Many people in this world don’t have a clue how hectic the life of a driver that races on a weekly basis. Whether it be on dirt, on the 1/4 mile, or on the asphalt, life can be extremely straining. Many things come with the territory. Life for me on the dirt is physically draining, emotionally taxing, but my gosh is it fun.
Being behind the wheel is an adrenaline rush that many cant comprehend.. The way I describe it is you’re in your own little world with 700 horses, 24 enemies that want to defeat you, and your thoughts. Sometimes you have to react without thinking. Case-in point, lets rewind back to 2013……..
I was in competition that night at Talladega Short Track, competing in the Thunder division. That night, we had a 16 car field. Dad and I had worked on the car hard that day, making hardcore setup changes to search for any speed we could find. When we unloaded, we were better, but not great. Made one simple change to the rear end geometry and it was like we were shot out of a cannon in the qualifying race. Started p2, and went to the lead. I stayed in the middle groove for the first 4 laps, because that night that was where the track was the fastest. With 2 laps to go, I was the recipient of a “bonzai” move. The second place car dove into turn 3 too hard, washed up, and slammed me in the left front. My initial thought was we were done that night because the suspension components were probably destroyed. I was wrong.
The extent of the damage was only a cut LF Tire, and a bent wheel. I had an identical spare to it. We threw it on, and went into head hunting mode. Most of my family and fans had left due to them thinking we were done. When time for the main event rolled up, I was set to start last in p16, due to being the only car to have to retire in the heat race. The competitors in front of me knew I was extremely fast that night, and I told them all to don’t hold me up because I was coming through. After the green flag flew, I had worked my way to 10th by the exit of turn 2. Little did I know CHAOS was about to ensue……
Competitors at the front of the field got together, and blocked the whole track. I was carrying so much speed and didn’t know what was happening…until I saw a dayglow orange number 80 on the side of one of the cars. All within the timespan of about .5 of a second, I had to react. My reaction was to throw the car sideways, because if I didn’t do that, I very well could have left Talladega in a helicopter headed to the hospital. A Natural “React without thinking” move. I went underneath another car, did 2 360 degree spins, and it was over. The good lord was watching out for me that night.
I thought the car was history. But it wasn’t. Between me, dad, and my grandpa along with about 200 man hours, we fixed it. It gave us a sense of pride like we never had, because we re-built a destroyed car, and it was better than it was. We won a race 3 weeks later…..that’s the definition of VINDICATION.
(I am in between the car against the wall and the blue car with orange numbers)
