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July 1, 2008

Trackside: Terre Haute’s Paul May blazes his own path in winged sprints

By Joe Buckles

TERRE HAUTE — Soon after strapping himself in a race car for the first time, Terre Haute’s Paul May garnered the reputation of doing things his way.

He used an aggressive approach that at times rubbed his fellow drivers the wrong way but eventually earned him the respect of those that run wheel-to-wheel with the second-generation racer.

Even in the formative stages of his career, May elected to go a different direction than his fellow Wabash Valley racers.

Unlike his father Mike, who enjoyed success in stock cars, Paul chose to do his racing in sprint cars — not just any sprint car but a winged sprint car.

Bucking the trend by going with wings rather than the more popular non-winged sprinters, the younger May faced many different obstacles than his fellow area open-cockpit competitors.

While most stayed close to home running the weekly short-track shows, May opted to venture into the wings, a move that involved greater travel and expense.

Despite the odds, May and his independently financed operation has made its presence felt in the winged sprints.

Now in his 10th season behind the wheel, May is enjoying his best start in a number of years campaigning on the All-Star Circuit of Champions for sprint cars.

A national traveling series that runs primary throughout the Ohio and Pennsylvania area, it recently formed a lower-budgeted Midwest All-Star circuit for teams not wanting to do as much traveling.

May and his fellow national All-Stars will make a rare Hoosier state swing this weekend with stops at the Terre Haute Action Track on Friday night and at Paragon Speedway the following evening.

It’s a welcomed relief to May, who sandwiches his racing between an ever-increasing role with his family’s northside wrecker and salvaging business.

May is keenly aware that the All-Stars will be facing two classic misconceptions about winged sprint cars here in the heartbed of non-wing sprint-car racing — one that his All-Stars sprints aren’t as competitive as the non-wing sprints and the other that they don’t measure up to the higher-profile World of Outlaws sprints.

“Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. It doesn’t matter if you’re turning left or going in a straight line. Racing is racing,” said May.

He forecasts a highly competitive card and strong personal showing if things fall into place for him and the All-Stars on Friday.

“I think the fans can expect to see a really good show as long as they give us a decent race track. It will be better than the Outlaws,” May predicted.

“The All-Stars will probably have 10 to 15 different winners this season. Everyone is closer matched than the Outlaws, where you have a few teams that are much better than anybody else.”

The All-Stars are coming off their grueling Ohio Sprintweeks, where they had eight scheduled nights of racing. Rain washed out three of the shows.

Many of the drivers who competed in the Ohio events will be here Friday. They include the likes of Dale Blaney, Randy Hannagan, Greg Wilson and Lance DeWease.

Blaney won the $10,000 series finale at Eldora on Saturday night, while Hannagan’s fifth-place showing gained him enough points to win the Ohio Sprintweek crown.

All have competed here in the past in World of Outlaws shows.

Although he has reduced his schedule in 2008 due to the hectic schedule with the family business and high costs to racing, May has made the most of his limited times out. One was an impressive flag-to-flag win at the newly shaped 3/8-mile banked oval at Lawrenceburg.

“We’ve had a good season so far,” offered a confident May. ”We ran five times in Florida in February and four to five times since then. Three of those were with the Outlaws.

“We’ve really been picking and choosing when and where we go racing. With the high cost of fuel and the business here at home, we haven’t traveled as much as we have in the past.”

He enters the local show on an upbeat note.

“We’ve got a real good race car. Our motors have been strong all year. Todd Kelly, my chief mechanic, has done a great job with the setups,” May said.

“If nothing breaks on the car and we get a good pill draw for qualifying and if there aren’t any major issues, I think we can get the job done.

“One of my biggest dreams is winning at Terre Haute. I think we have as good a chance as anyone. Of course, we will have to have a trouble-free night.”



Joe Buckles can be reached at jbuckles4@verizon.net.

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