Our team was invited to participate in the Waterdown Dairy Queen Fund Raiser for MacMaster hospital. It was an awesome event. The DQ raised over $10,000 again for Mac. We were there from 11am until 10:30pm, almost a 12 hour day, but incredibly awesome getting to meet and mingle with so many people.
Special thanks to Peter De New for helping me all day, he was incredible with the kids and telling our story every chance he got.
Here Buttons and I get a picture with Almo and one of the Minions.
Gary Elliott
Sunset Return Fun…….But Ends With A DNF
We made our first visit to Sunset Speedway in our Late Model in 2015. We ran full seasons at Sunset in 2012 and 2013, but once in the OSCAAR Modified, missed the Late Model shows that were conflicting with the Modified.
It was the 3rd annual Family Faith Night, put on by 2 of my sponsors, Open Doors and Scripture Union, they gave away 500 pocket Bibles to the fans.
I must admit I do miss racing here. The atmosphere is awesome, lots of cars, lots of fans, lots of action and clearly lots of drama. But I still believe Sunset is the best race track in Ontaro in many ways, although running full time this year at Sauble Speedway has been fun, accept that we have no chance against the 400 HP built motors. The full report of the nights racing is on our Message Board, under Diary of a Season 2015.
Special thanks to Jerry Abramowicz for this photo.
Family Faith Night…….Our Return To Sunset Speedway Was Fun
This was our only scheduled visit to Sunset Speedway in 2015. We planned to come because two of our team sponsors got together to bring the 3rd annual Family Faith Night. We actually ran better than I expected and to be honest, I missed racing on this track. Very tough competition, but our car was handling very well and I felt comfortable all night…..we were short in our pit crew, only one person, but Lloyd did awesome. After 2 hot laps I made a simple adjustment and it worked good for us.
I was worried about making the feature with 27 cars, but we qualified 21st in time trials, so we were in no matter what. I wouldn’t mind going back there for the last race of 2015 the Velocity…..we will see, not sure I can do it but if I could get some help we would for sure, and race the Modified as well.
Thanks to Alain Thiboutot for this photo.
Running Hard At Peterborough….But Need A Tune Up
Our latest run was with the Modified at Peterborough Speedway. We thought for sure we could turn things around but had a disappointing night. The car was not right again, as though it was out of control. It wasn’t out of control, but there was little feel with entering and going through the turns. I felt as though I was on the edge all the time and when that happens I tend to bakc off because the end result of driving a car like that is getting spun and worse, getting spun and wrecked.
I hope we can turn it around for our next Modified race at Sunset Speedway on August 22nd. We are still holding on to 3rd in the points, but barely with some very fast cars behind and in front, and all of them handling better than us.
OSCAAR Top 7
Gary McLean……….415
Chad Strawn……….381
Gary Elliott………368
John Baker………..367
Corey Horner………366
Brian McLean………354
Mike Hearty……….335
August 1st……..OSCAAR Goes To Peterborough Speedway……..Series Race #5 Racing With Hard Charging Michael Hearty #20
After a quick rest getting caught up on some home business, we are off to Peterborough Speedway for Saturday night’s Mod race #6. We are currently 3rd in the points after a disappointing finish on Saturday night. Yes we did finish 5th, but if our car was pushing so bad I think we could have won it. I love Sauble and when a schedule is complete there are usually 80% of the races that I really feel I have a chance, and this was one of them. We did lead for a while, but too many restarts. Anyway, I love racing at Peterborough as well, so I am hoping for a strong finish at the Chase of the Colors tomorrow night.
In this picture I am racing with the amazing Michael Hearty who travel every week from Sault Ste Marie to race with us. He is a great guy with a great family and crew.
I am heading to Cookstown to play some darts with my cousins Kim and her husband Tom. Looking forward to that, always have a great time a Tom and Kims.
Hope to see lots of fans and race cars at Peterborough Speedway
The Six Day Warrior……3 Races & 2 Shows……Thank You Lloyd Lariviere……Battling With Glenn Schnurr #54 On The Final Night At Sauble
We had our first of two busy race periods in our 2015 race schedule. Lloyd Lariviere and I met at Jason Legges shop on Thursday July 23rd, worked on getting our Modified ready, and any final work on the Late Model. The schedule had us racing 3 times and doing 2 shows in six nights. It was a busy run for sure, but not my first, and not likely my last. We raced Friday night at Full Thrttle Motor Speedway, taking a 5th and 4th in the two 20 lap features. Then on Saturday we raced our OSCCAR Mod finishing 3rd in both heats and 5th in the feature. On Tuesday we spent the early afternoon 11 till 4 at the Quaker State Quik Lube in Owen Sound and then later that night from 5:30 till 9:15 on Sauble Beach promoting the “Dash for Cash” show on Wednesday night at Sauble Speedway, which was our final race event and we finished 6th in both heats and 7th in the 50 lap feature. The full story of the races will be on Diary of a Season 2015 hopefully early next week becasue I leave tomorrow for Cookstown to spend the day with my family and then head to Peterborough for the next OSCAAR show…….It was a hectice week but Lloyd and I had fun and faired okay on the track.
Quaker State Car Goes To Church
I took our Quaker State Late Model to church Sunday, in Port Perry. There were about 100 people, a great barbecue with many kids getting their pictures taken with me and in the car.
Thanks to the great people of Victory Christian Centre for their love and hospitality.
Special Thanks To Cliff Hodgkinson For Letting Me Drive His Pro 4 Modified…Dressed In GEM Attire Got My #36, My Name & Quaker State On It
Tomorrow night I will be driving a Pro 4 Modified for Cliff Hodgkinson at Flamboro Speedway. I drove for his father Dave 2 years ago and had a lot of fun in the wild fast Modified. Special thanks to Cliff for letting me do up the Mod in my number and with Quaker State on it.
Hats off to the Flamboro Pro 4’s and the Cliff’s Outlaw Pro 4’s for working together to increase car count…just what race facilities need. So expect 16 to 20 cars.
Pit gates open at 3, races start at 6:30, with LOSC doing time trials at 5:30.
Hope to see many of my friends and fans at Flamboro.
“hey Cliff, I’m not too keen about no roof. Can I have one by the Sauble Speedway race on July 25th”…..I know….”shhhh, just drive it” lol
David Wins Late Model Feature Leads Flamboro Points
Very proud of my son David for the season he is having running his Quaker State Late Model at Flamboro Speedway. David is off the next 5 weeks, no Late Models and will return mid August to concentrate on winning his 8th career Championship.
Congrats to David and his team on another excellent season.
Thanks to Derek Smith of Race Pulse for this picture
Modified Not Happy At Delaware Speedway Friday July 10th
Our team took a hit in the points with our worst run in the Modifieds since joining the series. We could not get the handling for the big half mile track. We thought we were going the right way after the first set of hot laps when our car was tight in the middle, but with changes to help make it turn, we went from one symptom to the total opposite, and getting worse each time out. Our 14th place finish was discouraging, especially after coming off a second at Full Throttle Motor Speedway.
We will get it right for Sauble Speedway on July 25th, our next OSCAAR Modified race. Thanks to Scott Wiley for trying to guide us through texts.
The full story of our Friday and Saturday night race will be completed on Diary of a Season 2015 by Tuesday night.
Thank you for visiting our site.
……Special thanks to Ashley McCubbin for this photo.