FREELTON, ON- Former Mini Stock standout – and current Canadian Vintage Modified Rookie of the Year contender – Darren Dryden has confirmed he will make his first career Lucas Oil TQ Can-Am Midget appearance when the club rolls into Peterborough Speedway on June 13th.
The former Karting star will compete as a teammate to reigning champion Mack Deman in his first ever visit to Peterborough Speedway.
“This is something I’ve always wanted to do,” smiled Dryden when reached for comment. “When we were getting ready to move up from Mini Stocks we took a long, hard look at TQ Midgets. In the end, my parents were worried about me getting hurt so we bought the Vintage Modified”
“Thankfully, after a little bit of convincing, my parents gave me the ok to team up with Mack [Deman] this weekend”
With both Dryden and Deman graduating from the famed Waterloo Regional Kart Club – their recent partnership has been fast-moving.
“Just running the car in practice was some of the most fun I’ve ever had at the speedway,” says Dryden. “I can’t wait to have this thing in race trim”
“It’s like a Go-Kart on steroids. A lot of the elements of Karting apply to the TQ. The more I drive it, the more I find myself relying on some of the basics that I learned when I first broke into Karting,” adds the well-spoke up-and-comer. “Mack has been fantastic with providing crucial advice and getting us up to speed – he’s really helped fast track the learning curve”
“I’ve never even seen Peterborough before, so we’re in for a little bit of a learning experience. Mack has a lot of laps around there, though. He’s won there before and has given me a ton of advice to get me going”
With Saturday’s event marking Dryden’s first career appearance with the club, the 18-year old is placing a large emphasis on utilizing the event as an opportunity to learn – and isn’t ruling out a return engagement behind the wheel of a Deman Mackereth Racing entry.
“We’ll just use the practice sessions to get ourselves familiar with the track and see where we stack up with the rest of the roster”
“We don’t have anything planned at the moment, but if our first race goes well this could definitely turn into something more for us,” smiles Dryden. “For now, I’m just going to take things one step at a time and try to keep up with the rest of the guys.”
Darren’s 2015 efforts are supported by Dryden Autobody, DJD Graphics, Sharpie Art by Darren Dryden, M&L Testing, EPIC Racewear, Lucas Oil, Line-X, Hi-Tec Welding, Retail Design Group, Robson Technologies, Flamboro Machine Shop, Hypervibe, Jessica Dryden Illustration & Photography, State Farm Insurance and A-1 Auto Parts.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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