With over 30 years of winning races, legendary short tracker NokieFornoro can recognize talent. "The kid's got what it takes," saysFornoro. "All he needs is the right break and he could go straight tothe top."
Fornoro is talking about the 26-year-old Seitz, the two-time defendingNEMA (New England Midget Association) Champion.
Seitz (pronounced "sights") started racing go karts in 1993 and hadalmost immediate success at tracks such as Flemington and MahoningValley Speedways. After two years, he moved up to Legends Cars, where heoften competed against Massachusetts driver/owner Peter Valeri.
As a competitor in the New...
As a competitor in the New England Midget Association, Seitz has captured two championships. Norm Marx
Impressed with Seitz, Valeri hired him to drive, and the pair won theNew England Legends championship. The next step was NEMA. They struggledat first in sub-par equipment, and then things turned around.
In his four years in NEMA, Seitz has compiled 10 wins and twochampionships. For 2006, his sights are set on defending his NEMAchampionship. Even so, he's not content to just stay in NEMA. "I wouldlove to move up to the national Sprint Cars and Midgets," he says, "thenmaybe get a Truck ride or a Busch deal."
Keep your sights on Seitz, then thank Nokie for pointing him out. --R.F.
Lindberg couldn't wait to go racing. So when the folks at EvergreenSpeedway told him he was too young to race at the paved oval practicallyin his own neighborhood, his father found a track that was moreinterested in his ability than his birthday.
It meant a six-hour tow from his home north of Seattle to the tinyMadras Speedway in eastern Oregon, where he could race in the track'sjunior division.
He showed promise, talent, and determination.
Branden Lindberg. June B...
Branden Lindberg. June Boone
Over the winter, his parents invested in a Dirt Late Model andtransporter to move the young star up the ladder.
The team also switched from Madras to Sunset Speedway near Portland. Thetrack is home to some of the best Late Model drivers on the West Coast,and Branden is considered a threat to win anytime the team unloads.
"He's got a lot of talent," says Greg Walters, who has dominated thetrack over the past couple of seasons. "He makes some mistakes from timeto time and gets into situations a more seasoned driver might not getinto, but he's young and he's still learning."
Malcolm Lindberg, his father, is a former racer who says he is spendinghis child's college fund on schooling him in a race car.
"There's not much I can teach him," he says. "At 16 he is already betterthan I ever was."
Branden says he wants a career in NASCAR and hopes someday to be goingwheel to wheel with Dale Jr. He and his father are already laying outplans to move into a pavement touring series in the next year or two.
But right now he's just having fun.
"It's a real family thing for us," he says. "It's like having a weekendpicnic, and for entertainment, I get to race." --J.F.B.
Cope, 17, is competing in Late Models, just as his dad, Mike, beforehim. Starting at age 12, he loved to race motorcycles.
"I suffered several broken bones and finally, when I broke my leg, myparents said 'that's it,'" Cope recalls.
Mike Cope is the owner of Florida's Bronson Speedway, the subject oflast year's story in Stock Car Racing, "A Racer's Race Track." Thesenior Cope was two-time All Pro Champion and also raced CraftsmanTrucks and Busch cars.
Travis drives the black No. 26 Grubbs Emergency Service Monte Carlo andis already a winner in FASCAR's Goodyear Late Model Challenge. He beganhis career in earnest last season and started in the Goodyear series.
This year, he has already entered the winner's circle at his dad'shigh-banked 1/3-mile track. He also qualified in the Top 5 in 8 of his13 starts in the first part of this season, including a pole at 1/2-mileColumbia Motorsports Park in Lake City, Florida.
"I guess because I'm pretty calm and I don't get ruffled, my family andfriends have sort of nicknamed me 'The Emerging Ice Man,'" Cope sayswith a grin. "I'm really not afraid, and I guess I am cool on the trackbecause of my motorcycle experience, and we have a Hans Device and allthe other safety features in the car."
"My biggest goal for 2006 is already accomplished, but my goals now areto maybe get into some kind of 'Gong Show' or, if we get some goodsponsorship, maybe move up into Hooter's Pro Cup or the ASA Late ModelSeries.
"Long term, like many young racers, I want to one day be a contender inthe most prestigious racing organization in the nation, NASCAR."
His proud dad, who serves as his crew chief, would love to make thathappen. --N.F.
After building an impressive...
After building an impressive open-wheel career, Keading is eyeing a move to stock cars. Phil Kunz
Keading, from Campbell, California, is a third-generation open-wheeldriver, with his dad Brent and grandfather Howard competing before him.At 26, he's been running Sprint Cars for a decade, and the results havebeen impressive with some 50 wins. Like many open wheelers, though, Budis also looking toward the fendered cars.
His first major accomplishment came in 1999 when he won the USAC WesternSprint Car Series title with seven wins and three Second-Place finishes.He was also the series Rookie of the Year.
A major racing lifestyle change came in 2000 when he moved to theMidwest and competed in both the national USAC Sprint Car and SilverCrown series. In 2001, he won four of the final eight Sprint Car races,finishing Sixth in points.
It all came together for Keading in 2004 when he finished Second in bothSprint Car and Silver Crown. This past season, he was Third in SprintCar points.
His father has also driven the new Silver Crown car, which Bud says iscloser to a full-body stock car. "We will be running these cars inconjunction with the NASCAR guys, which will be great," he says.
"I think it's time in my career to get going in the stock cars. Idefinitely need the seat time, and I'd love to get into an ARCA orHooters Pro Cup car. I did pretty well when I attended the FastlaneDriving School, but those stock cars are so much different. The aspectof the stock cars that I had to get used to was sitting on the left sideof the car." --B.H.
Norris, 26, is a star waiting to be found and may be the next great hopefor the revitalization of the Alabama Gang. A native of Mulga, Alabama,Norris now resides in Mooresville, North Carolina, where he works on theBilly Ballew Motorsports Craftsman Truck Series team with crew chiefRichie Wauters. He competes in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division,Southeast Series.
Norris started racing go karts at the age of 9 and then moved up to runthe Allison Legacy Series, where he won the 1998 Alabama statechampionship. Norris made the move to the Southeast Series in 2004 andpicked up his first win in only his fifth start at NashvilleSuperspeedway en route to winning the Rookie of the Year award.
This season, Norris opened up the Southeast Series season with a victoryat Greenville-Pickens Speedway, in South Carolina, and the followingweek he was standing in Victory Lane alongside Wauters after Kyle Buschwon the Quaker Steak and Lube 200 Craftsman Truck Series race at Lowe'sMotor Speedway. In early summer, Norris was tied with Jason Hogan forthe lead in the Southeast Series championship standings.
"Getting the chance to prove myself at any level of NASCAR would be likea dream come true for me," Norris says. "That's something I've alwayshoped and worked for my whole life. I quit playing sports in high schoolbecause I knew racing was what I wanted to do for a living. Racing isall I've ever wanted to do, and I want to be around the sport for therest of my life." --J.M.
Eckrich, 23, of Iowa City, Iowa, was building race cars long before hecould drive one. His parents, Larry and Penny Eckrich, own PrecisionPerformance in Oxford, Iowa, where Andy, now a Late Model driver with apromising future, works as a fabricator.
"I was always involved with it," he says of dirt track racing. "With Dadhaving hired drivers and the business, we were always wrenching on cars.Dad always had the theory that you have to know a car inside and outbefore you actually got inside one."
Eckrich, who is single, began racing Hobby Stocks at age 16. He spenttwo years there before moving to Pro Stocks for another two years. Thenhe jumped to Late Models.
From the start, Eckrich's...
From the start, Eckrich's father has stressed knowledge of the car as a key asset. Mike Ruefer
His accomplishments include five track championships at West Liberty(Iowa) Raceway. Last year, he won Rumble on the River, the Race ofChampions in Dubuque, Iowa, and the Memphis (Missouri) Nationals aswell.
"I guess it's in the blood. I wouldn't know what to do if I didn't," hesays.
This season, driving a Late Model owned by his parents, he's runningregularly at the tracks in Farley and Dubuque, Iowa, in addition tospecial events.
"I'm trying to hit about 85 shows this year to see what we can do," hesays.
Eckrich wants to eventually become a professional race car driver.
"I haven't personally tried the asphalt," he says, "but I would like to.I'd like to be on TV on Sundays. Let's just put it that way." --P.R.