The 4th Turn ~ By Tom Boggie

Do sixth-graders still have to write essays about “What I did on my summer vacation?”

If so, Derrick McGrew Jr. is going to have a heck of a story to tell.

The 11-year-old (yes, 11) is without a doubt the hottest open-wheel driver in the Capital District. Last weekend, he recorded his first career victory at Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday night, finished second at Fonda on Saturday, and chalked up win No. 7 at Glen Ridge Motorsports Park on Sunday.

In his rookie season, McGrew already has 14 victories. His first win came in his limited sportsman debut, on April 21 at Fonda Speedway, and he’s only going to get better.

Think about it … an 11-year-old piling up win after win in a 2,500-pound open wheel dirt track car. When the season ends, he’s going to be the track champion at both Fonda and Glen Ridge. The only reason he’s not going for a Triple Crown is that Albany-Saratoga doesn’t keep points for the limited sportsman drivers.

McGrew Jr. has been able to dominate his division at both Fonda and Glen Ridge because those two tracks have very small limited sportsman fields, and few of the other drivers have the type of racing experience that McGrew Jr. has. He started racing go-karts at the age of 4, and won the first race he ever participated in. Last year, after winning the sub-juniors (ages 7-10) at the Kids Royal in Australia, he and his father, Derrick McGrew Sr., decided it was time for a change.

“My dad said I couldn’t do any more in Slingshots, and he asked me if I wanted to try a limited sportsman,” said McGrew after his win at Albany-Saratoga Speedway last Friday. “So here I am.”

McGrew Jr. has two good teachers – his father and Derrick Sr’s uncle Randy Hotaling.

Derrick McGrew Sr., who was raised by his grandfather and Uncle Randy, started going to the races at a young age and worked as a crew member for a number of drivers, including Jumpin’ Jack Johnson and his son Ronnie. When McGrew Sr. got the itch to finally get behind the wheel of his own car, he joined his uncle in the sportsman division at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

McGrew won a pair of races in 2005, but because he was usually running on a shoestring budget, dropped back to budget sportsman when that class was introduced. He picked up five wins in 2009, including winning the Asphalt Assault on Oct. 24, which was a prelude to Albany-Saratoga going back to asphalt in 2010.

Hotaling, who has three career modified wins at Albany-Saratoga, and McGrew each recorded a win on the asphalt in 2010, with Hotaling winning on Aug, 20 and McGrew taking the checkered flag in the Halloween Havoc race on Oct. 13.

And now, they’re directing McGrew Jr.’s career.

McGrew Sr. admitted he had some reservations about his then 10-year-old son (he turned 11 in July) running an open wheel car.

“I just hoped he didn’t get in the way,” he said during a recent conversation. “It’s a big jump from Slingshots to a crate sportsman, and I knew they [track officials] didn’t think he was going to be able to do it, but I had confidence in him. He brings the car back in one piece every night and he never drives over his head.”

“He knows more than guys twice his age,” said Hotaling. “He grew up around racing, just like his father did with me.”

It’s obvious McGrew Jr. has a lot of talent. Although he started on the pole at Albany-Saratoga Speedway last Friday and led every lap, he never bobbled when he had the lead, like inexperienced drivers are prone to do, and when he got into lapped traffic, he handled each pass perfectly.

And because he’s only 11, there’s no reason to push his career, especially at Albany-Saratoga Speedway. It would be good to see him get a little more seasoning and confidence before making the jump to the sportsman division. He did run with the crate modifieds at Glen Ridge on July 22, finishing third, but there were only seven other cars in the field that night. I don’t think he’s ready to join that 30-car sportsman field at Albany-Saratoga, which includes some very talented (and vastly more experienced) drivers.

He’s only 11, he’s got a long future in front of him, and he’s got two very capable father figures to show him the way.

C.J. MEMORIAL

Demitrios Drellos picked up the biggest win of his young career Sunday night, when he won the 67-lap C.J. Richard Memorial race at Devil’s Bowl Speedway. The race was part of the King of Dirt 358 series, and paid $3,000 to win.

Bobby Varin was leading the race when his left front tire started losing air, and although Varin ran as hard as he could while the tire continued to go down, Drellos got the lead on lap 47 and then held off a last-lap challenge from Rocky Warner in the Spraker 1J.

One of the big surprises was CG Morey’s fourth-place finish. Morey crashed hard in time trials, and started 14^th in the 29-car field, but showed a lot of poise by working his way up to fourth. Ken Tremont Jr. finished fifth.

AROUND THE TRACKS

Erick Rudolph won last Saturday’s Hall of Fame 100 at Weedsport, earning $10,000 and a guaranteed starting spot for Super DIRT Week in Oswego in October, and on Sunday, Matt Sheppard won the York County Nationals at BAPS Motorsports Speedway, also taking home a top prize of $10,000. Sheppard had a flat tire when leading early in the race, but made his way back to the front, taking the checkered flag ahead of Stewart Friesen.

A caution cost Sheppard a win in Tuesday night’s Battle of Plattsburgh at Airborne Park Speedway. Sheppard drew the pole and led the first 98 laps, but Brett Hearn brought out the final yellow with two to go when the front end gave out on the Madsen 20. Danny Johnson, who is now a teammate with Pete Britten on the Ray Graham team after destroying his other car in a bad wreck recently at Orange County Speedway, used the low line to get around Sheppard on the restart, and walked off with the $6,000 top prize.

Wednesday night’s tribute race for Jack Johnson at Fonda Speedway was postponed because of rain. That race was part of the Super DIRT Series, so Fonda officials are waiting to get a make-up date from DIRTCar.

With just four races left in the points season at Fonda Speedway, there are two excellent battles going on. Bobby Varin, who earned his third win of the season on Saturday, has an eight-point lead over Josh Hohenforst in the modified division, while veteran Ray Zemken, who is still looking for his first win of the season, has a 13-point lead over three-time winner Nick Scavia in the battle for the sportsman crown.