FRASERVILLE, ON – Sometimes, things just come together. A change you make in your racing program works and makes all the difference in how your team performs. That slight adjustment can turn a top 10 player into a raceday winner. At the end of the 2011 campaign, Alderville First Nation’s Howie Crowe – a veteran runner in Kawartha Speedway’s Thunder Car division – decided it was time to do something different.
In the past, he’d used a variety of cars his team had at their disposal, but prior to the start of the new season, he acquired the piece Ken Donaldson Jr. had steered to the previous year’s track championship. It was a move that paid an immediate dividend.
“There was nothing wrong with what I had done up until now,” said Crowe after Kawartha’s most recent event. “I finished 9th in points in 2007, but missed the top 10 a year later. A 7th during 2009 was followed by 4th in 2010 and 6th last year. Our team also won the Dedicated Pit Crew Award in 2011, but there was something in the back of my mind that told me I could still do more. I think I just got tired of looking at the overall standings on the web-site and seeing a zero next to my name in the column where it showed career wins.”
Crowe made a change to that statistic Friday, July 6th when he parked his #28 Crowe Brothers Roofing/Trails End/Larry Crowe Sr. Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the winner’s circle during Kawartha Speedway’s 3rd event of the 2012 season. Since then, he has added a regular string of qualifying round wins to his resume and enters the final night of the season second in Thunder Car points, just 21 markers out of the top spot.
“It’s a good position to be in, but I don’t know if our team has anything for the #53,” said Crowe. “There’s no disputing the year Matt and his bunch have had. He has a pair of main event wins and it seems wherever I run, he’s either right on my back bumper or I’m on his. The final point positions will be determined by good luck for one driver and bad luck for the other. No matter what happens or where I finish in the eventual rundown, I can’t help but be happy with the way our car has performed since the first green flag of the year.”
The Thunder Car point battle is the tightest of all the regular divisions at the 3/8th mile oval, but positions could change through the NAPA Auto Parts ACT Late Model and Hasiuk Trailer and Container Rental Mini Stock standings on Kawartha Speedway’s last night of the year as well.
Kawartha klips: The final regular event of the 2012 season – Friday, September 7th – will be a full night of action at the Fraserville 3/8th miler. In addition to the Hasiuk Trailer and Container Rental Mini Stocks, Thunder Cars and the NAPA Auto Parts ACT Late Models, the show will also include the annual 75 lap Don Biederman Memorial for the OSCAAR Super Late Models, the first Kawartha appearance by the OSCAAR Modifieds and the 4th run for the Ontario Legends Series. Gates will open at 3:00; with racing starting at 6:00…The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will crown this year’s champion at the 250 lap season finale Saturday, September 22nd. For full schedule details and the latest track news, see www.kawarthaspeedway.com.
Prepared by: Jim Clarke – Clarke Motorsports Communications
Discussion about this post