2010 - a year for some R&R

The Giant Tiger race team will be taking this year off from racing. Possibly a race if Paul gets bored with his new house but as the schedule looks now there is nothing planned.

Back to back races Sept 11-12

The Giant Tiger race team was finishing off the year with a back to back race weekend starting Friday night at Kawartha Speedway and Saturday afternoon in Ottawa. Friday nights races saw Paul finish 4th in the first heat and while running 3rd in heat 2 the car spun in corner 3 with 2 to go. Paul ended up finishing 5th. The car wasn't as good as it has been at Kawartha and the cooler weather had something to do with that. Paul started 6 in the feature and finished 4th. Saturdays race in Ottawa as part of Monster Jam 4 saw the team arrive early at the track to swap gears and get some practice in. Paul started 6th in the first heat and quickly made his way to second following #6 Jeremy Coulter. Paul made his move exiting corner 4 as Jermey's car got a little loose and as Paul went under him , Jeremy's car came back down and both cars spun. On the restart from 7th Paul managed to make his way back to finish 3rd. In the feature Paul started 8th in the 30 lap feature. Early on Paul and #88 Dave Riopelle ran many laps door to door and put on a great show for the fans. Dave eventually got around Paul but later spun after contact with the #20 car of Frank Johnston. Paul followed the #20 car to the checkered flag and finshed the feature 4th. The monster trucks were back again and put on a great show for the fans.

Repairs underway.

Repairs are ongoing from the big crash that happened August 8th in Ottawa. Here are a few pictures of the work in progress.

August 8th Capital City Speedway

The Giant Tiger race team were in Ottawa for a Saturday show with the Ontario Sportsman Series. The car was very fast in practice so we were looking forward to a great night of racing. Paul started 8th in the first heat and at the end of the first lap was already in forth place before a caution came out. On the restart Paul passed one car for third and on lap 4 passed the #21 car for 2nd placed. Inexplicably the #21 car clipped Paul after the pass half way down the backstretch putting the car airborne backwards until in came down hard back first into the wall. Paul was also hit by Brandon Shipman as Brandon had no where to go as Paul was spinning. Hats off to Brandon for putting his own car into the wall to avoid hitting Paul even harder. Brandon's car unfortunately was also done for the evening. Paul was ok but the car was not. This week Paul and the crew have torn apart the car and major work needs to be done to make our next race in Barrie on August 28th. Damage to the car was extensive as the rear clip(frame) was destroyed , the rear end housing, both axles, both trailing arms and shocks. The front clip also has some damage as well as both bumpers and some body work. In the thunder car race , Dan Price and his cool 1955 Pontiac traveled up from the Kawartha area to run in the 50 lap feature but unfortunately got involved in a wreck early on and received some major damage and he could not continue.

July 12th Video from Kawartha

Highlights of all classes.

Another video

Sometime last year .Paul and Johnny Whalen battle in a heat race at Kawartha. Very good quality video.

Cool in car video from #36 Johnny Whalen - June 26th

Kawartha Speedway - June 26th #36 Johnny Whalen in car camera

Mother nature cancels both races this weekend.

Friday night in Kawartha and Saturday night in Mosport both canceled due to rain - what else!

June 12th Kawartha Speedway

The Giant Tiger race team was at Kawartha speedway this past weekend as part of the ACT Summer Sizzler weekend. Hopes were high this weekend after winning 2 of 3 races there just a few weeks earlier. In the first heat Paul started 12th and had to work through traffic in only a 10 lap heat race. Paul finished 6th. That got us a 12th place start for the feature that had 27 cars in it. Paul worked through traffic all race and finished the feature in 3rd place. Another trophy from Kawartha. More video coming soon!

First Ontario Legends Series Feature win at Kawartha Speedway Friday night.

More to come soon! Video from Kawartha Speedway of all classes. Paul's Feature win around the 6:45 mark.

June 13th Capital City Speedway

2 for 2 for the Giant Tiger race team on the big Saturday race at Capital City Speedway as part of the ACT racw weekend. Paul started 3rd in his heat race and took the lead after a nice pass on lap 4 and went on to win the heat. Paul started outside pole for the feature race and fell back to 3rd for a while and tool the lead when the #5 and #88 car touched while battling for the lead. Paul then leading, fought off several restarts including a green/white start on the final lap. The race was red flagged and finished on the last lap when Chad Windsor's #5 car caught the tires at corner one and rolled the car end over end. Chad was OK but the car was a wreck.

May 30th Mosport Speedway

After being rained out 4 of the last 5 visit to Mosport we tried our luck with mother nature again Saturday May 30th. After the first practice we has a short rain storm that caused about an hour delay to dry the track. Paul started 3rd and whent 3 wide on the backstretch on lap 1 to take the lead. Paul led the entire race until the white flag lap ( sound familiar? - see May 8th in Ottawa) when the #36 car of 36 Johnny Whalen made a kamikaze dive into corner one hitting Paul and spinning him out. On the restart Paul managed to pass 6 cars for a 6th place finish. After the 1st heats the skies opened up and put and end to the nights racing - Mother nature wins again.

The new season begins

May 8th, Capital City Speedway. The seasons first race was held Friday May 8th for the Giant Tiger Race team. We had a very successful preseason test a few weeks earlier. Paul started 6th and within 2 laps was leading. Paul stretched the lead out to 7 car lengths before a caution flag came out with 1 lap to go. On the restart Paul got taken out on the backstretch and spun in front of the entire field. Thankfully Paul missed the walls and all of the other competitors as they all had to take some evasive actions. A very disappointing first heat. In the feature Paul started 8th and ended up finishing 3rd with a wounded race car.

Results from the US Dirt Nationals.

Paul qualified really well. He was eighth in time trials, and was running 3rd in his heat, but got really loose trying to pass the first two cars that were side by side for the lead. He crossed up and just about had it saved, but was hit me in the left rear and ended up finishing 5th. After the race it was found that rear diff was busted, so we had to put in a new $600 housing for Saturdays races. Paul started the A-main in 7th, and on lap 5 or 6, tried to pass the two cars ahead of him and got too low and spun out. By the time Paul got through the infield he was a lap down. If he would have taken it easier he could have had a top ten finish, but no...... he had to try and pass. Oh well, we had lots of fun and would do it again, but Paul's not interested in switching to dirt full time. Too messy. This brought another season of great racing to a close. The G.T. team had a number of wins, and quite a few top 3 finishes. Many thanks to Giant Tiger for their support.

Monday October 6th

In a late season twist, Paul will be going to Pennsylvania this coming weekend to race in the Legends Dirt Nationals. He will be driving one of 3 entries from the Brassil Creek Racing Team of Frank Johnston . Frank is a fellow competitor and friend in the Legend series and Paul will be driving the # 7 C coupe Oct 9 th till 11 th at the US Dirt Nationals At Big Diamond Raceway in PA. Will update news from the states next week.

Sept 27th Capital City Speedway

The Giant Tiger race team was in Ottawa for the second Friday night in a row, to close out the regular season of racing. After another last place start in the heat race, Paul once again finished in second spot. The feature race brought a 6th place starting position, and by lap 3 Paul was attempting to pass for the lead. He was very careful to not make contact with the race leader. On lap 7 we made a move to the inside and started to take over the lead, only to have the # 66 car cut down on the straightaway, and Paul could not avoid him or the crash. We had to go to the rear of the field on the restart, and we were able to get back up to third place by the last lap,but ran out of time to move any further. The Giant Tiger team feel they were robbed out of a feature win , but will have to get it back next season.

Sept 19th Capital City Speedway

It was the re-scheduled Canadian Nationals that had been rained out on Sept.6th. We started last in the heat race, and finished second. Then the Giant Tiger car started the 30 lap feature from 4th place.Paul spun out while passing for second place. After starting from last place after the spin, and surviving two direct hits from behind we managed to finish in 2nd place at the end of the feature. We now have a win, a third, and a second in the 3 years that event has run. There was a second feature that night, and Paul was able to come from the second last starting spot to finish 3rd at the end.

Peterborough Speedway Aug 23

After a good run in Kawartha last night the team has travel a few km up the road to Peterborough Speedway. After the first practice we changed the gear in the car and lined up for our first heat. Paul drew pole position for the first heat and managed to stay ahead of the pack for his first Ontario Legends Series heat win. The second heat was a reverse of the 1st and Paul started last and was able to make his way up to 7th place. At intermission the speedway held a Fan Appreciation night and allowed all the fans on the track to get autographs and see all the cars close up. Paul started 6th in the feature race. 10 laps into the race the red flag came out and all cars were stopped on the track while the ambulance tended to someone in the pits. Once the ambulance was back in position the race resumed. 8 laps later a serious accident occurred and the red flag came out again. The #33 car of Paul Peirek spun between corners 3 and 4 , Paul Dejong just missed him as he was directly behind Peirek as he started to spin. Peirek touched the infield and caused a huge cloud of dust and the number #15 car of Rick Cook slammed into the drivers side door of Paul Peirek. The race was red flagged at at that point as they tended to both drivers. It took so long to separate the 2 cars that the tracks 11pm curfew had been exceeded and the race was called at lap 19. Paul finished 6th. Both drivers appeared to escaped any serious injury but Paul Peirek has a hopefully minor leg injury as you see the bars of the drivers door completely collapsed and contacted the seat and pushed it in on him.

Kawartha Speedway Aug 22nd

The Giant Tiger race team was in the Peterborough area for a weekend double header at Kawartha and Peterborough speedways. Friday night we were at the fastest track the Legends run on , Kawartha speedway. Paul drew a 7th starting spot in his 1 and only heat and made his way through the field to finish 2nd. That earned him a 6th place start for the 25 lap feature in which he made his way to 4th place at the end. I good result considering the quality of the field tonight. Tomorrow we will be a Peterborough speedway.

August 9th Capital City Speedway

The Giant Tiger team was back in Ottawa this weekend racing as part of the ACT tour weekend race. As usual, Mother Nature appears to dislike auto racing. Practice and heats were to start at 2pm but a steady rain kept all cars of the track until just after 6pm. That forced the organizers to cancel all heat races and we drew for a starting spot. Paul started 17th of 19 cars. Paul quickly started to move through the field but with a shortened race of only 20 laps there wasn't much time. Paul was running 4th and was right on the bumper of #20 Frank Johnston for 4 or 5 laps. Paul made his move on the white flag lap entering corner 3 and got by Frank , but a couple of lapped cars (deja vu from Barrie)were at the wrong place and the wrong time and caused Frank to have to move high just as Paul was passing him. They touched wheels and Paul spun. Paul was able to get going and finished 12th. A great race to watch but with a disappointing result. Our next race is another double header weekend Aug 22 at Kawartha Speedway and August 23 at Peterborough Speedway.