Pre RaceSaver Nationals℠ Interview with Brian Lawson
By Greg Soukup
Due to technical difficulties, I was unable to post an interview last week. But, I am more than making up for it with this week’s offering. This interview was a real treat to do. I know you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed doing it!
Brian Lawson, 41 from Barbersville Virginia lets us in on his racing background and what he thought of last year’s RaceSaver Nationals℠.
Q: When did you first start out in racing?
Brian: It was probably 15 years ago. I started out in the Racesaver series; that’s all I’ve ever driven. I was a late bloomer I guess.
Q: What do you think of the Racesaver class?
Brian: Seriously, if it wasn’t for Racesaver, I wouldn’t be racing period. There’s just no way! There’s no way to race a sprint car, just…..we’re working people. There’s no way you could afford a 360 or a 410, trying to do it on your own, unless you were filthy rich.
Q: What do you think of the rules for Racesaver?
Brian: You have to have the rules! We went to a place that had started, supposedly, a class running the Racesaver motor rules. But, there was no tech rules to it. And, it got so far out of hand that the group doesn’t even exist any more. It finally just ran everybody out. If you don’t have these rules, the next thing that you know you’ll have, not 410’s but 305 motors that are $30,000 or more. That’s just the way that it’s going to work.
Q: Was last year your first visit to Eagle Raceway for the Racesaver IMCA Sprint Nationals?
Brian: No. Actually it was my third time there.
Q: But, did you have fun?
Brian: Oh! I’m telling you!! Nobody believes that this deal works. Go to the Nationals. You’ve got 140 cars there (actually 117 last year). This deal works. And I’ve met more people out there that I would have never met. Like Chad Wilson, Claud Estes, the Hawkins people. I would have never met them, if it wouldn’t have been for the Nationals being out there. And they were good people; to the point
that when you go again and see them, you know them and they know who you are. You can’t describe it; it’s like a bond. With the 360’s and 410’s, it’s all about ‘me’ at that point. It’s serious because you’ve got so much more money involved. You don’t have time for friendship. I know there’s a controversy in Carolina right now, but I tell them; “Ya’all gripe about this tire rule, and that rule; go to Nebraska! Just go!! You’ll get it. If you don’t get it, at this point, at this lower level, go to Nebraska. You will get it. You will understand how it works.
Q: What do you think of Eagle Raceway itself?
Brian: I’m going to tell you what; seriously’ it is THE toughest track to race on; it really is. Because here, we go…when I say dry-slick, I mean the dirt is hard as pavement. And, it’s like a sheet of ice. Then you get here; we have red dirt. You know what I mean? You go to Nebraska, and you get this black dirt; which we’ve never seen anything like it, unless you’ve been around the world. It is the toughest track. The only things we have like this is creek banks. There’s no track here, that we race on, that has that kind of banking. And then, there’s that hole. That hole in turn one; that’s a challenge that you have to deal with. But, it’s a fun track, just because you can just flat-out do what, you know, do what you want. To be where that track is located, and then race night; all of those people! I don’t know where they come from!! That place is just unreal. It is a good place. And I will say; I wish I could just tell people, about folks like Tyler Drueke. We pitted next to him last year. He helped me out BIG TIME. He’s half my age, and he’s telling me to “Do this, and do that”. I’m looking at him and thinking ‘Hmmmm. I’ve got more to lose. I’ve got grown kids. He’s just a kid! I’ve got kids older than him. The drivers don’t realize how lucky they are to be able to race there every week. We struggle here because Virginia is late model country. If you don’t have a late model, they don’t want to watch you. And back there, people come out to watch sprint cars. I mean, it’s almost like Pennsylvania. It’s a big deal, a sprint car is. I wish I had the time; in a fantasy world, to be able to drive there every weekend; to race there, and then come back home. Those guys are GOOD; I mean they really are. Even the women drivers there. Shayle; I mean….WHEW! Good grief. But, they just know that track so good. And then the guys that come out of Texas. You watch them and think to yourself ‘Do they race here every week?”. They’re just as good too.
Q: Where did you finish at on Sunday last year?
Brian: Oh, my goodness. In the alphabet soup. I’ve never made an A Feature in my 3 trips. I destroyed a car the second year that we were there. I’ll tell you what; this is how we got in with Claud Estes and Chad Wilson. When we destroyed that car on Friday, we went to EMI and bought a used frame, just to have something to put back together. Those guys; not knowing us from Adam, they were there all day long. In 6 hours, we had that car together and ready to race. But, anyway, I’ve never made a Feature; as much as I want to. But, you know, it’s just the luck of the draw. If you draw a bad number, it’s an uphill battle. But, that’s just part of it. Even if you don’t make the feature, you’ll get plenty of track time. I mean, you get a LOT of track time.
Q: So, I take it you are a fan of the 3-day qualifying format?
Brian: Oh my goodness! The only thing, if you could ever change anything, is to maybe do a time trial. But, the top runners would still be on top. It wouldn’t make a difference. Because, it just seems that their motors are set up just a little bit better for those tracks. Their tracks are like ‘Go fast, slow down for the corners’, and we don’t have the grip here and the banking like they have. But, that’s the only way it’s going to work. The way it is gives everybody a better shot at making it. You just have to have a little luck on your side to draw a good pill. But, that track (Eagle) is something. Even in those years with getting all of that rain, that track….I don’t know how it does it. If that happened here it would be ‘Might as well forget it and try again another day’. That thing will take all of that water. That dirt blows your mind the way that it works. (NOTE: The format for this year’s Racesaver IMCA Sprint Nationals has changed)
Q: From the way you’ve been talking, I take it you really enjoy racing against teams from all over the country.
Brian: I love it! I really do. I’m just hoping that my schedule works out this year to actually let me come back. Just to see those people once a year. Like Claud Estes; we stayed at the same hotel. As soon as I walked around the corner, it’s like seeing a relative that you haven’t seen in a year. That part; it’s not just about the racing. We love talking to people, meeting the new people and then once a year having that reunion. Just to sit back, read the track and then go have a beer. Aww…it’s a good time; it truly is. If people don’t believe that, they just need to
come and see for themselves. There’s no better sprint show in the country; and I love the Outlaws. But, there’s no 410 show better than the Racesaver Nationals. You can’t tell one from the other at that point. It really is that good of a show. Like last year with Blake Robertson. This joker is like fourth, and all of a sudden on that last restart, here he is in second, and he’s running down Dover! I wanted 5 more laps just to see what happens when he gets there. I mean it was THAT good of a show. I mean, on that last restart he took OFF! And the thing is, where he came from, he could be an ass; if he wanted to be. But he’s not. Like when Ray Evernham started racing with us. Here’s a man who’s a Hall of Fame crew chief, at the highest level. He could have turned his nose up at us. He and I had a kind of a weekly relationship where he would just call and say ‘Hey, what are you doing? Stop by here’. I’d stop by his shop, we’d talk, and then I’d go on my way. Then, the next week I’d stop or whatever. This deal lets you relax. You don’t have that pressure of having to perform. If you have a bad night, you have a bad night. Load everything up in one piece and go home. We get to go out, and pretend we’re Steve Kinser or Sammy Swindell, without the pressure. We can strap in there, and act like we’re this, that and the other. At the end of the night, if everything goes right and we load it in one piece, you can go home, talk crap and have all of the benefits and it didn’t cost a fortune. And trust me, there isn’t a harder man than French Grimes. That man has talked to me like a dog! But I have learned; and I’m not old, but the older I get, if you’re going to be a boss figure and you really believe that this is the way that it is, you’re going to have to be like that. Otherwise it doesn’t work. You can’t be people’s friends, because you start letting this slide, or letting that slide. It doesn’t work. He stuck to his guns. That man and I have a love/hate relationship. And his being an ass has kept everything on a level playing field. But, it has to be!
Q: Going back to the Sunday A Feature; what do you think of the 3-wide start?
Brian: It’s very different. You know, after the first year when Roger said “We’re going to come back next year and do it better! It will be a 3-wide start!!”, I thought ‘That’s never going to work’. But, it does work and it adds just one more element and makes that race different from any other race in the country. I mean, 3-wide. And, everybody does good for the most part getting through the first lap or so; letting everything fall where it’s going to fall. I tell you, what a show. I mean the fireworks, the fire and last year with the glow sticks; Roger is something else.
He really is dedicated. He has really made it work as far as the money, getting the people and everything else. All of the people; I don’t know where they come from! There ain’t nothing there but corn fields. Then you look up there and the place is just about full. And then you’ve got all of those people in the pits!! I hope that the racers there know how lucky they are to have that place. It’s a premier place. It’s not a dump. I’ve been to some dumps, but that’s surely not one of them. It is a premier dirt track. It’s just A1! Everybody there, the food, the little Tiki Bar in the pits at the end of the night, and free beer! It ain’t all about the racing there. That was my week’s vacation for the most part, to go there. And I looked forward to it; I still look forward to it! I’m just hoping that my schedule this year works out, so I can make it.
Q: Well, is there anything that we haven’t covered that you would like to let the fans and teams who haven’t made it to the Nationals yet know?
Brian: If you have not made that trip yet, and you don’t believe that this really works, go to Eagle Nebraska. Your answers will be there when you see it. You won’t even have to think about it; you just have to look. This deal, the Racesaver IMCA Sprint Nationals works.