(Photo by Ron Gilson/GilsonPhoto)
Inside Line Promotions – COBBLE HILL, B.C., Canada (May 6, 2020) – It has been a while since Robbie Price has seen a sprint car.
Following two nights of racing in California in early March and with no upcoming races on his schedule for a few weeks, Price dropped off his trailer in Washington at the Shark Racing Engines headquarters and headed home to Canada for a short break.
Little did he know how long that break would last. With the unknown effects of the COVID-19 outbreak taking center stage, tracks across the country began cancelling and postponing events in response. The Canadian border was limiting travel as well, leaving Price feeling worried about the prospects of when racing might return.
“I cleaned the trailer and took everything out that might be effected by the cold weather in March and figured we would be racing pretty soon,” he said. “I don’t think any of us could’ve imagined we’d be where we’re at this far down the road. This has just been crazy.”
For a young sprint car driver amped to return racing and being hundreds of miles away from his equipment with no way to even work on things made for some long days. However, after a two-month hiatus, the light at the end of the tunnel has appeared.
As part of an invitation-only event, Price is set to travel to West Texas Raceway in Lubbock, Texas, for two nights of 360ci sprint car action next Tuesday and Wednesday during the inaugural West Texas Crude Nationals.
“It’s been a little bit of a scary feeling sitting around and not knowing what’s next,” said Price, who will be able to travel to the United States via a work permit for racing. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to get back racing and get out to Texas for this event.”
Price is used to competing against some of the best drivers in 360ci sprint car competition on the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour. He will have his work cut out for him next week as many of the nations best 410ci sprint car drivers are set to compete in the event as well. It is a task that Price is embracing and he said he doesn’t feel any added pressure as a result.
“Let’s face it, nobody is racing and it’s an invitational race so I fully recognize the who’s who is going to be out there trying to win,” he said. “But we run against some really good drivers all year on the ASCS National Tour and we’re going to go in with the same mindset as we do each night and that’s to contend.”
Price noted that a realistic goal is to qualify for the feature event each night and to get comfortable behind the wheel again. But mostly he is hoping that this race will serve as the first step to returning to normalcy for his program and for the sport of dirt track racing worldwide.
“I think it would have been a lot different if we’d went home from California on a high note, but we didn’t run too well out there and we didn’t exactly end 2019 on a high note either,” he said. “Mentally that’s been on my mind a lot during this break. Without a car to work on, I’ve just been watching a lot of videos and trying to learn that way and I’m hopeful that will translate behind the wheel so we can get the results we want to see.
“Ultimately I’m just really happy to be racing and to see that tracks are getting the green light. Hopefully this is the beginning of a steady schedule full of racing across the country.”
SEASON STATS –
4 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 top 10s, 1 top 15, 2 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Tuesday and Wednesday at West Texas Raceway in Lubbock, Texas, for the West Texas Crude Nationals
MEDIA LINKS –
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RPrice21
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rpracing21/
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Shark Racing Engines
Shark Racing Engines, out of Sedro-Woolley, Wash, builds Sportsman, 360 and 410 Sprint Car Engines and has been building high performance engines in the pacific northwest for the past 25+ years. For more info, visit https://www.facebook.com/pg/Huson73/about/?ref=page_internal.
“Shark Racing Engines has been with us for a few years now and they give us great engines,” Price said. “We got a few wins for them last year and I’m looking forward to putting them in Victory Lane hopefully more in 2020.”
Price would like to thank Beaufort Self Storage Ltd., Shockwave Motorsports, Millstone Heating & Sheet Metal, Triple X Race Components, Wildlight Motorsports Photography, Highline Performance and Champion Brands for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
