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By Jim Clarke, Kawartha Speedway PR/Clarke Motorsports Communications
Kawartha Speedway’s Mini Stock field is one of the most competitive in motorsports. In 2008, nearly 40 drivers started at least 1 race in the track’s entry-level division. Peterborough, Ontario’s Glenn Dee doesn’t mind. He enjoys racing through the pack and running with a variety of different racers. The 46 year-old does a great job on the track, finishing inside the top 5 in final points in each of the last 3 season.
There is also an ironic twist to Glenn Dee’s racing endeavours. Kawartha Speedway has an on-site casino, with a large number of slot machines...formerly known as one-armed bandits. A workplace accident in 1992 necessitated the amputation of his right arm below the elbow. Using a low-tech prosthetic arm with a hook and a bit of effort, he wheels his 4 cylinder racer around the 3/8th mile oval with the best of them. While some might see his situation as a disability, Dee looks at it in exactly the opposite way.
“I’m thrilled to have the ability to get behind the wheel of a racecar”, he says. “It’s a lot of fun and I’ve made some lasting friendships in my 5 years of racing. There’s no handicapped lane on the racetrack and I don’t think I’d get as much out of the sport if there was. Everyone races me the same way I race them. When the green flag drops, its hammer down. We all have the same chance at winning”.
Sometimes, Glenn Dee’s upbeat personality and positive attitude takes a backseat to his mischievous sense of humour. “One week at Kawartha, we were taking the car through the pre-race technical inspection”, Dee remembers with a smile. “A visiting driver saw us pushing the car up to the scales and asked if I’d like a hand. I turned around, looked at the guy and said ‘sure’. I wasn’t wearing my prosthesis at the time...the look on his face was priceless. I think he was worried he’d hurt my feelings until everyone else started laughing”.
Along with his good friend Craig Willoughby – driver of the #00 Thunder Car at Kawartha – Dee is part of Team Moovit. The cars are sponsored by MOOVIT the High Performance Penetrating Lubricant, identically painted and featured on the web-site www.welove2race.com.
Both Dee and Willoughby race for fun and the love of the sport. In 2005 and 2006, the pair donated their race winnings to Princess Margaret Hospital’s Breast Cancer Research Program, while in 2007 and 2008; Peterborough-Northumberland Crimestoppers was the beneficiary of the Team Moovit’s efforts. For 2009, the drivers will support a yet-to-be named charity.
Always smiling, his willingness to help others – at or away from the racetrack – earned Glenn Dee the Mini Stock division’s most sportsmanlike driver honours at Kawartha Speedway’s 2008 award celebration.
Like any racer, at any level Glenn Dee says he’d be lost without the contributions of some very special people. His ‘right hand’ and webmaster, Lori James and the MOOVIT’s, his crew of Jeremy and Taya Heigh, his son Griffith and dad Larry keep the team on-track throughout the year. Always an amateur motor-vational speaker, Dee has simple words of encouragement for anyone – regardless of their situation. “Find something you enjoy doing, and then practise your craft. Soon, you’ll find you’re hooked and you’ll be off to the races”.
Photo attachments:
#1). Glenn Dee (4th from left) collects the most sportsmanlike driver for Kawartha Speedway’s Mini Stock division. (Rick Young photo – www.rickattheraces.com.
#2). Team Moovit driver Glenn Dee (3rd from left) with the hardware from his 3rd consecutive top 5 point finish at Kawartha Speedway. (Rick Young photo – www.rickattheraces.com.
#3). Team mate Craig Willoughby flies the Team Moovit colours in Kawartha Speedway’s Thunder Car division. (Jim Clarke photo)
