Torkk’d Up Racing

🏁 There’s a 100% chance we’ll be putting in the effort to make the DRC Street Stock Tour this weekend.

The probability of a successful ex*****on of said plan is currently being reviewed by the engineering department, logistics team, financial committee, and whatever racing gods happen to be on shift. 😂

If we make it, we’ll be there flying the Northern colours and doing our best to keep up. 🏁💨🤣

We're hearing rumblings of some visitors this weekend from up north....👀👀

🏁 Race Report | Thunder City Speedway | June 17, 2026 🏁
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Pill Draw: A very comfortable 41 😂
Heat: 5 ➡️ 9
B-Main: 7 ➡️ 4

The evening started exactly how every race team dreams of starting race day… with another flat trailer tire. 😑😂

I really can’t make this stuff up. I wasn’t sure if the universe was telling me not to race, or if it was reminding me that sometimes you have to work a little harder for the things you want. 🤣

The heat race was stacked with heavy hitters. I can only assume they were all eager to give me some driving pointers while simultaneously blowing my doors off. 🤣

Things were going fairly well. My goal was simple: be smooth, be consistent, race yourself, don’t wreck anyone or anything and keep learning. Then my right rear decided it would be entertaining to dig into the rim coming through corner two.

Naturally, I remained calm, collected, and handled the situation professionally…

Just kidding. I panicked. 😂

The B-Main, however, was an absolute barrel of fun. After a caution, I found a line that was working and felt like I could race instead of just survive. I spent the rest of the race trying to reel in 3rd place and was closing the gap with ✌️ to go when I lost my line coming to the white flag. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite figure it out again before the checkered flag flew.

Even so, I’m absolutely tickled pink with how the night went. Every week the car and driver seem to understand each other a little better, and that’s a win for me. 🏁 The car loaded back into the trailer in one piece, under its own power, and with all the important parts still attached, which feels like its own kind of victory. 😂

A huge shout-out to the Oleksuk pit crew for always lending a hand, and to my friends, family, and crew for solving problems and occasionally talking me off the ledge when race car ownership gets a little too exciting. 😂

Thank you to our sponsors for helping keep this pony show on the track:

🟠 Torkcon Contracting
⚪ R&R Engine Rebuilding
⚫ Tastebuds Pit Stop
🟠 ServiceMaster
⚪ Boyce Telecom
⚫ Ladies of the Oval
🟠 Payroll Xpress
⚪ MMaclean Contracting
⚫ S.G. McKinnon Logging / McKinnon Bros Trucking
🟠 Ron Moretto
⚪ OK Tire Thunder Bay
🟠 Snap-On Joe

As always, thank you to the fellow racers, fans, and everyone who cheers us on each week. ❤️🏁

🏁😂

📸 Alyssa Strachan (Emo Spedway)
📸 Sacha Torkkeli (in my washroom) Mystery bruise from the heat race. Doesn’t look like much, but has the confidence of a much larger injury. 😂💪

🏁 Huge shoutout to OK Tire! 🏁

When our trailer threw an unexpected tantrum, the team at OK Tire got us back on track in no time. 🛞🔧

Fast turnaround, excellent customer service, and they got us sorted out faster than Shane Sabraski can lay down a lap. 🏁When you’re trying to make it to race day, every minute counts, and having businesses that understand that makes all the difference.

A huge thank you to everyone at OK Tire for helping keep this little dream rolling. We truly appreciate the support! 👏❤️

🏁 Race Report | Thunder City Speedway | June 11, 2026 🏁

Pill Draw: 43
Heat: 5 ➡️ 7
B-Main: 1 ➡️ 5

I guess I can’t be too upset. I’ve managed to scale the car almost weekly this season, which is already a major improvement over last year when scaling was basically a pipe dream! 😂

Getting to the track was an adventure all on its own.

There was nowhere to park at work where I wouldn’t get blocked in (a lesson I’ve learned the hard way 🤣), so I left the truck and trailer at a friend’s house. Good thing I did, because I ended up with a flat on the trailer.

My first thought was, “No problem, I can handle this.”

Turns out… I could not. 😂

To handle it successfully would’ve required:
1️⃣ A jack that could actually lift the trailer.
2️⃣ The correct spare tire. 🫢

Minor details.

Thankfully, I got to experience what it must feel like to have a NASCAR pit crew. The crews from #219 House and #27 McKinnon jumped into action, and I mean literally jumped; there was running involved! Changed the tire and had me back on the road so fast that I made it to the track early. I really thought my night was over before it even started.

Unfortunately, later that evening, #27 ended up rolling his own car. It was a stark reminder of how quickly things can change in racing. We’re all incredibly thankful he walked away okay. Racers really are a different breed. ❤️

As for the racing itself… the results weren’t exactly setting the world on fire, but after testing this setup a few times, I’m finally ready to make a change. Remember, I’m a slow learner and an even slower processor. 🤣 I like to be really convinced I know what the problem is before I start changing things.

Trying to explain what the car is doing is basically like those memes where someone imitates engine noises for a mechanic:

“It goes brrrrr… clunk… wub wub… eeeeeee when I turn left.”

Then five minutes later it’s:

“Actually… upon further thought, I think it started in the apex. Well… maybe it started at corner entry and I was compensating. Or maybe I overcorrected. Wait! I know exactly what it is… it’s definitely the flux capacitor.” 🤣

Sometimes the biggest victory isn’t where you finish, it’s loading the car with no damage, a better understanding of what it needs, and a plan for next week.

A huge thank you to the sponsors who keep this team rolling:

🟠 PayrollXpress
⚪ R&R Engine Rebuilding
⚫ Tastebuds Pit Stop
🟠 ServiceMaster
⚪ Boyce Telecom
⚫ Ladies of the Oval
🟠 Torkcon Contracting
⚪ MMaclean Contracting
⚫ S.G. McKinnon Logging / McKinnon Bros Trucking
🟠 Ron Moretto
⚪ Total Care Nursing
⚫ Lotas Cranes
🟠 Snap-On Joe

And thank you to my crew, family, friends, and fellow racers who continue to prove themselves that this sport is built on people helping people. ❤️🏁

🤣 Open Letter to Hoosier Tires 🤣

Dear Hoosier Racing Tire

Can you please explain why, for the past year, I’ve been locked in what I can only describe as The Tire Wars?

Every week it’s something.
Chalk marks. Mounting headaches. Creating stagger challenges and general emotional damage. 😅

At this point, I’m genuinely wondering… is it me? Am I the problem? Am I missing the secret handshake that everyone else got at Tire Orientation?

Please, enlighten me. Tell me what I’m doing wrong before I end up in a full-blown argument with four innocent circles of rubber in the shop. 😂

Respectfully,
A very confused and increasingly frustrated driver 🏁🙃

🏁 Post-Race Confessions

Our impromptu vacation to Emo Speedway was… somewhat successful. 😂

We figured out a few things and we continue to battle a few things. We also received a friendly refresher on a Grade 3 life lesson:

📚 If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.

Usually I leave Emo with that sweet feeling of a small victory. This week I had to dig a little deeper to find it.

While I was out racing, something just didn’t feel right. After the feature, I checked things over and sure enough… my highly calibrated onboard diagnostic system (also known as my butt in the seat) was correct. 🤣 I’ll take this as a knowledge and experience win.

Unfortunately, we may have accidentally autographed a few fellow competitors’ body panels along the way. Sorry about that. 😬 But I’m happy to report that damage was minimal and feelings appear to have survived, which is always a win in my book.

🏁 Pill Draw: 86
🏁 Heat: 6th ➡️ 4th
🏁 Feature: 3rd ➡️ 11th

We almost cracked the Top 10… although there were only 12 cars in the feature. 😂

The good news? I was fortunate enough to cross the finish line with the winner. Technically we finished the race together. Details are just details. 🤣 -1lap

The even better news is I have a pretty good idea where I went wrong a few times and why I got to enjoy such an extensive learning experience.

We’ll make some adjustments, do a little more homework, and try again.



Thank you to all the folks who help keep us running. If you’re reading this far, I’m probably talking about you. Whether you’ve sponsored, turned a wrench, offered advice, cheered from the stands, fed the crew, loaned a part, or simply tolerated my racing stories—you’re appreciated more than you know. ❤️🏁

📸 yes, this is me with 2 sets of glasses on🤣.
1️⃣ Yes, it did work!
2️⃣ Yes, I’ll likely sport this again
3️⃣ Yes, you should follow me for fashion advice and practicality

🏁 Back at Emo Speedway! 🏁

Hoping we’ve finally chased down the gremlins and got the kinks straightened out. 🔧😂

Making our first trip to Emo Speedway of the season tonight and I’m looking forward to getting some laps in on one of my favourite tracks.

Will we be fast? Maybe.
Will something else decide to fall off, vibrate, or test my patience? Also maybe. 🤣

Either way, we’re here! 🏁

🏁 Race Recap | June 3, 2026 | Thunder City Speedway 🏁

Pill Draw: 58
Heat: 4th ➡️ 7th
B-Main: 3rd ➡️ 4th

Well… I don’t really want to talk about it.

Just kidding. Of course I do. 😂

The slow learner continued her scenic tour aboard the Struggle Bus Express this week. The good news? I think I know why. Mostly. Probably. Maybe.

As I pulled out for the heat race, the car started having ignition issues. It would clean up at higher RPM, but it seemed wise to swap the ignition module before the B-Main. Thanks to generous competitor #77, I was able to borrow a spare with the promise to replace it. Naturally, I was convinced this would solve all my problems.

It did not. 😂

In the heat race, Spencer snuck another one by me on the last lap and stole the transfer spot by what felt like inches. That’s the kind of close, clean racing that makes this sport so much fun. Well done, Spencer!

For the B-Main, I rolled out determined to shake the B-Main Bandit reputation before it becomes legally attached to my race suit.

The green dropped, I stepped on the throttle, and immediately remembered something important:

“Hey Sacha… remember when you were supposed to buy ballast clamps and move that lead?” 🤦‍♀️

Turns out race cars have an excellent memory.

So we were already fighting that issue, and then the ignition gremlin came back for an encore around 5,000 RPM just to make sure the evening stayed exciting.

The silver lining is that we seem to have a pretty good idea of what’s going on. A little wrenching, a little troubleshooting, and hopefully a test-and-tune before next week should have us pointed in the right direction.

And we’ll be showing up with some fresh shoes, courtesy of Danny Young. Thank you! 👟🏁

Some nights you’re racing for trophies.

Some nights you’re collecting data and developing character.

At this point, I have enough character development to star in my own Disney movie. 😂🏁

Spins with 🚫 caution ☝️
Spins after the checkered 🎟️

📸 of me and #16 Teagan in the feature together🤣
📸 my first racing trophie! Care of Ladies of the Oval for the 2026 Sponsorship!
📸 #57 photo finish for the last transfer spot!