This week I spoke with a driver who is no stranger to racing, and has spent his fair share of time on the track at Eagle Raceway. Sadly, it's been awhile since Lincoln, Nebraska's 35-year old Tige Jensen has sat in a race car. That will change, however, as he will be making a return this season.
Tige's racing roots go back a LONG time, as his father Lonnie was a fixture on lots of racetracks around the midwest. The "Black Bandit" not only ran all over, but won wherever he went. "I think that Dad raced for 41 or 42 years altogether. I think that they called them super-modifieds back then". It would seem to be a no-brainer as to where Tige got the racing bug. "I believe that I was 21 when I first started racing. I jumped right into a 360 sprint car; although looking back, knowing that I wanted to race I probably would have gone down the road of go-karts, then mini-sprints and that whole deal".
His start came about through his father's relationship with another local racer. "In the winter of 2001 Toby Chapman approached me because he had used one of my Dad's cars back in the late 90's and that car ended up getting bent up pretty good. So, he felt like he owed my Dad a car. He approached me at the time and said 'Hey! Do you want to drive Eagle and I'll run the car at the shows away from Eagle?'. That first year Toby and I split the driving duties. I believe I ran 12 shows at Eagle and he ran another 12 shows out on the road. Same car and everything. And, that’s how I got my start in sprint car racing".
He remained a fixture at 'America's Home Track' for quite awhile. "I was pretty loyal to Eagle Raceway until they switched over to the Racesaver sprints. We had to make a decision whether to sell the 360's or keep what we had and travel a little bit more. We ended up keeping the 360 stuff and travelling. But, that only lasted about a year before we sold everything back in 2013".
Unfortunately, Tige's career took a really bad turn early on. Back in 2004, Tige had a horrendous accident racing at Junction Motor Speedway. He ran full-speed into the opening to the pits, destroying his race car and injuring him severely. "That was in August, so we missed about a month and a half or so of that season. I spent the entire off-season in rehab. Luckily, I was able to get back behind the wheel in April of the next year".
When I asked why, after 4 years, he decided to start racing a sprinter again, he said "It was kind of opportunity, I guess. I had always told my wife that I would like to drive again. I didn't want to have to spend as much time working on the car, have the expense involved of putting cars together and things like that. Ivan Tracy gave me the opportunity to drive for him. So, in 2018 I'll be racing for him in the Racesaver at Eagle".
His expectations for the year after having sat out for a few years? "Actually, we're not even going to race a full season. If my son has something going on a particular Saturday night, or if Ivan's grandkids have something, we just won't race. We're not chasing points or anything, so it's a really laid-back schedule. In fact, we don't even have all of the dates written down yet. As far as goals wise, I know I'll be rusty getting back into it. Realistically, if I make the feature on the second night in, I'll be happy. The Racesaver sprints are more of a momentum thing. I did get to run a Racesaver one time before. The first year of the IMCA Sprint Racesaver Nationals we leased a Racesaver engine. Unfortunately, it didn't last too long. We were running second in our heat race, but the engine only lasted about 7 laps before it decided to expire. That little bit of experience did make me notice that it's a lot more about momentum than anything".
He's been making sure that people know about his return though. "We've put it out there on Facebook and everything. We've had a lot of support with people who have helped me out in the past reaching out to us again. It will be great getting back out there; seeing our old friends again. It will be fun taking my son out there. Hopefully he'll be into it. I've never really completely gotten away from racing; we've gone out there probably half of the season to watch the races at Eagle. I'm still a fan!". Now he's a fan and a racer again.
Here's wishing this new team-up a fun and successful year! I for one will be looking forward to seeing this second generation Jensen flying around the high banks in a black sprinter, much like his father did all those years ago.
