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- Racing has always been a family sport no matter what level
one speaks of. This is the case for New Castle’s Gary McCann.
McCann grew up watching his uncle, Bob, race. Bob still races
today in the e-mod division at Hickory and Sharon speedways.
Gary’s mother, Patty, also competes as one of the few female
racers at Hickory and Sharon speedways in the stock car division.
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- Gary got his start when he bought an e-mod in 1994 and raced
it for a two years scoring a couple wins. In 1997, McCann moved
into the high-powered 410-sprint class. While ’97 did not
yield any wins, it gave the young driver good experience at the
area speedways, which proved beneficial for ’98. He finished
ninth in points at both Lernerville and Sharon. In just his sophomore
sprint season in ‘98, McCann scored one win at both Lernerville
and Sharon speedways. Those two wins are what McCann calls his
biggest accomplishment in his brief career. "To finally
get fast enough to beat those guys meant a lot," said McCann.
In the final ’98 points, McCann placed runner-up at Sharon
and fifth at Lernerville.
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- McCann owns his #18 410 cubic inch powered sprint with a
Maxim Chassis sponsored by McDonalds and Polio Electric. McCann’s
dad helps out whenever he gets a chance along with Pete, Mike,
and Jay. When asked why he prefers the sprint division, McCann
replied, "There’s more competition and fun. It’s
a better class of people and you can learn much more." McCann
said they spend 30 hours during the week on the car and usually
another 20 hours on the weekends. "It’s a second full-time
job," he said. And when you wreck that just makes it that
much tougher. Thankfully this season McCann has kept all four
wheels on the ground.
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- This season though has been a tough one for McCann as he
has raced only about 10 times missing two months of action with
motor problems. This year he is competing at Mercer and Sharon
with occasional visits to Lernerville. This past Sunday at Sharon,
McCann was impressive coming from 14th to finish second to Tommy
Burns, Jr. in a tough 24-car field. McCann guarantees he will
win some before the end of the year. "It should have been
Sunday, but I won’t complain about a second," said
McCann. Only three drivers thus far have cracked victory lane
at Mercer, that being Jimmy Hawley, Bob Felmlee, and Jamie Smith.
McCann would love to get his first-ever Mercer checker; "I
want to win at Mercer, that place is hard," he commented.
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- I asked McCann what changes he would like to see. His reply
was the common cost reduction theme. "I’d like to see
the costs go down. It’s getting real expensive and without
good sponsors it’s hard. We need more local sponsorship,"
replied McCann. "The motors are real expensive. You need
to pump $30,000 to get it to go and hope it stays together. Then
you’ve got your tire and fuel expenses and if you wreck,
you’re really in the hole," relayed McCann.
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- What does the future hold for this young charger? "I
want to stay in the sprints as long as I can. I would like to
run with the All Stars, but that won’t happen unless someone
gives me a couple hundred thousand," McCann stated. I don’t
think there are too many drivers that don’t dream about
racing full-time, and McCann said it wold be good experience
and would learn a lot. McCann said he would able to see the country
and meet a lot of people, but the downside is being away from
his family. He is married with three children. McCann did say
he would like to go to Williams Grove (Pa.) Speedway some Friday
night to see just how fast those guys are for something different.
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- McCann said if anyone is looking to advertise, it would help
him get his World of Outlaw motor, which is at Kriners. This
weekend will be a busy one for McCann. He will be in action at
Lernerville, Mercer, and Sharon, then will compete with the World
of Outlaws on Tuesday night at Lernerville. McCann said he would
love to make the A main feature. Hopefully the rest of the season
will produce some wins and with a little luck maybe a start in
one of the remaining two World of Outlaw features.
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