This installment of Looking Back is a story about fellow Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame (CMHF) member Glenn Styres. It starts 28 years ago at a CASCAR Super Series race at Cayuga Speedway (now the dormant Jukasa Motor Speedway).
My son Paul drove the No. 10 Motion Ford and had just qualified our Thunderbird on the pole (he won the race on Sunday!) when a quiet, shy young man approached me.
“Do you think your guys could take a look at my car,” he asked.
“Is it another CASCAR,” we replied.
“No, it’s a Sportsman,” the guy replied.
I asked Paul – and our crew chief Gary Runhart – to go over and have a look at his car. They recommended several changes.
The Sportsman driver came back our way, about an hour later, with a big smile on his face. He said our help let him pick up nearly two seconds.
“Do you work on cars,” he asked.
At that point, I was retired (having sold the Motion dealership in London, ON the previous year). But we had a shop, and we told him, “Sure… we can work on your car.”
And he said he would send the car to our place. Lo and behold, that car – and two more – showed up. It was a tight fit as I already had four CASCARs, a Super Late Model and three trailers in and around the shop.
The next day, a 45-foot tractor/trailer from Motor State Distributing – the Michigan speed parts wholesaler – arrived with a ton of new parts. Belts, seats, shocks, springs, wheels, etc.
I had to sign the Bill of Lading, and I noted that there was no duty, PST or FST… and I wondered who this guy was.
We soon found out that it was Glenn Styres. He was from Ohsweken, a town name we saw each time we drove by on the way to Cayuga Speedway. A member of the Six Nations First Nations community (along the Grand River), Glenn is exempt from federal and provincial taxes, which explained the Bill of Lading.
Fast forward to the present when I caught up with Glenn at his incredible Glenn Styres Racing (GSR) shop in Ohsweken, I asked him why he came to us all those years ago, at Cayuga Speedway. He said it was because we were the fastest team at the time.
GALLERY: GSR Race Shop. Photos by Dave Mathers. Story continued below…
At his shop, we talked at length about him, his racing career and his businesses. He told the story of how he got into stock car racing.
In 1994, a friend had told him about a guy who had a stock car for sale (he thinks it was a Malibu – possibly Bernie Campbell’s?) and that he could get a good deal on it. Five grand for the car, tools and trailer.
He bought the car, filled the gas tank, checked the oil, aired up the tires… and headed to Flamboro Speedway.
The guys at the track started asking him questions. “Where’s your fuel?” … “I filled it up at home.” … “Where are your spare tires?” … “I aired them up at home.” … “Where’s your crew?” … “It’s just me.”
The guys realized this guy could use some help, so they all began helping and teaching him about the sport. What a neat start to a great career!
Glenn had a service station in Ohsweken, and he offered great fuel prices. We used to stop there and fill up our hauler – two factory tanks holding thirty-five gallons and an ACE Radiator 100-gallon aluminum tank under the sleeper – at great savings.
Going back to that first discussion at our shop, 28 years ago, Glenn said he was going to build an oval track in the space between his gas station and his house. I remember laughing at that one.
But I’m very happy I didn’t place a bet on it, because I would have lost big time.
His original plan was to build a 3/8-mile asphalt track. But he subsequently stumbled upon a dirt track – he’d never attended a race at one of those before. He was so enamoured with the dirt experience that he immediately altered his plans. There would be no asphalt on his oval.
Glenn had been one of the partners in Grand River Enterprises (GRE). The late Ken Hill was one of the other principals at GRE. Hill was one of the co-owners who rebuilt the dormant Cayuga Speedway into the beautiful Jukasa Motor Speedway. GRE is a large tobacco company, based in Ohsweken.
Focussed on building his own track, in 1997 Styres cashed out his GRE shares to fund his dream.
It was a steep and expensive learning curve, but Glenn was fully committed. He had clearly stated that he would bring NASCAR, the World of Outlaws and other traveling Sprint Car series to the track. Skepticism was rampant.
Randy Slack recently gave Glenn a copy of a story about his plans, at the time, and told him he, too, doubted it would ever happen. But Styres proved everyone wrong. And to paraphrase the Sinatra song… he did it HIS way.
As business picked up, he had to create more parking for all the spectators who were coming to see the races. A bit of a family dispute resulted in him not being able to purchase or use the land just east of the track and gas bar, so he went further east down the road.
He found and bought the land, but it was basically a huge swamp. Not a problem. Through some connections, he was able to get 4,500 loads of fill to level out the property. The local roads were tied up for weeks with all the trucking.
People now park on that land and have no idea what it was there in the past. And Glenn is constantly filling in more land to create more camping and parking spots.
His vision for Ohsweken Speedway has been exceeded. When was the last time you saw racetrack washrooms with automatic flushing urinals, HOT water and regularly emptied trash cans? And efficient and reasonably priced food services?
The track is now one of the nicest and best lit tracks in the country and easily competes against the top-five short track dirt ovals in the US, as well. His father had operated a hardware store / lumber yard just west of the gas bar. After his father passed, his uncle took it over.
When his uncle passed, Glenn inherited the business. He didn’t want to operate it, so he ran ads locally letting people know that everything in the store was free… just come and get what you wanted! When it emptied out, he leveled the building. This guy doesn’t mess around.
One lesson that Glenn has learned and learned well with his racetrack is that he is not selling racing. But rather, he is selling entertainment. He starts every race on time and when one race ends, and the cars exit off Turn 2, the next field of cars is already coming onto the track in Turn 3.
If they are grooming the track, the announcers have fun with the fans and they have giveaways to keep people occupied. Thus, there is always something happening, just like when you go to a Toronto Blue Jays game. And that’s why the fans keep coming back.
As a result of the busy pits and grandstands, sponsors have come on board in big numbers. Each week, it seems like they have two main sponsors for the night with lots of recognition given to those sponsors.
I asked him if he had to start all over again what would he do differently? He said he would have lowered the track by seven feet, nothing else.
All the while, Glenn’s racing career had picked up and he was running well, very well. He accumulated over 50 Sprint Car wins at races on both sides of the border. You will see him at East Bay, Volusia, Eldora, the Chili Bowl and lots of other dirt tracks.
As well, he has asphalt cars to race in the NASCAR Canada and APC Series, as well as some specials. He laughs that his winning sort of slowed down about ten years ago but he still loves racing.
Glenn also sponsors many race cars, several for locals, and GSR can be seen on cars almost everywhere in oval track racing in Ontario.
He has met many big time racers and become friends with many of them, including Ken Schrader, Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson and overs. And he still stays in touch with them.
He told me a funny story, funny now… but not so much then… while we were in his ‘office.’
Years ago, he had damaged his knee on a snowmobile and he’s had problems with it ever since. His brother owns a sports team in the US, and he referred Glenn to his team doctor, who was used to dealing with knee injuries.
He operated on the knee. It got somewhat better, but not perfect. While wintering in Florida recently, Glenn’s landlord noticed his limp and asked him about it.
The landlord was a person who assigned patients to different doctors depending on their insurance coverage. He knew the best doctor for knees, and sent Glenn to see him.
The doctor said, ‘Thirty-five thousand dollars, and I can fix it. Glenn told him he would think about it, left… and told his landlord.
The landlord called the doctor and applied some slight pressure, resulting in Glenn getting the job done for 15 grand. During the operation, the doctor pulled out a piece of bone about four inches long that had been causing the problems all along. He had to cut it into four pieces to remove it. Problem solved!!
Glenn’s 2024 racing ‘bucket list’ including running races in 12 different series and classes during the season. It included NASCAR Canada, 360 and 410 Sprints, Crate Motor Sprints, Super Late Models, Modifieds, Pro Lates, 358 Mods, Big Block Mods, USAC Midgets (Chili Bowl), a Schrader Ump Mod and a 602 Dirt Sportsman. And he’s almost there. Pretty stout challenge for a young man let alone one who is 60 years old!
Styres also built what was going to be a race car shop (behind the gas bar and in front of the track) but that building is still waiting for the hydro to be installed. About three years ago, he bought a 100-acre piece of land just south of town and has erected a 40,000 square foot race car facility there.
It is divided into four equal and separate areas with the first room upon entry being for his Sprint Car program. His pavement cars are housed in the room next to that one. In the room behind the dirt room, there is an actual assembly line producing Sprint Cars on several jigs. The room behind the asphalt room is going to be engine assembly and fabrication.
All have high ceilings, bright lighting and the absolute best of equipment for his staff. How about two chassis plates from Germany and a pull-down rack?
The staff clearly enjoy their jobs as they were all smiling, seeming to love what they were doing. And they all told me what a great boss Glenn is to work for.
Outside, there were several race car haulers and trailers. Glenn’s vision is to make this a one-stop Canadian shop for all things racing. His stated goal with the new shop is to bring North Carolina (NASCAR) technology to Canada.
And if all this isn’t enough, following this summer’s trip to Antigonish, Nova Scotia and racing in the NASCAR Canada race at the showplace Riverside Speedway, Styres now has another dream.
He wants to replicate that ‘bad fast’ 3/8-mile, high-banked oval in the big area out behind his shop. His reasoning for 3/8-mile instead of a bigger track makes sense. Accidents are not as severe on the shorter tracks and thus racers won’t have to spend quite as much money racing there. Makes sense. And I’m betting on that track coming about, just like all of Glenn’s other dreams.
Eventually, discussions turned to the beautiful Jukasa Speedway, which has been dormant since it’s co-owner Ken Hill passed away a few years ago. The track is gorgeous and it’s a shame that it’s not in use.
When asked if anything is happening on that front, Glenn replied with that winning smile of his that, “hope springs eternal.” Like all the other racers who have competed there, he would also love to get back there to race again. Let’s hope.
As a shrewd businessman, Styres is second to none. He has assembled great management teams at all his businesses, and he’s a very large employer of the local residents.
Glenn now has a girlfriend, Chantelle, who is always with him at the races and it is wonderful to see them laughing together and having fun while Glenn continues to pursue his racing dreams. He is a man who had a dream, fulfilled that dream and is now living that dream. It just does not get any better than that.
