Column: Madie Wallace Looks At 2025 As Her “Bounce-Back” Racing Season
Column By: JIM CLARKE / BROCKVILLE ONTARIO SPEEDWAY – MUNSTER, ONT – Local short track racing can be a game of inches. A matter of give and take at the right time can make or break a driver’s season.
With a new schedule of action at Brockville Ontario Speedway just a few weeks away, Madie Wallace is looking forward to getting back into battle for the new year. The 19-year-old from Munster, Ontario ran only a handful of races during the 2024 season before a crash ended her run and left her with a broken rib and a concussion.
Wallace – whose boyfriend Kalen Draper scored a 2024 season-ending 358 Modified win at Brockville Speedway – has put together an active schedule for the 2025 season. She’ll campaign her No. 17M Sportsman-Modified weekly at Brockville, while committing to a part-time Sunday night program at Cornwall Motor Speedway.
In addition to returning to the Sportsman ranks, Madie Wallace will also run Wednesday nights in the Senior Stock karting program and plans a limited schedule in the same class Tuesday nights at Cornwall.
“I’m looking forward to getting as much seat time as possible this year,” said Wallace, who has been working on a dairy farm while taking a year off between finishing high school and starting her post-secondary education. “I’ve always enjoyed being at the track, but having to sit-out most of last year wasn’t much fun. It was great to spend some time with Kalen, but I really wanted to be in the car.”
Now that she’s recovered from last year’s injuries, been given a clear bill of health and the go-ahead to resume racing, Madie Wallace – who enjoys hockey, farming, baseball and fishing in her time away from the racetrack – is ready for the initial green flag of the 2025 schedule.
After posting some impressive stats during her Karting and Novice Sportsman runs, the team is ready for its first full season in the Sportsman-Modified field. Thanks to the support crew of her parents, grandfathers Dave Wallace and Ron Ridge, uncle Bruce Wallace, brother Trent Wallace and her boyfriend Kalen Draper, they’re all set to go.
