Whitby, ON- Short track stockcar racing is a game. Not your typical stick and ball game, but more like a high speed chess match that needs to settled as quickly as possible…and one that everybody wants to win.
Whitby, ON’s Mike Beyore fits the perfect definition of the weekly short track racer, but he’s not much of a chess player. The driver known as “The Whitby Warrior” understands what it takes to get the most out of the equipment he uses at the various tracks that make-up the annual OSCAAR Outlaw Super Late Model tour. Saturday, August 30 Beyore strapped into his powerful piece for another adventure at the venue that carries the nickname “Canada’s Toughest 3rd of a Mile Paved Oval”. Running only one of the day’s pre-race practice sessions, the veteran second generation throttle-jockey climbed from his machine as confident as ever in what the day would bring.
“I could’ve gone out for every warm-up period like everyone else had, but it would have only served to confirm what we already knew,” confessed Beyore, while debriefing with his crew. “Running the laps we ran told us what we needed to know about the car. It was fast and handled well through the turns. Compared to our last Peterborough show, that was all we were really looking for. Doing anything more than that would just be burning-up a set of tires we might be able to use later on.”
The confidence Mike Beyore had in his equipment was rewarded with a flag-to-flag race winning performance in the night’s second qualifier and a third place showing in the fourth preliminary round. Using OSCAAR’s feature race handicapping system – based on heat race performance and passing points – the #54 machine would start the 50 lap feature tilt from inside the fourth row.
From the drop of the green, Beyore would pick off a couple of positions in the early going, but a red flag – followed by a trio of caution periods – threw the driver’s pre-race strategy out the window. Being spun into the front stretch grass with 24 laps on the scoreboard sent him to the back of the pack, but the high-speed contact also damaged the tow. With the front wheels facing opposite directions, the car became difficult to control and it was all he could do to keep it going forward around the tight, tricky 1/3-mile oval.
A solo spin with 33 laps down sealed the team’s fate. Just 17 circuits remained on the lap counter and with less than a dozen cars on the track, he was destined to nurse his ill-handling piece to a tenth place run. After the race, the driver did his best to muster a smile while recounting the night’s performance.
“I guess that shows you how quickly things can change out there,” offered Beyore. “The car started off great, but look at where we finished. I tried using the outside line, but there was nothing there. On the bottom was the only way to go, but with everyone using the same lane, it was next to impossible to pass. Someone needed to be the guinea pig to try something different and look what it got me.”
Next on the schedule for the OSCAAR Super Late Models is a return to Sunset Speedway Sunday, September 28 before the 2014 season wraps-up at Peterborough Speedway for the Autumn Colours Classic, October 11/ 12.
Follow Mike Beyore throughout the season on Twitter via @54buck and at www.beyoreracing.ca.
Mike Beyore’s 2014 OSCAAR Super Late Model tour is supported by Stemac Machinery & Industrial Tools, Millennium Crane, Metals Plus, CNC Custom Machining, Praxair, MGS Performance, Mayhew Graphics, Vista Engineering Corporation and Lesco Industrial Restoration, with promotional services by Clarke Motorsports Communications.
Prepared by: Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications/First Draft Media
clarkemotorsports@hotmail.com
613.968.6410
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