While Sanders works hard for his own success, he doesn’t hide any speed secrets up his sleeve when younger drivers ask for help. He willingly shares what he knows and that is particularly true with the Mittry team.
“If I figure out something new, they know about it, too,” said Sanders.
When both Mittry cars are at the track, Sanders is constantly in motion, shuttling between them, usually with a wrench or a tape measure in his hand, making decisions about set-ups or measuring tire stagger, even though what works for Max is different than what works for Sanders.
The elder Mittry credits Sanders for how quickly his son has developed as a driver.
“Max is young and eager to learn and they speak the same language,” he said.
Sanders’ guiding hand extends to his younger brother, Rickey, even when they are at different tracks. As Sanders was racing the Swindell Speed Lab car in Iowa during late summer, his brother was closing out his second season at Ocean Speedway. The miles between them were covered by phone calls and text messages, as Justin answered questions and offered advice on car set-up.
Rickey Sanders, who is 10 years younger, gives his brother credit for a successful season where he claimed his first sprint car win and finished second in the track standings.
That Kaeding Classic win at Ocean broke a dam for Sanders. In the weeks that followed, victories began to pile up. They included winning four straight nights at Oregon’s Cottage Grove Speedway. As a result, Sanders’ phone was pinging and Kevin Swindell was on the other end.
“I didn’t know why he was messaging me,” said Sanders. “I thought it might be for some kind of 360 deal.”
Swindell, known to stay up late to watch West Coast races when everybody else is asleep, had been keeping track of Sanders and offered him the seat in his sprint car for a late summer swing in the Midwest that included the Knoxville Nationals.
“Obviously, he’s been one of the top guys on the West Coast and aside from not driving big tracks, he’s one of the best drivers available,” said Swindell. “He’s run his own stuff and takes care of his equipment. He’s looking to make a living and not just race until the money runs out.”
For Sanders, racing with Swindell was a chance to expand his horizons. But it was also a rare opportunity for Sanders to focus on driving while trusting that Swindell knew how to make him comfortable in the car.
“Ultimately, he made all the decisions,” Sanders said about Swindell. “I basically drove the car the way he set it up.”
At first, the bigger and faster tracks in Iowa felt like the German Autobahn, but it didn’t take long for Sanders to move over to the fast lane.
“I really had to adapt to how fast those tracks are,” said Sanders. “They felt really fast at first but then you get used to it.”
A highlight of the trip was locking into the Knoxville Nationals A-main early in the week, which gave the normally intense Sanders a rare chance to relax while others were battling through the qualifying alphabet soup. Sanders started 13th and finished 21st.
Despite the disappointing result, qualifying for the Nationals was a career milestone for Sanders and proved he could adapt to big race tracks and the big horsepower of the 410 ranks. Sanders completed his tour of the Midwest at Indiana’s Lincoln Park Speedway, finishing second in the inaugural High Limit Racing Series event.
By the time Sanders got back to California, crew chief Paul Silva, who wrenches one of the most successful 410 sprint cars in the sport, came calling, asking if Sanders had time to drive his iconic No. 57 machine.
“I was nervous at first,” Sanders confessed about driving for Silva, unsure how he would compare to a list of winners in the No. 57 car that starts with Kyle Larson and includes Tyler Courtney. “Paul’s cars always drive so well and I wondered how I would compare.”