COMING EVENTS:

TBA

RECENT PHOTOS:

Hitting the pavement

AUTO RACING: Napanee's Chris Raabe is ready to take the next step in his motorsport career

Posted By PATRICK KENNEDY, THE WHIG-STANDARD

Tuesday April 20th, 2010

Next week, racecar driver Chris Raabe, fresh off his first year in engineering at Queen's University, starts a summer job. He hops behind the wheel and goes about painting traffic lines at a blinding 3 km/h -- normal walking speed.

Come the weekend, however, behind the wheel in his part-time job, Raabe works and maneuvers at speeds 50, 60, even 70 times faster than the sloth-like, line-painting unit.

"The school year's almost over and it hasn't been too bad," said the Teenage Tornado who, at 19, will be in the market for a new nickname on his next birthday. "The good side: I get to go home, work on the car and get ready for the weekends."

It's a challenging campaign that awaits the Napanee product. For starters, Raabe defends two track titles (Can-Am Motorsports Park and Thunder Alley Speedpark) and two series championships. He paced the Dirt-car Sportsman class with 19 feature wins in 2009, becoming just the third driver (and youngest ever) to capture consecutive Mr. Dirt crowns.  Inside Track Magazine feted him with the Canadian Dirt Driver of the Year award.

And less one thinks last year's success was a fluke, a one-off, a touch of serendipity, here's his aggregate record over the past two seasons: 42 victories, five track and five series championships.

This summer Raabe will race on both dirt and pavement, with the emphasis squarely on the latter competitions.

He hopes to run in at least two of the 13 races on the NASCAR Canadian Tire series, the first taking place June 5 on the half-mile asphalt oval at Delaware Speedway outside London.

The pre-season target was to run in eight NASCAR races. That's still possible, though at an estimated $15,000 a pop Raabe could use a big-name sponsor.

"Pavement's the future, so we want to get Chris in as many (NASCAR) races as possible," said longtime supporter Garry McColman, whose sponsorship of Raabe began when the latter was a nine-year-old go-kart pilot.

McColman, who made Raabe a partner at age 14 and mentored him on the business side of the sport, relinquished his share of the dirt-car operation this year. Chris and his dad, Mike, have teamed with north country Modified mainstay Perry Francis while McColman, aka Big G to his listeners in radioland, continues to sponsor the pavement car along with local companies Len Corcoran Excavating and Kingston RV Centre.

"There's no other person in the world I'd rather be involved with than Chris," lauded Big G, who still handles marketing and promotion and personally chauffeurs Raabe to and from gigs in his 38-foot motor-home. "He's someone with a special gift, but he's also a guy who possesses strong morals and character and a ton of determination. He's the real deal, just a great, great kid and a very talented driver."

McColman speaks from firsthand knowledge. He's a fan first and foremost, a hopeless diehard who sees the racetrack in the same light Hugh Hefner sees his mansion: a place to indulge in one's preferred craving.

If Raabe is to pursue checkered flags on asphalt, he'll need serious sponsor backing. He can boost his chances of landing some with a strong showing in the upcoming NASCAR races.

"Some people who are interested in Chris will be on hand to watch him race," McColman added, referring to, among others, representatives from the "top three teams" in the country.

McColman, Raabe's financial drive train for the better part of a decade, estimated the annual operating budget for a Dirt car at $60,000 and nearly seven times that amount to run the NASCAR series.

Late last summer, Raabe moved out of the family home in Napanee and into a campus dormitory.

His absence left a void in the close-knit family, which includes twin 16-year-old sisters Jenna and Heather and parents Mike and Lana.

He did, however, leave behind something that would prove invaluable to the impressionable twins and a blessing in disguise for mom and dad -- a template for model behavior.

"Chris always set good examples for us," said Jenna, the oldest sister by four minutes. "He had the marks in school and he was competitive; that's definitely where my sister and I get it." (Like their brother, the twins are active. One plays soccer, the other rugby. Both play rep hockey).

Jenna said her brother's passion for racing is such that "he even dreams about it.

"He'll be dreaming and saying things like 'I'll pass him high on the outside and take him low.' It's hilarious," she said.

Have the demands of first-year university diminished his zeal for auto racing? Not in the least.

"He's still into it, big time," reported Jenna. "Dad picks him up every Friday and they go to the shop and work on the car."

Asked to trace his polite manner, pleasant demeanor and unwavering work ethic, Raabe blamed his folks.

"They're the best role models I know," he said. "They are nonsmokers, non-drinkers, and they taught their kids that school comes first before anything."

A dozen years after he took his first lap in a go-kart, Raabe's goal remains unchanged. He wants to drive professionally, become perhaps the first driver sporting a mechanical engineering degree.

"I'd love to drive for a living and hopefully use my degree as another part of the package that I bring to the table."

Photo Attachment:  Chris Raabe poses for a portrait outside his Queen's University dormitory Monday night. Raabe will race this Friday at the CAN AM Speedway in Lafargeville, NY.  (Photo by Andrew Reimer for The Whig Stand)

____________________________________________________________

Canada’s Largest Retailer of NASCAR Licensed Products to Roll Out Chris Raabe Souvenir Line in 2010

Bruce Sellars, owner of Red Beard’s Sports, and Chris Raabe Racing will unveil a new line of 01 race team products, in the coming weeks. Chris Raabe announced today that the team will be aggressively marketing the Chris Raabe brand along with his sponsors for both his dirt and pavement efforts.

Red Beard’s Sports has retail outlets in Barrie, Kingston, and Belleville, as well as having a mobile retail trailer which attends most NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races in both Ontario and Quebec. The Red Beard’s Sports stores will also sponsor the 01 dirt car and will have their mobile retail trailer at selected dirt races along with other promotional events, during the coming year.

“I am really excited about our new marketing program” announced Chris, “as most teams just have t-shirts available. We need to step our marketing up as we transition to the next level of the sport”.

____________________________________________________________

The 01 Team is Back From Canadian Motorsports Expo

By Harvey Hubb - January 30, 2010

Last weekend was a big one for the Chris Raabe race team.  From set up on Thursday and the Canadian Motorsports Expo show Friday to Sunday, to re-set up at Kingston RV on Monday, there was a lot of work and not much rest and relaxation, but according to Chris Raabe, it was well worth it.

“Our goal was to get some much needed awareness for our race program in Toronto at the Motorsports Expo and that is what I know we got.  A lot of the current NASCAR Canadian Tire Series drivers came to our booth and said they are looking forward to having us in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.  We learned a lot from both the NASCAR series tech guys and the series head man in Brad Moran. They encouraged us to get our team and cars together in time for the series test day in May and that will let us and them know each other in person”.

The team booth was one of the best at the show with Dave and Donny Raabe doing the design and graphics on all the aspects of the booth.  It looked fantastic (check out pictures).

Also, Chris was honored Saturday night with the Inside Track Magazine “Canadian Dirt Driver of the year for 2009”.  Chris beat out Mr. Small Block Pete Bicknell in the voting 41% to 24%.  It was the icing on the cake for “The Teenage Tornado” for 2009 after setting more records for becoming the youngest DIRTcar driver to ever win back-to-back Mr. DIRTcar championships and 10 overall championships in just 2 years.

After packing the dirt and pavement cars up in Toronto, they were brought back to Kingston and put on display at Kingston RV in the cul-de-sac on O’Connor Drive.  You can visit the cars there for the next couple of weeks. Check out the pictures from Toronto.

SPONSORS: