REDDING, Calif. — A few weeks ago, Max Mittry found quite the surprise in his Twitter mentions.
He learned he’d been named a finalist for a prestigious National Sprint Car Poll award. Just a couple weeks later, the same social media platform informed him he’d been voted the National 410 co-rookie of the year, sharing the honor with Pennsylvania’s Briggs Danner.
“Funny story, I got a mention on Twitter,” Mittry told SPEED SPORT. “I had no idea about it at all. I got a mention from Box3 Racing saying that Briggs Danner, myself, and Tyler (Tischendorf) were the three finalists. … Then I got another mention on Twitter saying I was co-rookie of the year with Briggs. That’s how I found out just through social media.”
The news caught the Redding, Calif., youngster off guard. After all, he and the Mittry Racing team began 2022 with the intent of continuing to focus on 360 sprint cars like they had the past two years.
Mittry’s 410 debut came during the NARC season opener at Stockton Dirt Track where he finished a respectable 12th. Less than a month later, Mittry finished seventh at Silver Dollar Speedway in just his second start with the extra horsepower under the hood. On the following night when NARC invaded Silver Dollar Speedway, Mittry posted the fastest qualifying time in just his second series appearance.
The early success motivated Mittry to shift his primary focus to 410s, while still blending in some 360 races.
“At the beginning we were just planning on running here and there, some NARC local shows, maybe Chico and Hanford, stuff like that,” Mittry explained. “We debuted at Stockton, and then we were obviously planning on running Chico in the 410 because it’s right there for us. It’s only an hour and a half away. We did pretty well there and then we started laying off on the 360 stuff. Don’t get me wrong, we still ran a lot of 360 shows, but we started focusing more on 410 stuff.”
The 16-year-old went on to run the entire 21-race NARC tour, following the series all around California and north into Oregon and Washington. At season’s end, Mittry had collected seven top-10s and finished seventh in points, enough to earn the series’ rookie of the year award.
“Motors just kept coming in the shop,” Mittry said. “We started focusing on NARC more than anything and ended up seventh in points. It just all happened pretty fast. We went from planning on 360s to planning on more 410 shows. I’ve got no complaints. I love 410 racing.”
Racing with NARC throughout the year meant battling California titans such as Dominic Scelzi, Tim Kaeding, Shane Golobic. While the competition is some of the toughest in the country, Mittry found facing the best beneficial to his development.
“You’ve got guys that are capable of going and winning with All Stars or maybe Outlaw local shows,” Mittry said of California’s 410 competition level. “I feel like NARC is a great place to start racing if you want to get yourself better and get your program better and maybe go Outlaw racing in the future.”
Perhaps the highlight of Mittry’s year came in September at Silver Dollar Speedway’s Gold Cup Race of Champions.
Making his debut with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars, Mittry timed eighth quickest. After transferring through his heat, the format lined him up on the front row next to Outlaw star Carson Macedo.
A lone early mistake cost Mittry a few spots, but he managed to wheel his No. 2xm to an eighth-place result.
“Chico is by far one of my favorite race tracks,” Mittry said. “I like the shape of Chico. I like the way it races. You’ve got a big, treacherous curb or you can roll right on the bottom with your left front on the berm.
“I was hoping for maybe a top-10. I was pretty nervous going into that night,” Mittry continued. “With the Outlaws, you’ve got to be on your game because if you make a mistake, they’re going to pounce. Obviously, I made a mistake and flew over the track, and that’s where I lost basically all of my positions. I don’t think I got passed after that. I made one little mistake and got pounced on but still had a strong showing with the Outlaws.”
Mittry’s performance throughout the year turned enough heads to warrant national recognition, with him being selected as co-rookie of the year.
“It’s awesome,” Mittry said of the honor. “I wasn’t even really planning on 410 racing this year, just here and there. We ran the full NARC season. When the Outlaws came to town, I had a pretty strong showing. I wasn’t really expecting to do that well with the Outlaws. That was pretty cool. I was just trying to really make a name for myself with 410s. I don’t know, I’m still dumbfounded by the whole thing. I wasn’t even planning on 410 racing this year and here we are.”
Looking ahead to 2023, Mittry hopes to build off this year’s strong campaign. He and the team owned by his father, Demo, have spent the offseason preparing for a big year by adding even more to their 410 engine arsenal with plans to compete with NARC again.
Mittry is wise beyond his years and doesn’t expect to set the racing world on fire next season. As he continues to lay the foundations of his sprint car career, the teenager has two main goals in mind — snag an elusive victory and more consistency.
“I haven’t won a sprint car race yet,” Mittry said. “I’ve been damn close but haven’t got one yet, so that’s the main goal for next year. I also want consistent top-three and top-five finishes next year. I want to be consistently up front no matter what race, 360, 410, Outlaws. It doesn’t matter to me. I just want to be up front and proving that I can hang with these guys.”