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Curtis Gartly

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Curtis is married with 3 daughters who support all of his hobby adventures.  Curtis has been racing at Wonderland Speedway since 1992 and has enjoyed every minute of it.  Follow this year to get his view on each week!

Many thanks to the sponsors of the #45

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2008 Season Results

June 27th
 
With all of the changes to the car over the week it was a mystery how the car was going to work.  In the heat we started up front because of the points deal and I was quickly passed by #36 of Casey Cox.  A few laps later though Casey broke and I reassumed the lead and brought home the win.  Tough luck for Casey, if the car stays together he is going to be tough to catch let alone pass!  Then because we won the heat we had to run  the dash with the micros.  Looked like fun, but I was not going to get too crazy.  Starting last, I moved up a couple spots and Brook never made a mistake for me to get by, but wow ... people really think that I should have blasted past the micros and took off.  Hmm, same motor & 150lbs heavier???  But, all in all the race was fun, on to the feature!  Again the points deal had us starting outside pole beside the #81 of Shane Butler and we had a very even start at the wave of the green.  I was able to power through turn 1 & 2 to get by Shane and tried to run good laps to get away and then the first caution came out.  The #1 of Holly Porter coasted up beside me to let me know she was behind me and I knew the race was on.  Out came the green and I ran as hard as the orange crate could and I was told it was a fun to watch, Kyle Watters joined the mix later to add even more action.  At the wave of the checkers we got the feature win and were able to hold off the white terror of 1 & 91.  Next Friday is my favorite race of the year, the Bill Davis 75 lapper.  We will be starting near the back so it should be fun, see you there!

June 20th
 
Well, the tires finally came in and we had them on the car for the night and the fun began!!!  I had more stagger than I was hoping for, but we will have to work with what we have got.  In warm ups the car was really loose and I made some changes for the heat race and was better.  I think I finished 2nd in the heat, but more changes were in store.  In the feature the car was still loose, but we finished 3rd behind two very fast white cars the 91 of Kyle Watters and the 1 of Holly Porter.  Funny how things work out, I gave the 1 crew some tips for the feature and then couldn't keep up to her...hmm.  Glad to see both of them have a good night after what they both went through in the rain out feature earlier in the night.  Well, more changes for next week to try to be faster, see you there!  P.S. I took some pictures in the rain out features, check them out on the link for more pictures at Wonderland in the photos section of the website.

June 6th
 
Well, no tires again!  So the slicks stayed on and we went out to have a great night of racing, well ok would be a better way of putting it.  In the heat the track was very very moist on the back straight and wow, I went no where fast.  I tried hard to get past the 81 of Shane Butler, but had no luck so we had to run the "B".  In the "B" I was in the lead and catching up to the back of the pack when I had to check up a bit and the 37 of Sean Paul wizzed past me like I was a stopped school bus.  I was trying to somewhat stay with him when my motor began to miss which resulted in me pulling off.  We rejetted the motor with the help of motor guru Charles Forgues and went out for the feature.  I tried some changes to the car and was not all that happy with it, but had gangs of fun racing back and forth with Hugh Smibert.  The 45 will asleep for next week's racing, but will return on the 20th, hopefully with some treaded tires. See you then!

May 30th:
 
The first night is finally here and I was ready to get out and have some fun, but there was one small problem.  My treaded tire that I had bought was absolutely huge and I had sold it and ordered another one and you guessed it, it didn't come in.  But anyways, I put the slicks on the car and headed out and in the heat we ran ok.  The track was pretty heavy and of course the guys who were running the treadies were getting used to them, so a second place finish in the heat to Matt Wells was great.  Then the feature came along and the track was a little drier and wow, the treaded guys took off.  I quickly made my way to the rear of the field and watched as the treadies appeared to ride off in the sunset.  But with lots of effort, I made my way back up to I think 6th and had fun racing with everyone.  Hopefully the I can get a tire soon, see you at the races next Friday. 

The History of the #45

1992 Gartek 1 with Rockwell engine
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First year of racing saw many spins and crashes.  All in all the best finish for the season was 6th in the midseason race. 

1993 Gartek 1 with Rockwell engine
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1993 saw the first heat race win for the #45.  Gartly racing also started racing at Wilton Grove Speedway and finished outside the top 5 on many occasions.  Curtis won Most Improved Driver.

1994 Gartek 1 with Rockwell engine
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1994 brought the 2nd heat win for the 45 and the 1st feature win.  Wonderland Speedway's Classic was won by 6 inches and what a finish it was.

1995 Corba with Kawasaki engine
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The #45 was updated to a manufactured chassis to try to be faster.  This season was full of bad luck but, #45 had 4 heat wins, 2 "B" feature wins and 1 "A" main win.

1996 Ling with Yamaha engine
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Ron and Mike Ling built a new car for this season.  The #45 ran at both dirt track and went to the new Grand Bend Micro Speedway to try their luck on ashphalt.  7 heat wins and not having to run any "B" features were the successes for this season.

1997 Ling with a Yamaha engine
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The #45 ran solely at Grand Bend for the regular season and lead the points for most of the year.  2 heat wins and 1 feature win on the hard stuff.  In the Octoberfest race at Wilton Grove the #45 finished 5th in both twin 75's.  Curtis won Most Sportsmanlike Driver.

1998 Gartek 2 with Yamaha engine
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The birth of the Gartek 2 brought speed and a car to beat.  The only problem was that the #45 had trouble finishing.  Many wrecks and failures plagued this season but, the #45 still won 6 heats and turned lap times under 10 seconds.

1999 Gartek 2 with Yamaha engine
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The Gartek 2 redeemed itself this season with 4 heat wins and 1 feature win before midseason at Grand Bend.  The #45 returned to dirt after this with the Ling chassis and were way behind the rest of the class.

Sorry, no pictures for 2000.  This season saw the transition from Gartek chassis to a MKS chassis at mid-season.  With this change the #45 improved greatly and became competitive again.  3 heat wins and 2 "A" feature wins capped off 2000.

2001 MKS chassic with Suzuki engine
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The 2001 season was one that Gartly Racing is proud of.  7 heat wins, 1 feature win and the first points championship for the #45. 

2002 Gartek 3 with Suzuki engine
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This first Outlaw every built by Gartek Fabricating was a major experiment.  This version of the #45 was fast and unpredictable and won 13 heat races, 1 "B" feature and 5 "A" features.  If the car was ready for the start of the season it could have been in the points race.

2003 Gartek 4 with Suzuki engine
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The 2003 season saw a great battle between Mark Watson and Curtis throughout the season.  The #45 had great success with 3 heat wins, 1 "B" feature win and 5 "A" feature wins.  The #45 missed a week of racing for Andrew's wedding but, ended up winning the Points Championship.  Curtis won Fan Favourite Driver.

2004 MKS with Suzuki engine
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2004 saw the #45 switch to an MKS chassis once again.  Successes for the season were 2 heat wins, 2 "B" feature wins, 1 "A" feature win and 2nd place in the Points Championship.

2005 Gartek 4 with Suzuki engine
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The #45 returned to a the 2003 Gartek 4 chassis and Curtis loved to be back in the seat of his favourite chassis.  5 heat wins, 2 "B" feature wins and 2 "A" feature wins were highlights for the season. 

2006 Gartek 5 with Suzuki engine
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A year of breakages, crashes and lots of bad luck filled the 2005 season for the #45.  The experimental Gartek 5 turned out to be not as good as the Gartek 4 on the dirt but, Gartly racing pushed through this horrible year.  2 heat wins, 2 "B" features and 1 "A" feature were the highlights but, only finishing 6 features was saddening.

2007 Gartek with Suzuki
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Drive line troubles were the plague of the 2006 season.  One feature win and a couple of heat wins were the highlights for this year with a 4th place finish in the points

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