Sometimes when you stick a microphone in front of a driver’s face, you have no clue what they may say and a couple of times you’ll hear something that surprises you or gives you a bit of a perspective.

Throughout the 2019 season, I had the opportunity to speak to a bunch of different competitors. During those interviews, there were some quotes that stood out. So it seems only fitting we take a glance back through the year at what was said.

“I suffer with severe anxiety so ya, at the beginning of the year, the guys would push at me hard and I’d let them. But by the end up the season, I wasn’t backing down; I went four-wide, stuck in the middle around turn three and four two weeks ago, and I just laughed because of it. Next year will be fun; I can say that.”

Cheyenne Charles

“The thing that stood out most was how well our team managed every week. No matter what obstacle we faced, we managed to get through it. As well as always having support from so many other race teams and people around the track.”

Andrew Shilling

Photo Courtesy of S2RT Racing

Corey Howden has had a desire of speed all of his life, noting his most adrenaline satisfying moment was reaching the top speed in his 2007 Porsche Cayman on the open road.

“I would try to get it however I could when finally getting my licence; my desire would be met by finding the top speed of every vehicle I’ve ever driven,” he said. “This would lead me to want to find a rally driving school in Florida thinking that I would make a career in Rally driving; however, my growing construction company I started near the end of high school would squash those dreams. I had brief taste of racing in competitive sno-cross before a bad accident made a change to how I’d seek out my thirst for competition.

“Street racing would take over, racing mostly for bragging rights and testing out what different cars would do. Once the fast and furious movies came out, street racing was no longer worth the risk any longer. So I would put my own desire for fast on the back burner by doing solo time trials with high end European cars where I can safely open them up.”

“I have come to really enjoy bringing my Bone Stocks to Flamboro. I have only done the invitationals but would like to see how I stack up on a regular night. Frostoberfest was awesome. I usually don’t do well at Flamboro and have struggled in the playoffs because everyone seems to step up on what they had at the end of the season.

“Getting my first Flamboro win was enough motivation to go through and refresh my Frankenstein car. We actually found the motor was down on power, likely from the flip at Delaware mid season. I hope to bring the car back for a race or 2 in 2020.”

Kris Lawrence

“The competition in bone stocks should be a lot closer then what it is. I may get hate for this, but they aren’t Bone STOCK anymore. People like to find grey areas in the rules and it’s unfair to the ones that do it the way it should be. But other then that, i’s a great place for none stop action. The mixture of talents makes it a blast.”

Eric Stewart

“The competition level was very good this year. As we got deeper into the season it got a lot tougher. With the penalty weight added for wins and the rookies getting more experience it was so much harder to make passes.”

Mark Thorne

“As I look back on 2019, I can’t believe what an incredible season we had. We exceeded all my expectations from 2018 and came home second in points. In 2019, I think I made my mark and proved that I belonged there. We struggled a lot in 2018, having no experience and having no seat time prior starting the season.

“This year I did my homework and put everything I had into my racing program to make it better. I can’t take all the credit though; my dad put endless hours into the car and never quits. I worked so hard this year and learned that hard work really pays off.”

Aundrea Lusk

“I have always been enthralled with the roar of engines and the smell of fuel. As I would watch racing or demolition derbies, I knew I wanted to be a part of these events. At the age of 18, I put together my first demolition derby car. It was an incredible experience being in the demolition pit and wrecking cars. After many demolition derbies, I opened up my horizons and competed in a figure 8 race. Collecting first place in the feature race, I knew I wanted to put the smashing on hold and focus more on racing.”

Shawn Stewart

“I’m dreading off season already, but in 2020 I look forward to returning to the Bone Stock division with all my teammates in all new cars. Although I’m gonna miss my cavalier with getting attached to it, unfortunately I ended up having to swap cars with a few nights left due to to many mechanical issues.

“Though now, I look forward to debuting a new car and hopefully have a better outcome with finishes and be in top-five at the end of next season.”

Karlie Wilman

“I was supporting a teammate one night, going to watch him race, and he had a spare car – believe it was Matt Young. He said, ‘I have a spare car so why don’t you try it?’ I came out one day for practice on Tuesday, and then I started racing on the Saturday. I’ve been racing every Saturday since.”

Leo Labarbera

“My family has been excited since last yea. It was the first year out in a long time. My grandfather raced many years ago back at Pinecrest when it first started; my dad also raced years ago at Sunset in the Late Model division. So now being the third generation to come back, it’s really exciting. I got to watch my uncle race all last year in the Mini Stock and he did really well, so it’s going to be good to have my own car this year.”

Ryan D’Antimo

“It’s going to tough every night this season. The field is stacked with a lot of experienced drivers. There will be ten cars or more that can win on any given night! I’m really excited to be out there in the mix and supporting Flamboro; the track is getting better and better on and off the racing surface.”

Phil Givens