The Speedline Racing Team and Sprint Car Driver Nick Davis
- 27 Apr 2011
The plan is to race at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico and rotate to tracks in Placerville, Marysville, Antioch, Chowchilla and Petaluma. "In two to three weeks, we'll probably be heading to Chico," said Davis, a driver from Stockton. "Chico's such a fast track. We really like to run wide open. I like to run the top as much as humanly possible and Chico is an all-around fast track. We're going to run there. Probably our two favorite tracks we like to run are Placerville and Chico." The next night of wingless and 360 sprints races in Chico are scheduled for May 13. Davis had a bit of a rough season in 2010. He recorded only two top-10 finishes and ran into a number of mechanical problems.
"We kind of had some tough runs, went through a few motors," Davis said. "We kind of ended the season a little bit prematurely, which was unfortunate. We all sat down and looked at where the wingless cars were heading and where the growth was going to be. We made the initial investment, started going that way. Had some great off-season meetings with sponsors, but unfortunately a couple who were going to come in monetarily had to back out." His team's season essentially ended in August, three months before the Pumpkin Cup races at Chowchilla Speedway, which was supposed to be the last race of the season for Speedline Racing. Instead of racing week to week in the fall, Davis and his team focused on putting together a new wingless sprint car. "We're currently in a state of scrambling and trying to pick up the pieces of where we're at and do whatever we can to get out to the track," Davis said. "We're still putting everything together." Running a variety of tracks is part of his team's strategy. Davis wants to experience having to adjust to different racing conditions so when his team makes a move up in class, it will be ready for any unexpected elements. "We want to get out there and try our hand at everything," Davis said. "We're not the type of guys who necessarily like to run for a track championship. We really are more outlaw guys. We like a challenge. We're not ever comfortable at one place. That's one of the things we've always tried to do, make sure we're never comfortable. We constantly want to try to build and move forward. Part of what we've done is make sure that we're trying new tracks so that if eventually we do get up to the 360 classes we're right where we need to be and we feel comfortable with the fact that whatever comes our way, we know we can adapt." Even though his team's season in 2010 ended early, Davis doesn't categorize it as a lost season. He likes to describe it as a growth year. "From the previous year, we've been having some good runs. Last year, we were constantly up front and contenders, which was really good. Unfortunately, some little nuisances here and there have not gone our way," Davis said. "A lot of those things were fluke things. I wouldn't say it was a wasted year, because we got a lot great seat time. For the most part, it was a huge growth for our team. It's really invaluable experience. We had pretty high expectations. We didn't achieve 100 percent of our goals, but we definitely we achieved that we put the best car on the track. Last year, I come out with a positive note." As if building a new car and preparing to race it at a variety of tracks wasn't enough for Speedline Racing, Davis said he wants notch his first win. "We definitely want to pick up our first win," Davis said. "We've been striving and working and that's kind of been our No. 1 priority. We gotta get that first win." Working with K&N is an important part of reaching that goal of recording the team's first win. "At this point, anything helps," Davis said. "We are just so grateful. We want to grow a relationship not for just today, but for the future. We use 100 percent K&N. You can't beat them. Their filters are used on everything that we build, that we build for customers. We wouldn't go with anything else." While that first win is important, Davis said he knows his team has to work its way up to that point. "One of our big hopes is to have a decent first race and have a good showing," Davis said. "With everything that we have, there's no reason why success can't come our way. We're just really excited about all that's going to come. It's kind of hard because you don't know what to expect." Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
