“After the Knoxville Nationals in 2019, the ownership of the 49x wasn’t happy with the way things were going and we all parted ways,” Jacobs explained. “I thought maybe I’d have to get a real job and maybe just help some local guys around home. The season ended and then at the beginning of December I got the call from Tod Quiring and was offered the crew chief job with Kerry Madsen driving for 2020.”
The next season was a challenge.
“We ran that year and only won one race, the 360 Knoxville Nationals,” Jacobs said. “I was trying hard to get that team organized and get acclimated to a new deal and 2020 was just a crazy year all around with COVID and everything else. At the end of the year, David Gravel became available and Tod and I both have visions of winning a World of Outlaw championship and a Knoxville Nationals title and all the other big races in between.
“David is definitely a driver that can make all that happen,” Jacobs continued. “I’ve known David for a long time and this deal has been a building process. Success doesn’t happen overnight out here and we’re getting better every day together. David is one of the best drivers in the world and if you want to be on top, you have to work together and believe in each other, and I feel we have that and I think we will be a force together for a while.
“It’s hard to keep a group of guys together out here for consecutive years because it’s a lot of sacrifice, but I have two good guys working for me this year in Scott Vogelsong and Zach Patterson who do a great job and it’s been a lot of fun this year.”
Jacobs has learned from some of the best sprint car people around.
“I love my dad and mom. Without them I couldn’t be where I’m at today. I learned this racing stuff from my dad. I would go in the pits with him when I was around 12-13 and that ultimately started the learning process,” Jacobs said. “My mother is one of the hardest working human beings I know and I feel like I definitely got that drive and work ethic that she has.
“I’ve learned a lot about sprint cars from several people,” he continued. “Charlie Garrett and Brian Morrison have taught me a lot about engines. The two best engine builders ever in my opinion. Race car setups I kind of just took bits and pieces from a lot of the older guys like Barry Jackson, Bonzai (Dean Bruns), Rick Warner. … Shaffer was good with setup stuff so he helped me a lot. The older crew chiefs love to talk about setup stuff, so I would just listen and pay attention when they talked. I’ve never been afraid to try things on my own. You never learn unless you try things on your own.”
Jacobs has won some big races over the years with a variety of drivers, including Gravel who banked $250,000 for topping the High Bank Nationals at South Dakota’s Huset’s Speedway in June.
Many who only see Jacobs at the track claim he is “high strung” or “has a chip on his shoulder.” What they are witnessing is a young man with a deep passion for sprint car racing.
“There’s no chip on my shoulder. I have a huge drive to succeed,” Jacobs said bluntly. “I feel like the path I’ve taken to get to where I’m at nobody else would have done. A lot of the jobs I had before Tod Quiring hired me, I didn’t get paid a wage. A couple teams gave me a very small wage.
“It was mostly based off a small percentage of what the race car brought in, so me and the driver I was working for at the time had to run well in order for me to make a little bit of money,” Jacobs noted. “I feel I sacrificed a little bit financially over the years, but I let my actions and success prove that I’m one of the best sprint car mechanics and it’s paying off now.”
This story appeared in the Oct 4, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
