If it weren’t for family members, many dirt track racers wouldn’t compete each weekend.
From funding to helping in the pits, it takes a lot of want-to from brothers, cousins, wives, and parents to make a team go. Family and friends often are the first ones drivers mention when they’re asked about their accomplishments.
Hunter Carroll isn’t any different. The Lowndes County native and driver of the No. 147 NeSmith Late Model car has a crew — his father, Jeff Carroll, and brother, Dustin — that not only helps set up his car each week, but they also haul it to the track and wait for Carroll to get off work, essentially allowing him to hop out of his truck and into his race car.
“If it weren’t for my brother and dad, I wouldn’t be at the races every weekend,” Hunter said. “They work on it every week, get it loaded up, and when I get off work — that could be anywhere from 5 to 8 that night — it’s ready to go.
“A couple of weeks ago, we weren’t planning on racing and I didn’t plan to get off work until after 5, then 3 o’clock rolls around and we didn’t have much left to do at work, so I called my brother and said get the car ready, we’re going to ECM (Speedway) in Alabama. I jumped out of my truck, jumped in the pull truck, and took off.”
Hunter’s team has propped up his points chase at Magnolia Motor Speedway, where he leads Kyle Shaw by 13 points in the NeSmith race. He will look to add to that lead Saturday, when Magnolia plays host to the Hwy 45 Crate Late Model Throw Down.
Hunter didn’t plan to race for points this season in part because of his schedule and the commitment to one track might cause him to miss a bigger race at another track in the state.
“I haven’t been really big on running track points outside of my first few years of racing,” he said. “If I had enough time, I’d run NeSmith weekly points. But running for points at Magnolia, my dad really wanted me to go after it, so we’re going to see if we can get it.”
Hunter’s lead in track points at the midway mark is impressive considering he’s still learning his car. He bought a 2008 Trak-Star car from Mark Stokes earlier this year, a move that paid off nearly immediately. Hunter planned to keep his MasterSbilt car to have a backup that his brother could race and if he wanted to run in 602 Late Model races. The day he went to pick up the car from Stokes, he severely damaged his first car in a race.
“It was pretty much a frame with some bolt-on parts, and I went to get it on a Saturday morning,” he said. “That night, I was racing the old car, got hit in right rear quarter panel, backed into wall off turn three and bent the frame and pretty much totaled it. I was just wanting two race-ready cars, and that still is my plan.”
Hunter said the wreck also bent the clip on the front of the car, and he believes, with the help of his brother and father — and a frame machine — it can be straightened. He’s considering finding another car that has been damaged on the front end so he can use the rear-end parts to piece together his backup car.
In the meantime, he’ll continue to focus on qualifying and turning fast laps consistently.
“I can go out there, be fast in the hot lap session, then go qualify and be 15th or so,” Hunter said. “Then I’ll go out for the next hot lap and be the fastest sometimes, then go out for feature, turn top-five lap times. If I can start up front, I can finish better. I just haven’t been in tune with the setup for qualifying.”
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