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| 1.
You finished your second full season in the top ten once
again. Were you pleased with 2004? |
| I
was fairly pleased with our 2004 season. We got off to a
slow start but really came on towards the middle of the
year. We had a couple weak races to end the year
but all in all I was happy with the level we were able
to compete at when things went right. |
|
| 2.
What were
some of the highlights that you remember most about
2004?
|
|
I
had quite a few highlights this past season. I was able
to start two feature races from the pole and also led my
first feature laps. We also picked up our first heat
race win and that was huge for us. It was also a thrill
to run in my first professional race with the All Star
Circuit of Champions although it would have been a lot
more fun to not have had the brakes fade. Oh, and my dad
loved when I made Rick Wilson pass me 3 times in a heat
before he finally smoked me at the Labor Day Classic.
|
 |
| 3.
What were some of your dissappointments from 2004? |
| Our
inability to finish races in the first half of the
year. We had power steering problems and we aren't a big
money team so it took us half a year to
get a different pump in (Actually, it was our
third one). We also were running in the top 5 twice at
Brighton, the first time I went to the
pits under a red to work on the power steering and we
never got back through the field like we had the first
time. The 2nd time the moron behind the wheel had a
brain fart while running 3rd and spun out. |
|
| 4.
Being not
only a driver but a key member of the club, how do you
feel 2004 compared to other SOS seasons?
|
| I
thought there were a lot of positives and a lot of
negatives. I thought things would run much smoother than
they did this year and I thought our some of our shows
weren't up to the level I've come to expect from our
club. I was happy to see the continued growth of the
Labor Day Classic at Brighton and was very happy to see
our highest car counts yet. |
|
| 5.
As a driver, what did you learn in 2004 that you can
bring forward into 2005? |
| I
really learned how to race the car this year. My rookie
year was in a fairly old and very bent chassis so I
spent a lot of races just trying to survive out there.
This year we had a newer car that wasn't bent so I got
to spend a lot more time leaning on the car and really
finding my limits as well as the car's. |
|
| 6.
What are your teams plans for 2005? |
| We
bought an ex-Fred Rahmer J&J chassis as well as a
fairly hard hitting motor so we now have two frames and
two motors so we hope to run a more aggressive schedule.
We will hit all the SOS races this year but I hope to
travel to more races as well. We are planning to hit
Mercer to prepare ourselves for the season opener with
the SOS and we also hope to run a bit with SOD at some
of their bigger tracks and races. Hopefully if the
scheduling works out I will also be able to race at
Eldora Speedway and get my butt whipped by the NRA. |
|
| 7.
What areas as a driver do you wish to improve on for the
new season? |
| As
a driver there are a few things I would like to
improve. I make too many mistakes right now, I'll put
together 3 nice laps and then screw up the next one far
too often. I would also like to improve my passing and
getting through lapped traffic. Towards the end of the
year I was starting to get into lapped traffic and
if I want to run as good as I hope/think we can this
year then getting through lapped traffic cleanly and
efficiently will be very important.
The other thing I would
like to improve on is my performance on bigger tracks.
We are a lot tougher on small tracks like Brighton and
Buxton but we run most of the season on Ohsweken which
is a bigger track. I'm not sure how much of it is driver
and how much of it is equipment so I'm anxious to get
the new season started with the new motor so I can put
up or shut up.
|
 |
| 8.
What driver(s) have helped you the most with advice on
the track? |
| I
guess the driver I go to most for advice would be Adam
West. We talk all the time be it at the track or at home
and we tend to see things in the same light so that's
pretty helpful. He also got a lifetime of experience in
one year at Knoxville so he is as knowledgeable, if not,
the most knowledgeable person in the pits when it comes
to going fast in my opinion. I do lean on a lot of other
drivers though, Tim Phillips and Jim Porter have always
been quite helpful to me throughout my racing career (A
whopping two years). |
|
| 9.
What should the fans expect from the SOS in 2005? |
| I
think the fans should expect some very good local
racing. We're not the World of Outlaws...although
sometimes it seems like people expect us to be. We are
bunch of weekend racers who do their best to provide
close, safe and exciting action. Hopefully in 2005 we
will continue to do so only a little bit better than we
ever have before. I do expect higher car counts as once
again it sounds like we have a few rookies who are
pretty serious about doing the tour and we should see
veterans like Jim Porter and Les MacMillan a little more
this year. |
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| 10.
Why do you enjoy competing on the SOS tour? |
| I
enjoy racing with the SOS tour for many reasons. I love
going into a corner side by side with a guy knowing that
he may race me hard but he will definitely race me
clean. I can't afford to trash a pile of cars so it's
really important to me that everyone uses their brain
and I really find that for the most part everyone who
follows the series does.
I also like competing
on the SOS tour because I've basically grown up with the
SOS, I was at their second race and have been a part of
the club in some way, shape or form for many years and I
have seen it grow in to a premier Canadian series. It
amazes me what we have done in 10 years, especially when
you consider that there was only really one Canadian
based car in the series when it was formed and now there
are over twenty that compete fairly regularly. |
