For a late model novice, he had been impressive by any measure, but as he began planning for the 2016 season, he started getting bad vibes.
“They hired Randal Edwards as my crew chief and I could see the writing on the wall,” Westfall said. “We went to test at -ity Speedway and then we went to Brandon Sheppard‘s shop. I worked in the trailer the whole day doing tires and Edwards was in there with Sheppard. Then I got fired by a text. So, you know who got in the car as soon as I got fired. The following year they ran the Lucas Oil deal and the next year they put Josh Richards in the car and he won the points.”
It was disappointing to say the least.
“I wanted to pursue that for a living, but the truth is in the late model world if you don‘t have one of the top rides, you‘re wasting your time,” Westfall said.
He was ready to head back to sprint cars, but he soon felt the time away from the discipline had left him a bit rusty.
“I had done this for so long, but when you struggle for a couple of years you ask yourself man, do I still have it? To be able to compete like we are now feels good,” Westfall said. “I really think when I went to late model and modified racing it hurt me for a few years. When you go back to sprint cars you have to get your balls pumped up.”
Things got a whole lot better for Westfall when he joined forces with owner Ray Marshall. Marshall, the proprietor of Buckeye Machine Fabricators, had a soft spot for racing, and over the years he and Westfall had competed together.
“I had raced winged 360 cars for him at Lima and I also ran for him at Eldora,” Westfall said. “I was talking with him about doing a full-time deal before the Best Performance thing came together. But at that time Ray was running two and three cars a night and you know how that goes. I didn‘t want to get in the middle of that deal.”
With Ray Marshall Motorsports now a one car operation and with permission to maintain the car in his shop, Westfall was back on top of his game.
In 2019, he was the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series champion, fell to the runner-up spot the following year, but reclaimed the crown in 2021. In that same timeframe he was active in USAC, posting a career-high 27 starts with sanctioning body in 2021.
Westfall doesn‘t minimize his success in BOSS, but he freely acknowledges when he signs in with USAC the task at hand is more difficult.
“It‘s one of those things when you race locally you aren‘t as good as when you race the best,” Westfall said. “So you get in that funk. You run well there, but you go and race with USAC and you aren‘t worth a crap. It‘s a lot about who you race with. The racing is so different. If you aren‘t on the gas in a USAC race you‘re going to get passed. In BOSS those guys are off the gas more. You just race different, but then the race tracks in Ohio are a lot slicker, too. Just like when we went to Atomic Speedway those guys are on the gas and you aren‘t going to win it on the bottom. Those guys are on the fence.”
Even with a full slate of sprint car races, Westfall can‘t seem to stick to one discipline. For two years he traveled to Pennsylvania during the week to race SpeedSTR cars at Action Track USA. He also returned to Silver Crown competition, a place where he had posted good results in the past. This style of racing is right in his wheelhouse.
“When I first started racing Silver Crown cars you just hung out for 50 laps and you kind of picked it up with 30 to go,” he said. “Now you are on it from lap one to 100. I enjoy it. It just makes you get up on the wheel more, but you still have to take care of the tires.”
During last year‘s 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora, Logan Seavey was putting an exclamation point on what had been a breakout year for owner Robbie Rice‘s team, but in the waning stages Westfall was coming. He was the local hero and many had moved to the edge of their seats hoping he could seal the deal. His furious charge came up just a bit short. It was disappointing, but Westfall knew they were on the right track.
Fast-forward to the inaugural race for the series at Pennsylvania‘s Port Royal Speedway in June. Westfall extended the lead to four seconds, but Seavey was on the move. The young Californian had determined that the only place his car would work was right against the fence. He was on the ragged edge when he tagged the wall late in the race. Nearly everyone thought his night had to be over.
Amazingly, the only casualty was a wheel cover which flew off his car and landed in the groove in turn two. The yellow flag came out with two to go. Westfall logically changed his line slightly to protect the middle groove and the bottom, but once again Seavey hung his car all the way out and took the lead on the final circuit.