With a racing career that started when he was 17, Coquitlam’s Tom Berrow has raced almost every division possible and has proven in the past 30 years that he is the man to beat and continues to prove this today as he prepares for the upcoming 2011 season which will take him throughout his home province of British Columbia.
Tom has lived most of his life working as a backhoe operator living alongside his wife Mary Lou, daughter Shannon and son Shane who has also taken an interest in racing after years of watching his dad do it.
Tom first got into racing at Langley Speedway where he watched lots of great competitors race. Tom’s dad had raced at Digney Speedway in Burnaby, BC for a couple of years in the mid-50’s. This is probably why Tom decided to try it out for himself, buying a B Super Stock in 1970. Tom’s first night of racing was one that he remembers well, managing to qualify 8th quickest out of a 16 car field. When Tom first started racing, he always looked up to veteran Richard Petty which influenced his racing style. After racing from 1970-1976 at Langley, Tom won his first championship in 1976 in the A Super Stock class, dethroning long time champ Gordie Hemrich who’s son Dave is now a competitor in the ASA BC Late Model Tour. Tom continued winning into the next season adding yet another championship. After a year off in 1978, Tom decided to get back into racing and moved to Skagit, a dirt track speedway where he raced from 1979-1981 finishing 3rd, 2nd and 1st in those 3 years in the championship standings. In 1980, Tom and the crew decided to miss a point’s race at Skagit to run a big Open Comp dirt race, the Oregon Carpet Exchange Cabin-Craft 100, in Medford, Oregon. With a 108 car field, Tom did not do well on his first qualifying lap, but on his second lap, Tom picked it up and qualified 22nd and managed to finish 5th in the main event. “While pleased with the result, we ended up losing the Skagit championship by one point that year.”
Tom raced all over the Pacific Northwest from 1982-83 in the Open Comp division and had a dominant year in 1983, winning 9 out of 18 races with only one finish outside of the top 3, as well as winning the Open Comp championship at Langley. Tom then went into the ASA West Division and the NASCAR Northwest Tour where he raced from 1984-1994 with most of the seasons being partial due to financial reasons. After selling his equipment at the end of the 1994 season, Tom was out of racing for 13 years until he was approached by long time racer John Ross about possibly racing in the Katana Sportsman Tour and, well, he just could not resist.
Tom recently added to his championships by winning the 2010 Katana Championship title. The series was one which Tom enjoyed greatly. Tom continued to say that he loved the competition level of the division, having all of the cars qualifying around the same time made for some great racing. Tom also stated that he loved to not just win, but having to work for it. Every night out he would have to work to try to get the best qualifying time and work his way through the field in the main event, which was something that he loved the most about the division. Tom went on to say that he loves being able to compete with the young talent being that he is the “old guy” of the series. Tom would also like to give credit to his owner John Ross for allowing him to race and to his crew for keeping the car race ready every night out.
The Katana series was one that has been a favourite of mine and others for a long time, but the upcoming season will be much different. First off, the series will now be called the ASA British Columbia Late Model Tour. The change was put in place by new owner John Ross who has taken over ownership after the series came up for sale. The series will be sanctioned by the American Speed Association, better known as ASA. This new series will be overseen by new Race Director Rob Angus. The new changes to the series will help race tracks, drivers and sponsors gain national recognition, which in turn, will increase car count and fan base. The changes will also bring a more professional atmosphere on a night to night basis. In 2011, the series has added a new track to their schedule, Vernon's Motoplex Speedway.
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