NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Curtis Bigelow (left) and Jason Woicichowski (right) chase down Jason Hardy in a renegade truck heat on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2019 at Medicine Hat Speedway.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Medicine Hat Speedway is down to one last race day to determine its champions for the season, and there’s still plenty to be decided in the renegade truck class.
Jason Woicichowski entered this weekend’s penultimate race day with a three-point edge over close friend, rival and reigning champion Curtis Bigelow. While neither finished on the podium in Saturday’s main event, Bigelow managed to gain a five-point edge for the top of the standings to set up a wild sprint to the finish.
“It’s been a pretty tight battle,” said Woicichowski, who holds a 14-point lead over Wayne Seaward and Tony Lavigne for second. “It’s a ton of fun. We help each other out all the time, putting the trucks together, getting each other here. It’s a blast racing with him and trying to get in front of him.”
Bigelow has won the renegade truck class three times over the past five years, edging out Woicichowski for the title last season – and he’s not ready to relinquish the crown just yet.
“I’m not going to give him the win or anything,” said Bigelow. “We’re all friends after we get out, but on the track it’s every man for himself. That’s how it goes. We help each other at the shop, we share a set of scales and everything. We share a lot of tools for setting the trucks up and stuff.”
Woicichowski added “it means everything” to be neck-and-neck with Bigelow at such a crucial point of the season, especially after the way his summer ended last year.
“Last year we came in a close second behind him and hopefully we can stay in front of him this year,” said Woicichowski. “It’s finally nice to be able to compete with him and stay in the top of the running.”
Bigelow nearly had his season cut short last weekend in Regina. After traveling to compete at a race alongside Wayne Seaward – who drives the Spiderman truck – Bigelow says he “lost everything from the drive shaft forward.” While it placed his season in jeopardy, he managed to get the truck back on the track with a little help from his friends
“I was going to park it for the rest of the year because I didn’t feel like fixing it. I only had a week,” said Bigelow, adding he had to get a new crate engine from Davis GMC and install it, among other parts, on very short notice. “I was busy. New motor, new tranny, new bell housing, new clutch, new flywheel, new starter.”
Bigelow added it has become increasingly difficult to acquire sponsorships in recent years, so he’s thankful for the ones who do step up to help keep racing alive in Medicine Hat.
“Frontier Signworks, they sponsor my decals … Active Automotive, they give me parts 10 per cent above cost and Brooks Collision, they do some paint and stuff for me,” said Bigelow, adding Davis GMC sponsors the entire renegade truck class. “They give us $1,500 for the class every year. They’re good to us, and they supply parts. They have a Speedway dealership in Davis so you can go there to get racing parts. They’re good to us and we like to be good to them.”
Seaward took Saturday’s main event ahead of Tony Lavigne and Jason Hardy, while Shane Goldie won the hobby stock main event, followed by Trevor Stratton and James Dumont.
Trent Guest took first in the elite street stock, while Ross Statham finished second and Jason Koska took third. Serge Perrault won the rumblebee main event ahead of Dean Wakshinski and Levi Sergeant.
Drivers from all classes return to the Speedway for the season’s final race day on Sept. 7.
