The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Still some gas left in Slaunwhite’s tank
New car gives veteran driver’s career a jump-start
A change in rides has jumpstarted Craig Slaunwhite’s racing career.
The 40-year-old driver was mired in a five-year winless slump and at the crossroads of a pro stock racing career that began in 2008.
As each winless race passed, the doubt grew to point that Slaunwhite questioned whether he wanted to continue full-time on the East Coast International Pro Stock Tour.
“For the last few years I have been racing a car that hasn’t been able to get the job done," the Terence Bay driver said. "I started blaming myself, I guess, for not being able to keep up with these young fellas that have better equipment under them.”
Then fate intervened. Last summer, while Slaunwhite was testing his car on a New Brunswick track, Andrew Hicken, the brother of pro stock driver Jonathan Hicken, asked him to put a few laps on Jonathan’s 2019 Chevrolet Impala Fury chassis.
Slaunwhite said he wasn’t comfortable initially because Hicken’s seat was set up differently than he was accustomed to, but the car ran fast.
“Jonathan has a different body type, so I couldn’t get it to the floor, I couldn’t use the brake well, I couldn’t see well, but I was still three-tenths (of a second) faster than what I was in my car and not comfortable in the driver’s seat," Slaunwhite said.
"The driveability was amazing. All aspects of it were much different than what I had driven. I just knew that if
I was comfortable in that seat, I would be able to make things happen.”
As luck — something that had been in short supply for Slaunwhite — would have it, Jonathan Hicken decided to step back from the pro stock tour and the car went up for sale.
“Coming into the winter, I heard that the car was going to be up for sale. Andrew (Picken) and I were able to put a deal together for me to get that car. It has worked out so well for myself, my team, the sponsors, because we came out of the box this year with confidence.”
With a better-handling car and a confidence boost, Slaunwhite has been running on the lead lap of every tour race this season.
“The car turned our whole program in the right direction we needed it to go,” Slaunwhite said.
PODIUM FINISHES
That direction was a series of podium finishes. The season started with a pair of secondplace finishes, followed by a third and another second.
Slaunwhite knew he was running well, but his five-year winless drought was growing.
It appeared that he might end his dry spell on Aug. 14 in the front end of a doubleheader (Cummins 150) at Scotia Speedworld. He swapped the lead with former point champions Cole Butcher and Dylan Blenkhorn before going ahead with about 20 laps to go. He wasn’t able to hold on, as Butcher bumped him out of the lead to take the win.
“I was pacing myself and I thought that I was going to win the race," Slaunwhite said.
"Then I got punted out of the way by Cole..
“After the Saturday night race, I was so mad at myself for not putting a bigger gap between Cole and myself. I essentially gave him the win. That’s how I felt. I was mad the whole night.”
It was mirror-looking time for Slaunwhite. In his mind, he knew he wouldn’t make that mistake Sunday in the Nova Trucks 150.
“At the end of the day, it was time to hold the checkered flag,” Slaunwhite said. “We were over five years from holding the flag. We had trophies from every race so far. Going into Sunday, I told myself you have to get on the wheel every lap and make this happen.”
It also helped that pit reinforcements arrived to pick up his spirits and do a little work
on the car.
“Andrew Hicken, Cory Hall, the boys from King Racing had just gone to Oxford, Maine, and raced on the Saturday with Cassius Clark and they won down there. So they drove through the night to come and pit with me on Sunday. The boys wanted me to win the race as much as I wanted to win. They knew what it meant for me to get back to victory lane.
“Andrew made a few adjustments on the car from Saturday night that allowed me to pace all the practices. I went out and won the heat race that put me starting outside pole in the feature. Took the lead in lap 1 and never looked back. The day worked out perfectly. I was able to drive off with a straight lead on second place.”