HMS NOTEBOOK: Huffman balances football, racing
- Tom Gillispie - Aug 22, 2012
Landon Huffman, here conferring with his dad, Robert, got
his first Limited Late Model win of the season last weekend,
and his high-school football team, Bunker Hill,
won its season opener. Photo by Nick and Sherri Stearns
HICKORY, N.C. -- Teenager Landon Huffman had two reasons
to be excited last weekend.
First, he played linebacker as his high school, Bunker Hill, won
42-14 last Friday night at Cherryville.
Huffman, 16, then won a 17-car Limited Late Model race at Hickory Motor Speedway last Saturday night. He finished ahead of Jeremy Pelfrey, Travis Byrd, Brandon Setzer and Shane Lee.
Huffman also won the Limited race during last year’s Bobby Isaac Memorial weekend.
Was he excited Saturday?
“For sure,” he said. “We should have won several (times) earlier in the year; we just didn’t get it done. I’ve learned a lot this year, and I was able to use it last week and this week.”
Two weeks ago, Huffman started third and finished second behind Monty Cox. Last week, he started on the pole and led every lap.
Through Aug. 13, Huffman was 11th in Limited points, but he’s missed several races. His dad, Robert Huffman, is team manager at X Team Racing in Statesville, and Landon has worked as a tire man for racer Daniel Suarez in the K&N Pro Series series.
Landon Huffman has his sights set on the Isaac, scheduled Sept. 1 at HMS.
“We’re going over the car,” he said on Tuesday. “We should be good; we have a lot of momentum.”
On Friday night, Huffman expects to start at linebacker and perhaps play some fullback when Bunker Hill plays host to St. Stephens.
Which sport does he like better?
“I’d much rather race, but football doesn’t cost any money,” said Huffman, who is 5-foot-11 and weighs 185 pounds.
He says he hopes to run later in the season at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Speedway and Ace Speedway in his first excursions away from HMS.
Robert Huffman was the HMS track champion in 1988 and 1989 and is a five-time Daytona Dash champion.
Other HMS results
Last Saturday, Austin McDaniel picked up his seventh Late Model win of the season. Josh Wimbish was second in the 12-car race, followed by two-time track champion Andy Mercer (2009 and 2010) and Pietro Fittipaldi.
Todd Harrington won the five-car 4-Cylinders race, followed by Nathiel Kanupp, Rob Lewis, Donn Wardo and Donnie Harmon.
Marshall Sutton beat out points leader Kevin Eby in the eight-car Street Stocks race, followed by Mike Newton and Mark Whitten.
Trivia question
Who won Hickory Motor Speedway’s Late Model title five years running? No, it wasn’t Ralph Earnhardt, who won five non-consecutive championships in the 1950s.
Learning more about her dad
It was reported here last week that Tina Hedrick wants to learn more about her late father, Richard Spears, who raced Street Stocks and other divisions at Hickory from 1977 to 1980.
She’s learning more and more.
This past week, Hedrick received emails from Gerald “Junior” Killian and Don Herman, and a family friend brought along a photo of Spears.
“I remember Richard Spears as a youngster working on one of my first racecars,” Killian said. “As a kid I helped on a couple of hobby and limited racecars that were housed in or close to Setzer’s Garage.”
Killian said Richard Spears used several cars from Tom Setzer’s junkyard for demolition derbies.
“I enjoyed watching the passion that Richard displayed,” Killian said. “He truly enjoyed his struggle and was very successful at times.”
Herman sent along a photo of an orange No. 26 car, with only “Richard” above the door.
“I remember two kids running around the garage in back of your house where you lived,” Herman said. “The other was your brother.”
Herman says he once drove Spears’ car on dirt at old Metrolina Speedway in Charlotte.
“Richard raced under the No. 26 in a 1957 Chevrolet and was pretty good, too,” Herman said.
Upcoming at HMS
• The 36th annual Bobby Isaac Memorial race (321 Lawnmower/Hickory Daily Record Night) is set for Sept. 1. A 150-lap Late Model race is scheduled along with Limiteds, Street Stocks and Sportsmen Racing Classics.
• On Sept. 8, a 100-lap Late Model race will be featured, plus Limiteds, Street Stocks, trucks, 4-Cylinders, Hobbys and Mini-Cups.
Happy birthday
Former Sprint Cup driver Steve Park (45) and Nationwide driver Kenny Wallace (49) were born on Aug. 23; same with former Cup crew chief and car owner Ray Evernham (45) on Aug. 26.
Worth quoting
Jimmie Johnson, from NASCAR’s website, after drawing a pink car for a 2003 IROC race at Daytona: “I guess those guys are going to lose to a guy driving a pink racecar.”
(Johnson ran two IROC races at Daytona, finishing fourth in both 2003 and 2004.)
Trivia answer
• On Sept. 8, a 100-lap Late Model race will be featured, plus Limiteds, Street Stocks, trucks, 4-Cylinders, Hobbys and Mini-Cups.
Happy birthday
Former Sprint Cup driver Steve Park (45) and Nationwide driver Kenny Wallace (49) were born on Aug. 23; same with former Cup crew chief and car owner Ray Evernham (45) on Aug. 26.
Worth quoting
Jimmie Johnson, from NASCAR’s website, after drawing a pink car for a 2003 IROC race at Daytona: “I guess those guys are going to lose to a guy driving a pink racecar.”
(Johnson ran two IROC races at Daytona, finishing fourth in both 2003 and 2004.)
Trivia answer
John Settlemyre won five Hickory track titles from 1977 to 1981.
Tom Gillispie, the author of “Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.”, writes about racing at Hickory Motor Speedway for HDR Sports. You can reach him at nc3022@yahoo.com.
Tom Gillispie, the author of “Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.”, writes about racing at Hickory Motor Speedway for HDR Sports. You can reach him at nc3022@yahoo.com.
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