Looking Back

By Dave Mathers

WHITLOCK STILL GOING STRONG

(Above) Dave Whitlock won the 2009 NASCAR season opener, in what was his final season as a racer. The victory came at Montreal’s Autodrome

St-Eustache. Kerry Micks (left) and Ron Beauchamp Jr. (right) finished second and third, respectively, in that race. Photo by Greg MacPherson

Three-time CASCAR Super Series National champion Dave Whitlock graduated from high school in 1984 and immediately went to work for his father’s contracting company. In those days, much of their work was done in Wallaceburg, Ontario. In 1990, Dave and his dad Doug became partners, forming D & D Contracting, a company that Dave still operates today.

In 1987, Dave got the racing bug and began racing a Chevelle in Delaware Speedway’s Street Stock class. I watched Dave run that car and was impressed by how smooth he was on the track compared to most of his competitors.

In 1989, with sponsorship help from Todd Clark at Ron Clark Motors in Wyoming (ON), Dave moved up to the CASCAR division at Delaware, now driving a Thunderbird.

He also began racing in the CASCAR Super Series, where he was quite successful, winning the series championship in 1991, 1997 and 1998. He laments the fact that he never won the Delaware track championship but his other accomplishments more than made up for that.

Along the way, Dave decided, in 1992, to give Tom Curley’s American Canadian Tour (ACT) a shot and did so in a Late Model Thunderbird that I’d sold him the previous year. I supplied Dave with a diesel ‘dually’ crew cab, from Motion, for several years in a sponsorship deal.

Dave experienced success on the ACT circuit and won the famous Milk Bowl (getting to ‘kiss the cow’) at Curley’s Thunder Road Speedway in Barre, Vermont in both 1994 and 1995. He also won the prestigious Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine. That track is a bad-fast 3/8-mile and the Oxford 250 is one of the hardest races to win, outside of NASCAR.

While running the ACT circuit, Dave won the Jean-Paul Cabana Award for most Sportsmanlike Driver in three of the four years. That says a lot.

Moving forward, Dave had gotten into the ‘Rent A Race Car’ business and had as many as four teams running his cars out of the Wyoming shop, at a time. Those cars ran in what is now known as the NASCAR Pinty’s Series. During those ‘rental’ years, he had various drivers including Mark Dilley, Scott Fraser, Bryan Cathcart, Pierre Bourque and Michael Gold.

Unfortunately, Dave was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2006 and the pressure of running his business and the race teams eventually proved to be too much to handle. As a result, he eventually sold off

the cars, haulers and equipment to the Dumoulin brothers, Scott Steckly and Derek White.

Dave retired from driving race cars at the end of the 2009 season. He readily admits that he misses the racing but does not miss all the hours involved with the racing. I’m sure most racers would agree with that statement.

After announcing his retirement at the start of the 2009 season, Dave went out and won the first race of the season, at the flat, 4/10ths-mile Autodrome St. Eustache oval, near Montreal.

On the podium was runner-up Kerry Micks, a long-time rival, who beat on Dave’s back bumper right to the end. Micks said to him, “Whit, you aren’t ready to retire,” which Dave took as the ultimate compliment. I used to call Micks ‘Little Earl’ as he and ‘Big Earl’ Ross were Ford teammates!

Fortunately, Dave did not let the disease slow him down and he actually grew D & D to an even bigger and more successful company. For the last 10 years, D & D has worked for a major corporation in Hamilton, ON that builds commercial malls, strip malls and big box stores.

The company also does renovations for the corporation’s various rental properties. Prior to that, D & D did new builds and renovations for Tim Hortons, back in the 1990s. The amazing fact is that they’ve done all this with almost the same staff of seven that have been there for much of the past 32 years. That’s a tribute to Dave’s (and Doug’s) management skills. Sadly, Doug died at the young age of 61.

Looking ahead a few years to retirement, Dave has built a state-of-the-art home on Lake Huron, just east of Sarnia. There is a 65-foot walkway down to the dock, at the bottom of the cliff. Using the latest technology, the home is built from Insulated Concrete Forming (ICF) and it utilizes geothermal heating. The result is a very green energy-focused home that is kind to the environment.

In addition, he has a huge separate garage, with an amazing ‘man cave’ on the second floor, that is full of trophies, awards, photos, posters and other memorabilia. Also, Dave’s awesome diesel pusher motorhome sits ready to head to the next NASCAR race when time permits.

Dave and wife Corinne, who just celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary, have three daughters and the girls have graced them with two boys and two girls, with a fifth one ‘in the oven.’ And, yes, Grandma and Grandpa are spoiling the grandkids!

Parkinson’s has affected Dave’s speech slightly, but it has not slowed him down. With his positive attitude and support from his loving family, he still works full-time and drives to Hamilton on a regular basis. A true champion, still winning! IT

(Top) Whitlock’s final race took place in September, 2009, at Kawartha

Speedway. Photo by Joe Hamilton (Middle) Whitlock (left) receives a plaque from

his long-time friend and teammate Mark Dilley, prior to the Kawartha finale,

in 2009. Photo by Joe Hamilton (Above) Up until the time of his passing, Dave’s

father, Doug Whitlock, was the other partner in D & D Contracting.

InsideTrackNews.com 57