BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. — Racers always start the season with a big smile on their faces. Their equipment is fresh, sponsors are excited and countless feature wins await. Everyone is, potentially, a multiple winner.
But by the chock-full-of-racing July 4 weekend, reality has set in for most. Only a few have won races, the same “big names” are dominating the high-dollar events and the expenses have far overshadowed racing income.
In the Northeast, the sportsman division has become, for many, the opportunity to race without teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. The cars look just like the big-block modifieds and in many cases are nearly interchangeable with the exception of the powerplant. These cars use $7,000 crate engines instead of $60,000 big blocks.
The downside? Purses are what the headliners got decades ago, but then again, sportsman teams race for fun while those trying to make a living racing are in the modifieds.
Tim Hartman, a division star for many years before turning his seat over to son Tim Jr., offers an interesting perspective on his son’s dominant team.
“When you buy the lightweight driveline components and all the other high-tech stuff, our cars can cost pretty much what a modified does,” the elder Hartman explained. “But you don’t need all that to have fun racing. Either way, we buy maybe one new tire a night where the modified teams buy three. And our crate 602 motors are seven grand if you already have the bolt-on accessories like starters and carburetors.
“It gets more expensive if you run places like Fonda and Utica-Rome, where they’re not DIRT-sanctioned and sealed motors aren’t required. Those guys do whatever they want to the open motors. Blueprinting and other tricks cost money but ours are sealed when we get them, which keeps costs down.”
A standard sportsman purse pays in the neighborhood of $700 to win but Hartman Jr., a consistent winner, often does much better.
“We’ve had a lot of extra sponsorship races lately and they pay $1,000 or $1,500 to win,” explained his father. “That’s great if you win but it still drops off to around $150 if you’re fifth. You have to have good sponsors to field a winning car. Nobody makes any money but we do better than the guys who aren’t winning.”
Tim Jr., who would earn a $1,500 feature win on this night, agrees.
“It’s nice to have a great sponsor and car owner in Mike Parillo. I don’t get any money for driving, but he basically pays for me to race,” the younger Hartman said. “We’ve won 42 features here at Albany-Saratoga and have nine straight at Lebanon Valley dating to last fall, so we’re enjoying success.
“Automatically that makes me a cheater, but I guess if they weren’t complaining, it would be because we weren’t winning. We hit on something that really works and until somebody else figures it out and we come back to earth, we’ll enjoy riding the wave.”
Many observers have suggested that it’s past time for Hartman to move up to the big blocks. And he has considered it, but not for long.
“I’ve had two offers in the past but I’ll only consider a ride with the best of everything that I can race two nights a week,” Hartman said. “I don’t really care what I’m racing but I want to be competitive wherever I am. Right now, I plan on racing for Mike forever. If I never run with the big blocks, I won’t feel like I missed out. I’m a mechanical engineer for the nuclear navy and don’t need any money back from racing. This is what I do for fun, which is why most of the sportsman drivers are here.”
When asked if racing in his division for less than what a modified costs is the future, Hartman waffles.
“It doesn’t matter what the prices are. People who want to race will spend it whether they can afford it or not. We’re all the same,” he said. “This is what we do. The saving grace is that we spend $7,000 on a motor where the modified guys spend from $40,000 to $60,000 or more. And we have just as much fun.”
Mike Ballestero is another sportsman division kingpin but unlike Hartman Jr., he is in his 60s and was retired for a decade before Hartman topped his leading race win total at Albany-Saratoga. He would like to get it back but knows that is not likely.
“I don’t know how much longer I’ll race and while I’ve thought about going to the big blocks, I ask myself, ‘Why jump?’” Ballestero said. “They have a half dozen different engine and weight rules and it’s crazy.
“When I started out, you could buy a used modified and field a sportsman, but then they had open motors and it was expensive. The crate motors saved the division, because guys would have priced themselves out of business, and Tim has figured the whole deal out the best of anyone.
“On the other hand, it seems like a lot more money has come into racing in the last few years,” Ballestero continued. “Even our sportsman cars have big sponsors now. My guy, Stone’s Pharmacy, stepped up in a big way or I would not have come back. Like most of the guys here, that’s still the only way we could afford to race.”
That brings us back to the elder Hartman, who won 26 sportsman features before hanging up his fire suit.
“The greatest day of my life was when he passed me in wins. He’s at 98 overall now and I’ve only missed seeing one of his wins,” the proud father said prior to his son’s 99th and 100th victories, which came July 5-6. “Racing at any level is a lot of work but his success makes it all worthwhile.”
Modified car owners and mechanics share the same pride. But it costs a lot more and, in the long run, may not be sustainable.
THIS ARTICLE IS REPOSTED FROM THE July 10 EDITION OF SPEED SPORT INSIDER
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