OSCAAR Modifieds
Year-in-Review: 2nd #7 Brent McLean
By Clayton Johns (@cjohnsmedia)
With just one season of open-wheel modified racing under his belt, Brent McLean (#7 Bowmanville Home Building Centre/Pro FX Signs/RN Manufacturing/McLean Farms Chevrolet) proved to be one of the most talented drivers on the inaugural OSCAAR Modified tour. In his sophomore season, McLean was always in contention for a win and rarely finished outside the top-five.
His impressive season started with a third-place finish, behind cousin Gary McLean and veteran modified racer Barry Newman, in the series’ inaugural race at Sunset Speedway.
Looking to build on the momentum two weeks later at Barrie, Brent was collected in a wreck early on in the race, forcing him to a 13th-place finish and his only DNF on the season.
Brent was back in the top-ten on Canada Day at Peterborough Speedway’s Chase for the Colours event with a seventh-place finish.
Brent nearly pulled off his first victory of the season at Sauble Speedway, but had to settle for second when ‘the enforcer’ Steve Smith nailed his car to the bottom grove to steal the win and become the second different victor on the tour.
A week later in the series’ first trip to Varney Speedway Motorplex, Brent’s former home track, he grabbed the lead early on in the 30-lap feature and held off cousin Gary to claim his first OSCAAR feature win. Brent celebrated the victory with an elaborate victory lane celebration, but gave all the credit to a hard working team.
“This is such a team booster. You couldn’t ask for a better team. My dad and a number of guys on this crew, that’s what makes this car go fast,” said the young driver from Conn, ON. “Nobody works harder than these McLeans on these race cars. Week after week, it’s tear down, strip apart, put back together.”
Podium finishes at Delaware and Peterborough in mid-August had McLean in the title hunt just over the half-way hurdle. A seventh-place finish at Delaware to end the month put McLean another half-dozen points behind Uncle Gary entering September, but the highlight of his season was still to come.
At the 2012 edition of Varney Speedway’s famed Rick Woolner Memorial, run for the first time under OSCAAR sanctioning, Brent sat in second place as the white flag flew in the 50-lap event. But when the brake rotors exploded on Davey Terry’s car, taking out race leader Gary McLean in the process, the race lead was handed over to Brent. And with just a green-checkered finish, Brent took home the victory ahead of Uncle Brian McLean, just the fifth different winner in the event’s history.
“I never raced with Rick, but I’ve heard a whole lot of stories about him. This means a whole lot to win the biggest race of the year,” said an ecstatic McLean after jumping on the roof of his Troyer-built machine. “I can’t even describe (the feeling), because I’m still in the shell shock of winning this race.”
The win came as the first of four races in consecutive weekends after a series pushed the season back in to September. Brent finished third at Sunset to cousin Gary and rookie-of-the-year Davey Terry. That was followed-up by a fourth place finish in the series’ only stop at Kawartha Speedway.
In the final event of the year at the Autumn Colours Classic, Brent hoped to return to victory lane at Peterborough as he did in July. Brent and his team game close, but fell one spot short as cousin Gary wrapped up the season with a win. But it was a 1-2-3 McLean podium for the second time in the season as uncle Brian finished third.
“My car was loose. I was driving that car for all I had. But, a McLean 1-2-3, what can you say?” said the young driver from Conn, ON following the final event of the season.
In his sophomore year, McLean ended the season with two wins, second most of any driver on the tour. He earned a total of 11 top-ten finishes (his only finish outside was the DNF at Barrie), including nine top-five finishes. McLean proved himself to be one of the biggest up-and-comers in Ontario racing as his 785 points were good enough for second in the championship standings.
The OSCAAR Modified tour and all its officials would like to congratulate Brent McLean on his 2012 achievements. Brent McLean will receive acknowledgement of his second-place finish at the 2012 OSCAAR awards banquet on Saturday November 24 at the Holiday Inn in Markham, ON.
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