One year ago, Luke Ramsay sat on stage at the Motorama Custom Car and Motorsports Show laying down the framework for a new Pro Late Model Series that would feature eight races across Ontario. It was meant to be a revival for a division that slowly dying in Ontario, while giving the drivers a touring late model series that they had been asking for.
In the process, Ramsay stated a quote that remained in the minds of drivers, fans, and myself moving forward for the rest of the year.
“I think the mindset is that the rules have to be in the best interest of everybody involved, and that’s the tracks, teams, sponsors – everybody that’s involved,” Ramsay explained. “It just can’t be tailored to one driver, one team or one track. There’s a lot of people involved, and a lot of people have made a significant investment in the series. We got to look after everybody that’s going to be in the series. Everybody has had to make changes to fit the rules.”
A year later and a season in the books, those rules have been lived up to. Everybody had to play within the sandbox that Ramsay and his staff drew up, with the tire and tech procedures for each event being strictly enforced no matter the race you attended.
It resulted in a successful campaign for Ramsay and his staff, as there were 30 to 40 cars in the pits on a weekly basis trying to qualify for the field. This field also included the who’s who of the late model racing in Ontario, with approximately half of the field having a legitimate shot to win each week.
The success of the inaugural season already in looking towards this year, as many of the drivers have expressed an intent to return, along with a couple new faces in the mix. The response from the tracks has been positive as well, with each of the venues welcoming the series back for another year in 2016.
“Our commitment is we want to support the tracks,” Ramsay commented. “We want to make sure that we’re a healthy series to go there so it’s profitable for them, because at the end of the day we need to help the tracks as well. They have continued to work with us. They’re all back with the series so it’s all positive.”
Ramsay stated that he believes it worked out to be successful as everybody knew a change needed to be made, and he was just fortunate to be the one able to put it together due to having the right support behind him from the marketing partners. He also believes that theory helped in making it with the teams as each of the drivers understood something needed to be done, so therefore everybody in place sucked it up and went with it.
“They deserve the credit,” he stated of the drivers and teams. “I say that Darryl did a great job to even the playing field, but all the teams deserve the credit for making the changes in the garage and making the investment. I think we’re fortunate there was an appetite and fortunate there was interest, and fortunate that we could do this.”
Now it’s just about making sure to keep the playing field fair moving forward, which Ramsay says thus far the teams have been playing fair.
“Obviously they’re all racers and I come from a racing background so I understand that they’re going to push the envelope,” Ramsay stated at this year’s Motorama. “Darryl (Timmermans) has done a great job putting rules and programs in place to keep everybody on an equal playing field. Our engine program is working. We have over 40 sealed motors out there right now. There’s been a number of motors that guys have tried to get sealed that we wouldn’t seal due to not meeting specifications. So we’re real confident and proud of that program. Darryl and his team have done a great job and it’s working.”
The same theory that he brought last year is one that he is sticking with, too, as he made sure to restate the theory this year.
“Our promise to the teams is that we want them to have an equal chance of winning that race of the next guy,” he said. “The last thing that goes in the window is what has to matter in these races. It can’t just be the car. That’s what the guys want, and that’s what we’re trying to provide.”