Hometown race car driver heads to NASCAR

BRACEBRIDGE - Less than two years after doctors said he would never race again, Bracebridge resident Daniel Bois is off to his first NASCAR race.
He said didn’t think he’d ever make it this far.
In November last year, 2012 Canadian NASCAR Champion D.J. Kennington contacted Bois and asked if he would be interested in racing two NASCAR road races in Bowmanville this year.
“It is a good honour to get somebody of his calibre to ask you to drive,” Bois said.
The honour came after a wreck in 2011 that doctors expected would keep him off the track for good.
While passing a car during an open-wheel race in Sauble Beach in September 2011, Bois’ tire caught the tire of a lap car while he was on an outside turn, shooting him backwards into the fence at 120 miles per hour.
He woke up in the hospital with swelling on his brain, his skull was broken and it was about his seventh concussion from his combined involvement in hockey and racing.
A year later, he ran in two midget series, without clearance from a doctor, for a friend who was hurt and couldn’t make it for the race.
During that year, he wasn’t able to do much physical activity, but made an effort to become healthier and lost 40 pounds.
“They (doctors) said they were surprised, but it’s fine now and the swelling’s gone down,” he said.
“Doctors pretty much said I wouldn’t be able to race again. I made a turnaround now with the help of my fiancée, and got healthy and full clearance to run.”
Bois’ fiancée is well-known Bracebridge singer Cassandra Cutting.
To get to the top in racing, Bois said, you need money. The adage is that to make $1 million, you have to spend $2 million.
“I don’t come from a wealthy family,” Bois said.
But he did grow up on the racetrack, watching his father in local races and his uncle race all over North America. Bois began racing go-karts and worked his way up to champion of the Can-Am Midget Series.
From there he landed a job with Mosport, which is now Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, as a racing instructor teaching for Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, and others.
That opened the door to making connections with sponsors. Bois began looking at the business side of the industry so he could continue racing.
For a few NASCAR races, Bois said it costs about $100,000; for a full season, it costs up to $1 million.
“I’ve developed the ability of finding good sponsors and being a great marketing partner for them,” he said. “So I look at the business aspect of it and find out what I can do for these companies and they end up sponsoring me, which pays for my ride; it pays for my way of living.”
Bois is particularly thankful to his sponsors, which have included Muskoka Brewery and currently Thermo Technology Services Limited, who have helped him get to where he is.
This year Bois is getting his feet wet in NASCAR with two Canadian races in Bowmanville, and up to 10 races in the U.S where he is known as the “Canadian Kid.” He’s trying to get into a March 16 race in Bristol, Tennessee, which he calls the “coliseum of racing,” with about 160,000 fans annually.
Bois’ first Canadian race is on May 19, a month before Cutting is expecting their baby boy.
His goal is to finish well so he can continue to race as a living. He stressed the need for a good NASCAR team.
“It’s a lot of making sure I put the right people in place and the right things in place. I don’t want to screw it up because it is my big shot, my big chance to make it,” he said.

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