McCORD’S FIRST RACE OF ANY KIND WAS IN A USAC SPRINT CAR
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (April 18, 2020)………It wasn’t the most common way to do it. Nor was it even the most rational thing to do, looking back. But, for Jason McCord, the first time he stepped into a racecar in competition came at the age of 21 years old in a USAC Sprint Car event at Lanier Raceway in Georgia.
That’s right. No local track experiences in a sprint car. No growing up behind the wheel of a quarter midget, go-kart, what have you. During the Anderson, Ind. native's first time out, he faced the likes of Tom Bigelow, Tony Stewart, Robbie Stanley, Steve Butler, Jeff Bloom, Eric Gordon and on and on.
“I had never been so scared in my life,” McCord remembered of that day.
McCord tells all on episode 10 of Thunder Relived on Saturday night, April 18, 8pm EST, exclusively on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3dzkF8Y.
On the show, McCord will tell of his career and recap two of the bigger wins of his career, both of which came at Indianapolis Raceway Park, home to many nationally televised USAC racing broadcasts over the years: 2002 Sprints and 2003 Silver Crown, which both involve late-race comebacks by the six-time sprint and one-time Silver Crown winner with USAC.
But back to Lanier where, at the first drivers meeting, McCord was awestruck and almost wanted to take a pen and paper to get autographs from the drivers on hand, he admitted.
He had worked on cousin and fellow driver Donnie Adams’ USAC Sprint Car team for years leading up to his debut as a driver, and being in the pits during that time period allowed him to develop friendships with that night’s Lanier feature winner Jim Keeker as well as Gordon and others.
McCord qualified slowest in the field during time trials that evening but was only three-hundredths of a second behind USAC winner Bruce Field. When the time came for the first heat race, McCord’s time put him on the pole for the 10-lap preliminary event, which he was eager to relinquish until veteran driver, friend and fast qualifier Keeker shot that notion down.
“I volunteered to start on the tail, but Keeker wouldn’t let me,” McCord recalled. “He said, ‘no, no, you start where you qualify, we’ll get by you, don’t worry about it. We know you; we trust you.”
He did get passed, ultimately finishing seventh in the seven-car field, with a star-studded lineup of Steve Butler, Robbie Stanley, Jim Keeker, Stevie Reeves, Bruce Robey and Tony Stewart finishing ahead of him.
McCord became hooked on the sport of sprint car racing like most, first as a fan, with his dad taking him to races as a kid during the 1970s. By the time he was 16-17 years old, McCord said he knew everything there was to know about a racecar; he could build them, take care of them and everything else.
Though he never got behind the wheel of a sprint car outside of practice sessions leading up to 1992, McCord had desired to become a USAC Sprint Car driver. He revealed how he was able to find somebody that didn’t have a mechanic or driver.
“The deal was if I build it and take care of it, I get to drive it. Thankfully, I found somebody that was that needy,” McCord said with a laugh. “My dad always told me if you want to do this, you’ll find a way, but I’m not wasting all my money on it. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. We found it and got started.”
As for McCord’s second-ever race. It didn’t get any easier. Winchester (Ind.) Speedway, its 37-degree banking and its distinction as the world’s fastest half-mile was next up on the schedule. And, get this, he had no brakes.
Catch it all on Thunder Relived, which promises to take you under the helmet and in-depth with USAC personalities past and present as we revisit all the thrills, spills and the greatest moments from USAC’s vast Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown video vault. Stay tuned for more information regarding Thunder Relived on USAC’s website at www.usacracing.com, our social media channels at www.facebook.com/usacracing, www.twitter.com/usacnation and on Instagram @usacnation.
