By Ken Keating
Steve Copp Construction Ltd. is actively involved
in projects from Victoria to Comox on Vancouver Island. They are an
award-winning company building custom homes, commercial buildings, multi-residential
developments, and working on all types of renovations, both interior
and exterior. As a company they believe in giving back to the community
whether it be an active member of the Better Business Bureau, helping
to organize a safe environment for kids learning to drive and adults
wanting to race karts, volunteering as a Road Marshall for the annual,
"Run for the Cure" in Victoria, and sponsoring the Hornet
class races at Western Speedway which is where the real story begins.
Steve lives in Victoria with his wife, Jennifer,
his twelve year old son, Trevor, and sixteen year old daughter Aubrey.
His first experience with a race track began in the early 1970s when
his father was a sponsor on a Roy Haslam race car and Steve later crewed
on Haslam's car until the early 1980s. He then worked on Darrell Midgley's
race team for a couple of years and then "never set foot at the
track" for some twenty years in order to build a family and a business.
Steve always had a desire to race but never had the opportunity until
he got involved again and Darrell offered him a ride in the now popular
Hornet Series that began racing on Wednesday nights in 2007 and called
Wednesday Night Fever. It is an entry level of racing, fairly cheap
to build and maintain, allows owners and drivers to leave their cars
at the track eliminating a need for expensive trailers, and a Series
that is just fun to drive which appealed to Copp. He won several races
in the Hornet Series and was always among the frontrunners. After a
year of Hornets, Steve teamed with Daryl Crocker, in 2008, and shared
driving duties in the Stock Car Series which is one of the most competitive
Series that run at Western Speedway. Every race features door to door,
side by side, and bumper to bumper racing with lap times that are extremely
close. It was this type of racing that Steve decided to try because
of the competitive nature and bringing on a whole new challenge. For
2009, Steve took over driving Brandon Carlson's Stock Car and drove
a full season in that series while Carlson moved to the Late Model Series.
Steve joined forces with Daryl Crocker, at L.D. Race Cars, and Brandon
Carlson to form a three car race team.
In 2010 Copp won the "Most Improved Driver
Award" and finished 4th in overall Stock Car points. In 2011, Steve
again remained in the Stock Car class and was among the front runners
on most nights. Late in the season, Steve and some other drivers were
involved in a big crash on the front stretch with Copp's car taking
a hit into the inside wall and totally destroying the ride. Despite
missing a few events after this crash, Steve placed 6th in total points
for the season. The next day, after the wreck, Steve placed a call to
Bart Smith and purchased a Late Model car that he is anxious to race
in the new Keg Steakhouse Bar & Grill Driver Challenge. He, like
the other competitors, feel this will be a great series of races and
will invite strong competition from the Island and other parts of BC.
Steve remembers in the old days at the track
the IDC Series and the Open shows that brought drivers from all over
BC and the States. These show were some of the best racing and the car
counts were always good. He remembers how the fans and local business
all got behind these races. This is one of the key reason Steve got
behind this new series. He is impressed with the support from the track,
the sponsors, the racers and the fans, "there really seems to be
a buzz around it. We're all hoping for good car counts and people in
the stands, both of these will help to ensure that Western Speedway
is still a place to run in the future."
Times have changed Steve says, "You all
have to work together with the promoters and make this happen, gone
are the days of just showing up at the track and receiving a cheque
after the race." Steve personally wants to thank "The Keg
Steakhouse and Bar" along with other sponsors for also seeing there
vision and coming on board- 2012 is going to be a great year at Western
Speedway. Steve is one of the driving forces behind this Series as well
as the Go-karts and the summer and winter Hornet Series. He and his
team of Daryl Crocker and Bill Smith Jr. have invested a lot of time
and energy to put Late Model racing back in the forefront at Western
Speedway with the support of many new sponsors and may become a driving
force on the track in a new car. Steve says: "I turn 50 this year
which is late in life to start trying to drive a Late Model but as long
as its fun why not try"
