LAS VEGAS — One of the most recent entries into Davey Hamilton Jr.’s Open Wheel Showdown may also be one of the most intriguing.
Michigan driver Jason Blonde will steer Dick Myers’ potent No. 50m Mopar-powered winged sprint car in the $50,000-to-win event on Dec. 1-2 at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The Blonde/Myers combination could prove to be a formidable combination during the Open Wheel Showdown. Blonde has seven Auto Value Super Sprints championships and won his first Must See Racing title this season.
The Dick Myers-owned machine is the oldest and winningest pavement sprint car currently in competition. The car affectionately called “Seabiscuit” was built 32 years ago for USAC sprint car competition by the famed Hoffman Racing team.
The car claimed nearly a dozen USAC wins under Hoffman ownership. Myers eventually purchased the car and it has racked up another 48 wins.
Some of the sport’s best have driven the car at one time or another, including Steve Butler, Robbie Stanley, Kenny Irwin Jr., Andy Michner, Kody Swanson, Aaron Pierce, Brian Gerster, Cameron Dodson, Charlie Schultz, Mike McVetta and Blonde.
This arrangement started with Brent Hamilton and Hamilton Trucking offering to buy tires and help us get out to Las Vegas,” explained Blonde. “Then Flint Truck Service came on board offering to help with expenses. Katz Well Drilling came on board to help get us out there with Ryan and Kelly Katz. Rhino Racing is supplying the truck and trailer to get us out there. That’s how it all came about. We had all these people come together to get us out there. We just had to find a car. I just gave Dick Myers with RAM Engineering a call and he was all for going. My regular car owner Tony Nosal wasn’t interested in going, so I still had to find a car to do the deal.”
Despite Blonde’s success in winged pavement sprint cars, he has never driven “Seabiscuit” before. But he fully understands the car’s history and is excited to get strapped in. But he also realizes this may be the toughest task he’s faced; due to the caliber of competitors entered in the Showdown.
“I think it’s gonna be pretty awesome. But man, there is already such a stout field of cars,” Blonde said. “There are a lot of big-name, top-notch drivers. It’s gonna be tough no matter what. If we get speed right out of the trailer, I think we’ll be OK.”
Blonde tested the car at Kalamazoo (Mich.) Speedway in preparation for the event and was pleased with the results.
“This past Saturday we went up to Kalamazoo and tested the car. We were trying to get up to Owosso Speedway because it’s more like the Bullring,” Blonde said. “We tried getting to Springport thinking that might be better yet. Kalamazoo was kind of our last option, but it worked out.
“The test went pretty well. We were quick right out of the trailer on used tires. I was comfortable and everything felt really nice. I’m really excited about going now.”
When asked how the Rob Hoffman-built car handled compared to the Diablo Chassis he normally runs, he offered his take on the comparison.
“It was different in a lot of ways. It’s a Mopar engine and it seemed more responsive on the throttle part,” Blonde said. “The car was stuck to the track pretty hard, too. The Diablo takes a lot of time to come in. At night it usually comes in. During the daytime, it’s kind of slippery and slides around type of thing. This thing was locked down from the beginning.”
Blonde was asked what would make it a successful trip to Sin City.
“Just to make the show would be the biggest thing,” Blonde said. “We want to go and win of course, but to go that far and make the show with that many cars would be good. To finish it off with a top five, or 10, would be even better.”
The Open Wheel Showdown will be streamed live on SPEEDSPORT.tv.