With three feature wins and nine heat victories, Miles Tyson put together a stellar campaign at Peterborough Speedway en route to winning the 2023 track championship.

“Looking back on my 2023 season honestly has to be one of my best seasons to date,” Tyson reflected. “We started the season of strong with a ton of speed but didn’t have the best opening night with getting a DNF. I just kept coming back wanting to win races and we did just that with setting fast lap times of the year, winning three features, 12 heat wins and only having one finish outside the top-three and having two DNFs.

“It wasn’t till coming into the third last points race when I realized I had a good chance at winning it and then that’s when all the emotions started to sink in and made it overwhelming. There was times where I was putting so much pressure on myself that I was forgetting what racing was and it just wasn’t fun anymore.”

The pressure for Tyson carried through to the final night of the season, where he says he had to calm himself down a few times when he thought the chances of putting it together were falling apart.

Though with a runner-up in the feature, it was enough to seal the deal and take home the big crown. He then returned to his home track for the year a couple weeks later for the Autumn Colours Classic, sealing off the season with a trip to victory lane. Being able to take home the coveted leaf trophy was his highlight of the 2023 campaign with the race being a dream for any racer to take the win in.

“It definitely feels good to be able to end the year off with that big win and definitely brings a lot of motivation into 2024,” he expressed. “With our speed, I really feel like we have a ton of it and was just getting faster and faster every weekend last year and I hope we can keep that momentum and speed up going into the hole 2024 season and being able to get those top three finishes like we did.”

On top of racing at Peterborough Speedway regularly last year, Tyson took part in the Qwick Wick Super Stock Series.

“I wish we ran better in the Quick Wick Super Stock series as well,” Tyson commented. “We started off good at Peterborough for the first race finishing third, but Flamboro and Sunset I felt was just an embarrassment with our performance. (Fall) Velocity weekend, I also wish we had a little bit more speed as well. We just really struggled with Sunset this year and I’m not too sure why.”

With a title from Peterborough Speedway in his hands, Tyson will turn his attention back to Sunset Speedway in 2024, where he hopes to take home a championship there. Tyson has plenty of experience at the Innisfil oval in previous mini stock, super stock, and limited late model events.

“I think it’s fitting after winning the one at Peterborough this past season and try and win one there,” he commented. “We will also be Autumn Colours again trying for back-to-back wins and we will be doing Spring/Fall Velocity as well. (I’m) not too sure what’s happening with the Quick Wick Series but I am sure you will see us out for a few of those races this season.

“My dad and I have also talked about potentially trying to run the late model at Sunset a couple of times this year, if the car doesn’t sell before then.”

Being a father-son team, Tyson feels confident in his current program, and attributes a lot of that back to his father.

“I really don’t think that our  program would be as consistent and good as it is on a weekly basis if it wasn’t for my dad being so supportive and wanting to better the car every week so we could try and bring home a win each weekend,” he expressed. “I am very thankful for my dad for putting the hours in while I’m at work. Having a dad that is into racing as much as you are and has that determination it really helps because he knows my driving style and what I need a lot of the time to make the car better and that really helps for having a successful program.”

While the super stock success has been fun over recent years, admittedly it’s the Legend that Tyson feels has been the most fun to get behind the wheel of.

“It just brings me back to my go-karting career,” he reflected. “When I was a kid – the power, the speed, the weight, just all of it is a rush. But super stocks also has me from the weight of the car to the power when you get into the throttle; they just have way more power. Then the tire makes it come down to driving styles and I feel like that’s where my go-karting experience comes in from being smooth using the momentum of the car.”

With the experience that he has gained through the years, the next car he hopes to get a chance to try eventually would be a super late model.

“I’ve been going to the race track with my dad since I was about three/four years old to watch them,” he commented. “It would just bring back a lot of childhood memories for me and to be able to do it with my dad would just be the icing on top of it all.”

Spending his childhood watching the OSCAAR Super Late Model, one of the drivers that Tyson looked up to was “Magic Shoes” Rob Clarke.

“Having him as my racing hero gave me the inspiration for the number of my car,” Tyson commented. “I have also always loved the look of his cars with the black and the gold which was the inspiration to the black gold and red on 90% of my cars.”

With having now carried those three colours to plenty of success over his career to date already, his advice to those getting started would be to start off in go-karts. He feels those years spent racing there have given him an “extra edge and experience.”

“It’s pretty affordable and fun to get your feet wet into something,” Tyson explained. “But if they were looking into cars, I would tell them to definitely pick something that’s within your budget and if you have enough time to work on it. Once you get into racing super stocks and late models, it honestly becomes a full time job. If you’re not putting the hours in, you’re not going to get the results you are looking for.

“(So) mini stock and legends I would recommend to someone that’s getting into racing. I had a blast racing both of them and they were great on a small budget team to race.”