Late Model’s had a serious wreck early in their 50 lap feature. Notice the line of speedy dry on the top of the track, put there to absorb oil from a blown engine. This picture is looking towards turn four from turn one. In the OSCAAR (Super Late Model) feature, four cars got tangled in turn one, just to the right of this photo. One of the big horsepower Super Lates (600 plus HP), #34 Al Thompson, came flying past the starters stand with the accident sitting in front of him. He had no where to go but up the track and got in the speedy dry. Once he hit the sand his car lost traction, unable to slow down, no braking at all, and crashed hard into one of the cars stopped in the area to the right of this photo. Al’s car careened off the parked car, hit the embankment, almost rolled over, kept going slamming hard into some cement barriers well off the track, behind this photo. Al had to be removed by emergency crews from local fire and rescue units. The roof of his car was cut open to get him out. The good news is Al is okay, shaken and roughed up a little….our team was proud to run the Canadian Heroes hood for this race event. Many fans and racers gave us a thumbs up for the recognition of our much loved and appreciated military men and women seriving now and in the past…..our next show is this coming weekend, the completion of Octoberfest Twin 50s’ We qualified and will start 5th for the first fifty lap feature. All division features will run this Saturday. If weather doesn’t permit us to race on Saturday, the rain date is Sunday. Races start at 3:pm.
Racing With Dwayne Baker
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This Could Be A Common Occurance In 2012
The field of Late Models for the Autumn Colors Classic included most of the best racers in Ontario. One of those was #48 Dwayne Baker. He races Late Models, Limited Late Models and a Super Late Models in OSCAAR. Dwayne got beat up early in the 111 lap race, as did about 10 real good cars. Dan is one of many good runners we’ll compete against at Sunset Speedway in 2012……Dan McHattie won the Autumn Colors race with Flamboro’s Brad Corcoran picking up a top 5. Jason Shaw was hard luck dropping out with mechanical problems. We finished 9th with our rear rotors glowing. The calipers were stickingg. They were immediately fired after the race and replaced with new calipers for this coming weekend. Actually they have been sent out for an attitude change (rebuild)……..Saturday October 15th Flamboro will try to get the Octoberfest show in the books. Late Models will run Twin 50’s. Races start at 3:pm….Sunday is the rain date, also 3pm.
Seized Calipers…Bottoming Out…Yikes
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We Were Doomed When The Rear Brakes Took Over
I decided to start at the back of the Autumn Colors feature because our car was very loose most of the week end. No matter what we did, we couldn’t get the car to stay consistent for more than a few laps, so taking scratch was safe for us and others. However in the feature the car was very strong for the first 25 laps moving up to 7th before getting in a chain reaction wreck that started with cars running 2nd and 3rd. No place to go the cars running 4th and 5th were forced to check up forcing me into the back of Jesse Kennedy, I couldn’t stop, it was an unavoidable chain reaction wreck because we were all so close. We also got spun from the car right on our tail. We’d go to the back and start our climb forward. Suddenly I noticed the car was loose entering the turns. I didn’t know why. My spotter Jim told me the rear left rotor was glowing and I knew we were done for the night, done in terms of being competitive. There were a few long stops after that including a Competition Yellow and a red flag. Those delays allowed the brakes to cool but it wouldn’t be long before the calipers would seize up again and prevent us from running competitively. We were able to get the lucky dog twice, and finished the race on the lead lap in 9th…..this picture taken by Eric Uprichard of Speedway Photo’s shows the reat rotors glowing and the front okay. It also shows the sparks from bottoming out going into turn three. Jim Sweers welded a 1″ piece of steel on my front cross member for the Sunset race, to protect our engine because we were bottoming out there. I didn’t realize how much it had worn down unitl after the Peterborough race. This week at home, while doing our oil change, I noticed the shoulder of drain plug was ground down almost even with the oil pan. The drain plug shoulder is about 1/4 of an inch below the pan and was completely ground even. The 1″ piece of steel Jim Sweers put on is now a fraction of what it was, so I think we’ll count ourselves lucky we didn’t grind the oil pan down and cover the track with Quaker State 5W50 Full Synthetic. That didn’t happen, we’re glad, and my competitors, though they don’t know, would appreciate the fact the oil stayed where it belonged, in the pan. When you think about it, an ant may have been crushed if it was clinging to the bottom of our oil pan. That’s too close for comfort, and no worries for this weekend, we don’t go in as hard at Flamboro as we do at Peterborough or Sunset, so bottoming out is not an issue………….if weather holds off the conclusion of Octoberfest is this weekend. Saturday at 3pm and if it rains out, Sunday at 3:pm. Hopefully the weather co-operates.
Octoberfest Gets Another Set Back
Octoberfest Rescheduled For Sunday 3:PM
Though not raining too hard, but windy at times, the races have been cancelled for today and rescheduled for Sunday at 3:pm. Hopefully we get better weather and can finish this years Octoberfest at Flamboro Speedway.
0ktober Fest…..Flamboro Speedway
Long Range Looks Good
We didn’t get out of the trailer on Saturday, maybe next week Flamboro will get the 5 remaining features completed. Late Models have Twin 50’s. See you there…..I hope!
David Elliott Wins Octoberfest
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Octoberfest…A Night To Remember
A field of 23 Late Models took the green, not near as many took the checker. The Octoberfest champ was determined by the best combined finish in both races. David finished 2nd in the first feature and won the second giving him the most points and the Octoberfest crown, his second Octoberfest win. Our team had a rough outing in the first feature, but through the hard work of many people we were able to get in the second feature and finish 5th. Will Morrison took this shot, I just had to get in the picture. I was so happy and excited David won and couldn’t resist gettig in the celebration. This was David’s biggest feature win. He has many feature victories, but never won a feature more than 30 laps prior to this race. Congrats to David and the Pennzoil team for a great season, Grisdale Triple Crown, Octoberfest Champ and 2nd in the points standings…….we are very proud of David’s effort this year, the full story is on Diary of A Season 2011….more pictures to follow.
Start Of The First Big One
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Lap 10
There were 10 fast car, and of those 10 there were four that were very fast. I would guess that #84 JR. Fitzpatrick was the fastest by a fair margin in the first fifty, although Paul Howse was very fast. In this Will Morrison picture, while running 3rd, I am hit by JR and sent spinning but not yet far enough off the track to avoid the 20 cars that are behind me. Paul Howse made it through, but after him it was open season on my car as I sit half on the apron and half in turn two. I got t-boned by a few cars and they in turn got rear ended by cars behind them. The track soon got plugged, there was no where for most of them to go. JR got the black and sent to the back. He would eventually move up again to the front and win the first 50 lap feature. JR didn’t say anything to me after the fisrt feature was over, about an hour and a half after this photo, but he did text me the following day apologizing for getting into me. I naturally accepted his text and it’s okay with me. I talk about in on the Diary Of A Season 2011 on our message board. This race was incredibly hard on cars and the second feature wasn’t much better. When the dust settled and the flying parts landed, David would claim his second Octberfest crown in four years.
Chaos & Panic…This Isn’t Good
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No Place To Go
When I got hit and spun I got on the gas but it really didn’t help much. Maybe if there was one or two cars behind, they could have got around, but there were 20 cars coming and no where to go for most of them. Brad Corcoran #05, Brennan DiDero #24, Jeff Stewart #56 (not in the picture) #97 Jeff Cassidy, all had serious damage and could not continue this race. Of course our car was taken out as well. We did manage to replace the broken parts, change the tire and duct tape the body to get us out for the second feature. Our goal was to try and win this event, determined by the best combined finishes of both races, but it wasn’t going to happen after the spin. The good news for our team was a 5th in the second feature, but even more than that was our team car David won the overall Octoberfest with a 2nd in the first feature coupled with the win in the second. Awesome year for David and the Pennzoil team.
Sunset Speedway Meeting A Success
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Rule Amendment Saves Us Money
There was a tech meeting at Sunset Speedway today and we came out good. Ryan Elliott, my cousin, who lives in Alliston was there with me, he will join our pit crew in 2012, along with his brother Justin. We are blessed to them help us every Saturday at Sunset…….The Limited Late Models can now run a rack. Rack’s are lighter than the steering box, about 27 pounds including the bolt on tie rods etc. Any cars running the rack will need to add 30 pounds, 15 to each frame rail ahead of the upper control arm on the outside of the frame rail…….there is also the addition of an MSD box to help prevent the ignition modules from burning up. There were no more changes, though some talk on engines was going to take place at their next meeting……Crate engines can be rebuilt but there is a max 9.1 compression rule. If it’s over the engine has to go back to the engine builder to have a thicker gasket in stalled to help reduce the compression. It was a good meeting. Sunset will have it’s scehule done by late November and are hoping to have some home and home series with surrounding tracks. I wanted that for Flamboro and Delaware, a home and home and use it to support the local food banks. We are excited as we look towards 2012 and Lord willing, we’ll have all our sponsors back and put together a great race program to give us a shot at track title….more updates as they occur.
Iron Man & RTR
Teaming Up With Radio Station
Joe Chisholm and I have agreed to do a segment on his RTR radio program. We’re not sure what the title of the portion will be, but it will be along the lines of “Tips from the Iron Man”. I pitched the idea to Joe a few weeks ago and he loved it. Basically he will ask me a question and I will give him a tip I would suggest based on my experience. It’s being tested tonight. Click on the RTR link on the top of the right side of our link to listen to the program. I hope it becomes a popular part of his show.
WRKC Awards Night
Kids Enjoy Their Night Of Celebration
The Waterloo Regional Kart CLub held their annual awards banquet last night in Cambridge. Gehrig was in the Jr. Lites and Lauren in Novice. They did well, Lauren out gunning in Gehrig in wins, although she was hard luck. When they called her name to pick up her 6th place trophy, they said she could use some horseshoes in 2012. Gehrig ran strong in his class having some classic battles with the top runners and finishing just out of the top three with a well earned fourth……the plan is to put Lauren back in a Kart in 2012 and of course Gehrig will make his stock car racing debut in a Mini Stock at Sunset Speedway. We should know soon all our plans and hope to make that announcement by the end of November.
RTR,,,Co_Host Tonight
The Iron Man Minute
I am very honored to have this opportunity to share some of my thoughts in racing on the RTR program. Joe Chisholm and I worked on the details and he thought it would work, so we’re starting tonight with a full show and in the future there will be a minute segment every week called “The Iron Man Minute”. These tips and ideas are what got Nonie and I through 43 seasons. Also, there may not be enough time to fully explain every tip, some need more explaining, the best idea is to take every tip as an overview, in some cases they won’t be as dogmatic as others, you’ll know by my passion on the tips….the show tonight starts at 8:pm. Click on the RTR logo on the right side of our web site and once on the RTR site, click on Listen Live”…thanks, hope you enjoy it.
In Our Garage…..Pre Season 1969
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My First Car…..Never Been Raced Yet!!!
This picture was taken in May of 1969 in the backyard of Nonies parents. It was the start of a 43 long history, and the end of their lawn. In my first year I totalled three VW’s and each one was rebuilt in this backyard. Notice the garage (no overhead…no roof)……my dad would come over after all the interior and panels were tore out of the new car we got and weld in a new roll cage. He would put 8″ square plates on both sides of the floor, bolt them in and weld the cage to the plates inside the car. As you can see, we didn’t have many tools or equipment just a fence and a few trees (I was thankful I had that place to start)……Nonie’s dad asked me “how long are planning on racing”?……after us being in the back yard for two years my dad said “there were so many Volkswagons in that backyard that Mr. Bow was getting a german accent”…..This was how it started, tough sledding, and it’s still tough. Now we have three race cars, two go-karts and one Mini on the way and no room for four of the six. I guess it’s back to where we were 43 years ago, only it won’t be one car under the clouds, it could be two. I need to call Richard Childress and ask him if this is normal for a multi car team…..this picture was way back in the day, so far back that colored pictures were not available yet.
Phoenix Arizona Bound
Thank You Quaker State
Shirley and I are heading to Phoenix Speedway on Friday and spending the weekend there courtesy of our 38 year sponsor Quaker State. We will be guests in their suite and meet one of their sponsored racers. Not sure yet, but we’d like to see Mark Martin, or any of the Hendricks racers….Shirley has her sites set on Junior, so we won’t rest until that connection is made. This is a great getaway for us, I wanted to take her on her birthday back in July but we couldn’t make it work, so when I told her about Phoenix she was very excited…..every year we paint our car a little different and this year the people at Quaker State are going to have a chance to come up with a paint scheme. I have an idea what I want to do in 2012, although I’ve liked the randitions we’ve used the past four seasons….this should be a great fun time, thank you Quaker State.
Phoenix Was A Blast
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Shirley Looking For Junior
Shirley and I had a great time at Phoenix last weekend. Here she gets right into Dale Jr’s garage, The boys were okay with it but we snuck in and out quick. She got some other good pictures with other cars, but no drivers were around, it was wet and most of them were either visiting fans in the suites, or in their RV’s. We got a visit from Kurt Busch prior to the race. He was very good, answered all our questions and let everyone who wanted a picture with him get them done before he left, very cool………..our LM is at Jim Sweers and we’ll keep this front page updated with pictures as we start to prepare for 2012. I guess it’s time, we’ve been off for 3 weeks now (lol). We do want to get an early start, then take some time off when it’s minus 15, yikes, that crazy weather is just around the corner. We will have much to update over the next few weeks……Flamboro banquet is this Saturday, I will be going with my grandson Gehrig and crew chief Bob, may see some of you there.
Cotton Fields
Cotton Picking Canuk
I was absolutely blown away when I saw this field. I had no idea what it was unitl I got closer. I only heard about cotton fields in the song “Cotton Fields Back Home” and in some jokes, years ago. I did not know this is what they looked like. The cotton plant was very thick and stuck to the plant. It reminded me a little of burdock’s, you know when your dog runs through a field and has this little pricky ball stuck in his fur and it takes forever to get out. We get them to, when we walk through fields, that’s kind of what the cotton plant reminded me. I was amazed at this and just had to go and get a close up.
Coupe Engine Comes Out
Gehrig Gordon & Bob Decommision The Coupe
We started our 2012 program a few weeks ago by stripping the Late Model. This week we pulled the engine out of the Coupe. It will go to Stefko for an upgrade and then go in our Late Model for Sunset. The Coupe will be parked for 2012 unless we get sponsorship to put in another engine, and other repairs. There is no way I will have time to keep the Coupe race ready and help my grandson, Gehrig, with his Rookie season. The Coupe could race in 2012, that’s still a possibility, but we won’t know for sure until the new year…..the Late Model is getting some fabrication and welding, we’ll bring it back home, strip it completely and get it ready for some winter shows…..Gehrig’s Mini Stock program is also in high gear. We are working on getting a car, trailer and equipment for his team. Gehrig will start his racing career at Sunset Speedway, parked right beside us. We have a lot to do, and we’re getting an early start before the weather gets to crazy. Special thanks to our crew for getting this engine out. We’ll keep our progress updated here.
Partnering With Scripture Union Canada
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Dr. Lawson Murray President Of S.U. Canada
A few weeks ago Bob Johnston, Director of Ministries for Scripture Union Canada, introduced me to Dr. Lawson Murray. We first met at the final Argo game in November, to enjoy the game and discuss the potenital of a partnership. That night coupled with another meeting this week, Gary Elliott racing is proud to announce that we are partnering with S.U. Canada to help bring the story of Jesus to as many people as we can throughout the coming seasons. We’ve been doing that now, but teaming up with this great organization, (soon to be in it’s 150th year) will give us more support in the areas we need to assit kids and adults who want to know more about our faith. There will be more opportunitites for our team to appear at various functions, provided by S.U. Canada, as well as be an ambassador for Scripture Union Canada. We invite our fans to click on the S.U. logo on the right side of our web site (will be up by the weekend) and check out the many great things they do. There is a section on their web site that not only has my testimony, but also that of Toronto Maple Leaf goalie James Reimer, and Toronto Argonaught Line Backer Willie Pile. Go to “What We Do”, and then click on SU Sports and scroll down to see James Reimer and click on the Leaf goalie to see the testimonies. We are working together for a common cause in the arena of Stock Car Racing, and are extremely proud to be associated in this way with S.U. Canada
Jesus Is The Reason For The Season
Merry Christmas Race Fans & Friends
To all our wonderful fans and friends…..”Jesus is the reason for the season”. It’s our prayer to continue the love, kindness, care, compassion and forgiveness of Jesus all 365 days of the year. Nonie and I, and our family wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and all God’s blessing in the coming year.
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