Darren started his racing career in 1991 when a friend asked if he would drive his “Demo” car.
After turning his first lap, Darren knew that “behind the wheel” was the place for him! He then raced Demo cars for the next 3 years and Demo trucks for the following 3 years, winning the 1995 truck championship.
With an eye to eventually piloting a Sprint car, Darren thought that a good starting point for an open wheel car would be an “IMCA” Modified. Attending the races at “Cassidy Speedway” and watching Dave Conway and Dave Emmerson battling for the lead on the dirt got his attention with Darren subsequently purchasing Emmerson’s car and spending the following winter working on it, putting his design, fabrication and mechanical ingenuity talents to good use. He committed to 30 races a year for the next 2 seasons, racing at Cassidy, Western, Saratoga, Skagit, Penticton and Port Hardy, winning his first race at Saratoga in 1997.
In the Fall of 1998, he began building a new car from scratch in his 20′ x 20′ garage which included assembly of the engine, which he had never done before and which brought him much personal satisfaction. He ran this car during the 1999 and 2000 seasons, winning many races, some track championships and placing 3rd in Canadian Points for both years.
Darren decided that 2001 was the year to step up to Sprint Cars, purchasing a “Jody High” car formerly driven by Ken Haskell and along with new crew member Ross Moore, totally rebuilt it. They had it ready well in time for the new season and in his very first race, Darren finished 2nd to Dave Emmerson. He had an excellent first year, winning the WILROC Championship.
The next few years were a blur for Darren, running at several US and western Canadian tracks in addition to the two Island ovals plus he won the last “Winged Championship” that WILROC had in 2011. In 2012 he ran as many races as he could with NSRA, deciding to race with them full time in 2015 where he scored both wins and good finishes.
Another fun form of racing that Darren tried his hand at was “Hornet Winter Racing” which was reminicient of his “Demo” driving days and which also enabled him to compete against his wife Brenda, his crewman Alex and members of the “Aumen” family.
Throughout his 25 year driving career, Darren found that all the people he met along the way was the part of the experience that he valued the most.
