INDIANAPOLIS – Friday night’s Must See Racing Sprint Car Series victory at Madison Int’l Speedway was a long time coming for pavement standout Bobby Santos III and car owner Dick Fieler.
Too long, if you ask the 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion and Franklin, Mass., native.
“We were overdue,” Santos said in the pit area after the celebrations had concluded. “Way overdue.”
Santos was hired by Fieler following the conclusion of the 2014 season, when Fieler parted ways with former team driver and two-time Must See Racing champion Troy DeCaire, and the duo had made 16 starts with the series prior to their triumphant performance at Madison on Friday night.
They had lost just about every way there was to lose, as well.
Santos finished second to JoJo Helberg in his first Must See Racing appearance with Fieler at Berlin (Mich.) Raceway in May of 2015, part of a run that included three runner-ups, 11 top-fives and 13 top-10s before finally playing a winning tune on their 17th try.
When they would contend at the front, the pair would either be just short on speed or would have something go awry mechanically. It always seemed like it was one thing after another.
Friday night, everything finally went right.
Santos set fast time in qualifying, rolled the lowest-possible inversion (a six) and managed to get his car glued to the bottom of the race track during the feature, which was exactly how he passed Anthony McCune for the lead and eventual win on the 14th trip around the lightning-quick Madison half-mile.
He never looked back after that, not even on a green-white-checkered restart when three-time defending series champion and all-time series wins leader Jimmy McCune was breathing down his neck.
“You never want to see a yellow when you’re leading and you’ve got the best in the business behind you; that’s never a fun feeling,” Santos admitted. “I just knew I had to keep focusing ahead, and that’s exactly what we did. We got a good restart and I’m really happy to get the win. It’s definitely a relief.”
Santos has become one of the most versatile pavement drivers in the country over the past few years, winning regularly in NASCAR modified competition for TInio Racing and in the USAC Silver Crown Series for Fieler. He ranks inside the top 15 in both series’ all-time winners list.
Many times, Santos will drive multiple different cars at the same track over the course of a single season, and occasionally in the same day.
Most recently, he ran at Madison in the Silver Crown car before returning in the sprint car on Friday.
“As a driver, it translates some from one car to the other,” noted Santos. “Last month was my first time (at Madison), and I had a lot of fun. It’s a really neat race track and definitely as a driver, track time helps get you up to speed, but these (winged cars) are a totally different animal than the Silver Crown cars or the modifieds are.
“I just enjoy doing different stuff and I’ve just adapted to it well,” Santos continued. “There are days where I run three different style race cars in the same day. I think it is all just a mindset, honestly.”
