INNISFIL, ON- After a shakier than anticipated start to his freshman campaign with the OSCAAR Super Late Model tour, Kelly Balson’s 6th place finish at the 16th annual Don Biederman Memorial is proof the former Late Model titlist is ready to compete amongst the province’s elite.
“We had a great car this weekend. It was almost surreal from start to finish”, remarked Balson once the weekend had come to a close. “The car felt good right off the hauler, but I didn’t realize just how good it was until we had come off the track after the first practice. I had been on track with a couple of former tour winners – a couple of top tier guys – and [Crew Chief] Graham Flett came over and showed me the lap times and they were near identical”
“Our team worked all day getting the car even better”, continued the former Autumn Colours Classic titlist. “Once practice was over, and we saw that our times were still comparable to the rest of the top contenders, I realized this wasn’t a mirage and our car really was that good”
After time trialing 6th quickest in Saturday’s qualifying, with a lap of 13.850 that barely kept him from the top-5, Balson conferenced with short track legend Junior Hanley on how to proceed with tire strategy.
“I only own 3 sets of rims for this car, and the way this weekend was structured it would have been an asset to have 4”, explained Balson. “We had initially planned on running our fresh tires for the two feature events, but Junior [Hanley] noted that the last thing we wanted was to miss transferring out of our heat race and ending up in the B Main. So we utilized our fresh tires to make sure we qualified through the front door”
‘The Crowd Pleaser’ qualified for Night 1’s feature event through his heat race, and ended up with a 7th place finish in the 50-lap A Main.
“It’s hard not to be happy with a top-10 finish when you take into account the caliber of competition here”, said Balson. “But, I really felt as though we had a top-5 car on Night 1. These cars are so dependent on fresh rubber – more so than any other division I’ve ever been around – and I think having that extra 15-laps of heat racing on the tires ended up hurting us”
Balson responded with a 5th place finish on Night 2, marking his second top-5 performance in his last three starts.
“We were able to have fresh tires in Night 2’s feature, which I feel made all the difference”, explained Balson. “I really can’t say enough about Graham Flett and Graham Annis. Those two worked nonstop to bring this car up to its potential this weekend”
Balson’s final score of ’12’ throughout the two-day event was enough for a 6th place overall finish, the highest of any rookie in the 16th annual Don Biederman Memorial.
“From here on out, there’s no pressure at all. Just fun”, said Balson. “We’re about to get into the second half of the schedule in a couple weeks, and it really feels as though we’re coming into our own”
“When you’re running well, food starts to taste better”, added Balson with a laugh. “I find that I’m sleeping better. I’m dancing better. I think I even look better in the shower now that we’re doing well”
As Balson worked to close up his hauler for the trip back to his operation’s Hampton, ON shop, he made sure to put into perspective just why his recent run is so gratifying.
“I’m still trying to quantify where we’re at with this program, so I don’t want to overstate anything. But, it’s important to note this is a group of friends coming out here and racing against some of the best teams in the province. That’s why this feels so good. We’re a bunch of guys that have been able to figure this car out using a percentage of the budget of what some of the top outfits are operating with”
“I can’t wait to get to the next race”, closed Balson with a smile.
‘The Crowd Pleaser’ will return to action in Round 6 of the OSCAAR Super Late Model Tour at Kawartha Speedway on July 13th. Details can be found at www.OSCAAR.ca.
Balson’s No. B10 is supported by London Recreational Racing, Cochrane Automotive, Shelley Taxidermy and Dan McHattie Racecars.
By Spencer Lewis (@itsspencerlewis)
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