NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — Baily Heard’s sophomore season of racing in the 360 Sprint Car division is finished up, and the Heard Racing No. 70 team is already looking forward to 2024.
The 23-year-old driver from Niagara Falls entered the season looking to build on a solid rookie season. Heard finished 2022 on a high note by collecting his first top ten in 360 Sprint Cars and earning rookie of the nationals honors at Ohsweken Speedway’s Canadian Sprint Car Nationals.
The team races on a shoestring budget out of a garden shed affectionately known as the “shoebox shop,” but showed early this season that they were capable of competing with anyone. Heard negotiated tricky track conditions to finish sixth, 11th and seventh and sit fourth in the championship standings after the first three weeks of competition at Ohsweken.
The team carried the early-season momentum to Merrittville Speedway and took a fifth-place finish in the Gary Cunningham Memorial race with the Southern Ontario Sprints series. As spring turned into summer and drier, slicker track conditions prevailed, the team began to struggle.
“At the beginning of the year we had some good success with a couple top tens and then it got a little tough through the middle of the season,” observed Heard. “We were struggling to find a good setup when the track got slick, but then got an opportunity when Steve Lyons bought us a new GSR frame and body. After that, we started fresh with a new setup and slowly started getting better again.”
The team kept grinding and finished the season 11th in Ohsweken championship standings, then qualified for the feature on both nights of the Northern Sprint Car Nationals. Heard got through Saturday’s NSCN B-Main and gained nine spots in the feature to finish 19th.
“Making the nationals was great in the end, (after) having to race through the B-Main and finishing 11th overall for points was better than our past seasons,” Heard said.
Heard’s efforts over the course of the season did not go unnoticed as he was chosen for the most improved driver award at Ohsweken Speedway’s annual banquet. The team is now working on improvements for the 2024 season and looking for additional marketing partners as well. Heard is looking forward to a full season with the team’s new GSR chassis and continuing to build on their setup notes.
“I’m hoping to have more top tens next year and to start to be a lot more competitive with the new car and finding the right setups,” said Heard. “It would also be nice to get some new motor upgrades, although it’s tough to scrounge the money up for that. Overall, it was a good year and I’m excited for next year and to get better.”