Like mother, like son

There are a lot of Mother's Day traditions taking place all over the country this weekend. Restaurants are bustling with reservations, flowers are being delivered, and Hallmark is saying it for those of you who can't.

Waterdown's Linda Dean will be stock car racing against her son, Matthew.

"When you do a half-kilometre oval in 18 seconds, your focus has to be on your car and the track," she explains.

Dean first worked for Halton Regional Police as a special constable and civilian desk clerk for 15 years, and since 1997 has been an OPP officer. An auto buff for years, when her two then-teenagers, Matthew and Stepheny, needed a car, she re-built a Tempo for them.

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A burble of contradictions, there is nothing ordinary about this woman. Compact with short blond hair and bright blue eyes, she talks a mile-a-minute as the words tumble out. Linda and her partner Ken Stenhouse have built a large shop on their property in Waterdown, north of Burlington.

Linda now races a 1984 Cutlass in the Thunder Car division, and began her career in 2002 racing a Honda CRX in the MiniStock class.

With a third-place finish for the year, she advanced to Street Stock in 2003, finishing fourth overall and winning rookie of the year honours.

Since 2004, she has raced in the Thunder Car division, renewing a racing dynasty begun by Stenhouse's family.

Ken and Linda reintroduced the Fireball 5 legacy, created by Ken Stenhouse Sr. The Cutlass, a gorgeous metallic blue emblazoned with a myriad of sponsors and purring like a robust tiger, stands out from the crowd at Linda's home track, Flamborough Speedway, north of Hamilton.

Dean skips over her own wins to draw attention to Matthew's.

Matthew, 26, graciously never winces when she repeatedly calls him "Matty", and the pride mother and son have for each other is evident.

Asked when Matthew started racing, Dean's eyes light up. "It was the 2002 season; I was at an out-of-town conference. Matty was listed as the backup driver. I knew he was ready, and it's really important to maintain perfect attendance for sponsors' sake.

So, Matty drove his first heat race in my car. And won. I hadn't won all year, and he takes it out there and does it."

Dean is beaming. Matthew blushes.

"And then, he raced two weeks later and placed second in his first feature, and first in his second feature," she says. A feature is the main race, after the qualifying heats. Asked if she let him finish out the season in the car, she laughs.

"Nope. At the end of the season, we gave him that car, and I got the Cutlass. Now we race against each other," she smiled. It's easy to consider how being a mother and son might produce some on-track angst, but when asked if there was an upside, Linda and Matthew both laughed.

"Sure, we have some hand signals, and there are times I know what Matty might do more than another driver, but we both race to win," replies Linda.

Matthew, a foot taller than his five-foot, two-inch mother, encourages her to define "hand signals." Linda laughs.

"We were racing one time, really battling. We weren't in it for first and second – the leaders were away. But the crowd was with us because we were so close. All of a sudden, I see Matty's hand waving out of his window. I had no clue what the waving signal was. He kept doing it, and I passed, thinking that's what he wanted. But he kept doing it.

"I kept wondering what the heck it meant if he was waving like his arm was on fire," she giggles.

Matthew picks up the story.

"It meant my arm was on fire," he says wryly. Apparently his exhaust system was firing flames near his feet, and the smoke was filling the car. He was trying to clear it, so he could see. But they continued racing, regardless.

"I got sixth, Matty got seventh," Linda says.

Racing is not a cheap sport. A car can be bought for around $15,000, keeping it going all season can run another $10,000, depending on many factors. Matthew works at a local wreckers, which is handy to keep a lookout for parts and cars. Linda puts in extra shifts to cover lean times.

At a time when police are trying to end deadly street racing, Dean's off-duty hobby is met with support by her colleagues, many of whom also race everything from boats to motorcycles.

Matthew pauses when asked how it's been to have a cop for a mother.

"You know, my mom is awesome. I didn't have much to rebel against; she was always so open and honest about stuff. She taught us how to drive; she refereed my football; she led Girl Guides with my sister.

"There's just nothing she didn't do. I used to dread getting pulled over by a colleague of hers, because that's when I'd get a half-hour lecture, not from mom," he laughs.

With Matthew hot on her heels, does Linda ever consider retiring from racing?

"Only when I have to open the door to get in," she says with a smile.

There's an old racing adage that's handed down from old drivers to young.

They tell them to "drive like you stole it." I asked Linda Dean what advice she gave Matthew.

"I told him to drive like you're chasing the guy who stole it," she says with a smile, "but only on the track."