PORT ROYAL, Pa. – Devon Borden circled to the front of the trailer Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway, grabbed a series of cardboard boxes stuffed with new t-shirts, and rummaged through each to find the right size for a gear-seeking fan.
“I’m sorry, sir, it looks like I have just larges and 2X’s,” said Borden, who still thoroughly searched, exercising efforts for his new supporter.
The 18-year-old from Raymond, Wash., has racked up the merchandise sales just one week on the job for Mike Heffner’s esteemed sprint car operation. He’s had to adjust to the spotlight, having gone from his first 410 sprint car race to wheeling the very ride honored Saturday at the Juniata Valley half mile in just two months.
It was the Greg Hodnett Classic at Port Royal Speedway, and for that reason, the attention on Borden was amplified.
“Everyone’s telling me I need to go perform like Greg would,” Borden said through an appreciative laugh. “I think we’ll do good.”
New dude on the block, in the very car that’s being honored this evening —— that warrants some accommodation for gear-seeking fans. @devon_borden sorting through his new stash of shirts, where there doesn’t appear to be any sort of shortage. pic.twitter.com/WNXkwIOzBM
— Kyle McFadden (@ByKyleMcFadden) July 3, 2021
Unfortunately, persistent rain washed the night away, forcing the event to be rescheduled for July 31.
It hasn’t been the smoothest Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek for Borden. He failed to qualify in the opening night main event at Williams Grove Speedway last Friday. Finishes of 14th, 20th, 15th, 22nd, and 12th have followed.
“It’s been a little bit of a struggle for us, to be honest,” Borden said. “I don’t know, we just kind of been struggling. Time trials are probably the biggest thing. I feel like I’m racing pretty good. This format, once you get behind the 8-ball, it’s tough to make up.”
One PA Speedweek race does remain: Sunday at Selinsgrove Speedway, another track Borden is set to see for the first time.
Nights like Saturday, where Borden bounced from conversation to photo ops, back to conversations only interrupted by autographs, can blur the reality that Borden carried just a dozen 410 starts into his first full PA Speedweek.
In that short span, he earned a top five at Williams Grove, a consultation-to-seventh charge at Lincoln Speedway, and a podium run at Path Valley Speedway Park. He’s also earned the nickname “Daredevil Devon,” coined by his owner.
“I feel like I’ve adapted really quickly,” Borden said. “I mean, all these tracks are completely new to me. It is a lot different.”
Much is obviously different for Borden. On Saturday, he was set to race in the very livery Hodnett drove leading up to his death from a racing accident at BAPS Motor Speedway in Sept. 2018.
“Honestly, it gives me chills,” Borden said. “I watched this car growing up, back in quarter midget racing. To be in this car is absolutely crazy. Just racing for Heffner alone is quite the honor. Then to be running that paint scheme is even cooler.”
Tonight @PortRoyalSpdway honors the late, great @GregHodnett.@devon_borden flying those familiar @HeffnerRacing colors once more in the Juniata Valley. pic.twitter.com/UBFxUtVbGz
— Kyle McFadden (@ByKyleMcFadden) July 3, 2021
Right after Borden helped the new supporter find an accommodating t-shirt, he rounded back to the rear of the trailer, where the ride Hodnett drove to victory so many times had been parked.
The next wave of fans had called him over. One pulled out a replica mini wing panel, the same black and silver No. 27 that rode with Hodnett for the latter part of his career, and stuck it in Borden’s hands, along with a Sharpie.
“Oh my gosh, you want me to sign this?” Borden asked.
The fan didn’t obstruct, and surely, many others didn’t, too.