The first official day of spring is coming this weekend, which means it's time to start thinking about the 2010 racing season at Ohsweken Speedway! Opening day is now less than two months away and all of Ohsweken's racers are busy getting ready for action. "The Fenwick Flyer" Tom Huppunen and car owner Fred Cade are among those getting ready, and they're determined to repeat as champions of the Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Car division. This week in Ohsweken Speedway's "Top Ten", we sat down with the Fenwick Flyer to look back at 2009, and look ahead to the 2010 season and beyond.
Tom Huppunen began racing at an early age like many of his competitors. His first racing events came in karts when he was just seven years old, and he had won two hundred features by the time he moved to full size race cars in 1992 at age sixteen. Tom spent the next four seasons competing successfully in Merrittville Speedway's Sportsman and Modified divisions before moving into his most desired division - Sprint Cars.
Huppunen was the first winner of the SOS Championship race at Ohsweken in 1999, an event that became the Canadian Sprint Car Championship. The team was parked after that season due to lack of funding, and Tom took a break from racing to live and work in Finland, his father's homeland. In 2004 while still in Helsinki Tom began racing again in the 120cc Fossil karting series. When Tom returned home to Ontario he did some more road racing, this time in a F1200 car at Mosport. He got back to Sprint Cars again in 2005 and has run the local tracks including Ohsweken since that time.
Tom took over behind the wheel of Fred Cade's #12c last season and the combination provided instant success with a feature win on opening night. Finishes of seventh or better in each of the twelve Corr/Pak events, including six total feature wins and nine "top 5's" propelled the team to the 2009 Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Car division championship. Huppunen and Cade remain together for the 2010 season and will try to become the first repeat champions of the Corr/Pak division.
"TOP 10"...WITH TOM HUPPUNEN:
QUESTION: "You were one of the first local drivers to go Sprint Car racing. Obviously much has changed since those days - What memories do you have of the early days at Ohsweken, and Sprint Cars elsewhere in the area?"
TOM HUPPUNEN: "I remember the excitement around the Empire Super Sprints coming to Merrittville Speedway and the standing room only in the grandstands. The parking lot overflowed and cars were parked along the roadsides. Hopefully Ohsweken can bring back that atmosphere this season with Sprints every week."
"As I was already racing a couple years in Sprints before attending a race at Ohsweken, it was a lot like racing at Ransomville Speedway or Eriez Speedway with the long straight-aways and high speed corners. Back then, the current bottom groove was the infield."
Q: "It costs a lot of money to go racing, especially in Sprint Cars. Do you think there are ways to cut costs for local short track racers and keep the Sprint Car division sustainable long term?"
TH: "If you compare to the 358 Modified or Big Block Modified divisions, initial costs (in 360 Sprint Cars) are equal if not lower. The big plus is that you get much more bang for the buck racing a Sprint Car with the high horsepower to weight ratio. Yes, the initial costs are high, but people have to understand that the 360 class is an economy sprint car class. A 'real' Sprint Car has a 410 cubic inch engine and aluminum block. A 360 cubic inch American Sprint Car Series legal motor uses an iron block which lasts three to four times longer before needing a rebuild, and has spec heads. In my opinion, both the 410 and 360 engines have plateaued. The horsepower and torque ratings between the top engine builders in the USA are within a couple percent, if not tighter."
"This being said, I believe the key to keeping this sport sustainable is regulation. There are several 'cheaper' sprint car divisions being developed with smaller engines, but without tight regulations - i.e. weekly tear downs and random checks with knowledgeable tech officials - the top runners in these divisions will be spending more and more cash to cheat and go around the rules. Unfortunately, this is very common in all of motorsports, from go-karts to NASCAR and Formula 1."
"Just look at karting these days - parents are spending five thousand dollars on five horsepower Briggs & Stratton engines just for their son/daughter to be able to be 'competitive'. Now that's the division that needs to cut costs. Maybe then they could afford a 360 sprint when the time comes."
Q: "You were one of the underdogs for a long time. What's it like changing roles and being viewed as one of the guys to beat now?"
TH: "No difference. I just love to race and don't pay any attention to how people perceive me on or off the track. "
Q: "Do you have any race day rituals or superstitions?"
TH: "Two bottles of red Gatorade purchased from the same gas bar on the way to the track - secret location. I always wear the pit admission wrist band on my left wrist. (I have a) secret lucky urinal in pit washroom."
Q: "The track conditions for the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals last year were completely different than we are used to seeing at Ohsweken. What did you learn from that experience?"
TH: "We learned that we need to find something for this type of track. We were good most of the season on various race surfaces, but I knew from our trip to Quebec that we were weak on a really slippery track, which showed up again in the A-main at the Nationals. This is the other part of racing that I enjoy immensely - the continuous learning! I still consider myself a rookie in a sprint car so I know more seat time will also help me drive better."
Q: "Which driver(s) past or present do/did you most enjoy racing against, and why?"
TH: "I have always enjoyed racing against Glenn (Styres) and his teammates. It's a top-of-the-line team with great equipment and great drivers. They race clean too, so we have something in common - the ability to race wheel-to-wheel and enjoy the battle no matter the outcome."
Q: "There will be at least six rookies in the Corr/Pak Sprint Car division this year. What's the biggest piece of advice you got or wish you'd gotten when you were a rookie?"
TH: "I was lucky enough to get great advice (during) my rookie season in Sprint Cars. I was the young gun - only twenty years old and racing with the Empire Super Sprints. The officials took me aside to be sure I stayed to the bottom and they made it clear that they would be watching that I could 'hold my line', meaning not switching top to bottom groves. At driver's meetings they made sure that everyone knew who I was and explained my racing experience. I also had my mentor Phil Mott and his son Shawn giving advice, along with my father being sure I brought the car back to the trailer with all four tires. Before long, I made friends with several drivers such as Mike Woodring and Craig Keel. I had gained other drivers' respect by my actions on the track."
Q: "Your brother Jim was a rookie last year and started to get pretty fast by the end of the season. What do you think it'll be like if you two find yourselves battling for a feature win?"
TH: "I think the fans would be in for quite the spectacle if this were to occur. Neither of us would lift off the throttle, (and) there'd be sparks and parts flying everywhere. He did it right, kept his nose clean all season and gained a lot of respect. He even beat me fair and square for his first heat win at the end of the season!"
Q: "You went to Drummondville last season for the first annual Quebec Sprint Car Nationals. What is it like racing in Quebec in front of those large crowds of dedicated dirt track fans, and what do you think the atmosphere will be like there when the World of Outlaws are there for the first time ever in July, a few days before they visit Ohsweken?"
TH: "The fans in Quebec are great. We had a great time there even if we didn't perform as well as we'd liked to on the track. It'd be worth a road trip for sure - camp in the parking lot if possible. Just don't have too much fun so that you miss the show at the Big O!!"
Q: "A well used cliché in sports says that getting to the top is hard, but staying there is even harder. What do you think it will take to repeat as Corr/Pak champion this season?"
TH: "I got this covered already…I bolted a horseshoe to the bottom of my seat!"
**More information about Tom Huppunen can be found on his official website: www.FenwickFlyer.com.
NEXT AT OHSWEKEN: Ohsweken Speedway's fifteenth anniversary season is coming up faster than you think! Less than sixty days remain until the engines fire for the first time at the Speedway for Test and Tune on Saturday, May 8. Make sure to visit www.OhswekenSpeedway.com and make your plans to attend Friday Night Thunder each week starting May 14 and "Feel the Excitement"! Don't forget the World of Outlaws Sprint Series events on July 30th and 31st, and the Sixth Annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals September 16th to 18th!
ABOUT: Ohsweken Speedway is located in the village of Ohsweken, Ontario approximately twenty-five minutes Southeast of Brantford, forty minutes Southwest of Hamilton, one hour and twenty minutes West of Niagara Falls, one hour and twenty minutes East of London, and one hour and twenty minutes Southwest of Toronto.
Ohsweken Speedway is a state-of-the-art Styres family-owned three/eighths mile clay oval racing facility featuring Musco lighting and seating for 8,000.
Friday Night Thunder provides weekly racing at the track, featuring Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Cars, ESSO Thunder Stocks, ESSO Mini Stocks, and Bombers, along with touring series visits by the World of Outlaws Sprint Series, Empire Super Sprints, ASCS Patriots, and Mod-Lite Stars Championship Tour North.
The track's signature event is the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals held in September each season. Up to eighty or more of the best 360 sprint car drivers and teams from across Canada, the United States, and beyond will converge on Ohsweken to contest the Sixth Annual Canadian Sprint Car Nationals September 16th-18th, 2010.
Regular Friday Night Thunder admission is just $10, while students and seniors are $8, and Kids age 12 and under get in free. Advance reserved seat tickets for the World of Outlaws Sprint Series and Canadian Sprint Car Nationals went on sale March 8. Please visit www.OhswekenSpeedway.com for more information, or call 1-888-720-RACE!
By Tommy Goudge / Ohsweken Speedway
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