(By Danny Johnson) “We made a lot of progress, but we knew we had to go back to the drawing board,” is how Ed LaPrade described his and Doug Heveron’s return to Oswego Speedway last season. LaPrade and Heveron formed one of the magical teams in Oswego Speedway history back in the early 80’s. Together they won 33 features, two track championships and 2 Classics, one of which was the day after his idol Jimmy Shampine was killed. Between the 81 and 82 seasons, Heveron and LaPrade won 24 features in 35 races for an astounding 70% win percentage.
Doug went the NASCAR and Indy car route, while LaPrade went to the Midwest and worked on late model and midget teams. Kevin Olson and Joe Corrigan were some of the notables that LaPrade helped for a few years. A couple of years back, Doug came back for Classic, and drove for another team. During that off season, the old “Young One” team decided to get back together and have some fun. They returned to Oswego with the old car, driver, and team, looking to be competitive and have some fun.
“There were a lot of changes we noticed right off the bat,” LaPrade said of their return. “they were mainly in the aero packages. The engines really weren’t that different. There was more horsepower than in the past, but all in all the main difference was in the aero package. We knew we had to make some changes right off the bat” stated LaPrade. “We had to widen the car, move the shovel panel, and do a few things a we couldn’t get enough air to the back wing. We made those changes and then some more, and it still wasn’t enough, LaPrade reflected.”
“We changed the suspension. We did a lot of work to the car, and got it better as we went. In the Classic, I think we could have had a top 5, but we made a mistake when we changed a tire. The car wasn’t going to win as it was, so we made a change. We gave it a shot.”
After the 2005 racing season, the team decided it was time to play catch up. It was back to the drawing board, and blue prints for a new car was in the works. “I’m retired now, I have a little more time to put it together,” LaPrade laughed from his Connecticut home. “We have the same guys, the same old crew, and we just wanted to get back in the game. Greg (Furlong) and his team hit the set up, and have really raised the bar. We weren’t going to win with what we had.”
If there is one team that has the background to return to the “Good Old Days”, it’s the Heveron-LaPrade team. Heveron is still rated in the top ten of all time drivers at Oswego Speedway. LaPrade was with Heveron every step of the way. Ed has a history at Oswego before the “Young One” day s however, as he was the right hand man for the all time top driver at Oswego Speedway- Jimmy Shampine. “I was Jimmy’s crew chief with the old Potato Wagon car,” Ed said looking back. “We had a lot of success with Jimmy, that’s for sure. Jimmy asked me to help with Doug.”
“We have some new ideas in the new car,” Ed added. “Joe Hawksby and Clyde (Booth) were very helpful and open with their ideas. I really would like to thank them for their help. Timmy Snyder has been a big help also. Anytime we need any parts, or anything at all, they have an open tool box and an open garage. It was a very nice return at Oswego, everyone was so nice and welcomed us back with open arms. Steve (Gioia) has been very gracious to us. I hope they have a good year this year, and the fan count comes back a little bit. It was a warm welcome back. The car we are building is different than what we ran before, and I think different than anything that is there now. We have a few ideas we’d like to try.”
“We’ll be there for opening day, the ISMA race,” Ed added. “We’ll run the car we ran last year with a wing on it this year. We won’t do many of the winged shows, but we’ll give it a shot. We’ll run both Oswego ISMA races, and we may travel to a couple of away races, but not too many. We’ll be at Oswego for all the big races, all the 75 lappers, and the Classic of course. We’re in it for the fun of it. Don’t get me wrong, we want to do well, but the main reason we’re back is for the fun.”
Eagle Jet International, Mike Barnard Auto Group, Brosch Mechanical, Stan’s Race Gear, Firesafe, Race Against Drugs, and D&D Industrial are the teams main sponsors, while the old familiar crew of LaPrade, Mike Ravas, Lenny Orlandella, Chris Shock, Chris Cheney, Eric Lewis, Tommy Bowley, Shawn Magari, Ryan Miller and Carol LaPrade travel to make the car as fast as can be.
It’s a simple case of playing catch up. The Heveron-LaPrade team has been away from Oswego Speedway for about 20 years, but now they look to close that gap in no time. They are back to have fun, and have built a new car in the off season to close the gap. This team has a sparkling past at Oswego, and hopes to add to that resume in the future. It would be quite a night if and when Doug and the team return to Oswego Speedway’s Victory Lane.