Brett Haas Reflects and Readies for the New Year
Story By: MATT NOLES
Photos By: DAVE DALESANDRO / RACERSGUIDE.COM
Sprakers NY- January 25, 2017 – In the words of Calvin Coolidge, nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
There have been scores of drivers in racing that had an abundance of talent, yet were still unsuccessful. In the same rite, there have been numerous drivers of incredible intelligence but even they were lost to the derelicts of time. Only persistence and determination, and nothing else, seem to create the most success behind the wheel.
In 2015, Lebanon Valley small-block modified competitor Brett Haas was simply known as ‘the kid that raced in the same division as Kenny Tremont and JR Heffner.’ By the end of the 2016 season, however, he’s now being known as a driver that can compete with the aforementioned adversaries proving that one time around the sun can bring about great change.
“We knew that we could compete at a high level,” stated Haas. “But last year was probably one of the years that we went out and proved to everyone else that we could compete with some of the legends of the sport. We were actually able to run with and challenge some of the big guys in the northeast instead of just being out on the track with them; they felt our presence.”
Looking back at the numbers for Haas, his words are merely a window dressing to what many fans and competitors found out over the course of the 2016 schedule. With a second place finish in points in the small-block division at Lebanon, [Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, New York] a top-ten finish in the small-block portion of Super DIRT Week at Oswego [Speedway in Oswego, New York] and a strong showing during Eastern States weekend at Middletown, [Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York] the driver of the No. 55 Teo Pro Car arrived in a big way.
“It’s pretty humbling to be honest with you,” continued Haas. “To finish second to Kenny [Tremont Jr.] and ahead of JR [Heffner] and 25 or 30 other guys is impressive. To be in the same category as those guys is unbelievable especially knowing how good their programs are. Knowing that we can race with them and beat them is a huge morale boost for our team and our marketing partners.”
For the first time in his young career, the Pittsfield, Massachusetts native traveled west in 2016 to try his hand at competing in DIRTcar’s biggest event for the northeast drivers; Super DIRT Week. It was an experience that brought a mild case of disappointment at first, but quickly turned into elation.
“Our main expectation was not to look like we didn’t belong there,” Haas remarked. “We kind of had are backs up against the wall from the onset really. We didn’t qualify well and when you’re starting 39th like we did, your goals and your mindset tend to change a little. However, once we started the race and starting moving up through the field, our attitudes changed.”
Though attrition may have played a minor role in the outcome at Oswego, Haas and his driving ability had a fair share of the attention as well and rightfully so. By driving smarter, not harder like some of his contemporaries, the young modified pilot began passing other drivers to the click of one or two per lap. At that rate, it’s awfully difficult for others not to take notice.
“Once we broke into the top-20, we just kept knocking them down,” recalled Haas. “Before I knew it, we were in the top-ten and to be honest, if the race went the full distance, we could have realistically gotten a top-five or better because the car was just that good. I wasn’t really confident going into Oswego but after, that’s a different story.”
With confidence booming, the driver of the Mildred Elley sponsored modified made a late-October trek down to the infamous ‘Hard Clay’ at Middletown. If his exploits at Oswego during Super DIRT Week marked his arrival, his run during the Eastern States weekend only solidified it.
“Aside from Lebanon [Valley], Middletown seems to be one of our strongest tracks,” Haas said. “I don’t know what it is really. We seem to have good but bad luck there; we always seem to have a fast race car but we just can’t seem to put it all together for one reason or another. We just can’t put the bow on top.”
Qualifying again left a little to be desired for Haas, after time-trialing 27th, but as he’s proven before, it’s not necessarily about where you start, it’s where you finish that counts.
“We had such a stout car last year,” He continued. “I thought I had a really good qualifying time even though we ended up back in the pack a bit but at least we were in the show on time which alone took a lot of pressure off. It really allowed us to focus on getting ready for the feature.”
Though Middletown is notoriously difficult to pass on, as he proved a few weeks earlier, when it comes to race time, Haas is more than up to the challenge. “It was just like Oswego,” explained Haas. “We just started passing cars lap-after-lap and before I knew it, a late-race caution came out and we were sitting in fifth with only a few laps to go.”
There are only a few moments in a racing career that have the indelible ability to leave an ever-lasting mark on ones psyche; the following few laps will be forever etched into the memory of Brett Haas for good reasons, and sadly, for unfortunate ones as well.
