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Q & A... His Words

As the 2012 season comes to a close we sat down with Wayne Helliwell Jr. and asked him some questions about his accomplishments this year. As you begin to look at the overall statistics of his racing season you start to run out ways to describe what he and the two race teams he drives for have done. Between both the Bruce Bernhardt Motorsports Ekeys-4-Cars, Unique Ford Fusion late model and the Ed and Bobby Witkum owned Scherbon Consolidated 350 supermodified teams Helliwell compiled stats that are something out of a fictional story.

In 50 starts he was running at the end of 47 of them. Three DNF’s sidelined him on the year; one with the late model and two with the small block super. All three coming by way of some type of radiator issue. His lone finish outside the top ten and worst finish of the year in races he was running at the finish of, was a 13th in Canada. Helliwell finished on the lead lap in every event he was running at the completion of. Compiling 46 top 10’s, 40 top 5’s and 22 victories on the season. That’s means he visited victory lane 44% of the time he pulled on the track; in 50 starts...

That consistency netting him four separate championships, one runner finish and a top 15 in the nation among the series and tracks he competed with in 2012.

Helliwell took the top honors in the American Canadian Tour series, the NASCAR Whelen All-American New Hampshire state standings, the Canaan Fair Speedway late model championship, the Ford Blue Oval Cup Challenge, a second place in points in Lee USA Speedway’s small block supermodifed division and a 14th place overall finish in the national NASCAR Whelen series points.

I sat down for some Q & A with the champion to hear his reflection on the 2012 racing season and what’s ahead for next year.

Q: Have you actually taken a step back and looked at what you've accomplished this year? I don’t think I’m overstating things when I say you had one of the greatest seasons of not only your career but of anyone in short track racing this year.

A: I really haven't. I don't think about it unless someone asks me or congratulates me. It hasn't sunk in yet at all. To think back to where Bruce and I started with a street stock in 2008 and to get here is just unimaginable. Same thing with the super; really just our second year running it. We set goals each year and have somehow been able to accomplish them. Sometimes you set goals and think there’s no way we can do that… Never in my dreams did I think we could have had a year like this.

Q: What does it mean to you to accomplish what you did this year in a chassis you built?

A: I don’t know how to answer that? I don’t see myself as a car builder… Not in the sense of car builders like Distance or some of the others. We've built our own stuff for so long I don’t know anything else. It is great to compete at a level like the ACT Tour and know it’s your stuff.

Q: Any thoughts on expanding the chassis business?

A: There are couple others cars out there but we don’t have plans to build more. We've been asked but nothing right now.

Q: You raced 50 times this year of which 34 of those races were with the late model, why race so much?

A: First and foremost we support promoters and racetracks that put themselves out there for people to race at. If we the racer don’t support them we won’t have anywhere to race. Times are tough right now and weekly tracks are struggling. So if a promoter is willing to take the chance like Riverside Speedway did for our sport, we’re going to support them back. We operate our overall program by racing week in and week out; some teams support their programs by only running ACT races. Everyone looks at it differently and for us we race.
But even more than that we build our own cars; people like Jeff Taylor or Crazy Horse [Racing] have cars running everywhere. They have access to feedback and a much bigger knowledge base to try new things. We have none of that; if we don’t test or race and try to think outside the box we will be left behind. We race better on say ACT races when we go and run weekly or just race any available open dates. Sure you can work on your cars for weeks at the shop, but if you don’t go out and apply or try new things before you get to an ACT race in my opinion you’re wasting your time on race day. You have limited practice time to try setups during those races. So we go to every race we can to try new things beforehand.

Q: So you use some weekly races as test sessions for larger races?

A: Basically yes... We love to race, but in the bigger picture you can’t simulate racing when you test. I know the extra races made us better this year. Funny enough when we did test it became a joke because we would go test with one car and end up bringing a different car to the actual race. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn't…

Q: Can you point to one thing that improved your program this year over years past?

A: One of the biggest things I think is not going tracks for the first time. More than half of the schedule from 2011 was at tracks I had never seen before. So being able to go back and have some idea of what we needed was a big help. Our big track program has really improved, Loudon and Sanair etc… We are much better on large flat tracks this year. Yet I can’t tell you why… We just keep working at it.

Q: As far as the overall team and the cars, what has been the difference?

A: I really don’t know… We didn't do anything different this year than years past. It’s not like we bought a bunch of fancy new parts or built a new car over the winter. We just worked on our cars and made sure everything was where it should be week in and week out. Really it comes down to racing; I've learned more in the last two years of racing than I have in my whole career and we've just applied that to the cars. There is no real secret here, just work on your stuff.

Q: What’s your feeling on this ACT vs. PASS battle brewing in New England racing?

A: I think it sucks. Racing in New England is already in a tough situation without any kind of bad blood between anyone. Our program is with ACT type cars right now and we will stay with that. But we enjoy running as a Pro Stock and have had some success with it. I just hope in the long run it’s a wash and doesn't affect either series.

Q: Where will you be on July 21st 2013?
A: On a ferry headed to New York.

Q: So with plans to race at Airborne Speedway that weekend, what does it mean to miss the Oxford 250?

A: If I had to pick any track to race at, the last place would be Oxford Plains Speedway. With that said… You really can’t put into words as to what it means to just make the 250. I've spent most of my career not making that race and I look at Oxford as my worst track… But the first time I made the show it was like Christmas when you’re kid. Growing up in New England there is nothing bigger than the Oxford 250. It’s disappointing with all the history and tradition to not be racing in it. I finally halfway figured out how to get around the place and they go and change it.

Q: What are the plans for 2013?

A: We will run the American side of the tour and maybe some additional races in Canada. Past that we will wait for schedules to come out before making a decision on what if any weekly tracks we are going to run.

Q: What are your thoughts on a potential expanded ACT series schedule in 2013?

A: I think it’s great, I wish we had 25 points races a year. I know that won’t happen; but to have maybe 13-15 points’ races with 3-4 non-points bigger events is great. We are looking forward to getting into southern New England and wish we would go further south.

Q: Is that way you went to Waterford Speedbowl; because of the possibility of an ACT race there in 2013?

A: Really we just went to race… We had planned to run the first race of the year but the weather messed it up, so we wanted to go and be a part of the final race. Plus we had an open Saturday and were ready for Vermont. If ACT ends up going there next year than great, it means we got a small test in with some of our newer stuff. But really it was just to race and have some fun.

Q: Are you planning on running the NASCAR “Battle at Beach” late model event at Daytona in February?

A: We’re not sure yet… We would like too but the rules package is not friendly to the type of cars we are running. We would basically have to rebuild the whole car to be competitive. It’s something we are talking to NASCAR about. We will see…

Q: Can you talk about the sacrifices that take place to compete 50 times a year for championships?

A: Really it’s tough to put into words what our families go through. I mean we are at the garage four nights a week and at the races the rest of the weekend. Without the support of my wife and kids we couldn't do it. It was actually Jill’s idea to pursue all this racing this year. It’s not just my family, but everyone’s on the both crews as well. People own their own businesses live 2-3 hours from the shop and races. They dedicate their personal time for the bigger picture. They spend their own money take their own campers hours away to help us. Bruce has to close his own business to go racing. Without the efforts and sacrifices we couldn't do any of this. I can’t thank everyone enough for what they put into this year.

I have thank all of the car owners, crew members, and sponsors for making 2012 a huge success.

Wayne and Bruce would like to thank the following partners for their help in making 2012 an overwhelming success. - EKeys-4-Cars / Unique Ford / Bernhardt Automotive / A Handy Company / DTB Tax / C&M Distributing / Carbonneau Insulation Co / Hillside Country Store / IICCEEE / Ford Racing / Schoenfeld Headers / Sunoco Race Fuels / The Brake Man / Joes Racing Products

Our 2012 Proud SBS Partners ~ Scherbon Consolidated Inc / Locke Crane Service / Westford Glass / Witkum Flooring / Harrington Brothers Paving

Follow Wayne:
https://www.waynehelliwelljr.com

https://www.facebook.com/WayneHelliwellJr

https://twitter.com/#!/WayneHelliwell

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