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Clever nicknames have long been a part of motorsports history. Dale Earnhardt was known as ‘The Intimidator’ because of his aggressive driving style. Darrell Waltrip went through the early stages of his career with the handle ‘Jaws’ thanks to the sound bites he constantly fed the media. Nicknames are also present at the short track level. Kawartha Speedway NAPA Auto Parts Late Model driver Ryan Kimball goes by the name of ‘Flyin’ Ryan’. It’s very appropriate, considering how the 26 year-old Norwood, Ontario racer’s career took off in 2009.
“2008, my first season in the late model was a bit of a learning curve,” said the labourer at the Darlington power site in Bowmanville. “We picked-up a car from Mowat Racing during the off-season and stripped it down to the basic frame and cage through the winter. The crew and I wanted to learn as much as we could about the geometry and handling characteristics of how the car would act compared to our limited late model.”

After finishing 6th in 2008 – a year plagued by rain - Kimball’s team went into the off season with a notebook full of set-up information. Proud of what they’d accomplished in their first year in a new division, they again stripped the body from the #16 Trails End/Archer Trucking/ Reaction Sportswear/Energy 99.7/Mayhew Graphics/Benson Auto Parts/E. Carter Concrete/Norwood Auto Care/Boss Roofing/J.J. Stewart Motors/Adrian Media/Heather Wiebe Wedding Photography Dodge and went to work getting things ready for their sophomore voyage. The long hours in the garage paid-off and the car was featured in Kawartha Speedway’s display during the 2009 Peterborough Sportsman Show.

“Norm Mayhew did a great job on the graphics package,” said Kimball. “We had so many compliments on the yellow and black paint scheme and how easy it was to spot the car on the track. With the momentum from 2008 in our back pockets, we felt more confident in what we were doing and it showed in the results we were able to post. The better we ran, the more we learned – about how we did things as a team and about the car.”

After losing much of the previous year’s schedule to the weather, 2009 proved to be just the opposite. While other tracks saw their efforts ‘dampened’ by Mother Nature, Kawartha Speedway was very fortunate. Since there is no alternative for experience, Ryan Kimball would benefit from the increased track time. Even though he finished 8th in points – compared to 6th the year before – Kimball’s total of 590 was much better than the 2008 tally of 437. Before the end of the season, he’d also find his way to the winner’s circle following a late model qualifying heat.

“I was driving the car, but that checkered flag meant a lot. It was as much a win for the team as it was for me,” said Kimball. “We’d worked long and we’d worked hard getting to that point. Some racers might say it was only a heat race win, but where we’re concerned there’s no such word as only. It gave us something we’d been chasing for 2 years and allowed us to focus on a much bigger picture.”

Ryan Kimball is looking forward to Kawartha Speedway’s 10th Anniversary season. The full schedule is available now at www.kawarthaspeedway.com. His NAPA Auto Parts Late Model racer will be featured in the track’s display at the 4th annual Canadian Motorsports Expo (www.canadianmotorsportsexpo.com) – Friday, January 22nd to Sunday, January 24th – at Toronto’s International Centre.

Press Release and Photo By: Jim Clarke – Clarke Motorsports Communications