When he settled into a weekly routine at Knoxville and at South Dakota’s Huset’s Speedway, his business started gaining its reputation in the states.
“When I started with the wings, that gave me credibility,” said Jeffrey. “I owe a lot to people back in Australia like Steve and Garry Brazier. They got us headed in the right direction in relation to wing design. I was able to think of things in an analytical way.”
Being able to do his own research in wing effectiveness while on the track was a great advantage. Suddenly, the company was clicking off victories and championships. Things really took off when drivers such as Donny Schatz made the change to Vortex.
“He was a great racer before he used our wing, but every Knoxville Nationals win for him has come with our wing,” Jeffrey said proudly. “We have a great pride in that, and in the World of Outlaws titles over the years. I’m proud that we were part of that puzzle. There have been more years than not, when we have accumulated over 400 wins in a single year. That is more than twice all the other companies have had combined. We’re really proud of that.”
While the pandemic was the death knell for some, Jeffrey says Vortex has never been busier building wings.
“The pandemic was tough on everyone, including our industry,” he said. “We lost a couple of big competitors and they sold out. That increased our business to where we are doing more now than we’ve ever done. We established Vortex Racing Products East in Dillsburg, Pa. Lucas Wolfe is working for us there and he understands the industry. He’s enjoying it and we enjoy having him.
“If we hadn’t opened that second shop, I don’t know what we’d be doing,” Jeffrey continued. “The last thing we want is to let our customers down. I’m grateful we made the choice to do that last year.”
Everyone who has dealt with Vortex knows they can depend on the product.
“We’re trying to work with each and every customer in meeting their needs and we try and develop products geared toward them,” Jeffrey said. “I think people come to Vortex because of our experience. We’re able to identify what chassis they use, and the combination they need with the wing.”
Jeffrey has also enjoyed success on the track. He’s made the Knoxville Nationals finale on three occasions, won Knoxville’s Summer Classic, topped the World Challenge twice and was the 2010 Huset’s Speedway track champion.
“The Summer Classic was a big race,” said Jeffrey. “It was a great race that paid good money. To win the World Challenge not once, but twice, was something you can only dream about … winning in front of a Nationals crowd like that. To experience that on the biggest stage on Friday night, heading into Saturday night … everyone knows what’s going on.”
The last few seasons have seen Jeffrey behind the wheel of the (Brian) Ridge & Sons No. 83 sprint car.
“It’s been a building process,” he said. “We’ve done reasonably well at times and had some success. We were able to get on a real roll there last year around 360 Nationals time (winning twice) and that was fun. We got the win at Knoxville (410) earlier this year and we’ve been rolling good. We’ve been able to run up front with the Outlaws at times. They’ve given me really good equipment and we’ve been right there. We had a crash that set us back a bit earlier in the year, a week before the Outlaws show at Knoxville, but we’re coming back strong. We’re a really hard-working team.”
A ride in Pennsylvania awaits him when he is available as well.
“I’ve been driving the Boughter No. 15 in Pennsylvania from time to time,” he said. “Andrew is the owner, and his dad, Brian, is the crew chief. Brian has worked with Lance Dewease, Daryn Pittman and a lot of great drivers. He has a lot of experience. We kind of threw ourselves together. It was about getting as many races as we could early in the year and it’s always good to get back not only to race, but to the (Vortex) shop in Dillsburg. We’ve had some good finishes. We were really good at Bridgeport, but had a tire cut down.”
He also runs his own car on occasion.
“Our team is JW Motorsports with Glenn Styres Racing (No. 0),” Jeffrey said. “We were able to set quick time at Huset’s right out of the box. So you’ll see us racing that car from time to time, especially at Huset’s.”
One thing is for certain. Lynton Jeffrey is racing, and racing is Lynton Jeffrey.