A mid winter off season Sportsman racer feel good story….

I am a firm believer, there are not many lifeforms lower than thieves, but this Ontario-based crime victim is in full recovery mode.

About two years ago Stewart Addley did suffer that ultimate insult when his vintage Mopar drag racing car, trailer and most support equipment was stolen – without a trace.

But after a period of frustration and thanks to a community of friends and also some strangers, Stewart is now poised to return to action this coming season.

“Unfortunately nothing was insured and it’s something I didn’t think of, as I had the mindset it was impossible to have any kind of insurance on a race car,” Stewart confided. “The trailer was insured once it was hooked up but I never considered it could be stolen from a secure storage facility – which it was. It was frustrating because even though they (storage facility) had video cameras they could not come up with any clues.”

“After four months looking – the local police were not any help,” he reported. ” So I made a decision to go to the Hells Angels — and made contact with them. I had some private message clues sent to me which were handed to the the club. I assumed they followed up – because I had the car (now disassembled) back soon after.”

Since then it’s been a rather whirl wind ride from Stewart as the rebuild was put into motion.

“The car (as of last December) first went to Alicia Custom Paint (Ajax ON),” Stewart added. “Actually Alicia MacKenzie there was one of the 1st to come forward — with a kind offer for doing the body/paint on the car.”

An impressive list of Performance Shops also helped & contributed including, Bears Performance (Oldcastle, ON), Biondo Racing (Ridgewood, NY), S&W Race Cars (Spring City, PA), Performance Unlimited (London ON), Misfitt Racing (Alymer ON), K&R Performance Engineering (Cleveland, TN) as well as Gearjammers (St. Thomas ON).

“The support I received was just phenomenal from racers alike, speed shops and even racetracks,” Stewart beamed. “I don’t think I could EVER repay what you all have done for me and I really feel honoured to have such a support group. I just can’t thank all those who helped me to get past this nightmare — I’m really taking this to my inner soul.”

“We (the drag racing community) really are a special group that will come together when help is needed – I can certainly attest to that.”

Racing fans can look forward to the final positive chapter for this story when Stewart Addley returns to action this coming 2023 season at both St. Thomas Dragway & Toronto Motorsport Park.

You can link to a cool YouTube video about the theft and the rebuild : HERE

Posted by Bruce Biegler
Photos Courtesy of Stewart Addley