The 2011 season brought Glenn Watson his fourth OSCAAR championship in as many years, but this season was different than the past three. Watson was absolutely dominant in 2011, winning the championship over runner-up Jeff Dunford by 761 points. Take in to consideration that a driver can earn a maximum of 330 points in one night if he were to win both heat races, the feature, and lead the most feature laps. Watson finished 11 of 12 races in the top-five, with the other a top-ten finish. Watson won seven of twelve races in 2011, leading the championship standings for the entire season.
The season kicked off at Sunset Speedway where Watson finished second and fifth in his first two heats of the season, leading to the third starting position. Watson ran second all race behind his nephew Brandon Watson until Brandon decided to pit on lap 35 under caution. Glenn assumed the lead and from that point on he never looked back, leading the final fifty laps on his way to victory lane.
The second event at Kawartha Speedway had Watson draw the pole position for the 50-lap feature. Watson out duelled Lloyd Ritchie on a few restarts and opened up a big lead in order to lead all fifty laps en route to a second consecutive victory.
Mosport Speedway brought more of the same as Watson led 47 laps en route to his third victory of the season after starting fifth.
Watson put on one of his most dominating performances of the year at Sunset Speedway as he won both of his heat races and drew the fifth starting position. Dwayne Baker jumped out to the early lead in the #48 Zancor Homes Ford, but Watson wasted little time getting to the front, taking the lead from Baker on lap 11 to lead the final 40 laps for his fourth straight win.
“We come out, try to bring a good car every week and try and get the win,” said the always humble Watson. “It’s pretty cool having a good car, picking up four wins in a row,” Watson later added.
Watson had another dominant performance at Sauble Speedway when he qualified first with a time of 14.601 seconds, five-tenths of a second quicker than second place Wayne Isaacs. Watson started on the pole for the feature
and survived a few challenges from #00 Wayne Isaacs on the outside and lead all 50 laps for the second time in the season to earn his fifth straight win. Isaacs figured after the race there was one way he figured he could beat Watson.
“Well if he was sick and stayed home, I think that would work,” said Isaacs jokingly.
The second trip to Mosport Speedway was a déja-vu for Watson who won his third heat of the season to earn the fourth starting position in the invert draw. Much like a month earlier, Watson grabbed the lead from Isaacs on lap 3 this time, and lead the remaining 48 laps to win his sixth consecutive race to start the season and sweep the season’s first half. Watson, however, stated there was no pressure to continue the winning streak.
“We just try and bring a good car every week. We get what we get. We were fortunate we got out front quick tonight. We made some good moves to get out front. It’s a little easier to do it out front then to have to fight through the pack.”
The first blemish to Watson’s 2011 record came at Peterborough Speedway, but the race was a classic. Watson came from the ninth starting position to challenge pole sitter Jeff Hanley in a tough battle for the lead. Hanley closed the door on Watson as he made several pass attempts in the dying stages of the race, ousting him from Victory Lane for the first time of the season.
The final trip to Kawartha Speedway and the Don Biederman Memorial had Watson starting 13th as he missed the invert draw. Watson passed race leader Hanley on lap 29, but chose to pit on lap 47 to change two tires, giving the lead back to Watson. Watson wasn’t able to make up the ground as the race ran green flag for the final 26 laps; handing Hanley is second straight win and Watson his second consecutive runner-up finish.
Perhaps Watson’s most spectacular feat came at the Outlaw Shootout at Delaware Speedway. After blowing a motor in practice, Charlie Gallant offered his ride to Watson. Taking a car he had never driven, Watson survived all the carnage on the night to finish fifth and keep the streak of top-five finishes alive.
That streak would end at Peterborough Speedway when Watson finished sixth after suffering a bit of damage to the nose early on and a broken support arm on the car’s rear spoiler.
Heading back to his home Sunset Speedway for the final time of the season, and was determined to get back in the winner’s circle after being absent for four races. The night started off well as Watson won both of his heats, just as he had at Sunset on July 2. Watson however drew the 12th starting position and had to start right in the middle of the 24 car field. Watson took the lead from Hanley on lap 19 and battled with Rob Clarke for the final 32 laps. The two raced side-by-side on multiple restarts and for the final five laps. The cars were door to door exiting turn four for the final time and Clarke beat Watson to the line by less than a wheel length in the outside groove. Both drivers praised one another’s performance.
“Glenn was giving it his all; I was giving it my all. We touched a couple of times, but that’s just racing. I trusted him on the outside and he trusted me. Glenn ran me as clean as can be, and I had a lot of fun, but man I worked hard” said Clarke.
“Rob kept us honest and the rest of the guys did too. It was a lot of fun tonight. I had fun racing with Rob and all the other guys,” said Watson.
The Autumn Colours Classic gave Watson his final chance of 2011 to get back in victory lane and he would not waste the opportunity. After winning one of his heats, Watson drew the pole position and was never challenged as he led all 50 laps for the third time of the season and won his seventh race of the season and his fourth consecutive championship.
“Yeah we’ve had an awesome year, as you say with seven wins. To cap it off today with a win and a fourth championship, it’s pretty special,” said Watson who added his second Autumn Colours crown was also exciting. “That’s up there; it was a really nice weekend, a lot of people here. It’s really nice to pull that off.”
Watson’s season was easily the most dominant ever as he won seven feature events, was the runner-up in three others and never finished outside the top-six. Perhaps more spectacularly, Watson led a lap in all, but three races. In total, Watson led 350 of 650 laps, a record of 54%.
Watson intends to return in 2012 as he begins the drive for five championships. He will face some stiff competition, one eager to get their piece of the championship pie.
By Clayton Johns
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