Terry English - The Quiet Driver

Away from the track, there is no way that you'd ever notice the driving passion of Dirt Late Model driver Terry English. The guy seems too laid back to be a race driver. But his career total of 320 wins certainly proves that initial impressions are definitely wrong in this case.

And if you think he's going to tell you about his numerous accomplishments on the track, well, you can just forget about it, although there's a lot to tell with the Benton, Kentucky, driver.

The 44-year-old's 16-year career initially started with a couple years in Sportsman dirt cars to learn the trade. Then he stepped up to a Dirt Late Model and has been in that type of car ever since. With wife Vicki, three kids and a full-time job with the Kentucky Road Department for much of his career, it's been tough fitting everything into his hectic life.

His success blossomed in the '90s with 18 wins in '91 and 10 in '92, when he made the feature at the Eldora World 100 and finished an impressive Eleventh.

By 1995, things were really coming together-he garnered 17 wins, not just at local tracks, but a win each at the UMP Summer Nationals, Southern All-Stars, and a Mid-Season Championship race at Richmond (Kentucky) Speedway, among others. English's red No. 96 car was starting to be noticed. The following year was another good one as he brought home another 15 wins.

English will quickly tell you of the help he's received from car builder C.J. Rayburn through the years. But still, with a limited budget, he dueled early in his career against the big-dollar teams, providing an even greater testament to his significant accomplishments. "I'm not bitter, though," says English. "We did the best we could with a volunteer crew that helped me out."

Never having an injury on the track, Terry's career suffered an unbelievable misfortune during the '97 season. "We were in the pits at Glasgow (Kentucky) Speedway when a Street Stock came off the track and hit us, killing one of our crew (Terry Egner), and really tearing me up. I had a broken hip, pelvis, and ribs, a punctured lung, and a concussion. Later, they also found that I had a colon injury, and I had to go back for another operation. For me, that season was over."

Many thought at the time that the same could be said for his driving career. But he had other plans. "I never thought that I wouldn't be coming back to racing," he says.

Back on Track
When he finally got his health back, his return started to take shape. What he did in those first years after he returned was truly amazing.

A glorious '98 season showed a record 29 wins. Big victories included the $8,000-to-win World 50 at Paducah (Kentucky) International Speedway and the Ameribration 50 ($5,000-to-win) at Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway where he also won the track title. Against the top runners of the sport, he also finished Fifth at the Topless 100 race.

Then, during early '99, English was impressive, running with the Hav-A-Tampa circuit. "I led a couple of those races, but I had stuff break both times," he recalls. "I also ran with STARS a couple of times."

All this was done while driving and doing all the work on his own car-winning 32 times out of 64 starts. The red No. 96 car was on a big-time roll.

There was a huge change awaiting the 2000 season, however. Illinois car owner Don Goddard liked what he saw in English's style and perseverance and hired him to drive his car.

After dealing with the demands of having to mix his racing with a full family life, the best part was that all the work on the cars was taken care of by Goddard. The opportunity to run on pavement was presented to English that year. "A friend of mine, Keith Murt, who drives pavement Late Models, asked me if I would like to drive one at Nashville Speedway," says English. "I drove in the 125-lap race with only a very few practice sessions."

He qualified 27th out of 60 cars and notched a 16th place finish in the race. He decided, though, to continue to hang his hat on dirt.

Soon, English decided he could make a living from racing and turned to the sport full-time. "It was a pretty big decision to make. Up until that point, I had raced for fun, but now it was going to have to make me a living," he says. "I was in my late 30s at the time, and figured that at my age and experience, I could make a go at it."

The decision proved to be correct. Just check his unbelievable 2002 season when he won 45 UMP features and was the series National Champion. Then, in '03 and '04, he finished Fourth and Third, respectively, in the 30-race UMP Summer Nationals event.

In 2005, he decided it was time to jump to the top of the sport, joining the Lucas Oil Series, one of the two top national traveling series. That season he won a pair of Lucas Oil events at the East Bay Winter Nationals and the Hoosier Dirt Classic at Brownstown, Indiana.

In the 2000s, he's made the starting field for the classic World 100 event five times with a best finish of Ninth. The dirt stock sport's biggest race, The Eldora Million, with a million dollar payday to the winner, saw Terry finish Thirteenth.

In recent years, it's evident that the dirt racing genes have passed to the next English generation with son Tanner racing Crate Late Models when he was only 12 years old. A year later, he ran a full season with those cars and won some local races. This past season, he even raced some against his dad.

Terry has always enjoyed the feel of a tight setup with his Dirt Late Models. "It just doesn't seem that I can go fast without being set up tight," he says. "My goal is to have the car as fast as possible at the end of the race."

That's something that he's done very well in his career.

As told to Bill Holder

Driving
As far as getting ready to drive a Dirt Late Model, it really depends on your age. My son started out with a Crate Late Model and it worked well for him. The strong point is that you are using the same car, only with a less powerful engine. You could also learn a lot with a Modified, which is a lot like a miniature Dirt Late Model, although it does drive a little bit differently. I have also seen some pretty good results from young drivers going to a driving school. That's a good place to get instruction from experienced drivers. But the most important factor with these cars is to get as much seat time as possible.

Technical
I can't emphasize enough how important it is to understand the workings of the Dirt Late Model. And there is no better way to accomplish that than being able to work on your car. Seeing how the springs and shocks are positioned can help you understand how to set up your own car for changing conditions.