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.
