With three victories and 13 top-five finishes, it’s safe to say it was a solid season for Mike Podd with the Canadian Vintage Modifieds in 2023. As the veteran prepares for his 34th season of competition, he shared some thoughts with SHORT TRACK MUSINGS.

What are your thoughts going into the 2024 Canadian Vintage Modified season?

I’m glad they got the schedule out early. There’s a couple dates that are a little challenging, but I like how it’s spaced out so it certainly can work. Looking forward to getting back into the (No.) 5 car. I’m just going to drive my old No. 5, and somebody else will probably drive the (No.) 1 car. But basically, both cars are ready to go – I just want to make them faster. So that’s kind of my plan for next year. Take a run for the championship, but it really depends on work. But I plan on getting it out.

What is it about the Canadian Vintage Modifieds that keeps you coming back each year?

Well, good grief, it almost seems like I’m afraid of change. I’ve been racing – I started driving in the club in 1990. It’s just I like the cars. I think that’s the main thing is I like the old hot rod style car – the old coupes and coaches. They’re simple, competitive, I like the tire rule, and the schedule suits me well. Back in the day when the hobby club was running 30 events a year, I was still only doing about 10 or 12, 15 races. That was all that my schedule would allow so it really fits that well.

I’ve been racing this car, the 5 car, since 2000. So still competitive piece, so these cars don’t go out of date. A lot of guys have made upgrades to theirs, but that’s the other thing – it’s a good bunch of people, too. That’s changed a lot. I’m the old guy now. I wasn’t for the longest time. I just like feel the club. The club has been around 57 years now – I’m pretty much a one-man show, like a lot of people are with racing. You have some guys that will help you at the track, but it’s easy for me because you don’t have to stay up with all the technology. These cars are still very simple, certainly not aerodynamic, and we have some good rules in place – like shock rules and other things – that keeps things pretty stable.

So why did you get involved originally with the club now almost 35 years ago?

My dad was involved earlier than that, but it was Flamboro Speedway basically that was the closest track to the house and just liked the cars. I just thought the cars were interesting – it was a car you could build yourself and be competitive. You could weld up the chassis and build a lot of the suspension components yourself, and that really hasn’t changed.

That’s why there’s still a lot of old cars out there still competitive – like old in age, like old chassis that are still going and winning. Ricky Willigar’s car – that car was built in 1990, won races at the CNE, won a couple championships with various drivers. It’s the same with T.J. Marshall’s car; it goes way back. The 1 car that I was driving, it was originally built a long time ago so been a lot of longevity out of the chassis.

The body style is interesting, and I liked the open-wheel. If the OSCAAR Modifieds were around 25, or maybe 20 years ago, that may have been the direction that I would’ve wanted to go. I’ve always found those cars the next logical step for going faster, but I’m content where I’m at now.

What are your thoughts as you look back on last season, and the success you were able to have?

I think last season, I was busy with the two cars and my goal for last year was to win a race in the 1 car before I handed it over. That was a car that I had competed against, and was a good piece, and knew it was a capable car – just had been sitting for 18, 19 years.

It was Craig Downey that owned it previously; Craig ran John Harper’s car after he passed. He raced Sprint Cars, but ran the hobby car and then went dirt racing. So his hobby car just sat in his garage. When it became available, I wanted to get it back on the track. so getting that car competitive was kind of my goal for the year. Once I got a couple wins in that, it was time to get back in the 5 but ended up breaking the engine in the 1. That was kind of my main goal.

I always wanted to be competitive. Of course, I’d like to run every race and compete for the championship. That was the goal last year, but it’s a tough crowd and it was a close race so I can’t be too disappointed with my effort. Like TJ, and Ricky, and Quinton (Murdoch) and the others, it’s going to be a tough race. So I’m looking forward to it.

I’m looking forward to the competitive – that’s the other thing. The cars are so closely matched. It makes it fun when we get out there.

Keeps the battles throughout the event and everybody close….

That’s it, and it’s always been that way within the hobby club. Now, like a lot of series – if we could double our car count that would be awesome. I think every series would appreciate that, but even 15 years ago, it was the racing that was great. You may not be racing for wins, but you’re still racing for positions. That what I appreciate. Sometimes you get too spread out and you’re just driving in circles. I like having somebody to challenge or be challenged by. Not lacking for that in the club; there’s always someone doing that.

In all the years that you’ve spent with the club, what’s been the most memorable moment that you’ve had in racing?

That’s tricky. I had some really – your most memorable is always your first feature win. My first feature win came in ’95. That was a big deal, but the first big track win that I got at Mosport (Speedway), that was probably the biggest  – I’ve have to say that race, because I was in the lead, I lost the lead, and got the lead back. That was good racing. There was another race at Mosport where I had to hold Ray Hughes off for like 25 laps or something. That was something. A lot of races have meaning, but Mosport was probably the biggest deal there.

Stay tuned for the second part of the interview