Airdrie’s Chad Swain wrapped up his home racing season Sept. 10 in Edmonton, taking home a win in the 600cc Supersport race. He hopes a trip to Miller Motorsports Park in Utah next month will help him get his name recognized in the Unites States.
Swain has been competing at both Stratotech Park in Edmonton and Race City Motorsports Park in Calgary this season for Toloco Racing.
He finished second in the 600cc Supersport Class in Edmonton, his highest finish in the various classes he competed in this season. The 22-year-old rider missed the first round in his Edmonton series, relegating him to the back of the pack until he improved his points position later in the season.
“I didn’t have any points at the start of the season, so it made it a little difficult the first couple races,” said Swain. “I won the last race – I beat everyone by 15 seconds. It felt good to go out and run my own race and not worry about anyone else.”
Swain says the Stratotech track is a better facility for racing than Race City, which has an older, bumpy track that can be tough to set up.
Cold and rainy conditions for the final round at Race City Sept. 18 and 19 caused Swain to take the weekend off.
“I can do alright with it. The issue was that it was a really cold rain that would just puddle,” said Swain. “I decided to sit back and wait to see what the weather would do.”
While he missed the final round at Race City, Swain says that he has seen a lot of improvement in himself and his bike at the tough track this season.
Early on in the season, Swain’s Calgary results didn’t mirror his strong performances in Edmonton, but by his last competition at Race City Aug. 21, he was contending for podium finishes. Unfortunately Swain, battling for the second position during the event, suffered a bizarre accident and was unable to continue racing that day.
While passing a lapped rider, one bike braked harder than Swain anticipated, causing him to brake extremely hard. The lapped rider, who he had just passed, laid his bike down, and slid into the back of Swain’s motorcycle.
“I have never felt anything like that before. I was braking and the back wheel came off the ground and I was thrown over the top of the bike,” said Swain. “I tumbled and the bike cartwheeled. I ended up about three feet away from my bike, I was really lucky not to get hit by it.”
His team had the bike rebuilt in about an hour, but some damage to the computer system held him back from racing the rest of the day.
Swain and his team will be heading down to Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, to compete in the Master of the Mountain Racing Series Oct. 9 and 10.
“That’s the issue with racing in Canada, we have such a long winter,” said Swain. “I want to get my name out there in the United States. The biggest challenge (in moving up in racing) is getting your name recognized, and getting people to back you.”
Swain will be heading down a week in advance of the Oct. 10 race to get to know the track during a practice day, and is hoping for a top-five finish.
Ultimately, Swain would like to make it to the American Motorcyclists Association (AMA) where he hopes to gain enough notoriety to race on the international stage in World Superbike Championship.
“In the next couple of years, I want to be doing the AMA (racing), and after that, hopefully, I can make it onto the world stage,” Swain said.
