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| In
the past few seasons a number of drivers have left
their mainstays in racing and moved to the sprint car
division. Among those drivers is former CASCAR
competitor Bob MacDonald. In 2007 Bob finished a solid
16th in the overall SOS Standings and 4th in what was
the toughest Rookie of the Year battle in club
history. The future looks bright for Bob and the
Ballantyne Race Team as they recently announced the
signing of Lucas Oil as a major team sponsor. SOS
Online's Peter Turford sat down with the Woodstock,
Ontario racer.
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| First off, have we officially converted you from tar to dirt? |
Yes and no, I love all forms of circle track racing and I have met lots
of great people in all the different divisions and tracks we have raced
at. The one consistent thing, either on dirt or on asphalt are the
great fans we have here in Ontario. The change to sprint cars has been
great opportunity and I have to say it was a real rush, from the very
first time I drove Ray’s car. The power to weight ratio and the many
different racing lines on the track makes it a welcome change from the
one and two grove asphalt tracks I had been racing on. |
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| You've run TQ midgets and with CASCAR and were a Delaware regular -
what could the SOS learn from those series and tracks? |
Well it doesn’t matter what or where you’re racing your always
constantly learning. I really miss racing at Delaware Speedway, they
treated us great and they were very helpful in our endeavors off the
track with the racecar simulators and the drug educational component of
our program. The most valuable thing that I have learned at all the
tracks I have race at, but especially at Delaware is that you really
need to speak with our fans and give them some quality time after a race
or at a public event. The fans come out in all kinds of weather and
brave the cold at the start and end of our lovely Canadian race seasons.
It may be the only chance they get in meeting you. Even though we have
never had enough money or maybe the talent to run consistently at the
front, I know we won over a number of fans who cheered us on just
because they could put a face to the name and we took the time to speak
to them when we had a chance. I can’t tell you how many times someone
has stopped me at an event or even in Tim Horton's and they told me
exactly what we have done on the track that week or even that year.
Value our fans because they really are the best! |
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| Tell us about your run to 2nd at South Buxton - it had to be a career
highlight - Yes/No? |
Yea I guess I would have to say I was pretty well pumped up after the
South Buxton race, finishing second. One of the best things about that
race was one of my best friends and racing mentors Graham Kells was in
the pits with us that night to share our excitement over the great
finish. Our finish surprised a few people but I can tell you there was
no one was more surprised than I was. We had just changed the steering
box in the car that week due to mechanical failure at Brighton and what
a difference it made to the way the car handled. |
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| You are very active off the track - tell us about the programs you
are involved with? |
| Well I have been very blessed, because when I was growing up I had two
life ambitions one was to be a racer the other a police officer. Not
only have I had the opportunity to fulfill both my dreams, I get to use
both my policing career and my interest in racing to help
educate our youth of the danger of substance abuse. I started getting involved in
RCMP Racing Against Drugs Events in the early 1990’s and over time have
become more and more involved. I built my first racecar
simulator out of my TQ Midget about 9 years ago and then the two pit cart simulators
two years ago. The simulators give me a great chance to interact with
our youth, promoting a healthy lifestyle by gaining their attention
though the excitement of racing. |
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| You work very hard to get sponsors and to support them - what should
the SOS be doing to help its teams gain sponsorship? |
It is quite clear that sponsorships are increasingly more difficult to
get as the strains for the corporate Canadian dollar increase with
different forms of organizations looking for support for their causes,
whether it is for charities or other good causes. It is important that
when asking a sponsor for support that you give the sponsor something
more than a charity plan, they need to see a return. We have to show
the sponsor that there is a firm reason why sponsoring the SOS or a team
in SOS, will be in their best interest for brand exposure of their
company. Overall, the SOS has been doing a very good job of that, but
it is important when one of us gets some benefit of those sponsorships
or relationships that SOS have promoted, that we talk to the sponsor and
thank them for their support. Let’s face it, they could put their extra
funds or advertising dollars in many other forms of media, which also
works to brand expose their organization. It is up to us to prove to
them that someone has seen their support on our cars, and that they can
see a direct benefit of their involvement with the SOS and or any of our
race teams associated with SOS. One thing that could be helpful to the
teams would be a SOS Media Day at a local track, where the media and
sponsors could come out for increased exposure and networking. |
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| How did you and Ray Ballantyne get together? |
I was between racing having sold or traded off my CASCAR sportsman car
for a large trailer, due to my equipment becoming outdated with the
sportsman rule changes at Delaware Speedway. I spoke to some of my good
friends in racing, including Graham Kells, yourself and Daryl
Turford, as at one time I had considered the SOS a number of years before but
decided to stay with asphalt racing then. We spoke about who in the SOS
had a program that could gain from my off track program so that both
them and I could benefit from a partnership. Ray’s name came up for
several reasons, he was located close geographically, it was apparent
that he might be looking for a driver, he had a racecar. On my side, I
had all the other equipment to get a racecar to the track, an
established off track program and we both needed sponsors. They all
encouraged me to speak to Ray and the rest I guess is history. |
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| Describe the chemistry between you and
Ray. |
I have to say that Ray and I have great relationship, we have an
understanding that if there come a time that we both are not benefiting
from our partnership than it would be at that time for both of us go our
separate ways. Ray is very encouraging in both his faith in my driving
and that we need to build this team in small steps, before we run and
the better results at the finish line will come as a result. Ray has a
great deal of knowledge of racing and is very patient with me knowing
that there will be a learning curve making the change from asphalt to
dirt. It is great to work with Ray, as he loves racing as much or more
than I do. Both Ray and I are fairly laid back by nature and we aren’t
trying to set the world on fire, we are just looking to have a great
time racing. |
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| What happened that ended your season at the
CSCN? |
Well after our good run at Buxton and then the crash at
Ohsweken, the car was hurt more than we imagined. The motor never seemed to be as
strong as before and we chased problems with the chassis and motor after
that. At the Nationals, we were trying to deal with a motor that just
seemed to have a timing issue, and unfortunately it was much more
terminal than we thought. We didn’t have a backup motor so we were done
for the CSCN. |
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| Any changes on the 24 that we should be looking for? |
| Yea, we are very pleased to announce that we have signed a new co-primary sponsorship with LUCAS OIL Canada. Steve Snowden, Ray and I had
been talking all season long, with the hope and intention of getting
something going for the 2007 season. We are very proud to be running
the colours and logos of LUCAS OIL and are extremely excited about their
support of both our on track program and off track program. Steve and
LUCAS are very interested in what we do on and off the
racetrack and they believe in our commitment to youth and substance abuse education.
Steve and LUCAS OIL have already become very active in a number of RCMP
Racing Against Drugs events, and they appreciate the importance of
investing in our youth. The off track programs are also great way to
encourage future fans, exposing our youth to sprint car racing.
We have also considered adding some depth to our racing program with the
addition of spare motor or even a spare complete car. We will have to
see what the future brings, I know Ray is very excited about our coming
season and so am I. |
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| What is the biggest challenge that you see facing the SOS? |
I would have to say that it is likely the fact that Humberstone is
planning to run a bi-weekly sprint show. SOS is an affordable series for
a number of reasons and we owe the fact that sprint car racing has
returned to Ontario solely due to the Southern Ontario Sprints. We have
an excellent opportunity with SOS to grow and continue to be a premier
racing group in Ontario, which will continue to gain sponsor and fan
support. I know that Ray and I will continue to support SOS, as we
believe in the organization. I know that in some cases the right rear
tire issue comes up, but it is the backbone that equalizes the field on
most tracks, keeping that tire seems to more and more of a challenge. I
have raced in divisions where just to look competitive you needed to put
on two tires and if you wanted to have a chance to win you had to put on
four, with the price of four tires costing more than the winning purse.
Keeping that tire may be a challenge but it is essential in keeping
costs down. |
