|
Bloomsburg’s David Utt has for years been a mainstay among the region’s group of micro sprint stars. 2007 marked his 15th season with the class and he complimented it with a fine runner-up in points behind champion Todd Hoover at Selinsgrove Raceway Park.
Utt won four times throughout the year and although there was no denying the strong dominance of Hoover, who ran away with the title while earning a dozen wins, it was just as rewarding to take second place.
“I don’t think there was any catching him (Hoover) over the last half of the season. He had the dominant car and always had the set-up right on,” said 30-year old Utt who is the manger of Scott Town Auto/U-Save Auto Rental in Bloomsburg.
“For us I think we had a great year with four wins, it’s more then we had in the last couple of seasons. Anytime you can finish in the top five down at Selinsgrove is a good thing because you have so many good cars there.
“It’s not just Hoover either. You have guys like Shane Penny, Ken Duke, Nate Ritter and AJ Walters you have to contend with all the time. They were definitely the strongest competitors every week.
“We just had good consistency and there wasn’t many DNF’s. We were able to pull off a lot of top fives all summer long.”
Of his wins the most celebrated came during the biggest event of the season which was on September 23. Utt wired the field in the 35-lap All Star Championship Micro Sprint Car feature. He bested a strong field of 49 entries and collected $1,200 for his efforts.
“That was definitely the highlight of our year. It was a big win and I didn’t expect it, especially with the guys who where there. We were hoping for a top three that night but then to go out and win it was fantastic,” said Utt.
“We time trialed well and that was something we never really had any luck at in the past. We were fourth quickest that night.”
It’s been several years since Utt raced for points. Instead he opted to travel more to a variety of different tracks and stay away from the weekly grind that goes with point chasing. For a number of years he also did the weekend double, being Friday’s at Selinsgrove and Saturday’s at Greenwood Valley Action Track.
“Up until last year we really hadn’t been running for any points. We’d go wherever we wanted to. This year we had an outlook to stick to just one track and just enjoy it,” he said.
“That kind of put us back in the points race again too. I had gotten away from that for several years and I didn’t want the weekly pressure of making sure you had to finish way up front but running at just one track did put us back in that position. But it was fun and I enjoyed the year a lot.”
Selinsgrove became his choice and for varied reasons. They race every Friday night which then allowed him the rest of the weekend to spend with his family.
“They (Selinsgrove) offer us a very nice place to race. It’s close for us which was one of the big factors as to why we chose to run there. Cost wise I feel they’re economically a better track and family friendlier too. We have the whole family with us in the pits,” said Utt.
“We liked racing just one night a week. We’d have Saturday’s to not worry about anything else and we were able to enjoy other things aside from racing. Our kids now are a factor. We have a two-and-a-half year old so it’s kind of nice to enjoy some other things in life too.”
A second child is due for he and his wife Gwen come the spring of 2008.
Racing has always been a family affair for Utt. His mom and dad, Gail and Ron Utt, have been with him from the start. The team now includes his wife and in-laws, Ken and Mary Roush as well as a cousin, Neil Bardo. Also on the crew is Bruiser Lawton.
“It’s very cool to be able to go the races with the whole family. Even my in-laws haven’t missed a race at all in the last two years. I have a cousin who is there with us every week and now his girlfriend is getting into it also. It’s very much a family race team,” said Utt.
Utt is done racing for this year and has already begun the process of revamping his car for next season.
“For right now we plan to just do Selinsgrove every Friday night. With a new baby on the way we’re not sure if it will be a weekly deal. We’ll either run for a point championship or run when we can,” he said.
During the time when he was a regular point racer, Utt was repeatedly a top finisher in the standings and often in reach of a championship. It’s something that would be fitting for a driver like him who has talent and shows a great deal of sportsmanship.
“It’s been good the years we’ve had in racing and I don’t regret any of them. I hope that there’s many more to come,” he said.
“It would be nice to get one (championship) but it wouldn’t be one of those things that I have to get. If I get one I get one and if I don’t then I’m fine with that too. As long as we all keep having fun doing this then that’s okay with me.”
|
|
