Alex Gallacher (NASCAR Home Tracks): What sparked your interest in racing in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series?
Donald Theetge (NASCAR Pinty’s Series Driver): First of all, it was the name of NASCAR, the legend of NASCAR and everything about NASCAR is fantastic. It was a dream for me to drive a car so we can compete in NASCAR. The competition in NASCAR Pinty’s is great and when you think about (Alex) Tagliani, (Andrew) Ranger, DJ Kennington and all those names, I’m very grateful to be able to race against them. That is mainly what sparked my interest in racing in the Pinty’s Series.
AG: You currently race with the No.24, what is the significance of that number?
DT: Scott (Steckly) asked me to change the number because Marc-Antoine Camirand is running the whole season and we were going to do only the ovals. He was the 22 car on the track for the whole season so he asked to me change to 24. The number 24 is the number I was thinking about using so many times in my career, as I really liked Jeff Gordon. I followed him throughout his career in the Cup series. He did a lot of great things in his career and I got to test with him the first time I went to Loudon (New Hampshire). He was testing a Cup car and I was testing the car for the ACT. So it’s great for me to run the number 24.
AG: Who was your biggest influence growing up?
DT: I would say my parents first of all. My father did a lot of things in business, he was very poor when he was young and he started his own business in 1975. He a lot of things to grow that business, the business became a Honda dealer in 1981 that my brother and I bought. My father has done a lot to help my career and my racing career, so I would say my biggest influence is my father.
RACING-REFERENCE: Donald Theetge
AG: In 2010, you and your brother Benoit finished on the podium at the 2010 Grand-Am Continental Tire Challenge at Daytona International Speedway. What was that experience like?
DT: In 2010 when Benoit asked me to run with him on that race, it was very great for me. First of all, I’m not a road racing guy, I’m an oval guy and Benoit won a lot of championships doing road racing in the Motorola Cup and he asked me to do the Daytona race with him together. I said yes because it was a dream for me drive at Daytona, and in 2010 we finished on the podium and had a good result. You know that day we thought we should’ve won that race because Benoit was first with 15 minutes to go and a caution came out. There was around ten seconds between Benoit and the guy in the second. Benoit was very strong and very fast, but his tires were very old, so that why we lost that race but still finished on the podium. That race was a good experience and we then did 2011, 2013 and 2014. We did 2013 together but the two other years the team asked us to be separated for more good results. I ended up wrecking the car in 2014 but I am still very proud of what we did in 2010.
AG: Last season you only ran on the oval tracks in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, what about the oval tracks do you like more the road courses.
DT: I’m not a road racing guy so it is tough for me to be competitive on the road courses against those quick names like (Kevin) Lacroix, Tagliani, Ranger and all those other fast names who can run up front. So that’s why I prefer to do the ovals. It will be tough for me running Mosport because that type of track needs a lot of talent to race there. I want to do Three Rivers [GP3R] for sure, I’ve raced there a couple times and had a good result and I did Toronto once and finished fourth.
AG: You have a long standing partnership with sponsor Mercedes-Benz St. Nicholas, how did that partnership start?
DT: It’s easy because that’s the dealership that belongs to me and my brother, we started the dealership about five years ago. Since then Mercedes-Benz has become the largest sponsorship along with Circuit Acura which is another dealership that me and my brother own so both of those dealers are good sponsorship for me. I will also say a big special thanks to my brother for letting me race a car in NASCAR Pinty’s with sponsorship from our dealerships because it takes a lot of money, and I give a lot of thanks to him for letting me run with Mercedes-Benz St. Nicholas sponsorship.
AG: What is your favourite Pinty’s Series track to race at and why?
DT: The one we did at the end of the season, Jukasa (Motor Speedway). What a track, I love it! We were really dominant there during that race. The end wasn’t fun for me because we should’ve won that race since we dominated all race long, but I love that track. I love Valiee-Jonction too, we qualified on the pole there and we had a good result. I did Edmonton too, it was too small but we had a good result and almost won there. Saskatoon is good too. I think all the tracks we are going to do on the NASCAR Pinty’s schedule are going to be great for me, because I love all of them especially Jukasa and Valiee-Jonction.
AG: You have been racing for over 30 years, how has stock car racing changed or evolved since you started your career
DT: A lot of things change, technology and these days you see a lot of young kids doing stuff on things like Playstation or the web all trying to be the best. A lot of things have changed since I started my racing career and if I could change anything would be to do what I do right now, rent a car and have a good team like Scott’s to give me the tools to have better results faster, but do all that stuff in the past. In these you need good technology and good people working with you in order to get a good result, so all those things change. If these kids coming up want to be the best they have race with the best.
AG: With 22 racing’s switch to Chevy power in 2018, what are your thoughts on running the new Camaro body in the Pinty’s Series?
DT: When Scott asked me if I wanted to change to Chevy, I said yes. The Chevy Camaro is a good car on track in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It has a good look and we are very proud of Scott to be one of the first guys to run the Camaro in Pinty’s. I think it is going to be very fun and I think we are going to get some more good results with a fast car in the future.
AG: If you could race against any driver living or dead, who would it be and why?
DT: Like I said before Jeff Gordon would be awesome. Maybe Gilles Villeneuve, because he was one of the greatest drivers from Canada and he did a lot of good things with not a lot of technology. It would be very fun to race against him.
AG: Besides you and your brother, does anybody else in your family have an interest in racing? Do you think we will see any more Theetges on the track in the future?
DT: No, not at all. Me and my brother have only daughters. My eldest daughter is working with us in our business and my youngest daughter is really into gymnastics and is doing it at a semi-professional level out in Quebec City and doing lots of competitions. So nothing on the racing side but it probably means I’m going save some more money on that side.
AG: If you could give any piece of advice to aspiring race car drivers in Canada what would you say to them?
DT: Kids right now I would tell them, you got to be with the best to get good results. Don’t wait. Try to find sponsorship and try to find the best team you can. You’ll be able to get to the podium faster and get good results quicker. If you spend more of your time searching for ways to find more speed and technology you will get those good results. If I was Donald Theetge at 16 or 17 I would try to find the sponsorship and find that team who can give me the best results and that’s what you need to succeed in these times.
AG: What has been your favourite racing memory over the course of your career?
DT: I have a lot of good memories over my career. I won four championships over in the ACT Series, I won some ACT races against some really good American guys, I did some good things over at New Smyrna back in 1977. I would say that all the wins I’ve got and all the effort I’ve put in to get those wins, it’s impossible to say which one was the best and which one was the worst. My four championships in ACT was definitely special, especially 2009 because we won it all at the end of year in Saint-Eustache.
AG: What makes racing in NASCAR so special?
DT: NASCAR is NASCAR; the name is there. NASCAR means a lot for racers. If you do good in NASCAR and you win in NASCAR, your name is going to there for a long time. That’s one of the things I love about NASCAR. Sometimes it can be tough, because they can be tough with the rules but it is still always fun race in that series. I hope I will be able to race at least one more year.
