Waiting until he was 13 was not easy for freshman Travis Motley, as he waited for his parents permission to begin his driving career. Following in the footsteps of his father who participated in offroad racing before Motley was born, and growing up with the tradition of watching NASCAR races as a family, it was only a matter of time before he got behind the wheel.
When Motley finally turned 13, his racing career took the green flag. He started as most young drivers in the local sprint kart leagues, which for him was in Bakersfield, Calif. Over the course of the next three years, Motley’s skills developed as well as his mind for racing. He began to drive at a variety of different tracks in other areas of California, Arizona and Nevada. Motley and his father, along with support from the rest of his family, maintained and kept their two carts driving. Motley drove in four of the many divisions of sprint kart racing, meaning the family got good at changing out the small engines in each cart for the various races.
The highest division Motley raced in consisted of the 340 pound kart (including driver) and a highly tuned 26 horsepower engine, capable of propelling it to speeds of about 90 miles per hour on the straightaways. These karts have the same power-to-weight ratio as the full-blown Formula 1 cars.
After three years of karting, people began to notice Motley. The next step in his racing career developed when he transitioned into late model stock cars at age 16. This move proved to be difficult as most drivers would have taken an intermediate driving course or league before stepping straight “from the 340 pound kart to a full-blown 2900 pound racecar with 400 horsepower,” Motley said.
For the first two years of Motley’s late model stock car racing career, the Motley family worked with what ever help they could get to keep the car and driver racing. Motley claimed that those years were a great time to get to know other people in the stock car racing world where he was involved. One of those people was veteran driver Tim Huddleston. After becoming acquainted by racing against Huddleston, Motley became a part of Huddleston’s driver development program. Ever since, Motley has been a part of a strong group of four drivers including Huddleston, who drive the program’s four cars.
Each stock car season that Motley participates in consists of approximately 20 races between April and November. The league consists of racers of all ages, however Motley claims he is close to the youngest. Last season was quite successful for Motley as he had six finishes this year in the top five.
This season ended with a final race in Las Vegas during the middle of November called the Fall Classic, the biggest short track race on the west coast. This final race was also the most disappointing for Motley.
The beginning of the race started with Motley’s car being spun out and his being sent to the rear of the pack. This happened again near the end of the race forcing Motley to fight his way back from last place. He fought through various issues with his car, and finished in fourth place.
Driving into the future, Motley plans to continue his racing career as long as he can find sponsors. For more information, visit Motley’s Web site at travismotleyracing.com.
Contact David Rurik at david.rurik@whitworthian.com.
NASCAR career on fast track
Published: Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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