MOTORSPORTS: Sprint Car drivers test for Speed Classic at BMS

 JoJo Helberg has played the videos, watched the television coverage and heard the stories.

Thursday morning, the wide-eyed 21-year-old native of Santa Rosa, Calif., finally experienced the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway in person.

Helberg was one of three drivers from the Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Series participating in a tire test in preparation for the Oct. 1 TruFuel “Xtreme Speed Classic” at BMS.

On March 20, sprint car driver Jason Blonde created a stir across the motorsports world with a flawless lap of 144.871 mph at 13.245 seconds during at a BMS event dubbed World’s Fastest Half-Mile Speed Trials.

Sammy Swindell established the old track record at 138.442 in 13.860 seconds during the 2000 World of Outlaws event on dirt.

Before rain washed out the afternoon schedule Thursday, speeds were approaching 140 mph. And Helberg was enjoying minute of it.

“I’ve always wanted to race at this place,” Helberg said. “Man, it’s amazing.”

The Michigan-based Xtreme Sprint Series features winged sprint cars with 800-plus horsepower. Over the past two years, races have been held at storied venues such as Salem Speedway, Berlin Raceway Park and Winchester Speedway.

For the BMS event, there will be a $10,000 payday to the winner, as well as a $1,000 bonus to the top qualifier. Drivers will compete for a spot in the feature lineup of The “Xtreme Speed Classic,” which pays a minimum of $1,000 to each starter.

No extra incentives were needed for Helberg, currently third in series points behind Ryan Litt and Troy DeCaire.

“Once I found out that we were going to Bristol, it was the greatest thing ever,” Helberg said. “The first NASCAR track that I raced at was Iowa Speedway last year, but that’s nothing compared this.”

Helberg said all the tall tales about Bristol are true.

“I’ve had family members attend races here, but you can’t appreciate this place until you actually go around it,” Helberg said.

According to series founder Jim Hanks, the Xtreme Speed Classic will be shown on the NBC Sports Network (currently VERSUS) on a tape-delayed basis.

“We try to have marquee events in our series, and I certainly can’t think of an event that could be bigger for us than this race,” Hanks said. “The buzz among our teams and fans is beyond measure. And from the feedback we’re getting, we’re going to have a lot of people travel to this event.”

The entry list for the Bristol race currently includes 33 drivers.

Hanks revealed Thursday that Dave Steele is the latest entrant. The Tampa, Fla., driver is one of the most accomplished and versatile racers in the history of United States Auto Club

“We feel that we’ve got the best talent in the open-wheel business,’ Hanks said. “We average 25 cars, and they are extremely competitive.”

Jimmy McCune (Toledo, Ohio) and Aaron Pierce (Daleville, Ind.) also tested at BMS Thursday.

Pierce has established speed records at NASCAR-affiliated tracks such as Homestead, Chicagoland and Kansas. His lengthy resume also includes a Silver Crown series victory at Darlington Raceway.

“It was pretty awesome to do all those things, and it would be really awesome to win here at Bristol,” said Pierce, currently fifth in points.

McCune, a former ARCA series competitor, has earned two Extreme Sprint Series wins this season.

“Adding a win here would be top-shelf,” McCune said. “I’ve run at some other big tracks such as Daytona, Michigan and Charlotte, but winning in a sprint car here would mean more to me than anything.”

According to McCune, the Sprint Car community is rich with talent and togetherness.

“We’re just one like big family,” McCune said. “We chase each other around to all kinds of different series and just have a great time.”

Helberg, who actually lives in a motorhome, experienced an unexpected thrill Thursday morning when his sprint car broke an axle on the front straightway.

“We were going wide open when the wheel fell off and the car went spinning down the frontstretch, but we didn’t touch the wall,” Helberg said.

At BMS, Helberg said the sprint cars travel almost as fast through the turns as they do in the straightaways.

“We’re creating so much downforce and it puts so much of a load on all the moving parts,” Helberg said. “You can only compress the tires so much until things start to break. We try to make the thinnest and lightest parts we can, so it’s probably a lot smarter to go safer than lighter in this case.”

Blonde, the BMS track record-holder who currently ranks seventh in the Extreme point standings, recently tested with a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. And Hanks said that two series regulars are in position to land rides in the Indy Lights series

The Oct. 1 racing program at BMS will also action in the Street Stock and Modified 4-cylinder classes. Multi-time track champions such as Duke Bare (Meadowview) and Mike Keith of Smyth County plan to compete in the preliminary races.

agregory@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Greg_BHCSports | (276) 645-2544.