The past few years, the Can-Am Midget series has been growing. New people taking charge, new volunteers, more sponsorships for supporting the series, and more cars are starting to come on track. 2022 will be no different from that.

We have 3 confirmed new drivers coming up into the club this season who will be battling for Rookie of the Year honours. We sat down with those three drivers, and got to know themselves and their plans for this upcoming season.

First, we have James Stanley. James made a couple of starts for Daniel Hawn and HMCW. He has now acquired one of the HMCW cars on his own to battle it out on track. James is from Orangeville, Ontario. He acquired the #2 car that Dan Hawn and HMCW built last off season. Even though he is running as a rookie with our club, James is no rookie to racing. Stanley has been racing for 9 years. He was the Hurricane Midgets rookie of the year, and with many wins this season, he wrapped up the 2021 championship with the Pro Sprints. To top it all off, he acquired a very prestigious Autumn Colours Classic win in October at Peterborough Speedway. James plans to run full time with the club and run the #57 he is used to running the past few years. We asked him what his goals were for the 2022 rookie season. Stanley responded, “The main goal is to not smash up the car or make any enemies. I want to learn as much as possible and get better each week. I’m hoping to challenge for rookie of the year.”

We have another woman coming to join the club. Bailey Brown is from Colborne, Ontario. She plans to run a part time schedule for car owner Mike Westwood. The car used to be the #83 ran by Brody Rickwood. Brand new chassis is being built by Westwood. The car number is going to be changed to 91. Bailey has won 2 junior heavy karting championships, and she raced legend cars across Ontario for 4 years. When asked about her goals for 2022, Brown responded, “ My goals for 2022 is to learn as much as I can and keep it together. I want to be as clean as possible as no one likes a dirty driver.” A top 10 in my first year would be something I’ll be working towards as well.” She will be just the second woman in our club in recent years racing alongside Dominique Smith.

Last but not least, Andrew Whelan has bought Paul Harrison’s 29 car that Paul used in his rookie season. Andrew plans to run the #5. Whelan has been racing go karts for 15 years. Within that time, he has picked up 3 championships including the Sr. Medium at Waterloo Regional Kart Club. Andrew has also got 2 Oktoberfest Grand Prix wins coming in 2012 and 2021. Andrew’s plan is to race full-time and run the whole schedule. When asked about his goals, he responded, “ My goals for 2022 is to fight for rookie of the year honours, and also to take home some top 5 finishes and a heat win!”
Andrew would like to thank his Mom, Dad, Jeff Kells, Sandy Murdoch, and Brad and Karen Buckler for helping him make the move to the Can Am Midget series.
Those are your three rookie contenders as of right now for the 2022 season. All three drivers are a great addition to the club. All of it’s drivers, crews, officials, and sponsors would like to welcome them with open arms. We will have a great field of rookies to contend for Rookie of the Year!