Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
For Dale Shaw, bringing forth the APC Auto Parts United Late Models of Ontario Tour presented by Grisdales last year was the perfect scenario. He admitted that going to do the same track every week was becoming “like a job”, but being able to travel last season brought the fun back into racing.
“To be able to travel to all these tracks, including Sauble Speedway where I grew up, that looked really fun to me,” he stated at the Motorama Custom Car and Motorsports Show. “To compete against the caliber that we race against every week all year was a lot of fun, and to meet a lot of people on the road was fun. A lot of people followed my dad and grandpa. It just kind of introduces you to a new world of racing, really.”
He added that being able to race in a traveling series, you find yourself excited each week about what track you will be going to next, and then turning those trips into mini vacations at times.
“If we’re going to Sauble, you’re camping over on the Friday night and going to the beach, that kind of stuff which was a lot of fun,” he explained. “It kind of regained that spark for me in racing. This is fun and it’s a hobby. We can have fun doing this.”
The idea of traveling didn’t just go well with Shaw, though, as it pleased his sponsors. He stated existing sponsors, as well as new sponsors, liked the idea of being spread across Ontario and being seen at different race tracks throughout the province.
“I think the crowds are a lot bigger when you go on the road for these touring events. Our sponsors like that,” he added. “I don’t want to make this wrong way but when I take a picture of my racecar with the stands behind it and they’re half empty, they don’t like that. Bu we went to Sunset (Speedway) and I took a picture of the grandstands and you couldn’t see any empty spots. They just love that stuff. They want their product out there and they want everybody to see it. It helps the race teams use that and create more partners and expand, so we can keep going.”
Shaw took full advantage of racing in the series last year, picking up the championship with a win on the season at Flamboro Speedway. He stated the title came as a result of “a lot of hard work” and with being able to use his dad’s racing knowledge, “it all came together this year and got the results”.
He admitted that the year didn’t start out how he wanted, recalling the inaugural weekend for the series at Sunset Speedway and how much he struggled throughout testing on the Friday ahead of the weekend.
“I went back Sunday and we were even worse, and we ended up qualifying seventh,” he stated. “I don’t know where it came from – there was a lot of that this year. But it was hard work and my dad saying keep your head up and going for it, and it’s going to pay off. It did. It was an amazing year for my dad, my uncle Scott, my grandparents – just amazing.”
He also traveled outside of Ontario last year, making the trip down to Hickory Motor Speedway to race as part of the CARS Tour.
“I think the coolest thing going down there was a lot of the Americans knew the Biedermans, Hanleys, Slacks, and stuff like that,” he commented. “It was kind of cool to go down there and hear their stories in how Biederman and Hanley would go there and just kick butt. I mean, there was Americans that had nothing for him.
“I met a lot of people on the CARS tour. Hickory is a wild race track. You drive up into the place and you thought it might have been a dump. Then you walk up in there and you think of the guys that raced there – Dale Jarrets and Dale Earnhardts – it was kind of cool to know who raced there and be the first ever Canadian driver, in terms of coming from Canada, to run in that series.”
Shaw added that the series was really supportive, appreciating him for making the trip and offering to do what they could to please him, and welcome him back once again. He stated that it was a fun experience and one that he’d like to repeat in the future.
“We’re working towards it,” he stated. “It is kind of one of those things where the super late and pro late model in the tech world are close, but a little ways off and we’re starting to work towards getting our equipment up to that level and maybe doing it again next year, and be more competitive. That would be the dream – that’s the goal.”
Right now, though, the only plans locked on the table is the fact that Shaw will return to the series once again, looking to defend his championship.
