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
