The effort is a family affair. Haggenbottom enters the 2019 season with a stable of three cars owned by his brother, John, who lives in Bristol, Pa.
He’ll race a Maxim chassis on the dirt tracks. He has two cars to race on the asphalt tracks: a Stealth and a Beast. The asphalt cars’ engines are prepared by PME (Pro Motor Engines) of Mooresville, N.C. The dirt car’s engine is prepared by Rider Racing Engines based in Mechanics- burg, Pa. He uses the No. 24, and the cars are white with red and blue trim.
The team’s sponsors include Belmont Garage of Langhorne, Pa., which is owned by veteran stock car racer Andy Belmont. Bill Gallagher of Valley Forge. Inc. of King of Prussia, Pa., a long-time URC sprint car team owner, lends his support too. Robison Racing Products of Dublin, Pa.; Speed Equipment Corp. (SEC) of Bensalem, Pa.; Kashady Automation of Bensalem, Pa., and Mershon Concrete of Bordentown, N.J. are also team sponsors. Other decals seen on the car advertise ASi Racewear of Patchogue, N.Y.; Hooker Harness of Freeport, Ill., WDB Landscaping of Morrisville, Pa., and PME Engines.
“I couldn’t do this without my wife, Tracey, either,” Haggenbottom said. “She supports my racing and long weekends away.
“On average we have about 10 people who go with us to each event,” he added. “You can do a sprint car operation with three or four people, but for a champ car you need a lot more. The hotel bills were one of the things we didn’t fully consider before we started running this series.”
What was the biggest thing he learned while competing in USAC Silver Crown last year?
“That these tracks are really far from Levittown, Pa.,” he said with a grin.
“The more serious answer is you can’t go all out in these races,” he continued. “Strategy is important because they’re long races and you have to save your tires and fuel.”
Surprisingly, when asked what cars he’s driven in the past are most like driving a USAC Silver Crown car, his answer was dirt modifieds instead of sprint cars.
“It’s because of the weight,” he explained. “Crown cars are around 1,700 pounds. Dirt modifieds are about 2,600 pounds, but they drive similar due to the fuel loads both cars carry.”
He knew going into the series that the competition would be tough.
“The level of competition in USAC Silver Crown is incredibly high,” he said. “It attracts so many people with diverse backgrounds in sprint cars, midgets, modifieds; you name it. All of the drivers are very good.”
Haggenbottom added that last year, the championship-winning team was the one that made the rookie feel most welcome.
“We got a lot of help from the DePalma Motorsports crew; Bob Hampshire and his right-hand man, Clark Lamme, and Kody Swanson pretty much babysat us and helped us out,” Haggenbottom said. (Swanson became the winningest driver in USAC Silver Crown history last year.) “They helped us with lots of little things, like we didn’t know which tracks were the ones where you have to unload the car in the infield, and which ones were the ones where you can work out of your transporter. They were nice to us, even though we didn’t really know them well before last year. I knew Bob Hampshire because he was a sprint car guy, and we went to him before last season to see if he had any cars for sale, and that’s how that relationship started.”
With a season under his belt and an increased inventory of cars and parts, Haggenbottom is ready for the new season to get underway.
“We’ll give it our best,” he said.