Tom’s father George has been involved in racing in the Niagara Region since the early 1970’s. George’s interest in racing was sparked from his background in welding and fabrication. George has built several race cars from scratch, including Tom’s first go-karts in the early 80’s. With his father by his side, young Tom enjoyed a very successful career in karting which began at age seven. Tom won approximately two hundred feature events in karts before moving up to stock cars when he turned sixteen.
1992 was Tom’s first year competing at Merrittville Speedway in the DIRT Sportsman division. Tom made history by winning in only his second feature start. Tom went on to win another feature event in 1992 and became the Rookie of the Year in the Sportsman division. It was obvious that Tom could handle the move from a nine horsepower go-kart to a three hundred horsepower stock car.
In 1993 Tom, along with his father, and younger brother Jim as Crew Chief, had great success competing at Merrittville, Ransomville and Humberstone Speedways. They racked up many top five finishes and a sixth place overall in the Sportsman Division points chase at Merrittville. The highlight of 1993 was the final race at Ransomville Speedway. The 50 lap DIRT Sportsman Tour race saw Tom come from qualifying near the back of the field of over sixty competitors to challenging for third place at the checkered flag.
Tom then moved on to the DIRT Modified division, showing that he could handle the five hundred horsepower cars, before moving up again to his most desired race car - the Sprint Car. Tom raced part time in Sprints from 1996-1998, and travelled with established racers such as Phil Mott and Craig Keel, learning the ins and outs of the division.
1999 was a breakout season for Tom as he took three Sprint Car feature wins, the biggest one being the inaugural Canadian Sprint Car Championship event at Ohsweken Speedway. The event has since grown into a must-see event with over seventy race teams attending from all parts of Canada and the United States.
A lack of funding parked the team after the 1999 season unfortunately, and then Tom spent three and a half years working in Finland, living in Helsinki and learning the language of his father’s homeland. Tom also raced competitively in Finland during the summer of 2004 with the 120 cc Fossil Karting series.
After Tom’s return from Finland, he tried some more road racing, this time in a F1200 Formula race car at Mosport, and enjoyed the experience, especially thanks to Bill Vallis and Vallis Motorsports.
Tom also resumed Sprint car racing in 2005 at local tracks such as Ohsweken, Humberstone, and Merrittville.
Tom once again found victory lane in 2007. Racing bi-weekly at Humberstone Speedway, Tom chalked up two wins and finished second overall in championship points, just twelve points out of first.
In 2008, Tom assumed a different role in his racing career - car owner as well as driver. Tom enlisted the driving talent of long time local racer Rob Ledingham to pilot his car while, building a second car to drive on a limited schedule. Tom and Rob both competed mainly at the Ohsweken and Humberstone Speedways, but a number of mechanical and engine problems throughout the season made finding victory lane difficult.
Tom was hired by legendary driver Fred Cade, owner of the Best Western Cairn Croft Hotel in Niagara Falls, to drive the #12c Sprint Car in 2009. With this ride, Tom found victory lane six times, including the Summer Nationals at Ohsweken Speedway against some of the best sprint car drivers from both Canada and the United States.
Tom and Fred ended the 2009 season as champions of the Corr/Pak Merchandising Sprint Car division at Ohsweken Speedway and look forward to defending their title in 2010!
