The competition in the Knightworks Design OSCAAR Hot Rods presented by Sauble Falls Tent and Trailer Park continues to grow each season, and the 2020 campaign will be no different.

The drivers eligible for the Ohsweken Speedway Rookie of the Year Award have experience across the province in a wide variety of motorsports, including multi-time Late Model Champion Tom Walters.

“Our thoughts – my wife (Anne) and I – were going to try and run as many OSCAAR races as possible,” Walters expressed.” Right now, we have seven out of the 12 with the sponsorship, and then Sunset (Speedway) the rest of the time with the Super Stock at this point.

“Our goals are really not to set the world on fire or anything like that, but just to have fun, and to get to know a new bunch of people. This class really is a different bunch of people in racing that I haven’t raced against. I think that’s going to be the fun part of it. I didn’t know Paul Senior up until last year and we were introduced – what a great guy. If most of them are like that, it’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to it.”

Entering a new division, Walters will be campaigning a 1965 Rambler Ambassador.

“There’s none out there like it. I wanted it to be different than anybody else,” he commented. “They were the Cadillac of cars basically, and they were a luxury car back then. It was big, bulky, and ugly, and that’s what we wanted.”

Walters , along with the rest of the OSCAAR Hot Rod drivers, will be traveling across the province to several prominent venues, both dirt and asphalt.

“The two that I have circled all the time is Jukasa (Motor Speedway) and Brighton (Speedway),” he said. “ Sunset (Speedway) is a give me because it’s only six kilometers down the road from me, so I know that track. I expect to win there, because I know it, but the rest of them will be a challenge.”

For Walters, he got his start in racing after running into someone who owned a racecar while on his way to get bread and milk from the store.

“I got talking to him when I came back, and he asked if I wanted to go the races on Wednesday night,” Walters recalled. “I said, ‘Where?’ and he said, ‘Up in Innisfil.’ I said, ‘I don’t know any race track in Innisfil and my parents have a cottage there.’ I went with him, it got rained out – went with him three times, got rained out two times before it started and the third night, it got rained out after the heat races.

“On the way home, he said he was done and I asked him how much and bought it; been at it ever since.”

Through the years, he has been able to experience plenty of success, including 30 Late Model championships across the province. Everything came together in 2012 with Walters being inducted into the Canadian Motorsports Hall of Fame.

“It meant everything,” he commented. “It meant that all the hard work and the fun that we had paid off. For them to recognize me as a short track guy, it was awesome.”

Based on all of his experience over the years, Walters says his advice to the next generation racers is don’t go crazy spending money.

“Try and do it the best of your ability, think big picture, and don’t forget about family,” he said. “If there’s anything I regret, it’s that – not spending enough time with my kids.”

Be sure to keep up with OSCAAR by staying tuned to the series website at http://www.oscaar.ca. Also, make sure to “like” the official OSCAAR Racing Facebook page, while following both the Twitter and Instagram accounts (@OSCAARRacing) to keep up to date on everything you need to know.

OSCAAR’s 2020 racing season was supported by several dedicated partners including Queenston Chevrolet Buick GMC, Knightworks Design, Living Lighting Canada, Scott Reinhart Trailer Sales Ltd., Touchwood Cabinets, Sauble Falls Campground, The Fyre Place & Patio Shop, Ohsweken Speedway, American Racer, and Grisdale Race Products.

By: Ashley McCubbin