Lloyd Ritchie is one of OSCAAR’s most recognizable faces with one of the most distinguishable cars. Ritchie’s bright ‘Orange Blossom Special’ has become a staple on the OSCAAR Super Late Model tour each and every summer, making him a fan favorite. A resident of Southampton, Ontario, Ritchie faces some of the longest travel times of any driver. The dedicated driver, however, never lets that phase him and participated in all 12 events in the 2011 season, accumulating nine top-ten finishes, of which seven were in the top-five.
Ritchie’s season did not start off as planned as he suffered a blown engine in practice at the season opening event at Sunset Speedway and was unable to compete.
Two weeks later, Ritchie made his presence felt at Kawartha Speedway as he won his first heat of the season. This led to Ritchie starting the feature in third. A strong starting position coupled with a smooth and consistent race landed the #62 on the podium, narrowly missing his first OSCAAR victory with a second place finish. Ritchie later said he didn’t feel he would have been able to catch winner Glenn Watson.
“I tried everything I had there. If he had gotten a little loose on the restart I might have been okay, but he was hooked up pretty good,” said Ritchie.
Ritchie then took his act to the Mosport Speedway and won both of his heat races to give him three consecutive heat victories. Ritchie started the feature outside the second row in fourth and battled with the #9 of Brandon Watson and the #00 of Wayne Isaacs all night long and later with the #89 of Drew Spicer before settling for a fifth place finish.
Ritchie returned to face his demons at Sunset Speedway and things appeared to be looking up as two strong heats landed him the fourth starting spot. Unfortunately, a blown engine once again ended his night, this time on lap 10. Ritchie felt the events were outside his control.
“Just bad luck. That’s two races in a row (at Sunset). I think we got one more here so maybe we’ll be back for the last one. Third times the charm,” joked Ritchie.
Time trials had Ritchie excited at Sauble Speedway and good fortune was the result as he qualified the #62 fourth with a time of 14.675 seconds. Ritchie wasn’t able to improve his starting position in his heat race, as he spun on lap seven and did not complete the race. Ritchie was forced to start at the back, but quickly made his march to the front of the pack and settled in the fourth spot by lap 30, where he would finish. Ritchie was the last car on the lead lap.
A return visit to Mosport brought Ritchie his second best night of the year as a pair of second-place finishes in his heats led to the runner-up position in the feature after starting sixth. A caution on lap 40 game Ritchie his best chance to pass leader Glenn Watson, but the #22 was too strong and pulled away with five laps to go.
The first of three trips to Peterborough Speedway kicked off the second half of the season and Ritchie achieved a fourth place finish as one of just five cars remaining on the lead lap in Jeff Hanley’s first win of the season.
The Don Biederman Memorial did not go as planned for Ritchie as he hit the wall in his heat race while trying to avoid an incident on restart. Several race teams and crew members banded together to help fix the #62 for the feature and Ritchie was able to start the 75-lap show in the scratch position. With a few ‘make-due’ parts on the car’s front end, Ritchie still managed a ninth place finish, his sixth top-ten of the year. Ritchie commented after the race on the help he received from the OSCAAR family.
“Yeah I have a lot of different parts on it. I have to thank the #7T car, the #10 car, the #39 car, the #97 car. All of those guys pitched in and helped me out with the different parts I needed to get it going. I’m really proud to me an OSCAAR driver because of those guys tonight.”
The second 75-lap event took the series to Delaware Speedway and has Ritchie in the 12th starting position. The ‘Orange Blossom Special’ had a very strong race and survived several incidents to run at the front of the pack for most of the night. Ritchie lost his fourth place spot on lap 68 when he ran out of gas following a multitude of cautions. Ritchie finished in 13th.
The highest point of Ritchie’s season came in his second visit to Peterborough Speedway. Ritchie won his first heat race and followed it with a fourth place heat finish. The invert draw landed Ritchie on the pole position for the feature, and the #62 never relinquished it. Ritchie led every lap on route to his first ever OSCAAR feature win.
“A relief. It’s been a long time. I didn’t like those cautions coming out (near the end) because I thought it was better with more green flag laps. Relief, that’s all I can say,” said Ritchie following the event.
A third trip to Sunset had Ritchie hoping for a better result than the previous two.
“I haven’t had too much luck over at Sunset, so maybe it owes me one and I hope it does.”
Two fourth-place finishes got Ritchie in to the invert draw where he drew the outside pole. Ritchie was in contention for a podium finish until he spun alone on lap 37 and had to settle for a tenth place finish. The driver of the #62 was happy to have brought the car home in one piece.
The Autumn Colours Classic brought Ritchie his fifth heat win of the season and a fourth place heat finish. He started the feature in third, but changes in track conditions from Saturday afternoon and a lack of practice meant Ritchie’s Outlaw wasn’t at its best. Ritchie still finished in seventh.
Ritchie’s first ever OSCAAR victory was the ‘feel-good’ story of the year among many other bright spots in the 2011 season. Ritchie intends to be back in 2012 with an even stronger car and potentially a new paint scheme on the ‘Orange Blossom Special’. Rest assured it will remain orange.
By Clayton Johns
PDF 
