Some locals might not realize it, but Alma resident Jim Bowman says this county is chock-full of motor sport enthusiasts.
And while the number of county residents participating may not rival the level of interest in the mid to late 1960s, when the area was “a hotbed of racing,” the 44-year-old stock car racer says motor Sports are once again gaining popularity.
“It’s not going away; it’s getting bigger here,” said Bowman, who is also a real estate agent in the Fergus area.
Off the top of his head, Bowman rhymes off several county residents who have excelled in some sort of racing, including Scott Way, of Fergus, a three-time track champion at Varney Motor Speedway; Bill Clarke, of Kenilworth, who he says was one of the earliest drivers to bring track championships to this area; and Sherry Hogan, of Belwood, who races primarily in the U.S. for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) modified racing series.
He adds the future of local racing looks bright with promising youngsters like Chad Campbell, of Belwood, and Jordan Lovell, of Fergus, making their way up the ranks.
Mount Forest resident Ken McLellan, who along with his wife Joan purchased Varney Speedway in 1999, says almost all of the track’s drivers hail from within 50 miles, with a large number calling Wellington County home.
“There’s just all kinds of them,” Ken McLellan said when asked about local racers. “They’re all a big family. They all hang together … it’s just an oversized family, really.”
Bowman lived in Elora for 12 years prior to moving to Alma in 2009, but it was growing up in Kitchener where he first developed a love for racing and was first exposed to the racing prowess that exists in?Wellington County.
“You always feared a guy coming out of this area because his dad or grandfather knew a hell of a lot of stuff,” Bowman said.
He is proud to now be part of that group, racing his 2010 Monte Carlo, #63, every weekend at Varney – located about 23 kilometres north of Mount Forest – in the Late Model class, where he currently sits fourth in the points race.
He also races occasionally at Flamboro Speedway and Delaware Speedway, in London – all as part of competing in the NASCAR Whelen Late Model Series.
Bowman would race a lot more often, too, were it not for other priorities – the night of the interview he was coaching soccer – and the inability of most locals to make a living at the race track.
“Racing can be all-consuming,” he said. “It can be every moment of every day.”
Luckily he has the help of crew chief Calvin Warren, of Arthur, who Bowman said single-handedly built his current car in just over two weeks.
Bowman wrecked his previous car last year after crashing into a track wall at about 110 miles per hour – “at 44 nothing heals,” he joked of the soreness he felt after the crash – and Warren, as usual, came through with another custom-built beauty.
When asked about crashes, Bowman said the danger is always there, but if a driver thinks about it too much, it’s time to call it quits.
In addition to the help of Warren and his other pit crew members, Bowman said for him, racing would not be possible without his sponsors, which include Canadian Tire in Fergus, Re/Max Fergus, Overland Heating, Hanover Holidays and others.
And his family is always there to support him, he added; no matter what happens.
“It’s a commitment on so many different levels,”?he said, noting in addition to the danger, his family has to put up with the enormous amount of time, effort and financial resources required to race on the weekends.
“It’s a serious investment,” he said, explaining a good car can cost upwards of $30,000 and many drivers have one or two “back-up” cars valued at up to $20,000 each.
Bowman, who stressed family has always been important to him, says if it weren’t for many relatives who participated in motor Sports, he likely never would have gotten behind the wheel himself.
“Technically, I’ve been racing since I was six years old,” he said with a smile, adding as a kid he was constantly at one track or another.
He started racing “full bodied” cars when he was 23, which he considers “late,” but he explained much of his time prior to that age was spent working on cars belonging to other family members.
He cites his father, Roy Bowman, a former drag racer who now resides in?Kenilworth, and his uncle Ted Bowman, formerly an oval track racer, as two of his three biggest influences in the world of motor Sports.
The other is Earl Stroh, a local racing legend of sorts who was once co-owner of Sauble Speedway and whose car at one time was deemed almost unbeatable by many in the local racing circuit.
Bowman says he is so thankful to Stroh, his father and uncle and other racing pioneers who paved the way for current drivers.
“If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be doing this and loving the sport I do,” he said.
“I have so much respect for those guys and I always have time for them … they made it possible for us to do what we do.”
That legacy is one of the reasons Bowman particularly loves racing at Varney Motor Speedway.
“Varney’s stood the test of time,” Bowman said, adding the track is an amazing success story.
The asphalt track first opened in 1970 with, like most tracks in southern Ontario at the time, very modest features that included a single guard rail around two corners and a board fence at the front chute.
However, features such as the hard top surface, banked corners and grandstand made it quite modern for its time, McLellan explained.
The track was immensely popular from the beginning, and unlike other tracks in the area that have long since shut down – including those in?Teviotdale, Alma and near Inverhaugh – it still remains a popular attraction for racing enthusiasts.
Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the venue today bills itself as “the fastest quarter-mile track in southern Ontario.” It has seen various upgrades in the 1980s, 1990s and since 1999, when the McLellans took over.
“It’s been a great experience dealing with all different types of people,” said McLellan, who, despite over 35 years in racing, plans to stay involved at the track as long as he can.
“It’s a different way of life. It’s very interesting.”
One reason may be the recurring theme at Varney: family. Not only are the competitors like a family, many are actually related, and the price – adults get in for just $10 and families for $28 – makes it a very affordable night of entertainment.
And the types of races seem geared towards families as well. The track is the birthplace of “train racing,” where three cars are connected together by chains and/or tow bars.
The front car has a motor, no brakes and a driver who steers and works the throttle. The middle car has no driver and no brakes, while the rear car has a driver and brakes, but no steering.
“It’s a real claim to fame for them,” Bowman said, adding train racing has now become quite popular internationally.
And it’s still a regular feature at Varney, where, in addition to Bowman, the list of the track drivers – available at www.varneymotorspeedway.com – reads like a venerable who’s-who of Wellington County racers. They include:
– Arthur’s Dennis Cremasco, Tessa Cremasco and Mike Wilson;
– Belwood’s Tanya McDongall;
– Conn’s Ryan Eccles, Aaron McLean, Brian McLean and Gary McLean;
– Fergus’ Lance Sullivan and three-time track champion Scott Way;
– Kenilworth’s Marc Leva;
– Mount Forest’s Stephen Brown, Matt Clarke, Nick Clarke, Justin McLellan, Jason McLellan and Ted Patterson;
– Rockwood’s Jeff Lotspeich and Brian Wilson; and
– Palmerston’s Tim Van Oostveen.
“It’s a family affair,” Bowman said, pointing out the many repeated surnames on that list.
Many of the drivers compete in more than one division and family members find themselves racing against one another, he added, including the Cremascos, a father-daughter duo that competes in the Stock 4 division.
“These are people you work alongside every day that go off and do it,” he said of the local flavour at Varney. “They’re homegrown superstars who decide this is what they want to do.”
Bowman himself says he’ll likely race for just three or four more years, though he’ll likely remain involved in racing in some capacity long after that.
His hope of passing the legacy on to his two sons, aged 12 and 18, may never be realized, as both are so heavily involved in other Sports that neither has developed a serious interest in racing to date.
But that doesn’t mean Bowman’s abandoning the next generation of racers. He regularly participates in autograph signings after races – even though they make him uncomfortable – and he invites kids at the track to touch or even climb inside his race car.
He never understood why a few drivers are so elusive and employ a “hands-off” mentality when it comes to their cars.
“I want people to hear and feel what I do,” he said. “I think what makes this sport is its accessibility.”
It’s a lesson pioneers like Earl Stroh taught him first hand decades ago – and something he’ll never forget.
“Just because I have a unique hobby doesn’t make me any different,” he said. “That’s what I’m trying to promote with this car.”
