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[/media-credit]In the first race of the inaugural OSCAAR Modified season at Sunset International Speedway in Innisfil, Ontario, Brandon Crumbie finished fifth in the feature after starting seventh following a fourth and a sixth in the qualifying heats.
Crumbie is one of the 16 drivers that showed at Sunset last month to take a chance with the new series. Crumbie said he made the decision after deciding to take a season off from running Late Models. With a modified in his garage, the decision was easy.
“When I heard about the class and the schedule, it was a great opportunity to race and still have some weekends off,” the driver of the No. 72 California Daves Complete Auto Body, Amsoil (Al Prichard), Alliston Signs, Akn Automotive and Homeland Auto Service Modified says.
“Basically we had the car in the garage and we were actually going to take a season off from Late Model,” Crumbie says. “So when I heard about the class and the schedule, it was a great opportunity to race and still have some weekends off.”
Last season, Crumbie spent most of the year running a Late Model at Varney Motor Speedway, which is one of the seven different tracks that the modifieds will hit this year. Amongst the tracks, Crumbie is excited to go to Kawartha Speedway and Delaware Speedway.
“I’ve never raced at them and these mods sound like they are gonna fly at those tracks,” he adds.
This will mark Crumbie’s first season running a Modified so the expectations right now are to win rookie of the year and get a good finish in points.
“I think we have a really strong car right now after testing at Sunset and Barrie,” he adds.
Crumbie got started in 2001 after watching his dad run a derby van event at Barrie.
“When we were there, we saw the mini stocks running,” he tells the story. “The next year we built the Chevette and my dad drove it because I was too young. In 2003, I ran my first full season in Pure Stock fours.”
Behind the scenes, it was his family and friends helping him every step of the way. He thanks his A-Team for helping him out, which includes Dave, Will, Spencer, RJ, Ben, Justin and his fiancé Erica.
He adds that what drives his passion to race is that it keeps him out of trouble.
Entering his ninth season of racing, the Beeton, Ontario native has already had plenty of memorable moments.
“My first win in the Chevette I’ll never forget,” he says. “Next would be the championship at Barrie and I’ll never forget the rollover at Varney in the Late Model, getting it back for the second with a lot of help.”
For the driver that calls his racing hero Tony Stewart, he says that those wishing to go racing should not get discouraged when things get tough and just keep trying.
Outside of racing, his interests including water sports, go-karting, biking and anything that goes fast.
