Pictures:
Comp 4 feature winner Nate McNally hold the checkered flag as he is joined in Victory Lane by Scott Schives, the father of 17-year-old Cory Schives who died on June 8 after a courageous fight with cancer. Cory’s picture is on the hood of the McNally car.
When Shawn Jones received his 2008 Comp 4 Rookie of the Year Award last September, his best friend and crew member Cory Schives was by his side. Cory died on June 8, three days after his his 17th birthday, and two days after Shawn finished a career-high second in the Comp 4 feature race at South Buxton. Pictured is Shawn’s brother Trevor Jones, left; Shawn Jones; Cory Schives; and Shawn’s father Dave Jones.
Head and shoulder picture of Cory Schives (June 5, 1992-June 8, 2009)
By Mike Bennett
South Buxton Raceway Public Relations
When news of Cory Schives’ passing spread through the South Buxton Raceway family last week, Nate McNally wanted to do something to honour the young Blenheim teen.
McNally, his wife Kim, and crew chief Mike Van Dyk decided to honour the Blenheim teen by emblazoning his picture on the hood of the No. 8 Mustang.
The Charing Cross driver took the tribute an extra mile on Saturday night – all the way to Victory Lane.
McNally made a dramatic last-lap pass to win the Four Seasons Driver Education Comp 4 feature race on Country 92.9 FM Night At The Races.
“Yes, this one will definitely go down in the history books as my favourite win,” McNally said after an emotional Victory Lane scene, where he was joined by Cory’s father Scott Schives.
“I’ve been thinking about this all week,” McNally said.
The night began with an emotional pre-race tribute to Cory, who passed away last Monday after an 11-year courageous battle with cancer. His funeral was this past Friday, one week after his 17th birthday.
The No. 8 and the No. 27 car of Cory’s best friend Shawn Jones parked in front of the grandstand while drivers from all four classes, pit crew members and the infield safety crew stood as a backdrop.
Cory’s father Scott made a short speech, thanking the SBR family for their support.
“This is my closure … here at the race track. This was his favourite place,” Scott said afterwards.
Spencer Mihalco presented a plaque to Scott on behalf of the South Buxton staff.
Family and friends then released a bouquet of orange and black balloons – the colours of Jones’ race car which Cory worked as a crewman – into the sky.
The Comp 4’s Young Guns – Blenheim’s Clinton Van Dyk, Reid Fenton, Brett Hope, Kyle Hope, Jones and Chatham’s Brent Konecny – six drivers who are all around the same age as Cory, then posed for a picture at the end of the ceremony.
Naturally, every driver in the class wanted to ‘win one for Cory’ on this special night.
Van Dyk was the first to do so, as the 16-year-old won the first heat race.
McNally followed with a win in the second heat race, his fourth checkered flag of the season.
In the feature, Chatham’s Jerry Ramault led the first two laps before Brett Hope took the lead on lap three and led the next three circuits.
Leamington’s Brandon Windsor passed Hope on lap six and brought McNally and Cottam’s Denis DeSerrano in tow, as the top three points drivers staged a tremendous battle over the final nine laps.
After several attempts, McNally finally got underneath Windsor coming out of turn two on the white flag lap and came around to take the checkered.
“I didn’t think we were going to get him,” McNally said of his battle with Windsor.
“He was pushing out of two every once in a while, so I went really wide into one hoping he’d push up,” he said of the pass for the win.
“And that’s what happened, he pushed up, the bite was there and I got under him.”
DeSerrano passed Windsor at the line to finish second, while Blenheim’s Murray Van Hooste was fourth.
Four Young Guns posted top-10s as Fenton was sixth, Van Dyk eighth, Jones ninth and Brett Hope 10th. Kyle Hope was 15th in his season debut and Konecny was 17th.
“It was a lot harder on him than he expected,” Dave Jones said of his son Shawn’s emotional week.
“I don’t think he knew he had a tire going down but he stayed out there and still got a good finish.”
McNally said he will present the special hood to Cory’s 14-year-old brother Jeff as a keepsake.
“That’s great that we were able to win … it will make this a little more special for Jeff,” he said.
The Jones race team is making plans to hold a memorial race for the Comp 4 class in honour of Cory later this season.
Signs By Design and Outhouse Image & Design both made up special decals of Cory, which every driver displayed on their cars.
The feature win was McNally’s second of the season. He had four last year en route to the points championship. His five checkered flags in four weeks are just three shy of his total for all of 2008.
Blenheim’s Andrew Reaume returned from a week off to extend his personal South Buxton regular season feature win streak to eight straight.
The two-time defending champion drove Joe Field’s No. 4 car to win his third Ultimate Sandblasting & Coatings UMP Late Model feature of the year. Reaume wrecked his No. 88 at Eldora last week but expects to have it repaired for this Thursday’s World Of Outlaws Late Model show at Ohsweken.
Chatham’s Louis Clements donned the cowboy hat and was presented with the special guitar trophy after winning the Country 92.9 FM Night At The Races feature race in the Sun Parlour Trailer Sport Stocks.
Justin Coulter made it two in a row for his family as he won the feature race in the Schinkel’s Gourmet Meats UMP Modifieds. His father Curtis Coulter was the feature winner the previous week.
Shrewsbury’s Jim Dale Jr. was second for the fourth straight week.
Dustin Daggett, of Grand Ledge, Mich., won the ASCS Sprints On Dirt feature, his fifth in seven races.
South Buxton hosts the Summer Sizzler this Saturday, the second leg of a two-night series for the UMP Modifieds. The Mods race at Ohsweken Speedway on Friday. Each night’s winner collects $1,000 while the top overall finisher for the two nights earns a $500 bonus.
*****
Cory Schives
By Mike Bennett
Special to the Blenheim Tribune
BLENHEIM – It was almost like he knew. Two weeks ago, Scott Schives noticed his son Cory was looking tired after the night's racing action at South Buxton Raceway.
Cory was helping his best friend Shawn Jones load up the equipment for the No. 27 car after his seventh place finish in the May 30 feature race.
"I asked him if he was all right, and he said 'yeah ...I just want to help load the car,' " Scott said, as Cory finished his duties and then left with the Jones to spend the night at Shawn's house in Blenheim, as he usually does after races.
Dave Jones, Shawn's father, also noticed that Cory wasn't his usual upbeat self that Saturday.
"We were working on the car in the afternoon and noticed we had a broken axle. Usually Cory is right in the middle fixing stuff," Jones said.
"This time, he just sat in the lawn chair and watched."
The following day, Cory was taken to the hospital and was transferred to the London Health Sciences Centre Children's Hospital.
Last Monday, his long and courageous battle with cancer was over. Cory Schives died three days after his 17th birthday. The funeral service for the Blenheim teen was Friday.
He was first diagnosed with cancer when he was just six. After years of treatment, Cory seemed to turn the corner in his early teens.
But three years ago, the disease resurfaced and Cory began taking chemo again.
He was still undergoing treatment when he was hospitalized a week ago with pneumonia.
"His body just couldn't fight it off, like you or I could," Scott said.
"...It was almost like he knew," the father looked back to his son's last night at the race track.
Cory rarely missed a Saturday night at South Buxton. He was a member of the Junior Fan Club as a youth and couldn't wait to turn 14 so he could work in the pits with the Jones race team.
"He loved South Buxton more than anything," Scott said.
"I once asked him if he wanted to go to Delaware for a night, and he said no, that he wanted to save his money for Saturday night at Buxton.
"He always said 'dirt's where it's at!'" Scott said with a smile.
Cory spent time as a youth attending special camps and retreats for children, such as Camp Trillium in Simcoe.
The Blenheim Open golf tournament, which raises money for local youth to participate in the Make-A-Wish Foundation, made arrangements in the fall of 2000 for Cory to go to Disneyland and to Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., where he realized his dream of meeting his racing idol Dale Earnhardt Sr.
On June 6, a Happy Birthday/Get Well Soon card for Cory circulated around South Buxton, but none of those who signed had any idea of his fading condition.
Shawn Jones had a strong run that night as he almost pulled off his first career feature win, finishing second in the Four Seasons Driver Education Comp 4 class. Shawn couldn't wait to tell his best friend about how close he came to winning his first career feature and dedicating it to him.
When the Joneses went to the hospital to see Cory on Monday, they couldn't help but notice the coincidence in the numbers. Cory was in the second room, in bed No. 27. The night before, Shawn finished second, in car No. 27.
"When we saw that, we thought maybe we weren't supposed to win ... maybe we were meant to finish second," Dave Jones said. Cory passed away later that day. South Buxton paid tribute to Cory in a pre-race ceremony on Saturday.
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