By Jim Clarke, Clarke Motorsports Communications
Norm Mayhew is an easy man to please. He loves going fast and his weapon of choice is a late model stock car at Kawartha Speedway. The 28 year-old from Cobourg, Ontario – tagged with the nickname “Stormin’ Norman” by a former high school teacher – thrives on the action at the 3/8th mile oval and does everything in his power to make sure his #60 Northumberland County Moving Company/Only Solutions/Mayhew Graphics Ford Fusion machine is ready to hit the raceway.
Mayhew and his race day crew – crew chief Colin Mackenzie, marketing guru Andre Arff, spotter Paul Devlin and housing/logistics manager Rob Valois – go over their machine after every show. Even the driver’s mother, Royanne Mayhew gets involved with the car preparation. Mayhew says his mother gets right in there and getting her hands dirty alongside the other members of the team.
“My mom can often be seen with a wrench in her hand,” says Mayhew. “She’s been around the sport for a number of years – helping on my car and my father’s. She knows as much as most of the crew guys in the pits at Kawartha or any other track.”
When he’s not at the track, Mayhew enjoys snowboarding, hockey and mountain biking. He’s also quick to acknowledge the constant support of his girlfriend, Sheena.
“She’s very supportive of everything I do,” he says with a smile. “My commercial sign-making shop Mayhew Graphics is incredibly busy, especially in the weeks leading-up to the start of racing season. Sheena keeps things organized and helps me stay focused to get things done around the business and with the race team. I owe her a lot of thanks and really appreciate everything she does to make sure we don’t fall behind with the important things we do every day.”
After a rough couple of years – 10th in points for 2007 and 8th in 2008 – Mayhew has decided to trade his familiar black and green paint scheme for brand new look.
“We seemed to have trouble staying out of trouble,” Stormin’ Norman admits. “Whether we got caught-up in someone else’s wreck, or involved other racers in incidents we caused, it was time to change the look of the car. We experimented with some different designs during the off season, but finally decided to swap the black and green paint scheme for a predominately red car, with black and white accents. The car was very well received at the promotional shows we did during April, so I’m confident we made the right choice.”
In addition to getting his own car ready for the season he also designed and printed graphics and paint schemes for a number of other drivers including Willie Reyns, Ryan Kimball, Dave Morgan and his father, Steve Mayhew. As a way to say ‘thanks’, Steve will put Norm in one of his Thunder Car machines for a few starts at Kawartha this season. Kawartha-Durham Kart Club racers Bailey and Mason Brown – children of Kawartha late model runner Linc Brown – and Mayhew’s cousin Danny Benedict also had the racer prepare their designs for the 2009 season.
Mayhew plans to take the equipment he’s got and do whatever it takes to get to the front of the pack at Kawartha Speedway.
Photo attachments: Jim Clarke – Clarke Motorsports Communications
#1 and #2 (before and after): Norm Mayhew detailed his #60 Kawartha Speedway late model during the Fast and Furious Show at the Cobourg Arena. Final touches were added before a mid April showing at Northumberland Mall.
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