Saturday, February 9, 2019

Tige Jensen


The common way to get into sprint car racing today is to start out in go-karts, move up to micro or mini-sprints and after a few years to jump into a full-sized sprinter. Well, that’s not how 35-year-old Tige Jensen from Lincoln, Nebraska got into our favorite sport.

"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". 

Tige's racing roots go back a LONG time, as his father Lonnie was a fixture on lots of racetracks around the area. The midwest’s own "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 when he started”. Lonnie’s career included championships in the BCRA twice and NMRA three times as well as track points wins at Beatrice Speedway, Midwest Speedway (2), Eagle Raceway (4) and Knoxville Raceway (3). Victories at the 1/3 Mile Nationals, the Nebraska Triple Crown and the Modified Sprint National Championship also were captured by him.

It would seem to be a no-brainer as to where Tige got the racing bug. ”Ever since I was born the weekends were spent at the race track. Dad raced full time from 1960 to1976. Then again from 1981 thru 2000. Even racing in as late as 2008 in the Knoxville Raceway Masters Classic in my car. Driving never really crossed my mind until the 2002 season when Toby Chapman approached me asking if I wanted to split driving duties with him”. That all came about because of a wrecked race car. "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 at Eagle Raceway 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. After the 2002 season he gave me the car and my full-time racing began. With the help of Gary and Adam Grossenbacher and Brian Bailey we were able to put together a decent operation to run regional races (Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Kansas and Missouri). Gary and Adam were supplying the engines and Brian and myself were getting the cars ready to go".

Unfortunately, in August of 2004, tragedy struck Jensen. While racing at Junction Motor Speedway he made very hard contact with the opening in the back-stretch wall that led to the pits. “That crash at McCool junction almost took my life. During the accident it cut the car in half. My feet were hanging out of the motor plate. The Engine flew about 30 yards down the track. I broke both legs, crushed my left ankle, and broke my right arm. I was in the hospital for 4 weeks and did physical therapy for over 2 years on my ankle.   I don’t remember much about the crash. The last thing I remember was buckling up for the heat race that night. Next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital in Lincoln”.

When he finally recovered he hopped right back into the race car. He remained a fixture at 'America's Home Track' for quite a while. "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. We continued this arrangement until 2011 when Gary passed away. We did run a couple more seasons but ended up selling off our components after the 2013 season. After the season the 3 of us sat down and discussed future plans. The time sacrificed away from our families was a big part of our decision to get out of it”.

But, being a racer at heart, he couldn’t resist the temptation to compete again. 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. Getting back involved with racing just kind of happened with Ivan Tracy. I had heard he had put a new car together and was possibly looking at selling it. After a couple exchanged phone calls between him and I we came to an agreement that I would drive his car for the IMCA Racesaver series in 2018. It will be a lot less time commitment with driving for someone else. Ivan has had some successful drivers in the past. I'm hoping we can keep the winning tradition that his team and my team will bring to the table. Brian Bailey has agreed to help during the season, which puts my mind at ease. He has helped me from day one and I trust him with everything. I'm sure Ivan and I will get to a point like that, but in the meantime I'm excited to race for him and learn his tendencies with set ups”.

Ivan Tracy from Waco, Nebraska has been around the sport of auto racing for quite a while now. "I raced for a couple of years in high school. I raced a '55 Ford Hobby Stock. Back in those days the gear heads always hung together. I went to school in Sutton, and Delmar Friesen was racing, and it just kind of happened that I started too". After a short stint racing himself, he decided to be a car owner. “I found out at an early age that I wasn't cut out to be a driver. I was a good driver, but I just felt like I was on the interstate and every time somebody bumped me I felt like 'OH! I gotta get that guy!!!'. So, I just kind of got out of driving”. Over the years Tracy fielded cars for several local legends including Joe Wade, Regan Kitchen and Ray Lee Goodwin Jr. “I more or less put everything away and stayed away from everything until last year. I put an Eagle together with a Racesaver engine that I built”.

While I was in Arizona last winter I got to thinking about Tige, or he must have been thinking about me. So, I called him and asked if he'd ever thought about driving a sprint again and he said, 'I'd love to, if I had good equipment'. I said, 'What about driving my black 12?', to which he replied 'Well, YEAH! That would be great'. When I got back to Nebraska we got together, got his seat put in and got the cockpit all set up for him”.

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 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 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”. 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 of Eagle Raceway in a black sprinter, much like his father did all those years ago.