After winning the Canadian Vintage Modified championship last season, Shane Stickel was looking for a challenge for 2013. As a result, he turned to the OSCAAR Modified division to see how he’d do against the division’s top drivers.
“Started to work on the hobby car and agreed with my dad that I wasn’t really into it,” Stickel said. “Went down to the states and picked up the car. I love the look of these cars.”
Stickel spoke to the amount of diversity in the series with his car being a “Troyer by McColl” and, for example, Davey Terry’s being a “Troyer by Hanley”.
“My car has a complete late model front clip so that helps with setup,” Stickel commented. “Only car like it out there. The series definitely has it’s variety.”
The rulebook allows for this to happen and Stickel says it’s all about figuring out the magic combination to beat two-time series champion Gary McLean.
Last year, the Kitchener, Ontario native did pretty solid with his set-up as he brought home the No. 39 MSD Machine Tool/ Shelane Properties/ Huron Fasteners/ Creative Edge Signs & Graphics/Metal Supermarkets/Paragon Collision Centre/MAC Contracting/Bizign Design Company/SpeedwayPhoto.ca Modified sixth in points.
“OSCAAR has the top drivers in the province,” Stickel commented. “Since I was a little kid hanging around the tracks, I remember hanging around these guys. Now I’m racing them.”
Stickel joked that at the Rick Woolner Memorial when he started fourth, he looked behind him and went “Holy Crap” and had to calm down.
Stickel will return to the tour in 2014 as he looks to bring home his first career victory. He came close last year, finishing second in the Chase for the Colors event at Peterborough Speedway.
The young driver will be dealt some new challenges as the series heads to Capital City Speedway for the first time.
“It’s hard to turn down the opportunity to move to other tracks,” Stickel commented. “It’s helped grow the series. But the negative is in the travel. I’m all pro due to growth.”
Stickle started his career at the age of seven in the Waterloo Karting Club and thanks his dad for the success along the way.
“I don’t have a big team – only have a couple friends that help at the track,” he started. “At the shop it’s just us (me and dad) working hard – him more than me. I can’t thank him enough for helping me. Without him, I wouldn’t be here.”
