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| March 28, 2006 News |
| EKN Top 50 Drivers: #48 - Glen Arnold |
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 | Spending his most productive years with Sodikart Canada, Glen Arnold was almost unbeatable in Ontario in the late 90s
(Photo: Mark Jackson) |
In Canadian karting, the Arnold name has become synonymous with success. For the last 25 years, Scarborough, ON’s Glen Arnold has been a fixture on the Ontario karting scene, winning virtually everything available. If this Top 50 list was focused on Canadian drivers only, Arnold would be at the very top, right there in the top five.
However, this is a North American list and it is Arnold’s success south of the border that has helped to put him in the top 50 of our all-time record. Race wins and championships in both WKA and IKF action have stuffed a resume that already includes virtually every Canadian championship available.
If there is a key point on Arnold’s resume, it is the fact that he is the only driver in the world to have won all three of major pieces of hardware in Canada and the United States. That’s right, Arnold’s trophy room includes the IKF Duffy, the WKA Eagle and the Canadian ‘Bear’.
Arnold began his career in 1980, launching a 20-year run of competition that would turn him into a Canadian karting legend. Campaigning with his father Jim Arnold – who would eventually become a leading four-cycle engine builder in the province of Ontario - Glen won his IKF Duffy in 1983 at the Danville, VA Grand Nationals in the Rookie Import class. Back home, Glen was beginning a career that would include 16 Canadian Grand Nationals and countless regional and track championships, placing him as one of the most feared drivers in Eastern Canada. Four-cycle and two-cycle, Arnold could make even the poorest-handling kart fly around a corner with a simple flick of the steering wheel.
Partnering with Yellow Fin Engines during his entire two-cycle career, Arnold spent five years running the WKA Manufacturer’s Cup series with Roy Brydon’s Kart Klinic squad aboard a Margay in the late 80s and early 90s. Runner-up finishes in the overall standings came on a regular basis and, while always a little tight on money, it is Enzo Chiovitti who Arnold tags as a primary reason for his Grand National title as he won the 100cc Elite Qualifier class in 1993. Chiovitti stepped into help Arnold with a tire program, which gave him the extra he needed to advance to this major victory.
 | Four-cycle or two-cycle, Arnold was fast, completing the biggest Triple Crown with the Duffy, the Eagle and the Bear
(Photo: Mark Jackson) |
At the end of the 1990s, Arnold hit a rhythm in Ontario four-cycle wars and during a three-year stretch (1997-99), he went unbeaten in Ontario Kart Racing Association action. During that time, Arnold was running with the Sodikart Canada and it was that relationship that gave him a majority of his wins, taking many victories from ’96-’00.
Arnold’s father passed away from cancer in November of 1999 – a huge loss to the Ontario karting community – and this would push Glen into pseudo retirement after the 2000 season. The veteran has raced sporadically over the last five year but has focused primarily on re-starting the Arnold Engines operation in his spare time, while working at Johnson Controls in Toronto on a full-time basis. Arnold told EKN that he will be getting back behind the wheel this year as he is also importing the Coyote chassis into Canada. Now Masters eligible, look for Arnold to mix it up with the veteran stars of the competitive Ontario circuit.
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