“It was a pretty big deal for him because he had to move to Oklahoma City just for some kid who was running Jr. Sprints. Thank God it ended up working out,” Ryan Timms said.
Securing Lawhead’s services was fundamental to the growth of Ryan Timms.
“We are really tight and have seen each other every day for about the last 5 years,” Ryan Timms said. “He is like a second dad to me.”
When Lawhead started helping he was the only one who had experience with Junior Sprints and micros. Again, it was a familiar story. Ryan spent some time running mid-pack, then once again in his words, “things clicked and I started winning everything.”
With his confidence brimming, Timms started venturing farther from home and began jousting with other young drivers who were progressing right along with him.
Past the midway point of the 2020 season Timms was getting his feet wet in a 360 sprint car and made his first appearances in a midget. He acquitted himself nicely, particularly when one realized he was 13 years old.
In 2021, Ryan Timms didn’t just have a breakout year, he exploded onto the scene. Beyond seat time, he feels adding Jimmy Jones to his sprint car team made a significant difference. In early April, he scored his first sprint car win at Missouri’s Lake Ozark Speedway.
In late May Timms was back at the Eldon, Mo., track and poised to make history. He had encountered Chad Boat while traversing the nation racing micros and jumped at a chance to drive a midget for CB Industries.
On May 29, Timms became the youngest driver to win a POWRi National midget race when he carried Boat’s car to victory lane. One night later, he became the youngest to win an ASCS national sprint car feature. It was a weekend that garnered plenty of headlines.
The same weekend Randy Timms stepped int Joe Duvall’s modified and won three United States Racing Ass’n features over two days. For father and son, five checkered flags in one weekend was a lot to celebrate.
From this moment on, Ryan Timms was running downhill. Timms was the ASCS Sprint Week champion, and before the year was over, he was racing a midget for Keith Kunz Motorsports. Aided by talented crew chief Jarrett Martin, he responded by winning a preliminary night during the Hangtown 100 at Placerville (Calif.) Speedway. In a now common refrain, he became the youngest driver to win a USAC national midget race.
Equally impressive was his transition to 410 sprint cars. He turned 15 in August and from the Plains to the Midwest Timms was grabbing the brass ring, and when he triumphed at places like South Dakota’s Huset’s Speedway people really began to pay attention.
Billy Lawhead has been with this young man since he was 9 years old. One experiences a lot of changes emotionally and physically during these formative years, and it is easy to get knocked off-kilter. Lawhead had experienced all of this with Bell. Perhaps drawing from his past, he has been a steady presence in Timms’ life, but more than anything the pair are bonded by a common goal.
Lawhead was asked to compare Timms and Bell. When pressed he observes that both drivers, “are pretty reserved, and quiet for the most part. There is never a lot of emotion. They do get upset with themselves and recognize mistakes.”
By the time the frost had burned off for good at the start of the 2022 season, it was obvious Timms was not a flash in the pan. The hits just kept rolling. He raced often, at a wide range of places and even took the wing off a few times. In midgets he scored again with POWRi and USAC and continued his winning ways in 360 and 410 sprint cars. All knew the biggest test of all was just over the horizon. Looming ahead was Ryan’s 16th birthday. More doors would open, most notably he could now compete with the World of Outlaws.
The World of Outlaws were set to appear at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., on his birthday. His appearance was one of the most anticipated debuts in years.
“It was hyped up for sure,” Timms said. “I was a little nervous, but I went into it with no expectations. It was really another race. Once you are there it is the same deal with different guys. That’s how you approach it. At least that is what I tried to do, although, once in a while I would get a little nervous.”