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ADAM WEST:
'BATMAN RETURNS'
By Tommy Goudge - Southern Ontario Sprints.com
After winning the 2005 Southern Ontario Sprints championship, Adam West chose not to run for points during the next two seasons, but this year the 29 year old Ridgetown, Ontario driver and his familiar black and silver #30 will be back full time, gunning for a second tour championship. West, a mechanical engineer by trade, was still a frequent visitor to SOS events in 2006 and 2007, and in fact is one of only two drivers who won at least one SOS feature in each of the last three seasons.
Despite the feature wins, Adam is unhappy with his results over the past two years, particularly with two events at the Brighton Speedway last season in which he was involved in crashes and did not finish. A crash on July 7 last season at Brighton ended a streak of more than 3 full seasons during which Adam had been running at the end of every SOS feature he had competed in. In fact he had not failed to finish an SOS race due to crash damage since 2001.
Consistency has always been a hallmark of Adam’s driving style and was the key to his championship season in 2005, when he took home 2 feature wins, 11 “top 5’s”, and 14 “top 10’s” out of 15 races. “The main goal for 2008 is to get back to running consistently in the top 5,” says Adam. “If I can run in the top 5 most nights, then I'll have a shot to win, and the points will take care of themselves.”
One moment Adam is proud of from last season is his feature win at South Buxton on August 4: “The one highlight that did stand out from 07 was winning South Buxton,” says Adam. “It was really cool to win so close to home with lots of family, friends and sponsors in the crowd. And the win was nice because I've always felt like I've struggled to find the right line and the right setup to be really fast (at South Buxton), but the car was pretty close to perfect that night.”
Racing has always been a family affair for the West clan, and that will not change in 2008. Father Jerry will again serve as crew chief as he has done since Adam’s racing career began back in 1992, while mother Kathy will do a lot of “behind the scenes” work. Adam’s girlfriend Andrea is also very much involved with the team as she helps out with maintenance on the car during the week, keeps Adam organized on race nights, and fills in with various volunteer jobs with the SOS club when needed. For the 4th year in a row, the team also has the help of Neil McKay, who travels to all the races and works with Adam and Jerry to perform all the tasks that go into keeping the #30 on track and running up front.
Adam and the team also have the support of One Stop Auto Parts (Ridgetown, Ontario), a sponsor which has been with the team since pretty much the beginning of Adam’s sprint car career. www.ImageFactor.ca is also back to support the #30 for a 4th year in a row and will be presenting an updated www.AdamWest.ca within the next few weeks, complete with more blogs and behind the scenes news and information. John Gibbons Pre-Owned Vehicles (www.JohnGibbons.ca) are also back for a second year, and hope to have the #30 sprinter on display in their showroom once or twice throughout the season. Valvoline and Wix Filters will also provide support to the team, who are always some of the sharpest-dressed crew members in the SOS pit area thanks to DB Embroidery.
On top of the SOS schedule, Adam and the team also plan to compete in selected Friday night events at Ohsweken Speedway in preparation for September’s Canadian Sprint Car Nationals, as well as the new event for 360 sprint cars at Eldora, scheduled in October. Adam would also love the chance to return to Iowa’s famous Knoxville Raceway where he competed on a weekly basis in 2003 as the Canadian representative from the Knoxville International Driver Development (KIDD) program, but that may have to wait for another season.
Visit www.SouthernOntarioSprints.com for more news and information about the upcoming SOS season, which begins on Saturday, May 10 at Brighton Speedway in Brighton, Ontario. 2008 marks the 13th year of operation for the Southern Ontario Sprints, brought to you this season by Pennzoil, Grisdale Racing Products, Leaf Racewear, Wiseco Piston, Kenetic Photos, and www.ImageFactor.ca
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