4 WEEKS TIL NATIONALS! Interview with Jeff Taylor
by Greg Soukup
We are just 4 weeks away from the 2016 Racesaver IMCA Sprint Nationals, and it’s time to meet another one of the drivers who will be competing this year.
We started this series of interviews in the Midwest (Indiana), then moved down south (Texas), and today we head to the northeast corner of the country. This week we get a look into the life of Jeff Taylor, who is from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Q: How long have you been running in the Racesaver series?
Jeff: I think that I originally got involved about the second or third year that French Grimes started it; so I guess for about 15 years now. We also were running 410’s for a little while, jumping around a lot. But the last 5 years or so has been strictly in the Racesavers.
Q: Do you run with a particular series up there?
Jeff: I’ve run with 5 different Racesaver series’ out here. I jump around a lot, because I’m not dedicated enough to stick with just 1 series. I like to travel. We’ve been to Ohio, and last week we ran with the group up in New York. We’ve also run with a couple of the Pennsylvania groups, and probably before July is over we’ll go down and run with French’s group down in Virginia.
Q: Is this your first time running the Sprint Nationals here in Nebraska?
Jeff: Yes. The last time that we ran the Nationals was in 2011 down at Fork Mountain Speedway down in Virginia when French still was running it.
Q: What do you think of the Racesaver series?
Jeff: I quit racing in 2012 through 2014 because I thought I wanted to be a race track owner. We bought a track in central Pennsylvania and ran it for 3 years before we tired of it. We had the Racesaver sprints on our track 3 times a month during that time. The fans loved it, and personally I think it’s a great deal! I like everything that French did with the rules; how he kept things the way that they are. I just think that as long as the rules are enforced the way that they’re supposed to be, by the book, the series is fantastic! I don’t know of any other way to keep a sprint car class equal this way.
Q: So, the Racesaver rules keep the class fair, in your opinion? Nobody has an engine advantage, correct?
Jeff: I will give you a prime example of that. I had 2 engines when I quit racing in 2011. I spent $19,000 on one motor and I spent $8,100 on the engine that I won the 2011 Sprint Nationals with. The difference between the two on the dyno was 19 horsepower! So, I basically paid almost $1,000 per horsepower!!!
Q: Are you looking forward to your trip to Nebraska to run at Eagle Raceway?
Jeff: Oh yeah, yeah. We watched some videos of the regular races, and then we watched one of the Nationals. We’re excited! A couple of my guys are flying out, and a couple of us are going to drive out. We’re going to hook up with Randy Sterling from Pennsylvania on I-80 and drive out together. So, we’re all excited about coming out. It’ll be fun for sure.
Q: You saw the 3-wide start on the videos then?
Jeff: Yeah! As long as I’m not the guy in the middle, I think it’ll be a lot of fun. I never would have tried it at my track, but just watching it on the video was really cool. Definitely something different for sure. Then you throw in all of the other things going on during the night and I know it’ll be a great time.
Q: Are there a lot of other guys from your area coming out?
Jeff: Oh yeah. I’ve had calls from a couple of guys from around here just this last week, and I know that there’s probably about another dozen either planning to go or thinking about going. I actually had a guy call me tonight and ask if I could squeeze his car into my trailer, so I told him that somehow we could do it. That was Joe Grandinetti, the head of the TSRS Series here. His granddaughter drives, so we may try to squeeze her car in there also! It’s going to be a riot!!!