A Story of Three World's of Racing

A STORY OF THREE WORLDS   

BY MELVIN HAYES

 

Chillicothe, Missouri 

My name is Melvin Hayes. I am from Chillicothe, Missouri. Terry Beets and I drive  “White Lightnin” and we have raced in the pits, on the fast track, and race side by side styles.

 

Heart pounding, staging, reading the lights, drop the hammer, and focus till the end. These are the reasons why mud racing is so popular among both men and women. But which is better; fast track, side-by-side heads up, or pit racing?  There are many different opinions on the answer to this question, however; I am going to give our racing team’s perspective on all three.

Lets start with side-by-side. Unlike the other two, this race begins before you pull in to stage. Determining where to stage and how deep to stage is key. Whether to stage first or second is also important. Next, cutting a good light is vital to winning or losing a race. Slower trucks have a chance of winning by cutting a better light.

One issue that you also see with side-by-side heads up is the lanes become rough and rutted due to the multiple passes each truck makes. Ruts become deep and crisscrossed which makes it difficult to find a good line. However, even with all these reasons side-by-side heads up has been successful for our team and is our favorite to race.

Fast track racing has become our least favorite. Finding the right path for the fastest time can be an obstacle in itself, The lanes keep changing during the race and there is no tree to equalize. Its not a very exciting ride. It is necessary though, for very fast rails, A high-powered rail is too dangerous for a pit, and is a lot of maintenance for repeat rounds in side-by-side, with no time between passes. But it is a good way to bring fast trucks and rails to a pit. Which is how we got into pit racing. With a little harassing from the pit racers we decided to try it.

Pit racing is different yet. You don’t have to cut a good light and you don’t get all the seat time like you do in heads up side-by side but you have a longer and rougher ride then a fast track. In a pit a slower truck can still win by the luck of the draw. As with us, we go across the top which is a lot more dangerous than a fast track but is a lot more exciting. Every pit is very different and is always changing throughout the race.

We have enjoyed all three types of mud-racing. There are so many different locations to go to and you meet lots of great people and good competition.