Autodrome Drummond
Frank boosts far-flung Canadian driver's fortunes
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Chub Frank (left) assists fellow driver Peter Mantha. (Kevin Kovac)
DRUMMONDVILLE, Quebec — Just one driver competing in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series event Saturday at Autodrome Drummond will be able to understand all the French words spoken over the track’s public address system. That driver — the bilingual Peter Mantha Jr. — also happens to be the lone Dirt Late Model racer who hails from the entire province of Quebec.
A veteran 358 modified campaigner, Mantha, 42, of Gatineau, Que., has been dabbling in the dirt Late Model ranks since 2007. It’s an unusual pursuit considering he lives more than eight hours from the nearest track that runs full-blown Late Models on a regular basis.
“They all think I’m crazy for doing this Late Model thing,” Mantha said when asked how his friends and those in the local racing community have reacted to his full-fender action. “I don’t even race the modified much anymore, and here I am with a Late Model. I think a lot of people say, ‘What is he thinking?’
“But I like to do stuff nobody else does and I like to have fun. That’s why I have the Late Model.”
Mantha has no illusions about where he stands entering Saturday’s $10,000-to-win Quebec 50 at the 4/10-mile Drummond oval. After all, he has fewer than two dozen starts on his dirt Late Model resume. His best career finish came June 15 when he placed 12th (two laps down) in WoO’s Great Northern Tour opener at Can-Am Motorsports Park in Lafargeville, N.Y.
“I need to do more laps,” said Mantha, whose previous WoO finishes at Drummond are 18th (2007) and 15th (2008). “I feel more comfortable every time I drive a Late Model, but I only get to run a few races a year so it’s hard to get that seat time you need to get better. ... My goal this year would be to finish top 10 at Drummond. That will be hard because I’ll be racing with all the best Late Model drivers, but it would be like a win to me if I could do it.”
Mantha does, of course, have the advantage of working closely with WoO star Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa. A hard-nosed 48-year-old circuit veteran, Frank has provided invaluable technical expertise to Mantha, and, in turn, Mantha has become a key sponsor of Frank’s racing effort through the Hino Toyota truck dealership he owns in Gatineau, Quebec (he’s also building a second dealership in Ottawa, Ontario).
Mantha’s relationship with Frank developed by chance during the inaugural WoO LMS event at Drummond in 2007. Mantha, who made his Dirt Late Model debut that night in a car he purchased from Rocket Chassis in Shinnston, W.Va., and assembled himself, ended up parked next to Frank in the pit area.
“I couldn’t get out of my own way,” said Mantha, who decided to buy a Late Model after seeing the division on television. “We didn’t know what we were doing so I really wanted to ask somebody like Chub some questions, but he looked all pissed off and miserable so I said, ‘I can’t talk to this guy.’
“I thought about it, though, and I finally went up to Chub and said, ‘Can you help me out?’ He said, ‘Sure. What do you want to know?’ We started talking, and I realized that he’s a nice guy.
“We just clicked from there,” added Mantha, “and now he’s a friend.”
Frank offered to provide Mantha more detailed Dirt Late Model instruction away from the track, inviting Mantha to his shop a couple weeks after they met at Drummond.
“Chub said, ‘You gotta get a motor and you gotta get your car right,’” said Mantha, who had simply dropped his 358 modified powerplant into his Late Model. “So we took our car down to Chub’s and he found all the things we had done wrong when we put it together. He scaled it for us, and then he said, ‘Now you just gotta keep at it.’ ”
Mantha thanked Frank for his assistance and soon arranged a unique deal with the Outlaw stalwart, not only sponsoring Frank but also giving Frank full control over his race car. Mantha’s Dirt Late Model is lettered almost identically to Frank’s fleet of cars — right down to Frank’s familiar No. 1* — and is maintained by at Frank’s shop in northwestern Pennsylvania. Mantha said his machine, which carries a Custom engine, is always available to Frank, who has already used it in several races this year.
“He can do what he wants with my car,” Mantha said. “I never see the car until it’s time to race it. My deal with him is he’ll have a car for me to run in a few Late Model races every year.”
After skipping February’s DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., while still dealing with a health scare (doctors were testing a tumor in his groin that ultimately found to be non-cancerous), Mantha’s first Dirt Late Model appearance of 2010 did not come until the start of this week’s Great Northern Tour. He drove his hauler to Frank’s shop two days before Can-Am’s event to retrieve his car and help finish its preparation for the remainder of the swing.
“I just do this for fun and to help Chub,” Mantha said. “I still run my modified sometimes, but I love driving the Late Model. I’ll never be able to race it a lot, but I enjoy driving it every chance I get.”
