LOOKING BACK STEVE ROBBLEE

By Dave Mathers

champion. This allowed him to attend one of the banquets down south in ‘stock car country,’ a wonderful recognition.

Steve has also won the Labour Day weekend race, known as either the McKerlie-Millen 200/250 or the Great Canadian Race, three times, a major feat of its own. Over his career, he won more than 200 feature races. Quite a legacy and a record that will probably never be matched or exceeded.

Beginning with the 1995 season, Steve hooked up with local businessman Gerry Findlay. That partnership flourished and continued until Steve retired in 2011, saying that he wanted to help his young twin boys get into racing.

For this Looking Back column, I’m going to look way back to the ‘60s! A man named Vic Robblee, from London, Ontario, built and raced Super Modifieds at Delaware Speedway, Nilestown Speedway and other area tracks.

He didn’t have all the ‘trick’ stuff that the top racers had, but his home-built cars were quite successful. I remember his No. 3 car, built with what looked like corrugated metal siding. It was nicknamed the ‘Boiler Plate Special!’ Asked why he didn’t drive his own car, he jokingly replied that, “everybody else is faster than me.”

Vic had an unfortunate incident with a driver in one of his cars and, as a result, he told his son Steve not to get into stock car racing. Thankfully, Steve didn’t listen. Steve’s mother also didn’t want him to race, and never saw him race.

Vic, however, saw almost every one of Steve’s races. He used to sit in the stands, right in front of the tower at Delaware, and he would walk by me every night heading to the washrooms. My “Vic, where ya going?” line became a long-running joke for years, and he always responded with that great smile and a wave. Now that I’m 80 years old, I fully and completely understand where he was going!

Vic was the manager of the local Canadian

Liquid Air outlet and Steve followed him there, working in the service division of the company. Steve is now retired and spends time working on his son Matt’s race car.

But getting back to Steve, defying his father, he started racing a Street Stocker in 1979, interestingly with his dad’s No. 3, and ran it until 1986. That was the year that I returned from Toronto to buy Motion Lincoln Mercury and reconnected with Delaware. I noticed this young man doing a great job in a Street Stocker. Then saw his last name. I was intrigued.

Steve Moved Up To Cascar

In 1987, Steve hooked up with Dave ‘Gus’ Alexander and moved up to CASCAR. The dynasty began! I helped them out for a few years, once with a Cougar body, among other things. I had no problem having Motion on the side of a GM car at the start, even though I got a lot of ribbing.

Steve became the man to beat at Delaware, winning nine track championships, as well as two CASCAR Super Series championships. In addition, he won four of the newly created CASCAR Sportsman Series titles and two Lucas Oil Sportsman Series championships.

One of his biggest prizes was becoming the 2009 Canadian NASCAR Hometrack

The boys began racing at Hughie Smibert’s Wonderland Speedway, south of London, a tight little dirt track that featured Micro Sprints and karts. Son Matt moved on from there and began racing in Delaware’s popular Truck division in 2006.

He then advanced to the Ontario Sportsman Series, for what are basically former CASCARs, where he raced for five years. In 2019, Matt moved up to Delaware’s Late Model division, where he has raced fairly successfully for the past five years.

Each race night, you can still find the Robblee crew at the end of pit road, working on the car. A bunch of familiar faces are always found there, including Alexander and John Johnston, Steve’s long-time successful crew chief. Findlay also makes the occasional cameo appearance.

When Steve got married to his second wife, Tracey, he joined up with another racing family, the Hryniuks, from Windsor, Ontario. Her brother Mike was a longtime stalwart in the CASCAR Series. I had nicknamed Mike ‘Hollywood’ years ago, as he was definitely one to stand out in a crowd and was (and still is) a great entertainer.

Mike’s son, Michael Jr., is a standout in the Ontario Sportsman Series. Mike still hops behind-the-wheel of various race cars these days! And in an example of ‘Six Degrees of Separation,’ it turns out that my grandson David Mathers, a rookie racer in the Modified ranks, is dating Tracey’s second cousin Bella.

It was my distinct pleasure to have my nomination of Steve be successful in getting him inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, in the Class of 2020. There are very few in the Hall more qualified than Steve to be members. A good guy, quiet and well-respected by all his competitors over the years. IT

By Mary Bignotti-Mendez