In sprint car racing, the fans see the “glory moments” — the drivers celebrating in victory lane – but most never get a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes; the hard work, passion and struggles of the crews.
Sprint car enthusiasts are familiar with the success of crew chiefs such as Karl Kinser, Kenny Woodruff, Davey Brown, Ricky Warner, Scott Gerkin, Guy Forbrook, Barry Jackson and others.
Now, they are learning about 35-year-old Cody Jacobs, who has built a reputation as a hard-working, no-nonsense crew chief. Jacobs calls the shots on Tod Quiring’s Big Game Motorsports No. 2 machine driven by David Gravel.
Jacobs is the son of retired sprint car driver Dean Jacobs and Tina Jacobs. Like every sprint car crew chief, he worked hard and sacrificed to get where he is and his passion for the sport is second to none.
“I love the competition and challenges of being a crew chief. I love the leadership role you have to have to be successful. It’s something I’m passionate about and it’s very self-gratifying when you build a car and make everything as perfect as you can and you win races,” Jacobs said. “The sacrifice of being away from loved ones (my family and girlfriend) is what I like the least about being a crew chief.”
Jacobs was born and raised in Wooster, Ohio.
“I’m living in whatever hotel we’re at, in whatever part of the country we’re in. But where I actually live is in Millersburg, Ohio, with my girlfriend, Coty Blair, who I have been with for 10 years and she has been very supportive on this journey,” he said.
Jacobs’ journey began behind the wheel of a sprint car, and his younger brother, Trey, is a successful sprint car driver on the Ohio racing scene.
“I raced a 410 sprint car around 2005-’06. It was a car my dad had raced a little bit after he got fired off the Outlaws deal,” he said. “We built a cheap 12 headed engine. I probably raced it 40 times. Plain and simple — my parents weren’t rich and I didn’t have enough money to keep it rolling. Dad was still racing full time to put food on the table, so he couldn’t really help me much.
“It was just one of those deals where I was going to waste the little money I had to try and learn something that ultimately isn’t a guaranteed career,” Jacobs added. “I was always better at building and working on them than I was at driving them anyway.”
Jacobs began “tinkering” with sprint cars when he was around 13.
“Whatever car he was driving, I would mount and dismount tires and groove and sipe them, take care of the bleeders and whatever else they would let me do at that time,” Jacobs recalled. “My first actual team I worked for was when I was about 18. I went on the road and helped Brian Paulus. By that time, I had some experience and could do about anything — or at least I thought I could.”
Toward the end of the 2009 season, Jacobs hooked up with crew chief Barry Jackson on the Casey’s General Store car driven by Danny Lasoski.
“That was where I learned a lot,” Jacobs noted. “I finished that year and did part of the next year and then I quit to go home. I took a break and did some different stuff and helped some local guys around home.”
During the winter of 2012, Jacobs worked in Australia for driver Kerry Madsen. Then, he turned wrenches on the CH Motorsports car driven by Tim Shaffer in 2013, which led to a very productive relationship with the Hall of Fame driver.
“In 2014 and ’15, I worked for my cousin Lee Jacobs. We won some races and made the Knoxville Nationals in 2014. In 2016, I worked on the Pete Grove No. 70 that Danny Holtgraver drove on the All Star tour, then 2017 through 2019 I got back with Shaffer on the Rudzik (No.) 49x car,” said Jacobs. “When I linked up with Tim on the Rudzik deal, I was really confident in myself and him that we could make it happen with the right equipment and engines, and Jeff Rudzik provided us with that and we had a lot of success and won some big races.
“Those were some fun years and I’m forever grateful for the friendship with Shaffer,” Jacobs added. “I learned a lot racing with him and I consider him to be one of the best all-around sprint car drivers in the world.”
In 2019, Jacobs was hired to run the Big Game Motorsports team with Madsen driving.