ST: Kevin Bridge To Unveil New Thunder Car at Motorama

After having success in the Four Cylinder division, Kevin Bridge is set to make the next step of his racing career and move up to the Thunder Car class.

Bridge will unveil his new ride at the Motorama Custom Car and Motorsports Show. The Motorama Custom Car and Motorsports Show takes place from March 13th to 15th and will feature some of the top individuals in both the car enthusiast and motorsports industry.

With the birth of his son, Bridge stepped away from racing weekly at Sauble Speedway last year to take a break.

“With back to back 2nd place points finishes it was a hard thing to do, chasing my elusive first championship,” he comments. “But with the birth of my first son, I wanted to focus on spending some quality time with him and my wife.”

Before taking his break, though, he had clearly established himself as a division front runner. Beyond the pair of runner-up finishes, he had 16 feature victories at two different tracks, won the Dash for Cash back-to-back and was the Inaugural Sauble-Sunset Home to Home Mini Stock Champion.

“From my the time that I spent in the Mini Stock class I saw some large changes,” he noted. “During the course of a 4 year period the class at sauble got over 1 second a lap quicker.”

As the year came to a close, Bridge wanted to return to the full-time racing fold, but felt a change was needed to keep it fun for him. The decision was made at that point to make the move up to the Thunder Car division.

“Sauble’s Mini Stock class had around 10 cars but it was generally the same three to four battling for the win week in and week out,” he commented. “I watched many Thunder Car races and there was 18 -20 cars with 6-10 cars that could win each night.”

With two weeks left in the season, he put his car and trailer up for sale, with the trailer selling within 10 minutes. The car then sold four days later, allowing Bridge to set focus on his new plans.

“I had already looked at a couple cars but there was one that was stuck in my mind,” he explained. “I ended up picking up the  No. 12 car of the Polish Rrince Jim Beleskey from Barrie Speedway.”

Belesky had success with the car at Barrie Speedway over the years, winning multiple feature victories.

“From there I took the car out to sauble for a little shake down before I completed a complete over haul of the car,” Bridge continued. “The chassis was stripped down and sent to Jeff Walt of Walt fabrication where there were some front end updates done. From there it was a new tinkit, brakes, and body. The car is keeping its signature malibu roof, but lost the chrome horns in favor of the Monte Carlo nose and tail.”

Now with the car pretty much ready to go, Bridge has set his goals at trying to win Sauble’s Rookie of the Year Award.

“A bonus would be a top 5 in points at the end of the season,” he commented. “And by the end of the season be contending for wins week in and week out.”

Bridge’s new ride will see sponsorship from LiUNA, Huronview Insurance, Spira Fire Protection, DK Daniel Kelley Custom Woodworking, Castrol, Saugeen Shores Transmission, Imagewraps, Epic Racewear, Bridgehaven Angus, SL Promotions, Gilcreest Speed and Custom, Walt Fabrication, NGK Spark Plugs, DEI and Permatex.