Local racers go out on top

WEST VALLEY CITY — In 32 years of racing, Sprint car driver Dave Fitzgerald said he's never seen a driver win a race and then decide to retire.

He has tried it himself, without success.

"It's like being an alcoholic," said the 50-year-old business owner. "It's easier to think about if you lose."

That means the man who has seen or done it all on a track witnessed a little history Saturday night at Rocky Mountain Raceway.

South Jordan's Jim Wysong earned the 2006 YAG USAC/SLVRA Sprint Car championship with a third-place finish and 813 overall points. The points are usually a little closer than this season, but Wysong's final season was a beauty that included six wins, a second and a fourth-place finish.

"To have a year like he did is unbelievable," said Fitzgerald, who won Saturday's event and finished third for the season with 742 points. "I don't know if I have seen anyone come out week after week and do as well as he has. People think it's a science, but it's not. It's a job you're never finished with."

Wysong said he has decided to quit driving Sprint cars so he can build them.

"Four of the five top cars were ours tonight," said Wysong, who is 46 and has been racing for 32 years. "I'm getting so many customers, I don't have enough time to take care of all of the guys who want me to build them cars and race myself."

His burnout after the race was his "victory salute."

His wife, Melanie, said she's torn about him quitting, but is also looking forward to all the free time.

"We're going to go on family vacations," she said. "Something besides the race track."

Fitzgerald and Wysong said the bug to race bit them early and hard.

"My dad took me to see a friend of his at the state fair and that was it," said Fitzgerald, who also announced his plans to retire Saturday. "The minute I saw one of these things, I wanted to drive one."

Every Sprint car driver spends most nights working on his car with his pit crew, usually family and friends, and the weekends traveling to races around the Western United States.

It is a time-consuming, expensive and dangerous hobby.

"It's the adrenaline of racing," said Jim Waters, who finished second in the overall standings with 776 points. "These things are so powerful and so light, if you barely touch the gas pedal you'll spin out."