The man stands six feet tall and pushes the scales at 225 pounds, he smokes close to a pack of cigarettes a day, a beer is fancied every so often, and he enjoys the taste of grease on his hotdogs and hamburgers.
Not the normal credentials for an athlete, but Vic Larson is a race car driver so the norm doesn’t apply to him.
And as the reigning Emo Speedway Modified champ and the 2002 Canadian WISSOTA champion, nobody is questioning his recipe for success.
“I remember sneaking in here when I was little wee guy around 12 or so and I loved to watch the stock car racing,” recalled Larson, explaining how he got involved in racing 35 years later.
This past Saturday, however, there would be no racing at the Emo Speedway as the skies above turned from clear to dark quicker than Donald Trump changes girlfriends.
Larson won the Modified-A (MOD-A) feature the week before in what he considered the best race of his career. Coming into the backstretch after Turn 2, he got spun from behind but roared back from last place to win the race on the final lap.
“It just took patience to win that race. If you get mad, all you’ll do is cause an accident because you’re not focused,” reasoned Larson, who is the current points leader for the WISSOTA Modified class.
“Everything just worked out that day and for me it was as close as I’ve gotten to a perfect race,” he added.
Larson started racing in 1985 and it has become a hobby for the mechanic for Raleigh Falls Timber—and even for his girlfriend of three years, Wendy Field.
“She loves the sport and helps out with that car all the time, but she has a hard time watching and gets very nervous,” Larson noted.
“It’s not that I don’t like it— I love the racing, but it still makes my stomach turn every week,” said Field as she helped load up the truck after driving two-and-a-half hours from Dryden only to see the night’s action cancelled.
How committed is the man to racing? Is buying a 2004 GMC Sierra for the main reason of towing his car commitment enough for you?
“The same reason why people golf is the same reason why I race,” Larson remarked. “I just love it all. The competition, the adrenaline rush, and the people you meet, and there’s so much more.
“And I don’t consider racing a risk,” he added. “I know that lots of stuff can happen. You have to use patience, and you’ve got to drive with your brain and not with your foot.”
Larson is a personable individual with a quick wit and an ever-ready smile. People enjoy his company and he enjoys theirs. He is revered and respected by other drivers, but has a bull’s-eye on his back because of list of credentials.
Credentials that are all proudly placed on a colourful profile card, which are held in the glove compartment of his truck and always ready to be received by an eager hand.
It is bigger than a normal business card because of the room needed to showcase all his career highlights and long list of sponsors.
And if all goes the way it has been for Larson, the only advice he should adhere to is this—get a bigger card because there will be a lot more to fill it with.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
