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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elder McKichan said he came back to Nairn after the 1974 season because Ross' racing sponsors, mostly Carling's, were withdrawn and he couldn't compete as competi- tively any more, and for the purpose of giving his son the best education possible.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 Equipment supplied $3000. cash derby Fish guaranteed Salmon Stacker 659-8329 -