Hawn Motorsports

Canadian Short Track Nationals Weekend

Sep04

by Dan Little on 2019/09/04

Series: OSCAAR Hot Rods
Driver: Tyler Hawn
Event: Canadian Short Track Nationals
Speedway: Jukasa Motor Speedway
Date: August 31st, 2019

This past Saturday the #2 Fox’s bakery & Deli, Knightworks Design Hot Rod from Hawn Motorsports travelled to Canada’s Super Speedway. Canadian Short Track Nationals hosted by Jukasa Motor Speedway has been an event anticipated by race fans and teams for months. Being dubbed “The richest racing event in North America” and offering a total purse of $300,000 to be won throughout the weekend. The OSCAAR Hot Rods were honoured to be the ONLY small series invited to play with the big boys!

Saturday the full Hot Rod program took place amidst the Outlaw Super Late Model’s full program as well as practice sessions for the Pro Late Model Main Event scheduled for Sunday. Our day consisted of two practice sessions, two heats and a 30 Lap Feature. We ran 2nd fastest in Practice #1 and felt rather confident we were close to where we needed to be with the #2 Hot Rod. The team made the appropriate adjustments to the car and we returned to the track for Practice Session #2. Although our times had improved after the adjustments, so had several other cars and we wound up 3rd fastest in our second session. We were pleased with the results and remained confident that we had a shot at the win later in the evening.

Tyler Hawn has run well over 100 laps at Jukasa Motor Speedway with the OSCAAR Hot Rod Series and we were confident that his driving skill and experience at the track would put us out front in our Heat. We had no idea the rollercoaster ride our team was about to embark on lol. We fueled the car, torqued her wheels, checked her tire pressures and strapped in Tyler as per our routine. We watched the #2 roll away from the pit to line up for Heat #1 and that is when things went to “hell in a hand basket”. Somewhere between our pit box and the lineup on pit road the right-side control arm sheared completely off and left our car immobilized on pit road with only minutes to go before our Heat. I don’t need to stress how lucky our driver was, that this component did not break while running at any sort of speed. It likely would have been catastrophic.

Adam Hagen and Tyler repairing broken Control Arm

Our team wasted no time beginning repairs to the control arm once the tow truck delivered our poor girl back to her pit box. Although we had just missed our first Heat of the 2019 season due to technical issue our team was NOT ready to call it a day. Our only hope was to make the repairs in time to make the Feature at 7pm. Watching our entire team come together and turn out a repaired car with 6 minutes to spare before Feature time, was one of the highlights of the 2019 season for me so far. We also want to thank all the amazing teams that offered us assistance during our repairs. We truly appreciated everyone’s support!

Having missed heats earlier, we started scratch in the Feature at 17th position. The first few laps found us hung up behind 15th & 16th place cars and watching the leader and first pack gain a sizeable lead. On Lap 4 Tyler was finally able to make an incredible three wide pass that saw the #2 split the 15th & 16th place cars right up the middle while entering turn 3. From there we began an eight-position run making up serious ground on the leaders and closing within striking distance of the front pack. The speed and maneuvering by Tyler Hawn during that run, was some of the best racing all weekend. Call me bias if you like, but he is just that good! Our team was ecstatic when a late race caution around lap 25 allowed us to stack back up and make our final charge to the front. After all the adversity of the day, after all the hard work and after feeling as though our day was done only a few hours earlier, we were right there! With the car to beat! The green flag dropped resuming the action with us running in 7th place and in excellent shape to get the leader with 5 laps remaining. Unfortunately, the race gods had other plans in mind. Before completing the restart lap the lead cars tangled heading into turn 3 and started a chain reaction wreck that ate up our #2 Fox’s Bakery & Deli, Knightworks Design Hot Rod and several other cars. Our day was now done! It was such a punch in the face to our team! After overcoming everything that day! We created a chance for a win where there simply wasn’t one! And watched it disappear in a matter of seconds. It is still hanging heavy in our hearts and minds days later. Everyone in the Hot Rod Series was ok and most of the cars involved will be repairable.

Steve Book OSCAAR Hot Rod Series Feature Winner at Jukasa Motor Speedway

After a long wait for track clean-up, we watched the race resume with Steve Book in the #47 car take the lead and he never looked back! Steve is one of the many stand up Drivers in the OSCAAR Hot Rod Series and a friend of the Hawn Motorsports team. He is hot our heels in the points race this season sitting comfortably in 2nd but that’s just how we get down! Cheering for the competition! Congratulations to the #47 Team and Steve for a big win on a big night! If it couldn’t be us? We are happy it was you!

A very successful event for the series in general with a Record 18 cars in attendance and the largest payout for a Hot Rod race in series history as well. We truly hope that Jukasa makes us a permanent fixture in the Canadian Short Track Nationals weekend for years to come!

With a smaller but definitive point lead in the OSCAAR Hot Rod Series, we will repair the damage to the car and begin preparing for Fall Velocity at Sunset Speedway on September 21st & 22nd, 2019. Returning to a familiar track size and surface will be a great way to rebound for the #2 Team. Keep your eye out for the Don Hawn Edition Beaumont in Victory Lane at Fall Velocity!

We would like to THANK all our 2019 Partners on the #2 Hot Rod for their support this season!

Fox’s Bakery & Deli
Knightworks Design
Watson’s Garage
Top Shops Auto Body Supply
MB&K Plumbing
Mad Viking Beard Company
Tire Depot Barrie
The Home Depot Barrie
Motorhome Escapes Canada
Dan little Jr. Photography
MACPHOTO
Seasons Centre for Grieving Children

Carrying the Torch! Hawn Brothers Keep Winning!

Aug26

by Dan Little on 2019/08/26

Series: OSCAAR Hot Rod / Pro Sprint
Driver(s): Daniel Hawn / Tyler Hawn
Event: OSCAAR Night
Speedway: Flamboro Speedway
Date: August 24th, 2019

The OSCAAR racing family visited Flamboro Speedway this past Saturday. It is somewhat rare for all three OSCAAR schedules to line up, but it happened for the third time this season and the entire family converged on Flamboro. Joining us was the home track pure stocks and Pro Late Model Qualifier for Canadian Short Track Nationals. The speedway hosted a classic car and hot rod event throughout the day and invited all the participants and their vehicles on track at intermission for a “burnout session”. It was quite a sight! Cars, trucks, new and old, modified and stock! It was a real spectacle to watch nearly one hundred vehicles (with headlights lol) make their way around the track in a parade fashion. Very neat concept! Hats off to the folks at Flamboro Speedway for an interesting and entertaining intermission show!

Saturday marked the 2nd anniversary of the passing of Hawn Motorsports founder Don Hawn. Needless to say. It was a day full of mixed emotions. Tyler and Dan run every lap in honour of their Father Don and this Saturday wasn’t going to be any different! Currently sitting atop of their respective series in points, wins and highest average finish, the boys weren’t looking to change much, just keep the awesome momentum going and make their Father proud as always!

The afternoon Heat action saw Dan Hawn and the #2 Specialized Upholstery & Glass Pro Sprint car snag the checkered flag twice. The OSCAAR Hot Rod’s would run two practice sessions and then prepare for two 20 lap Features later that evening. The afternoon seemed as though it would be somewhat of a relaxing period until the #57 Pro Sprint car of James Stanley (close friend to Hawn Motorsports) suffered a mechanical shock failure during the first Practice session and made one hell of a mess of his front end. Stanley’s entire Crew and most of Hawn Motorsports Crew spent several hours rebuilding the car and were able to not only get the #57 done in time for it’s Heats, but it came out faster than in Practice! It was amazing to watch the amount of work that went into repairs on the #57 and even more shocking to see that after such heavy damage the two teams were able to produce a rocket that would challenge Dan Hawn all Feature long! Teamwork goes beyond your own team!

The first of two Features for the OSCAAR Hot Rods saw the #2 Fox’s Bakery & Deli, Knightworks Design car start in third position. Tyler Hawn spent the better part of the 20-lapper hot on the rear end of the X car but couldn’t complete the pass with a few laps to go and finished 2nd. After the Feature our team decided it’s about time to have a closer look at our 602 motor before we attend Jukasa this coming weekend. Routinely running hot and losing power from time to time on the straights will not help us get to where we want to be.

The OSCAAR Pro Sprint Feature was without a doubt the talk of the evening! Plenty of action in this one! The #57 of James Stanley began the Feature running out front and held the 1st position for several laps before the #2 Specialized Upholstery & Glass car was able to catch him, having started near the rear of the pack. Once the #2 caught the #57, it was on! The two fastest cars in the series both built by Hawn Motorsports Chassis Works battled hard for much of the middle portion of the race, until Dan Hawn began to pull away. It looked as though it was going to end in typical fashion when suddenly the #76 car hit the wall coming out of turn 2 trying to avoid the #15 who was spun out in the middle of the turn. The yellow brought Stanley and Hawn back side by side for the restart. Dan Hawn won the restart battle and regained the lead briefly, before another caution gave Stanley and the #57 a second shot at a restart. The two drivers battled hard right to the end of the race, but the #2 Specialized Upholstery & Glass car was able to run away with it on the final lap! Hats off to the Stanley Racing boys for such a hard-fought night on and off track! You’re looking damn good fellas!

The second Hot Rod feature of the evening started Tyler and the #2 Hot Rod in 8th position. In a short amount of laps Tyler was able to pilot the #2 comfortably into 5th position. Unfortunately, the X car who sat in 4th blocked the #2 for the rest of the race. Having the run on the X several times Tyler had to choose between a potentially wrecked race car or settling for a 5th Place finish! He did what any veteran, respectful driver would do…. he settled for 5th. As it turned out this was a very bright choice considering that the X car was disqualified shortly after the Feature was over for a technical infraction. This was of major consequence to the X team and major benefit to the #2 team. With the disqualification to the X, we secured the best over all finish between both features and walked away with another win for the good guys!

Our team parts ways this coming weekend as half will head to Sauble Speedway in search of a surfboard with the #2 Pro Sprint and the other half will be running at Jukasa Motor Speedway with the #2 Hot Rod for Canadian Short Track Nationals. With the season winding down, we will be careful to keep our eyes on the prize! Two more series Championships are just about in the palm of our hand and we couldn’t be more excited!
We want to say THANK YOU to all of the 2019 Partners of our team that have made it an extra exciting and successful season so far! You are all very valuable to our team and we are lucky to have them on-board!

Knightworks Design
Fox’s Bakery & Deli
Specialized Upholstery & Glass
Legal Assist
MB&K Plumbing
Watson’s Garage
Tire Depot Barrie
Home Depot Barrie
Top Shops Auto Body Supply
Mad Viking Beard Company
Motorhome Escapes Canada
Electric Motor Coil Company
Dan Little Jr. Photography
MACPHOTO
Seasons Centre for Grieving Children

Some Divine Intervention at Brighton Speedway!

Aug14

by Dan Little on 2019/08/14

Series: OSCAAR Hot Rods
Driver: Tyler Hawn #2
Event: #8
Speedway: Brighton Speedway
Date: August 10th, 2019

Making up for a rained-out event from earlier in the season, our team saddled up and headed to Brighton Speedway for arguably the most un-nerving stop all season. This past Saturday OSCAAR and our #2 1966 Pontiac Beaumont took to the clay oval of Brighton Speedway for the annual change up. Being the only series, we are aware of, who runs both asphalt and dirt in a season has its up sides! It’s exhilarating, unique and provides the fans with a very unusual visual spectacle! For the teams I believe the exhilaration is felt a little more like fear lol. After all, delivering asphalt cars with dirt tires and a high level of inexperience to the track at this late point in the season can be disastrous for some teams. But…. screw it! We love the challenge! And the #2 looks bad ass with dirt tires on her!

Our series sponsor Knightworks Design was kind enough to put on a delicious BBQ in the early afternoon. We can’t say enough good things about the involvement of Kim and Don Edwards with our team and the series in 2019! Thank you for all you have done for our team and OSCAAR Racing We hope you are with us for years to come!

Our only practice session of the day showed some great speed and improved handling. The addition of legitimate dirt tires to the mix brought us away from the sense of impending doom we felt when we arrived at the track and gave us a hint of confidence at a podium finish. Heat #1 we started rear pack, but slowly chipped way and brought the #2 up to a 3rd place finish. Quite an accomplishment considering the heat was only 8 laps long. Tyler exited the car after the heat with only one thing to say, “that was awesome!”.

The #2 team employed some tips of the trade offered by a friend, fan and seasoned dirt driver who visited us in the pits before the feature. Manually scuffing all four of our tires in a certain fashion could help us gain the competitive edge on the track and this team is not afraid of experimenting with new ideas or expending high amounts of effort and energy to become better. With the #2 Fox’s Bakery & Deli, Knightworks Design hot rod looking sexy as always, sporting some freshly prepped dirt tires and starting 3rd in the feature, our confidence was high!

The green flag dropped that evening and saw the #2 slip slightly back in the running order but just as quickly, Tyler gathered himself and made a strong charge to the front. Running primarily in 2nd place for over half the race. The door to door, clean but hard racing that typically happens within the OSCAAR Hot Rod series was present again at Brighton. Tyler piloted the Don Hawn Edition to the right-hand door of the 1st place car and stuck it there for nearly 10 laps. Taking the lead very briefly with 3 laps to go, our team knew he had what it takes to grab the checkers. We watched in anticipation from the stands as the #2 rounded turn 4 to take the white flag, while still neck and neck with the leader. Suddenly at the apex of turns 1 & 2 the car began falling off rapidly. The crew suspected a technical issue at the very worst time. Then it all became clear. With all the dust and a filthy windshield in front of our drivers face, he mistook the white flag as the checkered flag and let off. It was only on the back straight away that he realized everyone was still running hard and realized his mistake. Just goes to show you, even the most seasoned veteran can make a rookie mistake from time to time. Our team had some fun picking on our blind driver after the feature was over lol. With a 4th place finish, the #2 holds onto the series points lead and bettered our finishing position at Brighton by four spots from 2018. All in all, our team had an incredible night of fun, laughs and witnessed more incredible driving skill from the defending series Champ! And we didn’t wreck the car lol Probably the most important success of the event! Lol.

Throughout the day there was a different vibe around our team. Tyler even mentioned feeling as though he wasn’t driving the car during his heat and feature. This presence was felt by everyone very strongly all day long. Could it be the spirit of The Bear himself? It certainly felt that way. Warm, positive and relaxed. We got what we believe was the concrete sign that Don was watching over the team and driver as we were packing up. Dan Hawn jumped into the #2 car to load it into our trailer when suddenly, the entire steering column came loose. As it turns out, the steering linkage was holding on by nothing more than the splines on the shaft. The set screw was tight but the slightest pulling action on the steering wheel during the feature would have been disastrous. Something told us that the extra strong presence felt by the team was Don Hawn looking out for his boys! Its times like these we can feel re-assured that our loved ones are always around us in one form or another.

Brighton is an exciting trip and experience for us, but we are quite happy to be returning to our natural habitat, asphalt lol. We will travel next to Flamboro Speedway on August 24th, 2019.

We would like to thank all our 2019 Partners for their support!

Fox’s Bakery & Deli
Knightworks Design
Watson’s Garage
Top Shops Auto Body Supply
MB&K Plumbing
Mad Viking Beard Company
Tire Depot Barrie
Motorhome Escapes Canada
Home Depot Barrie
Dan Little Jr. Photography
MACPHOTO
Seasons Center for Grieving Children

Consistency Moves Hawn Closer to First Series Win!

Aug06

by Dan Little on 2019/08/06

Can-Am Midgets Series: #42

Driver: Dan Hawn

Event: #10

Speedway: Sauble

Date: August 4th, 2019

The #42 team made their only trip to the beach this season on the weekend. Sauble Speedway hosted the Can-Am Midgets and APC United Late Models on Sunday evening as part of a three-night show that saw beyond capacity crowds and some incredible racing action! Sauble Speedway has many memories for our team and is on our favorites list! So much so, that some of the team camped out at the speedway to take in the beautiful beach, waterfall and events in the town of Sauble Beach. If you have never attended Sauble Speedway? You just gotta!

The event was comprised of three practice sessions and two features. Dan Hawn and the #42 EMCC car from Hawn Motorsports Chassis Works, ran consistent and competitive lap times in each of the three practice sessions on Sunday afternoon. Making only minor adjustments to the car between each practice session is a very positive sign that the #42 EMCC car is right on the edge of being a contender for a race win! The technical improvement of this car since the beginning of this Rookie season is staggering and a true testament to the dedication of the team!

Feature #1 saw Dan Hawn and the #42 EMCC car, start scratch due to missing the previous two events with the midgets. The product of running a very intense and conflicting schedule as the driver of two different cars, in two different series. In the early going of the feature the #42 showed good speed but left something to be desired in the handling department. Nevertheless, Dan Hawn was able to pilot the #42 from last place to a top 10 finish! Making some well timed passes and showing more confidence and patience than your average Rookie.

The evenings second Feature saw the #42 EMCC car start on the Pole! The first half of the 25-lap event went excellent. Dan Hawn was able to hold off the series best for several laps before being passed. As the laps ticked down, the #42 got tight and saw us fall back to 5th place by the checkered flag. Some might see this as a “missed opportunity”, the wise see this as a necessary ingredient in a recipe for future success! Our team is very excited about our progress in the Can-Am Midget series and don’t plan on stopping now!

As we suspected the #42 has progressed very well this season and with two events remaining, we have locked our eyes on one goal, a Feature win! It may not come in the 2019 season, but every step forward brings us closer to it becoming a reality. This team will not be denied forever! The next Can-Am Midget event takes place at Flamboro Speedway on August 17th. Come out and take in the action from one of the best series around and support Hawn Motorsports and the #42 team!

We would like to thank all the 2019 Partners for their support!

MB&K Plumbing

Pippard Racing Engines

Mad Viking Beard Company

Motorhome Escapes Canada

Home Depot Barrie

Tire Depot Barrie

Dan Little Jr. Photography

MACPHOTO

Seasons Centre for Grieving Children

Dan Hawn Sweeps Trip to the Beach!

Jul12

by Dan Little on 2019/07/12

Date: July 6th, 2019
Event: Bash at the Beach
Speedway: Grand Bend Speedway
Car(s) #2: Specialized Upholstery & Glass Pro Sprint
Driver(s): Dan Hawn

Dan Hawn gets it done again! Parking the #2 Specialized Upholstery & Glass Pro Sprint car firmly in victory lane! The #2 crew headed west to Grand Bend for Bash at the Beach! An annual event for the OSCAAR Pro Sprint series. Bash at the Beach 2018 left a sore spot and the #2 team was looking for some redemption. After two dominant heat wins in the afternoon, by considerable margins the #2 Specialized Upholstery & Glass Pro Sprint started scratch for the feature Saturday night and drove through the field and didn’t look back! Dan Hawn and his Crew Chief Iain Bass had their redemption! We all waited a year to hear the answer, but the answer is YES! He can win from the back! Lol.

Adding to the concrete performance of the event, Dan Hawn set a new track record for fastest lap completed at Grand Bend Speedway by a Pro Sprint car! The history books are never safe when you have a Hawn on the track!
With the double duty of competing in two different series, it has been tough to focus on just one car this year, but so far Dan Hawn is handling both cars and series very well. Sitting atop the Pro Sprint series by 15 points and on pace to better his point total from 2018. And sitting in a very respectable position (considering rookie status) in the Can-Am Midget points race.

Our #2 Specialized Upholstery & Glass Pro Sprint will touch down on July 20th at Sunset Speedway once again for a backyard battle and the #42 Can-Am Midget car will visit Sunset this coming weekend! We wish our driver and crew of the #2 much success on the 20th of July and the very same this coming weekend! I think the goal of our Pro Sprint team this season is to win 100% of the time! So far so good!

We would like to thank our 2019 Partners on the #2;

Specialized Upholstery & Glass
EMCC
Knightworks Design
Legal Assist
MB&K Plumbing
Motorhome Escapes Canada
Mad Viking Beard Company
Seasons Centre for Grieving Children