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By Jim Clarke, Kawartha Speedway
PR/Clarke Motorsports Communications
Focus. To gain an advantage at any level of racing,
you need to be focused on the ultimate goal.
Whether turning laps against the best drivers in your weekly division or
getting the car ready for action, it’s all about focus. Mike Nelson has been racing for 5 years and
has spent his last 4 years steering the #85 Discount Car and Truck Rentals Mini
Stock at Kawartha Speedway. Although he
has yet to find his way to victory lane in a main event, the 20 year old from
“There is always the chance that it
could be my night – my turn to win the big race,” said Nelson. “If I take a week off, I might miss that
chance. If we don’t run well enough
through the qualifying heat or semi feature, I’ll never make it. This game needs your complete attention – lap
after lap, week after week and race after race.
Going fast is part of it, but you’re also running side-by-side with
someone who needs to be just as focused as you are or the whole thing could be
over in the blink of an eye.”
Nelson says he loves the fact that
driving a racecar isn’t something that ‘just anyone can do’. His biggest thrill is to race hard and fast
with people he trusts and enjoys racing around.
Running up front with guys who will race you hard – but still give you
the respect they’d want in return makes it all worthwhile for the driver of the
R & J Machine/Daryl Taylor Painting/NAPA Auto Parts, Bridgenorth/ Ennismore
Towing/Custom Signs and Graphics Dodge.
“It’s a give and take sport. You can be winning one week and watching your
car being towed-off the track the next,” said Nelson. “You can’t let the ‘highs’ get you too high
or the ‘lows’ get you too low. Things can change in a hurry – and sometimes it’s
your own fault. I keep thinking back to
the first night of the 2009 season at Kawartha.
I was running second in the feature and the car ran out of gas. I can laugh about it now, but I kicked myself
pretty hard about that for a few weeks.”
At the racetrack and in the garage,
the Nelson Motorsports operation is a fairly small-scale team. The car is maintained by the driver and his
father, Ralph. Occasionally, good
friends Jason Wallbridge, Adam Murphy and Mark Fawcett lend a hand. Nelson, a welder and fabricator at R & J
Machine says his long term plans are to move into an ACT Tour late model, but he
knows that level of racing takes much deeper pockets than racing a mini stock on
a weekly basis.
“Because so much of what this sport
is about is driven by dollars, doing the late model deal might be something
we’ll look at 2 or 3 years down the road,” admitted Nelson. “This year, we’ll run the same car we did
last year – just with some different paint and graphics. Luckily, we didn’t hit anything too hard last
year so we’ve had plenty of time to get things ready. I’m really looking forward to the start of
the season.”
Kawartha Speedway’s 2010
10th Anniversary schedule is available now at www.kawarthaspeedway.com. The first regular night of action, which will
also feature the OSCAAR Outlaw Super Late Models is Friday, June
4th.
Photo attachment: Jim Clarke – Clarke Motorsports
Communications
A consolation round win and 3 top
5 finishes helped Mike Nelson earn a 5th place finish in Kawartha
Speedway’s 2009 Discount Car & Truck Rental Mini Stock
standings.
Prepared by: Jim Clarke – Clarke Motorsports
Communications
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