With consistency on a weekly basis highlighted by some trips to victory lane, Tyler Hawn put together another spectacular campaign en route to being crowned the 2018 OSCAAR Hot Rod Series Champion. Notably, it marks his first title in a row after taking home the year-end award in the inaugural season.
Right from the drop of the first green flag at Sunset Speedway, he was fast as he swept his qualifying heats, before taking the lead on a late-race restart en route to the victory.
Returning back to the Innisfil, Ontario oval a couple weeks later, he won one of the heat races setting him up to start sixth for the feature. He would methodically work his way forward, tracking down Dan Archibald in the final stages to edge him out for the victory.
“Honestly, I’ve never driven the car this hard,” Hawn said. “No offense to Dan, but my whole goal this weekend was to beat him. We talked each other up in the pits, and we have a good time. He ran me hard. A little bit of tire mark here and there, but that’s part of racing.”
Hawn admitted in victory lane that he was a little worried in making the move on Archibald to the outside, but “the car seemed to work really good on the outside and inside.”
“I’m still learning to trust this car, so I thought, ‘What do I have to lose? I can’t get him on the inside so I might as well try and get on the throttle sooner on the outside,’” Hawn added. “It’s just a crate motor so it was over-reving a little bit, but it is what it is.”
The month of June would take the Hot Rods on the road, with the first stop being at Kawartha Speedway. Unfortunately, a mid-race incident relegated Hawn back to a seventh-place finish. Hawn was able to quickly rebound, taking the lead just past the halfway mark at Jukasa Motor Speedway to make history in scoring the series’ inaugural win there.
A third visit to Sunset Speedway saw the rivalry continue between Archibald and Hawn, with Hawn placing second following a late-race battle for the spot with fellow title contender Billy Alderson Jr. He would then back it up with a seventh-place finish when the series made their second stop at Kawartha.
The first trip to the beach of the year fared out well for the No. 2 Fox’s Bakery and Deli / 400 Transmission / TSS Top Shops / Watson Garage Baumont, as Hawn was able to pick up a runner-up. He then followed it up with a seventh in the series’ lone dirt event of the year at Brighton Speedway. Unfortunately, luck wouldn’t turn around at Sunset, with a mid-race spin resulting in another seventh.
Hawn was able to cap off his season off on top, winning Frostoberfest at Flamboro Speedway to be crowned the 2018 OSCAAR Hot Rod Series Champion.
By: Ashley McCubbin