I grew up at the sprint car races and have seen some really great battles over the years. This may sound silly, but to me, a great sprint race is like watching ice skating on steroids. It flows from one end to the other, fast, smooth and on the edge. You watch as time runs out knowing that someone will try a risky move near the end. Sometimes things go wrong and parts fly, and sometimes they make it look so easy as they pull off the pass for the victory. You watch intensely wondering when it will happen and how it will go. I’ve seen a bunch of these kinds of races and they are the best. Last weekend I actually watched my son in such a race. Knowing he is only 18, with limited experience in his sprint car kept my stomach in knots. He has been getting better and better and just two weeks ago pulled off his first heat race win. He started on the front row of that one and afterward, Peter Murphy took the time to come over and congratulate him. Peter was watching from the pits and went on to win the feature that night. This week Marty out-qualified Peter and half the field, then lined up behind Peter on the second row of the heat. At the drop of the green Marty pulled alongside Peter down the back-chute, but Murphy took the lead going into turn three. Then Peter tried the top of turn one and Marty almost got him again. Marty shadowed the leader for 8 laps and at times they were running so close to each other as they pitched it into turn one that I held my breath. Then with 2 laps to go, Marty slid his Schnee chassis in just above Murphy, turned it downhill, and drove under him off of turn two and passed him down the back-chute. He took the white flag and had a half straight away lead at the checkers. It was smooth and patient and calculated. IT WAS AWESOME! Afterward Peter Murphy came over and said (in his cool Australian accent) “Hey mate, if I come over and tell your kid he did a great job, I don’t think he should be allowed to pass me the very next time we race”. He was only kidding of course and a great sport to come over again.
Like I said, Marty did a much better job in qualifying. He was 12th out of 24 cars and he would’ve started on the front row of the feature if he was just one car faster. That’s OK because the track was so slick in the feature that we ended up going backwards. Marty was upset that he finished 15th (understandable), but I wasn’t. Unlike the last time we raced Tulare, Marty tried every line on the track. He ran the top (and even bounced off the wall once), the middle and the bottom. Greg Alexander, who is an accomplished driver, was frustrated as well since he started on the pole and ended up 5th. He said he couldn’t get a hold of anything consistent. I told Marty that I’m glad we didn’t start on the front row, because we need a little more time to get the set-up right. Marty learned a bunch by running all over the track. He is getting his short game down pretty good in the heats and even had a good qualifying night, so we are consistently getting better and once again rolled it into the trailer in one piece. I don’t think we have ever raced 4 weeks in a row, and this coming weekend in Hanford will be our 4th. Then thanks to our wonderful sponsor and friends at The Toiyabe Group, we will run the following weekend at Calistoga with the wing and our fresh Bailey Bros 410. Marty is a little nervous about running with the wing because he has been getting so comfortable wingless. He really loves racing in Calistoga. I think he’ll do fine.
We would like to thank the great sponsors of the USAC West Coast 360 Series including DJ Safety, Saldana Racing Products and Circle Track Performance for the great contingency prizes they gave us for the heat race wins. We also want to thank Ted Surber for his support and Russ Westerskov for showing up in Tulare and lending us a hand in the pits. We’ve been having a great time hanging out with Danny Faria and are kind of sad that we’ll be towing home after Hanford this weekend.
