It was a successful homecoming for Dylan Westbrook, winning his third Southern Ontario Sprints (SOS) championship, after racing stateside in recent years.
Westbrook got off to a quick start in his full-time SOS return, winning four of the first six races. He ultimately recorded five wins and nine podiums in 14 starts, with at least one strong run everywhere on the schedule. The all-time A-Main wins leader at Ohsweken Speedway, in 360 Sprint Cars, did struggle a bit more at his home track, with just one podium in five starts.
“The track seemed to be a lot slicker than other years,” said Westbrook. “What I knew before, with my starting points, didn’t really work. Even with being on the road, normally you don’t see the track get that slick. Everything that I learned on the road, it didn’t really help me at Ohsweken.”
While Westbrook improved at Ohsweken as the year went on, one advantage from his US experience was being used to time trails, which are now part of SOS at every event. He says the speed of his car has been key, allowing him to gain qualifying and heat points by being fast every time that he hit the track.
A significant change from Westbrook’s 2016 and 2017 championship seasons came in the shop, where he ran his own program for the first time this year, alongside his dad and friends. Being around those close to him has been a benefit from his return to local action.
“It was just a lot of fun this year, with more friends and family being involved,” said Westbrook. “You could always go out there, always have a big group of people out there and just have a lot of fun. We always tried to do as good as we could, but always made sure we had fun doing it too.”
Westbrook plans to defend his SOS title and continue racing weekly at Ohsweken in 2024, while also competing in select US events.
