Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
After a long winter, the OSCAAR Midget drivers are more than ready to return to the track for the first round of the season. With hours going into cars during the off-season, the season opener at Flamboro Speedway this long weekend promises to be a thriller with a full field of drivers on track.
Adam Cuzzila hopes to make it out more this season after only making a pair of starts last year. He proved that he’s capable of being a front runner, posting a 13th place finish at Peterborough Speedway out of a full field of 24 cars.
David Gallinger got his feet wet with the midgets last season, getting stronger with each start through the season. He’ll be looking to crack the top-10 this season after posting a best finish of 11th at Peterborough last year. Notably, he’s already been making laps at Flamboro this year by competing in the track’s Pure Stock division.
Brian McDonald hopes to be part of the championship discussion at season’s end after posting nine top-10s across the 13 races last season en route to finishing fourth in points. A victory at the Hamilton, Ontario based track this weekend would be redemption after posting a 20th place finish last year.
Wally Wilson also wants to be part of the discussion as he will be chasing after both the OSCAAR Midget and OSCAAR Pro Midget Championships this season. The Owen Sound native had a solid rookie campaign, posting a best finish of 11th at Grand Bend Speedway last year. You could also say that Flamboro owes him one after a 25th place.
Though if you’re going to be parts of the points discussion, 2014 OSCAAR Midget Champion Jamie Bound is the driver you have to beat. It is unclear whether he’ll run the full campaign but last year, he posted seven victories in nine starts, including a win at Flamboro at the end of August.
James Stanley will also be tough to beat after posting three top-fives and eighth top-10s last year, including a pair of third place finishes.
Hopefully we’ll see Paul Dermo out more this season after running a couple of events this year. He could use a good run after posting a best finish of 18th last season.
Another driver under that banner is Shawn Stones as he only was able to make it to three races last season. however, he proved he can put himself in contention with a 10th place finish in last year’s season opener.
Randy Hiusser hopes to have a strong run after finishing mid-pack last year at Flamboro with a 16th. He has proven that he can get the job done, though, with a seventh place finish in last year’s season opener.
Kelly Summers hopes to keep her top-10 streak going this weekend as she has posted a finish of 10th in her last two starts with the series.
Each year brings a new crop of drivers, and this year is no exception to the rule.
Darryl Anthony makes the move to the OSCAAR Midgets after success in the mini stock ranks. Anthony told OSCAAR pre-season that he made the move as Midgets are an affordable car to drive, and hopes to qualify for each of the races this season.
Russ Couture also makes the move up to the Midgets after running a Mini Stock, stating pre-season that he just wants to have a fun season from start-to-finish.
“It was the perfect chance to try something different,” he added. “I really like the idea of traveling to a different track each week and getting to know new people.”
Along with the OSCAAR Midgets at Flamboro Speedway this weekend will be the Outlaw Super Lates and OSCAAR Modifieds, also opening their season. The Super Lates will run their feature on the Saturday with the Midgets and Modifieds just qualifying, with both the Midgets and Modifieds running their features on the Sunday.
The pits will open at 11am, with the front gates opening at 1pm and racing starting at 4pm. The full itinerary and prices can be found on the Flamboro Speedway website at http://flamborospeedway.ca/.
Stay tuned to OSCAAR website at http://www.oscaar.ca for more articles leading into the season.
