Most of the teams that Jason Sides competes with on the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series trail have two or three full-time crew members as they travel coast-to-coast racing nearly 90 times a year. Heading into this weekend’s event at Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron South Dakota, Sides just has himself and his 11-year-old daughter, Skyler. For the veteran driver from Bartlett, Tennessee, the “David vs. Goliath” equation that he faces each night does not bother him at all. In fact, it leads him to work even harder and makes the strong finishes just that much more meaningful.
Sides, who has been a longtime independent on the series, had championship-winning crew chief Scott Gerkin turning the wrenches a bit earlier this season, when the latter’s schedule allowed. Sides also had his brother Paul on the road with him during the earlier stretch of races to start the season. When he rolls into the track this week as Iverson Huron Presents the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, Sides will be doing it all: driving the transporter, working on the car and, of course, racing the No. 7s.
“I kind of like doing everything myself,” explained Sides. “I have my daughter out here with me and its great having her spend the summer the on the road. Scott (Gerkin) helped us when he could earlier in the year, but his two kids are growing up and he is home with them. The possibly still exists that he may come out and help a little bit more down the road.”
Sides is one of just two drivers competing full-time with the World of Outlaws that has ever raced at Dakota State Fair Speedway as Iverson Huron brings the “Greatest Show on Dirt” to the three-eighths-mile for the first time ever. Sides raced at Dakota State Fair Speedway in 2002 with the Gumout Series. He finished fifth in that event, in which Shane Stewart, who is currently second in points, also ran.
“It’s been a long time since I was up at Huron, so other than knowing what the track looks like, there is probably not a whole lot out an advantage to having raced there.” said Sides. “So much has changed since then, with the cars, wings and tires. It is a racy track, I do remember that. It’s always great to go to places that haven’t seen the series and South Dakota has a lot of great sprint car fans.”
Sides, who is currently eighth in points, has a season-best finish of second at both Calistoga Speedway in California and Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Missouri. He has 15 top-10 finishes this season through June 17, with eight of those being top-five performances. Sides began this season with 13 career World of Outlaws wins.
“We have a few folks that stop by and help at the track,” Sides noted of having a few extra hands here and there. “At I-80 a couple of weeks ago we had two guys from that area who were in the pit area with us and we ended up running third. I’ve got a couple of guys coming to help out at the end of the month. Shane Finch is coming from Australia and bringing a buddy of his, so we’ll be just fine.”
Sides and his fellow World of Outlaws competitors are in the midst of a grueling 14-race stretch in 23 days that will take them to 12 tracks in seven states. For someone who has been racing for the majority of his life, there is nothing Sides would rather be doing, even if that means being a “One-man Band” driving up and down the road and doing all of the work on the race car himself. In fact, it’s all he wants to do. That is why he continues to compete with the World of Outlaws night in and night out.
“We have a busy stretch of races coming up, which can get tough with all of the driving and work on the car, but we’ll make it,” said Sides. “We’ve had some rainouts lately, which kind of jumble the schedule up, but I’ve been out here long enough to know what needs to get done and how to get it done and keep on going down the road.”
Tickets for Iverson Huron Presents the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series at Dakota State Fair Speedway can be purchased online at http://slspromotions.ticketforce.com and at the track on race day.
Fans can also take advantage of the O’Reilly Auto Parts $5 OFF Special and receive $5 OFF when purchasing a General Admission ticket at participating O’Reilly Auto Parts Stores. The ticket buyer will exchange their O’Reilly receipt for a ticket at the Main Grandstand ticket booth on race day.
For more information on tickets, visit http://slspromotions.ticketforce.com.
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- administrator on Jun 22, 2015
- Article Date: 6/18/2015 by Tony Veneziano