Veteran sprint car driver Andy Forsberg can always be counted on for an opinion, an idea, or an observation. But there is something special about what he says.
He is usually right.
The 45-year-old Auburn, Calif., resident has been in the sport since age 16 and has the credentials to show he has learned a few things along the way. With a current lifetime win total of 198 and plenty of championships, he has earned the nickname of Mr. Excitement.
Track titles show four at Silver Dollar Speedway, eight at Placerville, 10 in the now-defunct Civil War series, one at Marysville and one at Petaluma.
One thing never missing from Forsberg’s comments is being candid, such as his comment on the 2021 Petaluma title.
“He (promoter Rick Faeth) kept track of every race that was there,” said Forsberg. “So basically if you went to every race you were the champion. But I got a jacket, a trophy and a check.”
TIres continue to be a major issue in racing although it appears Northern California tracks are handling that problem. The Forsberg 92 Racing Team is currently with its tire supply, partly by placing an early order.
“We’ve always stretched our tires as much as possible,” noted Forsberg, “so we kind of run tires longer than most do. I’d like to see the 360s on a different tire, like a total spec-ee hard, narrow tire. We have a moderate stack of tires in Auburn, enough to go a while.
“We’ve made three orders that are big to me, we had to wait for them,” he added. “We killed five tires at Merced in one night, but even although Placerville is dry, it’s not hard on tires and we can run the same tires there a handful of nights. It’s all in the track prep.
“I like tracks juiced up, that’s how I like to drive, but the newer generation, the kart kids and the micro kids, they’re not accustomed to that and they like it slick,” Forsberg pointed out. “But if you don’t hit that track prep just right, you will kill tires. There’s a huge difference between a good dry, slick track and one that’s destroying your tires. That’s a fine line and they ask these track prep guys to walk that line and it’s tough. When the dust starts to disappear, then you know it’s starting to rubber up.”
Forsberg feels the way to increase the life of a tire is to have a track that is “juiced up,” but he thinks most of the drivers would be against that. He also believes California will not face canceling races over tire availability, especially if the current tire rules that allow more flexibility, are maintained.
Formats are often a topic of discussion and something everyone seems to have an opinion about.
“The format I was basically raised on,” Forsberg recalled, “was a 24-car qualifying invert, six invert in the heats and transfer four. Then they pulled a zero to a 10 pill and that is what I raced on basically my entire career up until SCCT (Sprint Car Challenge Tour) came out. They kind of adapted the All-Star format.
“For whatever reason, I don’t like it, I don’t enjoy it, but it’s absolutely the fairest thing to do. I dig that portion of it where you only qualify against your heat and I do believe it’s the best format, but for whatever reason, I don’t like it. I’d like to see fast time start last in the heat and you get qualifying points, you get passing and finishing points and take the top eight in points and pull pills. I think it would be entertaining.
“I do enjoy qualifying but maybe it’s past its day. Do people really want to sit and watch 35 cars go around by themselves? The draw thing is very intriguing to me and qualifying may be irrelevant in 2022.”
No matter what division of racing, it is expensive to do and the purse cannot keep up in growth with the expenses. Sponsors are just as important as having a track to race on because without one there would not be the other. Forsberg has very good sponsor support to keep his family operation racing regularly.
“It’s probably three grand a night to go to the track,” Forsberg said. “This guy buys a tire, this guy buys some fuel, but for us to do our little hobby that we think is so cool we easily spend three grand a night as an average. Fortunately, we do OK at the track sometimes so that helps since we do make money at the track.
“I depend on a $2,000 win or a $1,500 second every now and then,” he acknowledged. “I’ve got one guy who owns the truck and trailer, one guy who owns a couple motors, things like that I don’t even have to worry about. We’ve got five motors in the shop but only two of them are mine. Typically, the three motors I do run are not mine so that helps with out-of-pocket costs.”
Forsberg has strong support from Pacific Highway Rentals and there is a story behind how he came to receive the level of support that he does. It began with a restored sprint car his father, RIchard, owns.
“That car is a 1984 Lloyd chassis, came from Pennsylvania. The father of Paul Indelicato, the Pacific Highway Rentals owner, bought that car for my dad,” Forsberg explained. “So fast-forward 30-plus years and his son, Paul, calls me and says he doesn’t know if I remember him but his dad sponsored my dad. He asked what it would take to get his name on my car. That was in 2015, so fast-forward to 2022 and he’s spent a small fortune on me. He told me he’s always had a dream of having his own race team.”
Besides Pacific Highway Rentals, Paul Indelicato also owns PATG (Parking and Transportation Group), Meridian Camera and 1st Vanguard.
Forsberg has returned to running his old team this season. He has raced for car owners with much success, but felt it was time to return to his own deal. All those wins for other owners could have led to a considerable income stream, but Forsberg saw it a different way.
“I’ve been a volunteer for every car I’ve driven,” Forsberg stated. “That was my sponsorship to the team. We went to these teams and I said I’m going to make you some money and my sponsorship to you is I’m not taking any of it. I want it all back into the race car. Sometimes, I thought if I was getting a percentage I’d be doing pretty good.”
Forsberg has been around long enough that he has experienced how things were 30 years ago compared to now. Speeds have increased which creates an increase in costs. The difference between 410 and 360 sprints is smaller as the rules have changed, leading to cost growth.
When he started, drivers were almost entirely older, now Northern California is becoming dominated by teenagers.
One day Mr. Excitement will retire, and when that happens the Northern California sprint car scene won’t be quite the same.