SUPR Driver Notes
by Bryan Wimberley
Nose damage sets back Vaught at TMS
Will Vaught of Crane, Mo., look to accomplish a repeat performance of last season, winning the Texas World Dirt Track Championship and at the outset, it appeared he was well on his way in doing just that. Vaught paced the field for the first 13 laps before giving way to Sullivan, then later slipping back to a very respectable 4th place among a talent array of drivers.
"We had a good car, the track had a little attitude to it I guess you could say. It had some ruts, but that is part of dirt racing. The race track was good, but hard on equipment and we know that is all part of it and we kept chugging along. I was pacing myself there, running the top at the first of the race and running a real smooth line out of the ruts. I started moving and it rolled my nose under, then it was a handful after that. I led it for a little bit and then Jack got by me, I just couldn't steer after that because the nose was in the ground too much. Every dirt racer has an excuse, but that is all part of it," said Vaught.
The prestige of Texas Motor Speedway lured Vaught and surely others, to attend an event that has constantly seen car counts as high as the low 60's in past years. In a weekend that saw the Bama Bash, MARS Dirt Car doubleheader and others on the docket, many drivers had decisions to make in and radar watching as their top priority.
"There was more money to be made in Tennessee this weekend, but we debated it and decided to come here. I love this place, I mean it is Texas Motor Speedway and it's unique! The family really liked it and it was their first chance to ever come down here. It's worth another $5,000 just to come down here to have a paved pits and stuff. We have a good time, we only get to race with the SUPR (Series) cars only once a year pretty much. All the guys are nice, respectful and I think it is a real organized series," Vaught said.
Vaught now takes on a different challenge after splitting with car owner Paul McKenna, balancing racing with fatherhood (son, Maddox and daughter, Mallory) and now being a family-owned team.
"We have big goals for the year, last year we had some real good runs at some big races, even though we didn't get the victories, but that is how it happens when you run with the best in the country, instead of when you run locally. We did have a good car and I did split with my ex-car owner, so that took about a month away from our season last year. I am a dad and I kind of want to make my own schedule, so we are back to the family own deal. We are still in Warrior Race Cars and with some good sponsors behind me in, Port City Racing, GW Performance and Circle M Auto Sales in Joplin. I am fortunate to have what I got and to be able to own everything, along with making my own schedule. If I want to take a weekend off and go to the lake with my family, then I am going too. It is just one of those deals that is better for the family and better for me, as being a real good dad. We are going to do what we want to do, it is more fun that way," explained Vaught.
"I still want to run the ARCA cars, it is one of those things that doesn't take as much time out of your family life, but it takes a lot more money. Our family don't have the money, but I was fortunate enough to do those few races. We raced with Venturini through the dirt races last year and had a sponsor deal working this year, but it fell through. We had a deal that was going to go the whole season, but it didn't materialize. It takes a lot of sponsors and the economy is bad right now. We are fortunate to race dirt cars, let alone be in Daytona -I would have loved to have been there last weekend, but that is beside the point."
The 25-year old Vaught posted (2) top 5's in the ARCA Racing Series last season -both in Illinois and a solid 9th at the 2.66-mile superspeedway at Talladega.
He also picked up (2) MARS Dirtcar Series wins last year and a 4th-place at The Dream at Eldora Speedway.
Sitton continues strong outings at TMS
Kevin Sitton of Baytown, Tex., has had good success at the 4/10-mile oval track at Texas Motor Speedway, but it hasn't quite equalled to making a visit to victory lane. Sitton was the hard charger of Saturday's Port-A-Cool Texas World Dirt Track Championship feature, going from 17th-to-fifth. Last September, he finished only behind Ray Moore, who has been a force at the fall event at Texas for the last two years -winning both.
"I think the car was faster than the 17th-to-fifth that we ran. I got hung up behind the 27M car, once we got by him, I could get up there and air it out. Pretty much the whole time, we were riding behind somebody, running half throttle and losing our momentum through the center and wasn't driving off good. I know 17th-to-fifth sounds pretty good, but I think we were a lot better than what the car showed -getting hung up really cost us," said Sitton.
Sitton added, "We drew a 139 out of a 150, so that put us dead last in a heat race and then we get the first heat race. It was slimy on the bottom and slimy on the top, being kind of a one-groove deal. We passed a couple cars in the heat race, but it wasn't enough and we had to run the consolation. We started 3rd in that race and won it to make the feature -it was just a bad draw for us. That use to be my old race car number (139), so I thought it was going to be lucky for us, it just didn't turn out that way."
Even though the wins are not on his resume at TMSDT, it is hard to argue that the break-through could be right around the corner for the No. 20 Barry Wright Race Car. Since his rookie campaign in 2008, Sitton has (4) 2nd places and (2) 7th places at the track outside of Fort Worth -time is on his side.
Mitchell satisfied with new MasterSbilt, teammate
Jon Mitchell of Texarkana, Tex., contemplated last season about switching race car brands, but it wasn't until after the racing season, that his plans to a giant leap in that directions. Not only did the soon-to-be 32-year old Mitchell switch from GRT to MasterSbilt, he also acquired a teammate in the process.
"We are trying to get the bugs worked out of this new MasterSbilt, I really can't complain about where we ended up. We didn't run quite as good as I was wanting to right out of the box, but we had a solid finish. We stayed around the top 5 most of the race and kind of faded back towards the end, sort of like my tires gave up on me a bit. Once we get the bugs worked out of this car though, we will be good-to-go!" said Mitchell.
Mitchell explained, "There is so many things I'm wanting to try on this car, maybe some changes I'm wanting to tweak. I have all kinds of ideas in my head, but it is hard to play with that right off the bat until you get into a certain type of situation. You really have to get into a certain track condition where you know how you need to adjust to it. I am so use to running a GRT Race Car, so going into this new MasterSbilt deal, it is going to throw me a little learning curve at the start -I think we will be fine though. We threw a few things at it for the feature, but the heat race was a bit wide open for us. This is one of my better finishes at this racetrack, so all-in-all we had a decent run at the gate."
Mitchell had been competitive in the GRT, finishing with back-to-back 3rd places in the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series points in 2010 and 2011. Mitchell also broke through with his first win in nearly nine years on the SUPR Series tour, winning at Lonestar Speedway in Kilgore, Tex., last May. Despite that, Mitchell could not pinpoint the problem of getting to the next level of winning a championship or big money events.
"We wanted to get back to a baseline, I have been with Joe (Garrison) my whole life pretty much. I really hated to do anything else, but we have struggled the last few years and he has had some drivers do the same. It is one of those deals where you are beating your head against the wall, getting frustrated to even go to the racetrack and once it gets that way, then you have to try something else. Trying a new baseline, it is easier to see if the problem was the car, the driver, the combination or something else in between and helps you know where you stand. Joe (Garrison) makes a hell of a product, it's a nice, quality car, but for now we are testing different waters for the time being," Mitchell said.
One thing is for sure, the new adventure that Mitchell embarks on will not be by himself, as Tommy Surrett of Little Rock, Ark., joins Team 5 Enterprises for 2012. Surrett has been out of racing for a handful of years, but the pair find themselves in a seemingly perfect situation in various ways.
"We are going to kick Tommy (Surrett) off next week at The Pelican, he approached me at the end of last year about putting a new MasterSbilt together. It really pushed me into the issue about getting ours going, so we talked in the off-season and thought it may save a little money marching up-and-down the road with diesel prices, along with having some help. We put him a real good maintenance program together and that guy there has been known to win some races, hopefully this will get him back going again," says Mitchell.
Surrett popped off (5) SUPR wins in a season, ten years ago, with his last series victory coming on August 17th, 2002 at Baton Rouge Raceway.
Mitchell concluded, "With Tommy being based out of Arkansas and both cars being housed in Texas at my shop, I wasn't going to tie myself down, but it makes sense running the Comp Cams mainly and then fill in as many SUPR shows that we can. Between the two, it fills our schedule up pretty tight, along with running a USMTS modified too. We plan on running that (modified) at eight to ten shows throughout the year as well."
Not only has the changes at Team 5 Enterprises been a rebirth for Surrett, but it has been a revivial for Mitchell as well.
by Bryan Wimberley
Nose damage sets back Vaught at TMS
Will Vaught of Crane, Mo., look to accomplish a repeat performance of last season, winning the Texas World Dirt Track Championship and at the outset, it appeared he was well on his way in doing just that. Vaught paced the field for the first 13 laps before giving way to Sullivan, then later slipping back to a very respectable 4th place among a talent array of drivers.
"We had a good car, the track had a little attitude to it I guess you could say. It had some ruts, but that is part of dirt racing. The race track was good, but hard on equipment and we know that is all part of it and we kept chugging along. I was pacing myself there, running the top at the first of the race and running a real smooth line out of the ruts. I started moving and it rolled my nose under, then it was a handful after that. I led it for a little bit and then Jack got by me, I just couldn't steer after that because the nose was in the ground too much. Every dirt racer has an excuse, but that is all part of it," said Vaught.
The prestige of Texas Motor Speedway lured Vaught and surely others, to attend an event that has constantly seen car counts as high as the low 60's in past years. In a weekend that saw the Bama Bash, MARS Dirt Car doubleheader and others on the docket, many drivers had decisions to make in and radar watching as their top priority.
"There was more money to be made in Tennessee this weekend, but we debated it and decided to come here. I love this place, I mean it is Texas Motor Speedway and it's unique! The family really liked it and it was their first chance to ever come down here. It's worth another $5,000 just to come down here to have a paved pits and stuff. We have a good time, we only get to race with the SUPR (Series) cars only once a year pretty much. All the guys are nice, respectful and I think it is a real organized series," Vaught said.
Vaught now takes on a different challenge after splitting with car owner Paul McKenna, balancing racing with fatherhood (son, Maddox and daughter, Mallory) and now being a family-owned team.
"We have big goals for the year, last year we had some real good runs at some big races, even though we didn't get the victories, but that is how it happens when you run with the best in the country, instead of when you run locally. We did have a good car and I did split with my ex-car owner, so that took about a month away from our season last year. I am a dad and I kind of want to make my own schedule, so we are back to the family own deal. We are still in Warrior Race Cars and with some good sponsors behind me in, Port City Racing, GW Performance and Circle M Auto Sales in Joplin. I am fortunate to have what I got and to be able to own everything, along with making my own schedule. If I want to take a weekend off and go to the lake with my family, then I am going too. It is just one of those deals that is better for the family and better for me, as being a real good dad. We are going to do what we want to do, it is more fun that way," explained Vaught.
"I still want to run the ARCA cars, it is one of those things that doesn't take as much time out of your family life, but it takes a lot more money. Our family don't have the money, but I was fortunate enough to do those few races. We raced with Venturini through the dirt races last year and had a sponsor deal working this year, but it fell through. We had a deal that was going to go the whole season, but it didn't materialize. It takes a lot of sponsors and the economy is bad right now. We are fortunate to race dirt cars, let alone be in Daytona -I would have loved to have been there last weekend, but that is beside the point."
The 25-year old Vaught posted (2) top 5's in the ARCA Racing Series last season -both in Illinois and a solid 9th at the 2.66-mile superspeedway at Talladega.
He also picked up (2) MARS Dirtcar Series wins last year and a 4th-place at The Dream at Eldora Speedway.
Sitton continues strong outings at TMS
Kevin Sitton of Baytown, Tex., has had good success at the 4/10-mile oval track at Texas Motor Speedway, but it hasn't quite equalled to making a visit to victory lane. Sitton was the hard charger of Saturday's Port-A-Cool Texas World Dirt Track Championship feature, going from 17th-to-fifth. Last September, he finished only behind Ray Moore, who has been a force at the fall event at Texas for the last two years -winning both.
"I think the car was faster than the 17th-to-fifth that we ran. I got hung up behind the 27M car, once we got by him, I could get up there and air it out. Pretty much the whole time, we were riding behind somebody, running half throttle and losing our momentum through the center and wasn't driving off good. I know 17th-to-fifth sounds pretty good, but I think we were a lot better than what the car showed -getting hung up really cost us," said Sitton.
Sitton added, "We drew a 139 out of a 150, so that put us dead last in a heat race and then we get the first heat race. It was slimy on the bottom and slimy on the top, being kind of a one-groove deal. We passed a couple cars in the heat race, but it wasn't enough and we had to run the consolation. We started 3rd in that race and won it to make the feature -it was just a bad draw for us. That use to be my old race car number (139), so I thought it was going to be lucky for us, it just didn't turn out that way."
Even though the wins are not on his resume at TMSDT, it is hard to argue that the break-through could be right around the corner for the No. 20 Barry Wright Race Car. Since his rookie campaign in 2008, Sitton has (4) 2nd places and (2) 7th places at the track outside of Fort Worth -time is on his side.
Mitchell satisfied with new MasterSbilt, teammate
Jon Mitchell of Texarkana, Tex., contemplated last season about switching race car brands, but it wasn't until after the racing season, that his plans to a giant leap in that directions. Not only did the soon-to-be 32-year old Mitchell switch from GRT to MasterSbilt, he also acquired a teammate in the process.
"We are trying to get the bugs worked out of this new MasterSbilt, I really can't complain about where we ended up. We didn't run quite as good as I was wanting to right out of the box, but we had a solid finish. We stayed around the top 5 most of the race and kind of faded back towards the end, sort of like my tires gave up on me a bit. Once we get the bugs worked out of this car though, we will be good-to-go!" said Mitchell.
Mitchell explained, "There is so many things I'm wanting to try on this car, maybe some changes I'm wanting to tweak. I have all kinds of ideas in my head, but it is hard to play with that right off the bat until you get into a certain type of situation. You really have to get into a certain track condition where you know how you need to adjust to it. I am so use to running a GRT Race Car, so going into this new MasterSbilt deal, it is going to throw me a little learning curve at the start -I think we will be fine though. We threw a few things at it for the feature, but the heat race was a bit wide open for us. This is one of my better finishes at this racetrack, so all-in-all we had a decent run at the gate."
Mitchell had been competitive in the GRT, finishing with back-to-back 3rd places in the Comp Cams Super Dirt Series points in 2010 and 2011. Mitchell also broke through with his first win in nearly nine years on the SUPR Series tour, winning at Lonestar Speedway in Kilgore, Tex., last May. Despite that, Mitchell could not pinpoint the problem of getting to the next level of winning a championship or big money events.
"We wanted to get back to a baseline, I have been with Joe (Garrison) my whole life pretty much. I really hated to do anything else, but we have struggled the last few years and he has had some drivers do the same. It is one of those deals where you are beating your head against the wall, getting frustrated to even go to the racetrack and once it gets that way, then you have to try something else. Trying a new baseline, it is easier to see if the problem was the car, the driver, the combination or something else in between and helps you know where you stand. Joe (Garrison) makes a hell of a product, it's a nice, quality car, but for now we are testing different waters for the time being," Mitchell said.
One thing is for sure, the new adventure that Mitchell embarks on will not be by himself, as Tommy Surrett of Little Rock, Ark., joins Team 5 Enterprises for 2012. Surrett has been out of racing for a handful of years, but the pair find themselves in a seemingly perfect situation in various ways.
"We are going to kick Tommy (Surrett) off next week at The Pelican, he approached me at the end of last year about putting a new MasterSbilt together. It really pushed me into the issue about getting ours going, so we talked in the off-season and thought it may save a little money marching up-and-down the road with diesel prices, along with having some help. We put him a real good maintenance program together and that guy there has been known to win some races, hopefully this will get him back going again," says Mitchell.
Surrett popped off (5) SUPR wins in a season, ten years ago, with his last series victory coming on August 17th, 2002 at Baton Rouge Raceway.
Mitchell concluded, "With Tommy being based out of Arkansas and both cars being housed in Texas at my shop, I wasn't going to tie myself down, but it makes sense running the Comp Cams mainly and then fill in as many SUPR shows that we can. Between the two, it fills our schedule up pretty tight, along with running a USMTS modified too. We plan on running that (modified) at eight to ten shows throughout the year as well."
Not only has the changes at Team 5 Enterprises been a rebirth for Surrett, but it has been a revivial for Mitchell as well.
