The Canadian Sportsman

The latest installment from my weekly Guelph Mercury column...

A little over a month ago, driver Jody Jamieson of Cambridge was dripping mud on the carpet in the spartan drivers' room at The Red Mile in Kentucky. On the other side of the window, the famous red-clay oval had become a soup bowl in the steady downpour.

Pulling off his goggles, Jamieson looked like a guy that fell asleep at the beach wearing sunglasses. About the only other clean inch or two was a satisfied smile.
The thrill of the chase has a funny way of cutting through fatigue.

By all rights, Jamieson should be tired by now in his quest to claim the North American win title for drivers in 2009. But he doesn't look it. He said he hit his stride in the summer on the circuit between Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville and Flamboro and Georgian Downs. As of yesterday, Double-J led the continent with 687 wins, just 11 ahead of U.S.-based driver Jason Bartlett in 205 fewer starts.

Jamieson, who turned 33 on Nov. 6, leads Canada's dash chase by 202 victories over Brad Forward of Woodstock. Jamieson has already set a personal best for wins in a year, surpassing the 587 he recorded in 2006.

It's been a banner year in the earnings department, too. Jamieson tops Canada with just under $10 million purse earnings to his credit, which is nearly a career best and more than $3 million more than the nation's next closest money driver, Randy Waples of Milton.

Now Jamieson is gunning for a new mark for wins in a single year on Canadian soil. His friend Mark MacDonald of Cambridge set the standard of 741 in 2006.

"I feel good. I'm going to the racetrack with a great attitude and looking to race," Jamieson said.

For a man already established as one of Canada's best drivers — if not the best - all this win-chasing seems counterintuitive at first.

The normal procedure is young-up-and-coming driver puts himself through the ringer, driving anywhere and everywhere he can for about five years to get noticed and gain the respect of trainers. Then, once established, the driver settles into a more reasonable schedule at a big-name track and races less often for more money.

Jamieson did all that, reaching the pinnacle in 2007 when Tell All topped the pacing world and Jamieson was named Canada's driver of the year.
Yet, Jamieson didn't, necessarily, find himself at the top of the driving heap. He decided to hit the reset button.

"I think it was because I had my own horses. I owned Santanna (Blue Chip) and I owned Federal Flex. No one even considered me (to drive) because they knew I owned Santanna," Jamieson said.

He knows people question his methods, he knows people think winning the dash title is a pointless pursuit when there are more important barometers of greatness — namely money and big stakes wins — but Jamieson is correct when he says the chase has had the intended impact of keeping him sharp and his name in the news.

Besides, part of the point was to take advantage of his relative youth and the fact race dates are still plentiful.

"Maybe when I'm in my prime, if I'm not now, I'm not going to have the same opportunities to win 800, 700, 600 races in a year," he said.