Mission Accomplished
Early in the 2009 Delaware Speedway Super Stock season the championship battle was a wild affair as Jason Lidster, Darrell Lake, Jeremy Reid, and Brad Clarke were all in the thick of the championship chase. In the meantime, multi-time defending division champion Ray Morneau was struggling, and would bow out of a full-season commitment, leaving the battle for the crown wide open.
With a string of consistent finishes, Jason Lidster was able to capture that championship, as he raced his way to four wins, four second-place finishes, and just two results outside the top-four, and claiming the crown by 19 markers over Lake.
On any given Friday night competition at the Super Stock level is phenomenal, and Lidster spoke about the depth of the competition. "There were eight different winners last year in addition to ourselves, and I'm not saying that we couldn't have beat Morneau, but he would have made it much tougher." Jason was also quick to pay homage to the driver that's owned the division for the past several season, "It also sounds like he's coming back, so that's better for everyone because he's a good racer."
The 34-year old, whose first lap at Delaware was in a truck five years ago, and spoke about the big gains that his team was able to make in 2009, leaping the team from a contender to champion, explaining. "The big key behind the scene was my crew chief Kevin Bolt. He hit on giving me what I needed. For example, he has always used a setup with stiffer springs and a small sway bar, but it seemed like softer springs and a smaller bar seemed to work for me. Kevin and I worked on it, and it seemed to allow us to make that step forward. The biggest thing you have to do when you're running that kind of setup is to not overdrive the car, because that makes it push in the corners."
Despite being buddies with both Jason Hathaway and D.J. Kennington throughout high school, Lidster didn't catch the racing bug until much later. "I started dating my wife Belinda, and her dad, now my father-in-law, Frank Sworik was right into it. I started helping him out at the shop when Belinda and I started dating, but I didn't even go to the track. I just enjoyed working around the shop. The first time I came out to watch, it was like �wow, this is cool, and it's something that I would like to try'. I couldn't justify spending the money it would take to get started, so we went the truck route just to make sure that I liked it. Frank was very supportive during our first year, but we didn't take it too seriously. It was shortly after that I got hooked up with Kevin."
The highlight of the Super Stock calendar was Saturday June 6th as the undercards to the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series event at Delaware, and Lidster was on his game. He blitzed the field to capture the win, and started his run at a championship. The division is littered with drivers that are all at different points in their careers. "You have guys like Darrell Lake and Andrew Perkins who have been racing since they were kids, and then Jim Maris who sat out for quite a while [over 10 years], and then a guy like Scott Nagy who has been running the division for a long time. It's really a great bunch of guys to race with, and very competitive."
As for Lidster's racing future, he confirmed that he will be back in his familiar number 11 in 2010, and his ride will be on display at the CPT Racing Experience in January at the Agriplex Building at the Western Fairgrounds, but advancements up the racing ladder aren't out of the question. "Right now the Super Stock is something that isn't out of the realm of what a person can afford. It would take a big financial commitment and a lot of support to go Late Model racing. While I would like to do it, racing at the level we're at is still fine with me. I'm only a half hour from the track, and with the way my work goes, I don't think I could take off on weekends and travel three or four hours to race."
Lidster is backed by Elgin Travel and Cruises, St. Thomas Midas, Yarmouth Metal Fabrication, Ray Gallagher's NAPA Auto Parts, and London Drive Systems. In addition to Bolt and Sworik the crew consists of Jason's dad Ron, Mike Renno who just wrapped up his freshman tour with the team, and Trevor Smith who is just 13 years old. Lister spoke about his crew, "We have a great group of guys, and we usually work on the car a few nights a week. Kevin handles the front end suspension, and I usually end up doing a lot of the bolt checks and body work." Lidster takes the appearance of his car very seriously. "I like to have a good looking car every Friday night."
But nothing makes a car look better then a black and white checkered flag.