By Don McLeod
OSCAAR's 2006 season opener takes place this Sunday, May 21, at Flamboro Speedway. After a long winter, everyone is anxiously waiting for the return to action-packed Outlaw racing on Ontario's speedways. With the first of 14 races now only days away, OSCAAR fans have a great racing season to look forward to.
Before drivers and teams get to the track, who will win the race to get ready for the first event? Every year this remains a big challenge for the teams. Over the off-season there were some rule changes. That led to decision making time in the engine department. So it will be interesting to see which teams arrive at the track with modified engines or perhaps new ones. As always, OSCAAR fans can look forward to seeing some new car bodies and paint jobs!
Rookie of the Year contender Glenn Watson has served notice that his first year in OSCAAR will be a strong one. The team practiced recently at Peterborough and Barrie Speedways. The new #22 team have prepared an awesome looking super late which has power to boot.
John Fletcher and the #61 team had a great off-season with announcements about new and returning sponsors. Recently, their web site featured an interview with John: "The Championship - I could go the year without winning a race if we can give the championship to JNE". With that statement John has served notice to the other teams that 2006 will see a very determined push for the OSCAAR Title by the #61 team.
However, speculation abounds on the look for the #61 Outlaw. Will it be the same white body and blue decals as last year or will John show up with a new look for 2006? We don't know and the answer to that question will only be found by showing up at Flamboro on Sunday!
OSCAAR's 2005 Champions, Rob Clarke and the #49 team, weren't sitting around playing Blackjack over the winter. Any one who regularly visits the OSCAAR web site will have already seen the great looking #49 Outlaw car for 2006. The team worked hard getting it ready for the Performance World Car Show and that put them ahead of most other OSCAAR teams in the "ready-for-racing" department.
The following quote is from the Driver Page of Rob Clarke's web site: "As the 2006 season approaches there have been many changes over the past 26 years, but "ONE THING" still remains consistent, Rob's continued desire to WIN!". That ever-burning flame of racing passion will keep Rob in championship form for many years!
Top performers from last year, Drew Spicer, Gary Passer, Ed Bowlby, John Owen and Ken Hayward, are all returning with strong intentions of giving Fletcher and Clarke a run for the money. Jeff Hanley's 2006 racing program continues to be source of great interest by many fans. Will he be in a late model, super late model or both? Which super will he drive? Only time will tell folks!
Several drivers have stepped up their racing programs from last year. The list includes Rob Bickle, Bruce Gowland, TJ Woolsey and Phil Bullen. TJ Woolsey will be driving the #43 car again but intends to complete a full season of racing in the recently purchased Jeff Hanley car. Meanwhile, The V&L Transportation racing team has prepared the #93 Outlaw as a back-up car for TJ and a three-race ride in '06 for Steve Lyons. Other new drivers for 2006 include Tom Cuzzila Jr in the #50 and Jim Lowenberg in the #11.
Sunday's racing starts at 6pm but as with all OSCAAR events you will want to arrive early to get a seat. Cheer on your favourite driver(s) and join us in celebrating the start of the 2006 super late model season. See you there!
No comments:
Post a Comment