Photo Courtesy of Donna Tolton & Black Magic Racing

Each season, the OSCAAR Modifieds have seen new faces enter the fray of open-wheel competition, with some of those rookies experiencing a lot of success along the way. The trend looks to continue in 2017 as Tim Tolton and Black Magic Racing announced last week that they’ll be running the full OSCAAR tour this season

“Well, we’re looking forward to a new challenge in a new series, and trying something a little different,” Tolton told Short Track Musings. “It’s something that I raced before on a very limited basis.”

Tolton feels given his team’s current resources, the rules and schedule OSCAAR has to offer fits best.

Photo Courtesy of Black Magic Racing

“I like the fact that they have parity in their rule package to allow different types of motors to be competitive and go to the winner circle, and it’s something that we’re looking forward to,” he said.

The schedule for this year also opens the door for Tolton, too, as he’ll be able to make his first trip to Kawartha Speedway, with the Fraserville, Ontario track returning for the first time since 2014.

“I’ve raced a bunch of different tracks around Ontario,” he said. “Kawartha is one that I’ve wanted to, but I haven’t had the chance to. The one time I was planning on going I couldn’t make it, so Kawartha is one that I’m looking forward to the most. Other than that, Full Throttle – my home track; it’s one that I tend to do well at.”

Without having a lot of modified experience, except for a couple races behind the wheel of his son Bobby Tolton’s car a couple years ago, the veteran is keeping his expectations wide-open.

“We just want to do the best that we can with what we’ve got and for our sponsors,” he said. “I’ll be a considered a rookie this year. It would be nice to come home with Rookie of the Year. Otherwise, it’s about doing the best that we can.”

Despite being a rookie, though, Tolton should be able to adapt quickly to the open-wheel cars, given his racing resume to date which includes six championships through the years.

“I feel comfortable in anything that I race so I don’t think I’ll have trouble making the transition,” he said. “I’m not typically an open-wheel kind of guy, like full body stock cars, but definitely up for trying something different this year.

On top of the OSCAAR schedule, Tolton also confirmed that Black Magic Racing will be racing their No. 35 Mini Stock at Full Throttle Motor Speedway on a weekly basis. Tolton will be racing all races that do not conflict with the OSCAAR schedule himself, while having a driver fill-in for the races he’ll miss. Last year, the team followed the same format while racing the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup Series schedule full-time, and had seven different drivers behind the wheel.