Ryan Holliday of Mount Forest, Ont. has said that he has extra motivation to win Clinton Raceway’s 34th annual Drivers Challenge, stating that the incentive extends beyond trying to prove himself against a group of elite Ontario drivers.

Holliday’s cousin, Lindsay Foulon, has a two-year-old daughter with leukemia. While Hayden Foulon is being treated at Children’s Hospital in London, her family has received support from Childcan (www.childcan.com), the charitable recipient of Clinton’s Drivers Challenge for the fourth consecutive year.

Clinton’s drivers challenge will take place this Sunday (August 31).

When Holliday, 26, was recovering from a broken elbow and wrist suffered in an accident in January at The Raceway at Western Fair District in London, he spent a few days in the same hospital where Hayden was having some tests.

“We were talking there one day and my cousin told me about how Childcan helps them. I said, ‘Childcan? I’m pretty sure I drive for them in the charity event.’ It makes you realize a little more about the good they do. I actually saw firsthand what the money does.”

The Drivers Challenge will pit Clinton’s top three drivers — Trevor Henry, Bruce Richardson and Holliday — against Chris Christoforou, Jody Jamieson, Doug McNair, Sylvain Filion and James MacDonald from the Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) circuit.

“That day there’s a great crowd and there’s a lot of good drivers there and it makes for a good day,” McNair said. “It’s definitely a fun event, but we race pretty tough out there, especially that day. No one does anybody any favours out there, that’s for sure. Everybody wants to win and obviously it’s for a good cause.”

All driver fees and proceeds from the day will be donated to Childcan. The charity has already received more than $40,000 from the Clinton Raceway event. The Drivers Challenge has raised more than $275,000 for various charities since its inception in 1981.

Renee Simmons is in charge of Family Support for Childcan. She said the charity helps families with simple, daily expenses while they have a child being treated for cancer.

“We offer every family a (hospital) parking pass and that is theirs until their child has completed treatment,” Simmons said. “When they’re in-patient, we set families up with two cafeteria vouchers per day. So, they have two $10 vouchers to spend on meals.

“Then, we have an emergency financial assistance fund that our families can access, especially for our families that travel… Our mission is to make sure that the parents can focus on their child’s care.”

Simmons, along with Hayden and Lindsay Foulon, is expected to be at Clinton Raceway August 31 for the Drivers Challenge. The program will also feature an Ontario Sires Stakes grassroots event for two-year-old pacing colts, as well as a charity barbeque, loom bracelet sale, 50/50 draw, bake sale, various auctions and a petting zoo, bouncy castle and face painting for the kids. The card will start at 1:30 p.m.

“I’m looking forward to the pig roast, I’ll be honest with you,” Simmons said, laughing. “I always eat very well when I’m in Clinton.”

Holliday said Hayden’s treatment is going well. “They’re monitoring her counts all the time. As long as everything’s good, she’ll be out for the event,” he said.

As for the racing, Holliday said he’s looking forward to testing his mettle against the ‘big city boys,’ particularly at a track he calls home.

“Clinton’s a great place to race,” he said. “They do a really good job there. They make sure there’s a good show every week for everybody. The Drivers Challenge will be no different. They seem to go the extra mile there.”

Holliday said he might even have a little home-track edge. “I know the horses there really well,” he said. “I drive them week in and week out. So, maybe I have an advantage. Even to be recognized driving against those guys is pretty cool to me in general. I’m just glad I’m at that stage.”

(Clinton Raceway)