Strapped in behind the wheel of a Sprint Car
By Mike Dutko
For 5/7/04
I went to some of Mercer’s finest sprint car drivers last week with this question… “Can you relate the experience of driving a sprint car to something the average fan in the stands can relate too?” The answer was unanimous. NO!
Well, that would have made for one short story so I asked them to take me through the process of racing a sprint car from start to finish. Scott Bonnell is known as the “Fairview Flyer”. Scott tells me he’s not very superstitious about how he prepares for a race. He just climbs into the cockpit and routinely goes about his business. There is one thing he does do every time he buckles in. “I say a little prayer that everyone will be safe out there.”
There are a number of drivers who are pretty superstitious though. For those drivers the preparation process is almost ritualistic. Whatever they do, they do it the same way every time they get in the car. They’re almost fanatical about it. If the left glove goes on first, it always goes on first. When you pull on the helmet it’s like someone shuts off your air. The visor is quickly flipped up to get what little air you can.
The cockpit of a sprint car is so cramped the steering wheel is removable so the driver can get in the car. When the steering wheel slides onto the quick disconnect mount on the steering column it snaps into place. It is customary for a driver to jerk on the wheel just to make sure it is securely fastened. You just can’t put it back on if it comes off at speed. A final word for your pit crew, and a pat on the head, or a slap the shoulder, and you are ready to go. The gentle nudge from behind of a four-wheeler rolls you up to the starting gate.
Considering the noise that is about to rage from under the hood, things are ominously quiet. You feel the four-wheeler leave the rear nerf bar, and allow the car to roll to a stop. Beside you is the knob that locks the rear-end into gear. With a twist of the wrist you are set to go. This time the bump from behind is more substantial. The visor gets snapped down into place and with a wave you motion the push truck onward. The engine of the push truck strains to break the rear-end free and roll the car down the frontstretch. A gloved hand reaches for the switch on the dashboard clearly marked ON in one direction, and OFF in the other, with a lurch the engine roars to life. As you slowly accelerate away from the push truck a competitor drives by on the outside. A quick check of the gauges, and it’s time…. time to hit the pedal on the right.
Rod George has been racing sprint cars for a long time. The temptation to mash the pedal to the floor is something George says you have to avoid right out of the box. “If I’ve learned one thing in all my years in one of these things it’s to expect the unexpected. I tend to roll into the throttle instead of mashing the gas. You can pound the pedal to the floor in you passenger car without much consequence, but these things can go left, go right, almost anywhere there’s so much power. It’s like nothing else in the world. My son found that out last year in a mechanic’s race. He didn’t listen about rolling into the throttle, but he does now.”
As the field takes their position a number of things are going through the driver’s mind. Jeff Banyas will tell you it’s kind of like the frantic process the freshman Zip goes through preparing for one of his college finals at Akron University. “You’re kind of nervous and you’re making sure, oh man, did I study that last little detail? Did I pull my belts tight? Then bam there’s the test in front of you. When it goes green everything is kind of a blur”
Chris Shuttleworth drives perhaps the sharpest looking sprint car in the area. “When the race goes green it really puts you back in the seat. You have to be focused. It’s really important to keep your car as straight as possible and drive your line.” Shuttleworth drives a 360 sprint car powered by an engine with 50 less cubic inches than the 410 sprint cars. Shuttleworth’s focus and concentration have paid dividends with many top 10 finishes against the more powerful 410 sprint cars. He’s finished fourth the last two weeks. On May 15, the playing field will be leveled and he will run only against sprint cars with the same 360 engine. The Wellsville, New York driver is anxiously looking forward to that night.
As we get into the race, Jamie Smith picks it up from there. “These things have so much power. There are not too many vehicles where you can be standing on the gas at 90 miles an hour and pull the front wheels right off the ground. Imagine that in your own car, you just can’t.” Some people think it’s like the feeling you get rushing down a big hill in a roller coaster. “You get pulled back in the seat, but you’re held in so tight by the seat and the belts your insides don’t feel like they’re moving like they do in a coaster. As the race wears on, on a real fast race track like Mercer, your head feels like it weighs a hundred pounds! If you’re not in shape it will roll to the side in the corners then back to the middle. You feel like you want to pick your head up, but there’s no chance.”
Arnie Kent agrees it’s not so much the speed of the machine, but the G-forces that take the toll on you. Just like Smith, Kent says the strain on your neck is brutal especially in the beginning of the season. As the race wears on a driver gets locked into a rhythm. He tries to hit the same spot every time, focusing as hard as he can. A split second of distraction can spell disaster. But when everything comes together the car and driver, are one. Arnie Kent is almost breathless as he climbs from his car in victory lane. “Man, there’s nothing else like this feeling in the world!”
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