Times Advocate, 1989-07-26, Page 20Page 20
Times -Advocate, July 26, 1989
McKichan learning the ropes in first seasuii of car racing
Stories and photos
by Wayne Proctor
NAIRN - Some people strive to
live their life in the fast lane.
Eighteen year-old Tim McKichan of
this small hamlet just south of Ail-
sa Craig has already lived his entire
life in the fast lane and without a
lot of money.
McKichan grew up knowing the
likes of A. J. Foyt, Richard Petty
and Bobby Allison just to mention
a few - a virtual who's who in the
world of stock car racing in the
United States.
He grew up knowing these people
because his father Gord was the head
of Earl Ross' pit crew. Ross, from
Ailsa Craig, was one of the top
drivers on the U. S. NASCAR
(North American Stock Car Racers)
circuit and Tim grew up around race
cars and naturally had racing in his
blood,
Ross was the only Canadian to
win a NASCAR race and was the
rookie of the year for 1974 on the
circuit.
The elder McKichan said he came
back to Nairn after the 1974 season
because Ross' racing sponsors,
mostly Carling's, were withdrawn
and he couldn't compete as competi-
tively any more, and for the purpose
of giving his son the best education
possible.
"We came back many because we
wanted Tim to have a good educa-
tion and the education system is
much better here than in the United
States and besides we were from
this area anyway," said Gord McKi-
chan.
All ties to the racing scene in the
United States were not lost when
the McKichan's came north. The
- family still remains good friends
with all of the big names in the
three months training in North Car-
olina with former driver and now
tean. owner Junior Johnson, an old
family friend, and other top racing
people.
Tim start into racing came years
ago when he began racing go-carts
competitively. He started getting
better and better, as the hundreds of
trophies in his basement can attest
to, and the 18 year-old decided to
start racing cars at Delaware Speed-
way for the first time this season.
"We wanted to make the jump t9
cars last year but we couldn't find
the sponsors we needed until this
year," said Tim. So rather than rack
up several dozen more go-cart racing
trophies last summer, Tim decided
it would be well worth his while to
get some on-the-job training with
his friends in North Carolina.
While most sports are dangerous,
auto racing seems to have a reputa-
tion as one of the most dangerous
because of the high speeds involved.
However both McKichans seem to
disagree with that statement.
"Racing cars isnot any more dan-
gerous than any other sport, provid-
ing you have the right equipment
with you," said Gord.
You would have had a hard time
convincing Tim's mother Dorothy
of that on June 2 however. That
night at Delaware Tim had a crash
that most who drive dread their en-
tire lives there.
"About halfway into the feature
race that night I got hooked with
another and got pushed into traffic
and was hit on the passenger side
door by a car doing about 70-80
miles per hour and that was about
all I remember," said Tim.
He was knocked unconscious by
the blow and the car was completely
destroyed. His father said he was
only about 100 feet from the acci-
spon.iust last summer trm spent dent, in the pits when it happened
Ironwood Ladies Club
Tuesday, July 24
A Flight:
Low Gross ' Bonnie Ross Score 45
Low Net -Doris Hackney Score 32
Longest drive on #1 Joan Baker
Low Putts Grace Farquher
Marlene Parsons
B Flight:
Low Gross Minnie Burke- Score 46
Low Net Kim Pinder Score 31
Longest drive on #1 Julianne Varley
Low Putts Lorna Russell Score 16
Sue Stephens Score 17
C Flight:
Low Gross Sandy Allemeersch Score 50
Low Net Carol Darling Score 32
Longest drive on #1 Sandy Allemeersch
Low Putt Fran Mickle •
Bev Robinson
Sponsored by Don Heywood Painting fc Decorating,
White Squirrel Home Style Cooking, Andy DeBoer.
Baracudas results
CLINTON - The Exeter Baracudas In breast stroke swims, Finch
Swim team travelled to Clinton for placed fifth overall in his class,
their second meet of the season Sat- while Maggie Steciuk finished sec-
urday and gained a grand total of and in the girls under eight class
136 points in the five -team field. and teammate Sandra Steele was
But because Exeter has the fewest two places back in fourth spot.
number of swimmers of any team Forrest finished in top spot in the
in their division they were forced to boys nine and 10 division, while
take last place overall for the second Jon moore was third.
week in a row, but some swimmers Brianne Czypha finished in fifth
had some improvements over thf place in the girls nine and 10 race.
previous week's meet in Stratford. Lisa Forrest won the race in the
In the Medlay Relays, the girls girls 13 and 14 division, while Ste -
13 and 14 year-old team placed ciuk was third in the boys over 15
fourth overall and the girls 11 and race.
12 team placed third overall. In the butterfly races, Exeter had
In the Individual Medlay race, the top three spots in the girls un -
Derek Van Dyken finished in third der -eight class. Courtney Oke fin -
in the boys 13 and 14 division, ished ahead of the pack, followed in
Lisa Forrest took first in the girls order by Steciuk and Steele.
13 and 14 division, and Fred Ste- Forrest took home top prize in
ciuk and Aaron Gooding placed sec- his division in the butterfly, while
and and fourth respectively in the Carisa Willis was sixth in the girls
boys 15 and over division. 11 and 12 race, Lisa Forrest also
In freestyle swimming, Christook first place in her race, while
Finch finished sixth in the boys Gooding placed fourth in the over -
eight -and -under class, Sandra Steele 15 boys race.
place fourth in the girls, eight -and- In Freestyle relays, the nine and
10 girls team of Eileen Knip, Mi -
under class, Lucas Forrest was chellc Willis, Sandra Steele and Bri-
fourth in the boys nine and 10 race,
Gavin Poole was second in di,anne Czypha placed fourth, the 11
boys 11 and 12 race, • and 12 girls team of Anita Wein
and Van Dyk
Carisa Willis, Tania DeJon: and
Only two Baracudas competed m "''Sandra Vanderlaan, was secon r over-
_AQv hack stroke events. Finch fin_ all and the over -15 boys team of
Sterii,k. Van Dyken, Goodin and
c;81sliiin
ished second in his class late)' }jrrl h�.wrr yv.eittist�ut tri t Gooding
A . •. ' ' -SF- ct-14a r> rifer' ""litie &kilns travels w Godencti for
his effort. a meet Saturday afternoon.
-,sem
1
and was one of the first people to
come to Tim's aid.
"I saw him there unconscious and
I really didn't know what was wrong
so I waited for the medical crew to
get there before we could move
him," said Gord.
Ironically it was Louis Desjar-
dines of Grand Bend that hit Tim
and he knows the accident was una-
voidable.
"It was just one of those things
that couldn't be helped. I know it
wasn't his fault. I was pushed into
his line of travel and he couldn't
avoid me," said Tim.
After the accident Tim was told
by his doctor to stay away from rac-
ing for two months. He wasn't able
to race for some time anyway be-
cause a new car had to be•built from
scratch.
After the accident is when Tim re-
lied on his sponsors the most.
Past accomplishments - All of Tim McKichan's past accomplishments sit behind him in the form of
trophies, that he won while go-cart racing. He is hoping to have as many if not more trophies from his
car racing career, which began this year.
Building a car from scratch is quite
costly and the sponsors each pay a
portion to have a new car built so
the family doesn't have to foot the
bill themselves.
McKichan also gives his cars fe-
male names, something he picked
up from Junio Johnson in North
Carolina.
About a month after the car was
built, Tim went to see his doctor
for a checkup and asked if he could
go back to racing. The doctor
agreed. Despite a bone -jarring acci-
dent like that, Tim admitted he
wasn't at all timid about coming
back.
Because Delaware is the closest
local track for Tim to learn his
trade, he is there racing every Friday
night, as long as he has a running
car. He admits he wants to travel to
othcr tracks in southern Ontario as
well, like Sauble Beach, Flamb.)-
rough and Checker Flag near Win-:-
sor so he can gain even more exper-
ience.
He entered his first competitive
race in a car in late April and has al-
ready won his share of races. He
said he found the first race a little
.nore difficult than he thought .be-
cause he had to get used to the dif-
ference in weight from a go cart to
a car.
The North Middlesex High
School graduate said he wants the
racing in Delaware to be just a,step-
ping stone to higher and higher lev-
els of racing and is quite positive
can can make it to NASCAR some
day. He doesn't have a timetable for
getting there but is confident he can
do it as long as his sponsors hold
out and especially because of the
contacts he already has in the busi-
ness.
Desjardine racing for the fun of it
GRAND BEND - Some people
might think Louis Desjardine has
a dangerous hobby, but he doesn't
think so.
Desjardine has been racing cars
every Friday night at Delaware
Speedway near London for six
years, strictly for the love of the
sport.
I was a spectator for about three
years and decided to jump in and
found it really challenging," said
Desjardine
Desjardine knows how impor-
tant sponsors are to some one like
him, who is only in racing for the
fun of the sport.
When something goes wrong
with the car, as is often the case
with a race car, sponsors' money
comes in handy to help foot the
bill, if something has to be fixed.
The more sponsors a driver has the
less money comes out of his pock-
et for repairs.
Desjardincs' main financial back-
ers are Big '0 from Exeter and Mid -
West Tool, but he has others like
J. T. Cash and Carry from Grand
Bend and McKerlie Automotive.
He said he is grateful for the spon-
sors he has but is always on the
lookout for more.
The sponsors came in handy al-
most two months ago. On June 2
Desjardine was involved in his
most serious accident during the
six years he has been racing at Del-
aware. During the feature race that
night, another car driven by Tim
McKichan of Nairn was pushed
into his line of travel and the acci-
dent that followed could not be
avoided.
"I was coming out of turn two,
when Tim and another car got
locked together and started fish tail-
ing all over and 1 couldn't avoid
hitting his passenger door because
it all happened so quickly," said
Desjardine .
DesJardine suffered a cut knee in
tike mishap. McKichan was
knocked out from the blow but was
later determined to be all right.
While Desjardine car needed
RIO
MARCH
uf` Y
Junior swim team --The Exeter swim team began competition two weeks ago and travelled to Clin-
ton �n Saturday. Shown here Is the 1989 Junior swim team. Front row (1-r) Mark Knip, Carly Riley,
Chris Finch, Ilene Knip, Brianne Czypyha. Back (fir) Melanie Knip, Sandra Steele, Maggie Steciuk,
lucas Forrest, Courtney Oke, Michelle Willis. .
some major repairs alter the acci-
dent, McKichan's car was totalled.
Desjardin. got busy on the repairs
to the car and was out of action for
only one week.
Desjardine is even making rac-
ing a family affair. His wife Laura
who never liked racing before
Louis started, is now working in
the pit crew along with their two
sons and brother Wayne.
While Desjardine admits he
would like to try a higher level of
competition racing, he knows that
is probably out of the question be-
cause he is limited by the type of
cars he can compete with. To keep
costs do Nn he races only in the
street stocx class.
Racing every Friday night and 20
-22 weeks a year, can seem like a
job to some people but Desjardine
doesn't mind because he enjoys
what he is doing and has won his
share of races over the years. '1'hc
winner of each race at Delaware re-
ceive $150 and while that might
seem like a drop in the bucket to
some, Desjardine admits it helps
pay the bills.
'It's worth it as long as you
know when to say you've had
enough, and I don't have any plans
to stop racing so I think I will be
there fora while yet as long as my
sponsors hang in there," he said.
Family outing? - This is not the car Louis Desjardines takes on his family outings. He drives this car
every Friday night at Delaware Speedway near London where he has his wife Laura and son Derek,
back, help out in the pit crew.
i
i
•
Cool as cool - Hanging out on the Exeter public pool diving board, looking extremely cool on "Cool
Dude Day" last week is (M) Terri Kerr, Tayaha Fraser, Gillian Gregoire, Carrie Cleave, Jackie Westlake,
Jeff Kerr, Chandra Fraser and Amy Walper •
Greys tied for first
ST. MARYS - The Exeter Greys
of the South Perth Ladies Fastball
League lost their final game of the
season 8-6 in St. Marys last Tues-
day.
The loss created a four-way tie
for first place after the completion
of the first round of play. All tied
for first were; Crediton ; St. Marys
St. Pauls and Exeter.
In the 8-6 loss, Heidi Elliot,
Kendra Arthur and Sandra Burns,
all went two for four at the plate.
One of Elliot's hits was a triple.
The top four teams will now
meet once in the playoffs to deter-
mine what team will get first place
overall.
The Greys opened the playoffs in
St. Marys last night Tuesday. They
will play in Crediton Monday
night at 9 p.m. and will play host
to St. Pauls Tuesday night at 9
p.m.
•
Pickerel Fishing
Port .purwell
37 ft. Sport Fishing Boat
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659-8329 -