MONROE — When the Super Late Models take to the track at Evergreen Speedway this season, there may be some unfamiliar names toward the front of the pack. Some youngish faces threatening to storm victory lane.
A youth movement is coming to Evergreen this year.
Evergreen Speedway’s 2017 season opens Saturday, and when it does there will be a new and exciting generation of drivers racing in the track’s premier car classification.
A trio of young and talented drivers — Chad Fitzpatrick, Tanner Holm and Brodie Brewer — is joining the Rookie of the Year competition in the Super Late Models class, and it’s adding intrigue to this year’s competition.
To be eligible for Rookie of the Year, drivers must designate themselves as rookies before the season begins. Sometimes that list includes seasoned drivers who aren’t really rookies, but are taking the opportunity to try and increase their profiles. Sometimes it includes younger drivers who don’t have the experience to warrant much notice when the season begins.
But this year the competition includes three drivers with deep backgrounds in racing and a history of success — none of whom is old enough yet to legally drink alcohol.
“There’s a lot of good competition,” Fitzpatrick said about the three front-runners for this year’s Rookie of the Year honors, all three of whom began racing cars at the age of 7. “I used to race quarter midgets, and although Tanner Holm was a couple years later I know he’ll be a good competitor. And Brodie Brewer, who I raced against in Hornets and Street Stocks, is good.”
Fitzpatrick is the name that may be most familiar to regulars at Evergreen Speedway. The 20-year-old from Lake Stevens is a legacy driver at Evergreen as his father, Shawn, raced there in the 1980s and ’90s. Fitzpatrick got his start racing Quarter Midgets at Evergreen in 2004. He won the Hornets points championship in 2012 at the age of 15, becoming the youngest points champion in track history. The past four years Fitzpatrick competed in Street Stocks, winning the points championship last season.
Now he believes he’s ready to take the step up to Super Late Models.
“I had a sponsor (John Carswell of Northland Contractors) who decided to buy a late model for me,” Fitzpatrick said. “He actually decided he wanted to move up a division even before we knew we would win the Street Stocks championship. I always wanted to race Super Late Models, and it’s because of him that I’m making my dream of racing late models possible.”
Holm is even more baby-faced than Fitzpatrick. The 17-year-old from Monroe also got his start racing Quarter Midgets at Evergreen — his father, Derek, helped get the Quarter Midgets track built and served as the track’s vice president for two years. However, Holm’s path then deviated as he chose to head to the dirt in 2013, racing 600 Class micro sprint cars at Deming Speedway. Last season Holm won two races at Deming and finished third in the 600 Class point standings.
However, Holm decided the time was right to leave the dirt and return to the pavement.
“It was either going to be a 360 sprint car or a late model,” Holm said about his choices for this season. “We were talking and looking for sponsors (JT Racing), and we thought we’d give it a try since we live two minutes away from Evergreen. I raced Quarter Midgets before, so hopefully I’ll gain back some of that experience from Quarter Midgets and be able to apply it.
“It’s a different turning style than when you’re on the dirt and drifting in,” Holm said about adjusting from the dirt. “I’m going to have to be a lot cleaner with my hands, and the throttle control is going to be big, too. Hopefully it will be quick and easy getting back into it.”
It may be an even bigger adjustment for Brewer, who hasn’t raced a car for more than two years. Brewer, a 19-year-old from Tacoma, also began by racing Quarter Midgets, and in 2014 he raced Sky Valley Stocks at Evergreen, winning four of the 10 main events and finishing second in the standings by just two points.
But Brewer’s mom, Shakara, was suffering from lupus, so Brewer took the past two seasons off to spend more time with his mom, as well as finish school. Shakara, who was the driving force behind Brewer getting into racing in the first place, passed away in January, so Brewer has extra motivation to succeed.
“This will be the most motivated racing season I’ve ever had and probably ever will have for my entire life,” said Brewer, who will be driving Tommy Rasmussen’s car this year. “My mom was my biggest fan in racing, so I’ll have that motivation every single lap.”
Indeed, Fitzpatrick, Holm and Brewer are adding an infusion of young blood to the Super Late Models class this year at Evergreen Speedway, and it should make for a thrilling Rookie of the Year race.
If you have an idea for a community sports story, e-mail Nick Patterson at npatterson@heraldnet.com.
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