This lady was no Sunday driver

by C. Scott Holland

At Checker Flag Speedway on Saturday nights, back in 1987, car number 31 was bumping drivers in the Thumper Division.

That driver was Bonnie Dominey of Mersea Township, who back then, was working part-time at Leamington District Memorial Hospital. Her wages helped make car payments for her street car, and as she said, “It keeps my big, blue, old Chev in running condition for the track.”

Of course, we are talking about car racing and Bonnie was no Sunday driver.

She began racing in May 1987, against men who had been racing for four or five years. And she was beating some of those fellows.

By September of that year, Dominey was ranked 14th of the 35 regular drivers. She had finished second once and third four times.

She said, “It’s supposed to be a poor man’s division, but I haven’t seen that being true.”

Bonnie Dominey with the car she raced at Checker Flag Speedway in 1987.

(Photo from the Scott Holland collection)

In fact by that time, she had spent between $3,000 and $4,000 just on her car. Initially she and her dad, Len Dominey, were spending most nights working on the vehicle. Len did most of the repairs while teaching Bonnie auto mechanics.

The entry fee was $50 per race and that was all for a $100 purse.

Len was her lone pit worker while the others usually had three or four. “I hit the wall once,” she said, “And had to put a new engine in.”

Proudly, Len championed his only child, and more so since she raced with only the one car.

Bonnie learned to drive as an 11-yearold out on the Lake Erie ice in an old Jeep. Eventually she got her Class A and M driver’s licenses. “I’ve always loved fast cars and trucks,” she said before adding, “And I’d always wanted to race.” Up until May it had been all talk, but the year prior her dad told her, “Quit talking and just do it.”

She was scared at first, but was eventually accepted by the other drivers and often she’d get help from other pit crews or drivers. She was learning and improving with each race ,and as she noted, “It’s great. Everyone is really friendly. We’re all competitive, but everyone tries to help each other out.”

Before racing, she was a seatbelt advocate, but after racing a few times, she was even more convinced that everyone should wear seatbelts.

A typical night of racing for Dominey involved a heat, a pursuit race and a feature race. Only the feature had a purse. There were no caution flags — only a green and a red flag — and the one she dreamt about — the checker flag being waved over her car.