START OF THE SEASON JUST WEEKS AWAY
By Ken Spencer – As we head into the early weeks of March, the start of the 2012 season is on the horizon and it can’t come soon enough for Mitch and Jake Brown.
These third generation drivers in the Brantford-based racing family are looking forward to strapping themselves into their cars for the test and tune sessions at Ohsweken scheduled to begin on May 4th.
For Jacob Brown, the younger of the two teenagers, it will mean the first opportunity to test his new Monte Carlo Thunder Stock having just moved up from two years of competition in Ohsweken’s Mini Stock Division.
The youngster had hoped to compete in a proposed wingless Sprint Car series at Ohsweken but the track’s management has decided to hold off on those plans, at least for now. Mitch Brown is also looking forward to the early May test session but
also has plans to have five races under his belt by the time Ohsweken opens its gates for the official start of its season on May 25th.
The third year Sprint Car driver has penciled in races at Fulton Speedway in upstate New York (April14th); Glen Ridge Motorsports Park NY (April 27th); Black Rock Speedway NY (May 4th); two events at Autodrome Granby PQ (May 11th & 12th); and Woodhull Raceway NY (May 19th) –all part of the 2012 Patriot Sprint Tour.
Those early events are pending the playoff schedule for his Brantford Golden Eagles Junior “B” hockey team. The Golden Eagles were not only first in their Mid-Western Conference of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League with a record of 41 wins, seven losses and three overtime losses but they wound up on top of the entire 26-team, three-conference GOJHL.
Despite his love of racing, hockey comes first for Brown and he’s quietly hoping the team can go all the way to capturing the championship title in the weeks ahead.
While Jacob’s racing season is focused primarily on Ohsweken’s Thunder Stock schedule, Mitch has an ambitious calendar of events planned for 2012. He has 37 race dates listed on his schedule including twenty events on the New York State-based Patriot Sprint Tour. The PST’s 28-race schedule includes eleven dates at four tracks in Ontario and a two-day special in Quebec this coming season.
Last season the driver of the Haldex / Strodes BBQ & Deli / Leitch Performance Engines / Eagles Nest Motorsports Park / Brown Auto Service Sprint Car won two features at Ohsweken Speedway and finished fifth in the track’s Corr/Pak standings.
He also garnered enough points in a limited Patriot Sprint Tour schedule to collect eighth place honours in that series’ final standings.
One of his biggest challenges comes on July 31st when the powerful World of Outlaws return to Ohsweken Speedway.
It will indeed be a busy season for the Brown family in 2102 and for those who follow their racing programs.