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Friday, January 29, 2010

Fab Five Freshmen

London, Ontario (January 29, 2010) - The new teams just keep on coming. We already knew of at least three drivers moving into the local Sprint Car ranks in 2010, and the latest news says two more talented racers are throwing their hats (helmets?) into the ring. Cheektowaga, NY asphalt Late Model driver Todd Hoddick, and former Merrittville dirt Modified racer Jamie Turner join Stevin Goldner, Chris Steele, and Shane Butler, who we heard about in the fall.

In spite of his relative youth - he'll turn 26 in March - Hoddick brings an impressive resume to his new venture. He started in Karts at age 10, and began his full size stock car career just 4 years later. Along with Late Model track championships at Lancaster and Lake Erie, the Buffalo-area driver has also competed part time in ARCA, ASA, and USAR Pro Cup, and spent much of last season driving an SST Modified. The team plans to concentrate on Friday nights at Ohsweken, though they may miss opening night while Todd attends class for his Masters degree.

"We will see how things go and how quickly we adapt to these type cars before we decide on traveling," says Todd. "I am hoping to get out as much as possible before the season starts to get some seat time in the car. We know it will definitely be a challenge, and hope to become competitive by the end of the season."

Turner brings lots of dirt Modified experience and should be a force to be reckoned with almost immediately. Jamie is part of an extensive racing family, as father Don was a mainstay at Merrittville for over 40 years, while brother-in-law Joe Plazek is no stranger to local short track fans either. Ohsweken regular Mikey Kruchka is happy about Jamie's new venture, and he's pretty familiar with the car Turner aquired - the Kevin Loveys #18.

"I'm very excited because Jamie's shop has been the home for my sprint car since the start," says Mikey. "When I was 15 and just got into racing he let me help out and work on his crew when he raced 358's. He is like another big brother to me."

Goldner - the youngest of the rookie contingent - had a fire in his shop at Christmas time and was unsure of his status for the coming season. A month later he is much more optimistic.

"We're all good...(The) body's getting painted at the moment," says Stevin. "The great guys at Metal Works helped us out a bunch. Hoping it's going to be done for March for the London Auto Expo."

On the pavement side of things, the Can-Am Midget club's tentative schedule is posted, and does not show Flamboro Speedway. A mainstay for most of the club's 40+ years, it seems at least somewhat likely we won't see them there this year. There's also talk of the Late Models getting some nights off, leaving many to wonder what exactly IS going to run on Saturday nights there this summer. The Midgets will still have a good number of races at other area tracks, including a potential return to Delaware in August.

Canada will have full-time representation on the World of Outlaws Sprint Car trail for the first time in many years (was Tim Gee the last?) when Toni Lutar takes the green flag at Volusia next week. Although he'll turn 52 on St. Patrick's Day, the White Rock, B.C. resident is officially in contention with 36 year old Ben Gregg and 20 year old Cody Darrah for the Kevin Gobrecht rookie of the year award. The big news out of the WoO this week is a change to double-file restarts, and other procedural changes.

Enjoy Hockey Day in Canada tomorrow. If you're in London, call or e-mail your local politicians and tell them we want outdoor ice rinks. THAT'S the way to grow "our game".

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