INDIANAPOLIS – Carson Short will compete on the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series trail this season for Daigh-Phillips Motorsports.
The pairing’s journey together begins with the season-opening Winter Dirt Games at Florida’s Bubba Raceway Park, Feb. 13-15.
Short, a one-time winner with the series during the 2016 Indiana Sprint Week round at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind., has driven his family-owned No. 21 on the circuit since 2014.
For 2020, the ninth-place driver in last season’s standings will be back in black, this time with the No. 71p for the team which has won 19 series events since 2013 with drivers Dave Darland (17) and Jason McDougal (2).
McDougal vacated the Daigh-Phillips Motorsports seat during the offseason, allowing Short the opportunity to jump in the seat for 2020.
“I got word that Jason was going to do something else this year and not run the sprint car, so I called them up,” Short recalled. “I try to keep a good close relationship with everybody, but I related more to them just because they’re a smaller team, a family team per se, and just good, dedicated racers. I kind of based my stuff off that as well.
“They’re family owned and they’re there to race and not much else, and they’re strongly passionate about it.”
Short, whose offseason job throughout this winter involves laying pipeline in North Carolina, is proud to join a team whose 19 career wins with the series rank them within the 25 best in USAC National Sprint Car history.
Short’s three top-fives and 14 top-tens in 26 starts during the 2019 season ranked him within the top-ten in all three categories, and he feels the transition to Daigh-Phillips should be a match, considering their passion, talent and both having regularly competed utilizing the DRC chassis.
“(Steve Phillips) isn’t there for any BS,” Short stated. “He’s there to win races and contend for a championship because that’s what pays the bills. I can relate a lot to that. When I race my car, that race dictates what race I’m going to after that.
“With him setting up the cars for as many different drivers as he has, I don’t think there’ll be a problem with him and I mending well.”
The debut of the Short and Daigh-Phillips combo will begins in February in Ocala, Fla., where Short recorded fast qualifying time and established new one-lap USAC sprint car track records on consecutive nights to open the year.