By the URSS
OBERLIN, Kan. — There’s been nothing slow about the learning curve for Zac Taylor.
In fact, the teenager has obliterated the learning curve in just a few races in the United Rebel Sprint Series.
This weekend, the youngster hopes to get his first URSS feature victory as the Rebels take to Decatur County Speedway on Friday night in Oberlin and Phillips County Raceway on Saturday night in Holyoke, Colo.
“No I didn’t expect this,” Taylor said. “I figured maybe it would happen later in the year, hopefully.”
Taylor hasn’t had to wait long. He’s finished in the front of the pack in nearly all of his races this season. He even has a victory in the Heartland Sprint Series at McCook Speedway in McCook, Neb. The HSS is a sanctioned series of the URSS.
“I thought it would take about three or four years to really run with them,” Taylor said.
Instead, he’s jumped into the fray and mixed it up with the big boys. He was seventh at the first race this season in Oberlin on a cold, windy night. Saturday’s race at Phillips County Speedway will be his first appearance at Holyoke.
Taylor‘s been racing since he was 8, and when he was 12, he asked his father about getting a 305 sprint car. His father told him once he won a championship, he could move up to the division.
After winning Rookie of the Year and then a championship the next year, Taylor landed in a bigger sprint car.
Now, he’s showing some of the veteran drivers he’s more than willing to mix it up. He credits help in the pits and beyond to his early success.
“Mainly, it’s been my dad helping me out and the engine builder,” Taylor said. “If he’s not at the track, we can call and talk to him about what it’s doing and get it fixed.”
Luke Cranston won the race earlier this season at Oberlin, with Ray Seemann and Jeff Radcliffe rounding out the top three. Radcliffe will not compete this weekend after damaging his car in a wreck at WaKeeney Speedway in late May.
The URSS has competed in Holyoke only four times, with Patrick Bourke taking two wins, including the most recent race June 1, 2012. Cody Salem and Ty Williams also have wins at Phillips County Raceway.
Races Friday night in Oberlin start at 7:30 p.m. The famous chicken-chase race also will take place again, where drivers will race two laps in their cars, then stop on the front stretch and jump out and catch a chicken in a pen. Then they race across the finish line in the timed event.
There also will be bike races for ages 6 and younger, ages 7 to 10 and ages 11 and older. Any child that brings a bike to the races will get in free.
Gates open at 5 p.m., with pits opening at 4 p.m. General admission is $12 for adults and $6 for children ages 6 to 12. Those younger than 6 are free.
Races Saturday in Holyoke are scheduled for 7 p.m. Mountain time.
If you can’t attend the races, listen live to Mike Wilson, “The Voice of the Rebels,” at www.racinboys.com.
For more information about the United Rebel Sprint Series, visit www.unitedrebelsprintseries.