LORAIN, Ohio – A year of learning for rookie sprint car driver Brenden Torok has recently turned into some quick, albeit unexpected, on-track success.
The Ohio teenager, who served as part of the road crew this season for John Reiser’s two-car Must See Racing Sprint Car Series operation, won in just his second start in a full-sized sprint car on Aug. 11, when he took the checkered flag in the Crate Sprint class at the three-eighths-mile Lorain County Speedway.
Torok powered off the front row and led all 20 laps in a caution-free rout, beating John Dale Evans to the finish line by half a second in arguably the biggest moment of his young career.
“We started on the outside pole and kind of ran away with it, to be honest with you,” recalled Torok. “People were telling me that five laps in, I was a straightaway ahead of everyone else. The car was on a rail.
“With these cars … a lot of these crate sprint cars, the motors are the same, so if you get out in clean air you can pretty well take off from the field,” Torok added. “That’s what we were able to do and it’s a great feeling.”
Torok started his racing career at age six in quarter midgets, much like many young racers his age.
However, from the start, he knew his ultimate goal wasn’t the same as those who have their eyes set on the national stock car ranks in the United States. He had a passion for open-wheel action.
“Growing up racing quarter midgets, I had always wanted to move into sprint cars eventually, the timing had just never been right until this year,” said Torok. “We’ve always known people … John (Reiser), Charlie (Schultz) and the folks at JR Motorsports obviously are in the sprint car world, and I told my dad when I got into this that I don’t want to race NASCAR – I want to race with the (World of) Outlaws or a series like that.
“I’ve always loved sprint car racing. The wing and everything about the type of racing that they do is thrilling and something I think it’s so cool to be a part of.”
While Torok is still extremely new to the on-track aspects of sprint car racing, he’s made sure to get as much knowledge as he can by working with Reiser, as well as drivers Charlie Schultz and Adam Biltz, who both finished inside the top five in the Must See Racing sprint car standings this season.
His time spent wrenching on the cars and gathering mechanical know-how is something he believes will aid him tremendously when he gets back into his own seat on a more regular basis.
“Just learning about the (mechanical) stuff has been huge for me this year,” Torok noted. “It’s already helped me a lot. When I go to the (Must See) races with them, they give me some tips on how I can make my own driving better from what they’ve seen, but from the standpoint of working on the car they teach me and I learn a lot about what the car needs from them as we go through this.
“A lot of people have told me that you need to know your own car in order to perform well with it, so I’ve been trying to soak in as much as I can and reapply it each time I get back behind the wheel.”
Torok’s time racing in a sprint car this season has come with Midwest car owner Dave Koyan, who fielded two entries – the White Lightning No. 90 and the Black Thunder No. 99 – on a part-time basis with Must See Racing this season.
