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by Gary Costa

 

Hello again! I've put together my second installment of extracts from interviews that I have done over the years for FlatOut Magazine, my column, and other media outlets. I want to apologize in advance for not providing photo credits. I pulled all of the images off of the web. If you see an image that belongs to you, email me, and I will ensure that you receive the appropriate credit.

Last but not least, be sure to keep an eye out for Dirt Monthly Magazine. The last couple of months, I have had the privilege of interviewing Michael “Buddy”Kofoid, Tim Crawley, Robert Ballou, Devon Borden, Guy Forbrook, and Brad Sweet. For this column, interviews with Donny Schatz and Aaron Reutzel are on deck.

 

(PC: KaseyKahneRacing.com)

Kasey Kahneon why he chose Brad Sweet to hustle his Sprint Car.

KK: “His dedication, his drive, and his skill he's a great driver. You have to have the drive and want it bad enough. Brad wants it. A lot of people want it really bad, but when it comes down to it, some people just want to drive. They won't work on a racecar or become more involved and learn more about racing. I look at Brad, and he's the furthest from that I've seen of any young guy in a long time.”



(PC: High Groove Dizzle)

Doug Esh shares his thoughts on why Central PA is a challenging region to win in a Sprint Car.

DE: “I can tell you my opinion on why that is. It's the competition that we have to race with. If we want to race Sprint Cars, we are racing against some of the best drivers in the country. Look at how many times [Fred] Rahmer has beaten the Outlaws, [Lance] Dewease has beaten the Outlaws, and [Greg] Hodnett has beaten the Outlaws. These guys all have multiple Outlaw wins, and that's who we race with on a weekly basis. Without mentioning any names, you can see the guys that are up for the challenge. And then you can see the guys who are just glad to go home and tell their girlfriends that they race Sprint Cars. I'm up for the challenge. You're only as good as your competition.”



(PC: Dave Biro III)

Kyle Larson on nearly winning his first Gold Cup title.

KL: “It's great going into a race like that because you're the underdog. It does add some extra motivation to do good for the fans. We had a couple of yellows at the end, and those guys got around me. I like running with the Outlaws a lot. You don't have to be cautious they all know what they're doing. When I passed Donny [Schatz], that was cool, but I kept telling myself, “Don't mess it up!” because nobody is going to remember what you did this weekend!”



Craig Dollansky on racing injured or sick.

CD: “I've raced with broken bones, and I've raced sick. There is no calling in sick in this business: It's how I provide for my family. Regardless of the situation that I'm dealt, I always try to get in the racecar. I remember one night I was real sick at Eldora. We went out and set the track record. I remember being in the trailer, and I was sickest as I've ever been in my life. I told my crew I didn't even want to get in the racecar. Well, we went out there and won! I guess once the adrenaline takes over, you ignore everything else.”



(PC: Ovaltrackphotos.com)

Doug Wolfgang on competition and Steve and Sammy.

DW: “I get guys that call me and tell me how different it is to race now. When I raced, it isn't just one guy winning. I tell them all the time that I know exactly what they are talking about. They say, “You really understand?” Hell, I lined up every night of the week against a 25-year-old Steve Kinser and a 24-year-old Sammy Swindell, and those guys still breathe fire every night!”



Paul Silva on being at the track to win races, not for a social gathering.

PS: “I'm not the type of person who gets involved in hearing about who's dating who, or who's trying to steal this person]s sponsor or any of that stuff. That's not me; I don't do any of that. I stay at my trailer and focus on the task at hand. I'm there to win races, and I'm there to race. Everything that I own is at the track, and that's why I am so serious. I'm there to give 110% for my sponsors, my driver, and my team.”



Tyler Walker when asked about his take‑no‑prisoners driving style.

TW: “From the minute that I started racing, I have always been that way. I race to win, and no one on the track is my friend no one. Off the track we're friends, but when my competitors are on the track, they're not my friends, and I do what I can to blast by them. I'm always scratching and clawing for all that I can get out of myself and the racecar. So yeah, I would venture to say that that's a true statement.”

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or story ideas at gary_costa1@yahoo.com or visit my Facebook pagehttps://www.facebook.com/gary.costa.77

 

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Hey friends. I am a very nostalgic person, so I want to share some quotes and extracts from interviews that I have done over the years for FlatOut Magazine, my column, and other media outlets. I have a bunch more, but we’ll start with these. I hope you enjoy them. I want to apologize in advance for not providing photo credits. I plucked all of the images from the web. E-mail me and I will ensure that you receive the appropriate credit.



I will begin with Jesse Hockett [RIP]. I can remember our interview like it was yesterday. He was so sincere in his answers. We spoke for hours about everything from racing to his cousin and crew chief Daniel McMillin and how much the Daniel McMillin Memorial race meant to him, and on to so much more. I got hold of Sean Buckley for a comment on Jesse. Here’s what Sean said about friend Jesse Hockett. (Special thanks to LRB, Inc’s Rob Balga)

“Jesse Hockett is a true sprint car racer. He really is a diamond in the rough. He loves racing against ALL the badasses. Whether it would be WoO, All Stars, USAC, or his home tracks in Missouri, he wants to race with a wing or without and win races. He tries to make a living at this. He has done so many amazing things in a race car. Last to third at Manzy this year after making a motor change, last to fifth at an Eldora USAC event after making a motor change. (They actually used a steel block 360.) He really is amazing. Has a lot of heart and talent. He has also made the A‑main at the Knoxville Nationals. He is one of about three or four guys who can truly win any wing or non‑wing race on any given night.”



Steve Kinser and I chatted by phone for a couple of hours, while he sipped on an adult beverage in his Bloomington, Indiana, home. We discussed his humble beginning, his dad Bob, cousin Karl, and the entire Kinser clan. After coming off of cloud nine, I wanted to see what a few of his fellow competitors thought of him, so I dialed up some racing heroes that you are no doubt familiar with. Here is what they shared with me about the King.

“The first time that we all went down to Australia together, in ’78 or ’79, Steve didn’t have any kids at the time. We were down there for two months or so. Steve was always playing with our kids. My wife Jeri and I knew—even back then—that he was going to be a great dad. I’ll tell you one thing; Steve Kinser gives it his all on and off of the race track.” Doug Wolfgang

“Without a doubt, Steve Kinser’s the best Sprint Car driver ever. He’s such an animal out on the racetrack. You can’t even tell that he’s getting older. He’s still showing the young kids that it’s not just about money, but more importantly, heart.” Jack Hewitt

“Steve Kinser is the fiercest competitor that I have ever raced against. I’ve taken a lot of ass whoopings from him. It’s amazing that he’s so mentally tough and has kept that desire to win after all of these years. When I look back on my career, I will be proud to say that I’ve raced against him.” Fred Rahmer

“In those early years, it seemed that he was pretty laid back, and he made sure he had a good time away from the race track. But boy, when it came time to strap in, he was all business.” Brad Doty

Excerpts from interviews:

Jesse Hockett [RIP] on racing in different parts of the United States. 

JH: “When you go into Pennsylvania, you know that you’re going to have your hands full with guys like Fred Rahmer, Lance Dewease, and all of those guys in the PA Posse. When you go run with the All Stars, you’re going to have to outrun guys like Dale Blaney. When you go run with the Outlaws—Schatz, Steve Kinser, and Meyers, to name a few. Then when you go and run with those guys in Indiana, if you don’t have your game face on, you’re not going to outrun guys like Stanbrough, Darland, or Robert Ballou. If you head out west, you better be ready to battle all of the Kaeding's, Allard's, and Tyler Walker. In the ASCS, guys like Wayne Johnson, Jason Johnson, and Gary Wright are tough. In every series, there are different guys that are really fast that are from all parts of the country. That’s what makes this so fun: being able to race head to head with the best there is in our sport.”



Jerry Coons, Jr. on what winning the Belleville Midget Nationals meant to him.

JCJ: “To me, winning Belleville is like watching Dale Earnhardt winning the Daytona 500. I was so close so many times. It was one of those deals where I kept thinking, am I ever going to win this race? I’ve been coming here for fifteen years, and it’s the one race where I would have been so disappointed if I have not won. That would have been just such a huge disappointment to me. Belleville is just so much fun to go to. The atmosphere is second to none. To win there with Rusty Kunz as my crew chief is really special. I just can’t put it into words what it meant to win that race.”



Peter Murphy on how he became acquainted with Steve Kinser.

PM: “I worked for Ivan Walker, and he would build the motors for anybody that was fast in Australia. Paul Elrod, Brian Healey, Mike Kline, and some of the team would come over and start getting stuff ready for them before they arrived in Australia. That’s where I met the Kinsers: Steve, Mark, Randy, Kelly, and of course Karl. I remember when they came over, they brought the’85 model Gamblers over, and they had them nice hoods on them. That was the first year Australia had the 5’x 5’ top wings, and that was just the shit, you know?”



Tony Jones on handling difficult drivers.

TJ: “I’m talking about guys that purposely try to take another guy out. I like the old school way. If you screwed with Jack Hewitt, he’d punch you in the face. Steve and Bob Kinser and all of those guys are the same way. I got into it with a couple of guys at Putnamville, Indiana, when I first started racing. A couple of guys ran into me, and we took it behind the billboards. Afterward, we’d go drink a beer and everything was cool, we understood. I say, let these guys man up. If these guys are going to do the stuff that they’re doing, let them man up. Let them put an octagon on the front straightaway.”



Brian Montieth on being reserved out of the racecar but a tyrant when strapped in.

BM: “I’m a shy guy. I’m not going to tell everyone that I’m the best. People can talk about me on the internet all that they want; it ain’t going to hurt me. We might have a bad night or something, but the whole crew gets along so well, we just look toward the next race. Our car owner, Jerry Parrish, isn’t screaming at us because we didn’t finish in the top five or destroyed a car or whatever, and as long as everyone’s having fun, everybody’s happy. I have a fantastic crew, and that also makes it easy for me to focus on what I need to focus on, too. I prefer to stand on the gas and let my right foot do the talking for me.”



Joey Saldana on the most difficult aspect of the Knoxville Nationals experience.

JS: “I think the toughest part is your qualifying night. Qualifying is very, very important, but I would have to say that the toughest part of the whole week, and what will really put yourself in the position to win the Nationals, is your heat race. The heat race is by far the most grueling mentally and physically demanding time during the whole season. You have to pretty much transfer out of your heat, and yet, you have to qualify well to have a shot at winning it. So that means you’re going to have to start in the back. And the way competition is these days, it’s hard enough to pass one or two cars, and usually, at the Nationals, you have to pass at least four!”



Sean Becker on becoming the first driver to win the Civil War championship in 2008, the Golden State Challenge Series 410 championship in 2005, and the Chico 410 track championship in 2005.

SB: “It truly means the world to me. I can’t fully explain how honored I am to be listed with names like Tim Green, Shane Scott, Glenn Boune, Andy Forsberg, Tim and Brent Kaeding. These are a few of the many racers I either watched and/or raced against, that I really respected on or off of the track. I hope that they would accept me into the club.”

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or story ideas at gary_costa1@yahoo.com. Visit my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/gary.costa.77 and Instagram@garycosta2

 

 

 

 

Marvin Smith Memorial Observations

Well, I took quite the hiatus from my column. I enjoy writing “freestyle” so, with the support of the guys who gave me a shot, Allan Holland and Lance Jennings, I figured it is time to resurrect my column. Here, you will not find any bashing of drivers or tracks whatsoever. I am here because I have a passion and love for our sport.

Oh, yes. You will find poor grammar, punctuation errors, and wrong sentence structure. I am flying off of the cuff, so my articles will be raw. Please be patient as I dust the cobwebs off. I will change things up from race recaps, interviews, and whatever else that is Sprint Car and Midget related.

Be sure to catch my interviews in Dirt Monthly Magazine; I think you will enjoy them. Also, I am always open to talk about my love of the sport, so please don’t be shy.

(The pits when we arrived)

I took in the Marvin Smith Memorial at Cottage Grove Speedway OR, Sunday, May 26th for Winged 360 Sprint Cars. Thirty-four cars were on hand for the prestigious event. The Saturday portion of the event was lost to rain, but Sunday’s 41-lap finale more than made up for it. California’s Justyn Cox romped his way to victory on a heavy, bucking bronco track surface in one of two Doug and Kathy Rutz machines.

Before we get into the race, my son Devin and I arrived at the track, only to find that no parking was allowed inside the track, due to the haulers parked in there. Rain from the night previous made the pits a mess and haulers would not be able to get situated safely. To my delight, trucks were hard at work trying to get the pits worked in for the haulers. Finally, I see Logan Forler’s beautiful semi make it in safely, and all is fine in the world. 

(Mel Roberts checking out his prized possession)

On my way toward the pit booth, I ran into all-around good guy Brian Bueoy who helps wrench on the No. 22L of Garen Linder. From there, I got the opportunity to chat with Oregon talent, Jake Wheeler. It was nice visiting with Jake as we shared some memories about his father Vern Wheeler, Jr., and everything else under the sun. I ran into Sean Becker and so many other great people, unfortunately I can’t list them all here.

As most of you may know, I handle the race recaps for the Shaylen Raye Motorsports team out of Burlington, Washington. So, after I saw thecrew unload the No. 18 of Jason Solwold, I couldn’t wait to get to their pit to see how they’ve been. I am not trying to show favoritism here, but they are my extended family, and I enjoy being around all of them. Jason and I were reminiscing about his years on the World of Outlaws tour, sharing jokes, and having a great time. Besides, car owner Mike Anderson is one of the biggest Sprint Car fans you will ever meet, so I need to hang out with this guy, right?

(Devon Borden Ready to Rock ‘N’ Roll)

Hotlaps were up next, and these guys were ripping around that ¼-mile high banked oval like it was nobody's business. They were making mincemeat of the heavy surface, and my hat was almost sucked off of my head! My adrenaline was hitting hard like an Al Parker motor. You all know what I’m talking about…the sound, the smell, the speed, the Sprint Car rush!

Qualifying was entertaining, watching thirty-four cars looking to out duel the next guy can get hairy. When it was over, JJ Hickle and Tyler Thompson set quick time in their respective groups. Heat Race winners were Justin Sanders, Rob Lindsey, Dustin Freitas, and Sean Becker. Justyn picked up the Dash and my $100 Bonus. It is quick to note that Thompson was warming up for the Dash and flipped the No. 7. Fellow competitors went to work on the car. Solwold got himself in the mix and handled the welding duties, and the car was race ready.

(Tony Gualda was fast on Sunday. Here he had a flare up during his qualifying run)

There would be two B-Mains. Before the B-Main rolled on the track, Mike (Anderson) and I took our sports along the short fence, that is behind a larger fence. Greg Hamilton was leading the deal when Mike and I saw Greg get on the top of the track, tilt, and began flipping wildly….at us! I didn’t know Mike could move so fast (insert sarcasm). Greg is a tough kid and climbed out unscathed.

(Greg Hamilton took a hard flip, but thankfully walked away)

Devin and I took our seats for the 41-lap Feature. On the opening start, Devon Borden made slight contact with the wall. The restart would see Nate Vaugh and 2018 Marvin Smith Memorial victor Logan Forler flipping in turn-3. They were both done for the night.

The green flag waves again, Cox jumped to the lead with a gaggle of fast cars hot after the Californian. Rod Tiner has done his homework, and the No. 8 was hooked up and flying. With 29-laps to go, Kinzer Cox flipped wildly off of turn 1. Here they come rumbling down the back straightaway once again, preparing for green. Justyn Cox looked like he was shot out of a cannon - Colton Heath, JJ Hickle, Seth Bergman, and Tony Gualda are all in tow.As laps wore on, JJ Hickle’s tough weekend gets tougher as he flips between turns 3-4 while running third.

Under the ensuing red, Garen Linder’s car caught fire. Thankfully he was able to get out safely and suffered no burns. When I saw my buddy Garen on fire, I immediately took off to him. While I was on the scene, I felt his suit, and it was definitely warm. When racing resumed, Cox and Justin Sanders, who stormed from 17^th, were playing high-speed chess on the tacky quarter-mile. A yellow slowed the action, with two laps to go. However, Cox was just too stout and went onto claim his very first Marvin Smith Memorial.

(JD Dryden captured Justyn Cox celebrating his well-deserved triumph)

Cox’s victory was no easy task. Under red flag conditions, a lens popped out of his glasses and dropped onto the bellypan. How he drove the car up to that point is anyone's guess – the guy is a warrior. Apparently, Justyn had a spare pair of glasses in the Rutz hauler, and someone ran them down to him.

I can’t thank Heather Boyce and the Cottage Speedway staff enough for their hospitality and courage to get the race in. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments: gary_costa1@yahoo.com

My Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/gary.costa.77